Missing Link: Will Wireless Charging Help Energize the Electric-Car Market?

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While it’s easy to dismiss wireless charging for smartphones or tablets as mere gimmickry in its present state, the technology shows serious promise out in your driveway—where it could play an important role not just in how you charge your vehicle but in how quickly electric cars catch on.

Wireless charging (also called inductive charging) systems use electricity from the grid to generate an electromagnetic field that can recharge batteries across a gap, such as between a charging pad on your garage floor and a car parked above it. Although the technology has been teased for decades, the latest iterations of wireless charging get over two engineering hurdles: the lack of physical flexibility between the charging pad and the vehicle’s receiver, and the energy lost by such systems.

Wireless charging used to be less efficient than a physical charging port, but the latest systems from WiTricity, Qualcomm (Halo), and Samsung are doing better. WiTricity’s new original-equipment system achieves excellent overall efficiency numbers of 91 to 93 percent, measured from the power grid to the car battery, while a typical plug-in Level 2 charger is considered efficient at 88 percent or so, and Level 1 (110-volt AC socket) systems are considerably less efficient.

That WiTricity system, General Motors advanced technology spokesman Kevin Kelly confirmed, is in a “prototype testing” phase with the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Volt—although any future availability for these models isn’t yet a given.

Alex Gruzen, WiTricity CEO

According to Alex Gruzen, CEO of WiTricity, the efficiency gains are achieved through the MIT-born company’s technical focus on physics and resonant frequencies. “If you can create a very efficient resonator, some magic occurs, and you can move energy with great efficiency,” he explained. Gruzen said that with the company’s current technology, it can fine-tune the system to work with four to 10 inches of ground clearance. And that—with a guidance system to help the vehicle get centered—allows a lot of flexibility for the type of vehicle and the way the charging mat is mounted in a driveway, garage, or parking lot.

A Single Standard That Should Just Work

WiTricity is endorsing a single industry standard for wireless charging—and compromising on a frequency that would work around the world while maintaining power levels and efficiency. The SAE standard in the works, which the engineering group calls J2954, establishes an 85-kHz frequency band and covers four power levels: 3.7 kW, 7.7 kW, 11.0 kW, and 22.0 kW. The standard will also support interoperability among pads and receivers from different companies.

At present, the 22-kWh power level will be out of reach for most household installations—although it could be a lower-cost alternative to fast charging for commercial installations at restaurants or shopping centers. Higher levels of up to 50 kW are in the works, but those are reserved for commercial vehicles, such as electric buses.

Earlier this month, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in collaboration with six companies (including Toyota, Nissan, and Jaguar Land Rover) completed bench testing in support of J2954 and engaged in a series of interoperability tests. Much work toward the standard has already happened.

By the time the standard is finalized in early 2018, several models might already be on the market with inductive charging. The 2018 Mercedes-Benz S550e plug-in hybrid is expected to offer or include the feature—in that case, supplied by Qualcomm—and Nissan has hinted that it could be available on the next-generation Leaf, coming as a 2018 model. Several other automakers are involved with WiTricity: Toyota is an investor, and the company earlier this year announced a collaboration with Nissan.

Expense has been another deal breaker for inductive charging systems. The cost for the charging pad, receiver, power management hardware, and control software can add up to several thousand dollars. But WiTricity CEO Gruzen expects that prices won’t remain the sticking point for long.

“Like everything in this business, the costs are falling dramatically as volume increases,” he said, mentioning the company’s work to involve the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC), which guides such standards in China. “Common architecture means scalability, which means that the components go to volume faster.”

WiTricity is not the only company that believes the technology is reaching a tipping point. Evatran, which manufactures the Plugless Power line of aftermarket wireless chargers—for models including the BMW i3, the Chevrolet Volt, the Nissan Leaf, and the Tesla Model S—also plans to enter the original-equipment market soon, and it already has in China. “We expect that 2017 will be a defining year for OEM announcements on wireless EV charging based on the intensity of interest we are seeing across the board,” said Steve Cummings, Evatran’s senior manager of brand and marketing strategy.

Are Autonomous Vehicles the Missing Link for Sharing?

“We see wireless charging as being essential to the future of mobility,” said Gruzen. For car-sharing fleets and autonomous vehicles—and anywhere it’s not the operator or passenger’s responsibility to use a physical charger—wireless charging at designated parking spots could help keep vehicles in use a greater portion of the time.

The new standards apply only to stationary systems. The possibility of dynamic inductive charging is a related technology, but it involves systems embedded into roadways to charge vehicles continuously along some routes—potentially reducing the need for vehicles to carry around big, bulky battery packs. As you might guess, that involves a series of more complex infrastructure questions.

In the meantime, the simpler idea of shedding the charge-cord hassle at home and making nightly charging second nature could be what warms up more people to electric vehicles.

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Infiniti Bringing Autonomous Tech and New Engine in Detroit Show Concept

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Infiniti is inching closer to a production version of the next-generation QX50, the current version of which has soldiered on with relatively minor changes since 2008 when it was introduced as the EX35. At the 2017 Detroit auto show in January, Infiniti’s QX50 concept will preview what the new mid-size crossover will look like and what it might be capable of. It won’t be our first sneak peek at the new QX50, either—Nissan’s luxury brand showed a similar concept at the Paris auto show in September, following the QX Sport Inspiration’s initial unveiling in Beijing earlier this year.

Besides highlighting Infiniti’s Powerful Elegance design language, including a cabin-forward silhouette, the concept also previews the brand’s newest autonomous-driving technology. Unlike self-driving tech touted by some automakers as possibly rendering a steering wheel and pedals obsolete, Infiniti says its new autonomous tech will ensure drivers stay in control of the vehicles, as part of what the brand called a focus on driver engagement. We’ve heard this before, of course, and it translates to a sort of semi-autonomous capability wherein mundane driving tasks—stop-and-go traffic, highway slogs, and the like—might be handled by the computer.

Infiniti is playing coy about the next QX50’s mechanicals, but in an announcement the company hinted that the new SUV could be a future home for the nearly production-ready variable-compression-ratio four-cylinder (VC-T) that made its debut earlier in 2016. Adding to the intrigue, that turbocharged 2.0-liter engine will be displayed alongside the QX50 in Detroit. We think the new engine’s estimated 268 horsepower would make it a natural downsized replacement for the current QX50’s 325-hp 3.7-liter V-6, particularly given Infiniti’s claims that the turbo four could offer up to “a 27 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over V-6 gasoline engines of similar power output.”

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Study: 60 Percent of U.S. Drivers Haven’t Heard of—Or Know Little about—Electric Cars

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Electric cars are still struggling to gain acceptance in the marketplace, and public perception is not keeping pace with developments, according to a new study. The survey of 2557 Americans asked, “Which of the following best describes your knowledge of electric vehicles?” About 60 percent picked the multiple-choice answers “I’ve never heard of electric vehicles” or “I’ve heard of electric vehicles but I don’t know much about them.” Furthermore, 80 percent of those questioned had never driven or been a passenger in an electric car. 

In the survey, run by Altman Vilandrie & Company (AVC), even many respondents with knowledge of EV technology showed skepticism about their viability as alternatives to conventional cars. AVC reported that 85 percent think the current charging network is inadequate, 83 percent say today’s electric vehicles cost too much, and 74 percent say charging takes too long.

Those perceptions aren’t necessarily wrong; although our tests of the latest electric cars show significant improvement on all those points in the past decade, a truly useful charging infrastructure is geographically scattered, the cars tend to cost more than their conventional equivalents, and recharging still takes more time than simply refilling a gas tank. The market research firm said it also consulted 20 “automotive experts” for its self-commissioned study of public perceptions of electric cars.

There was some good news for brands selling all-electric cars, such as Chevrolet, Tesla, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. Of the people who had experienced EVs, 60 percent said they enjoyed them, and only 8 percent said they didn’t.

“There are signs of strong latent demand in the marketplace,” said Moe Kelley, co-director of the survey. “The auto industry still needs to make more low-priced models available to consumers as well as finding a way for more drivers to try out an EV. If those things happen, we should see the EV adoption rate accelerate.”

Unsurprisingly, AVC’s analysis of the survey indicated that there would be an uptick of growth (AVC estimates 24 times the current market) for the electric-car industry if the vehicles were priced lower, specifically around $35,000. That’s certainly a possibility, with the Chevrolet Bolt dipping to less than $30,000 after tax incentives and the upcoming Tesla Model 3 priced at $35,000. Still, the price won’t matter to people who don’t even know viable electric cars exist.

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Takata Airbag Recall: Officials and Automakers Insist Fixes Are Coming

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The Wall Street Journal reported this week that a settlement stemming from a federal probe into criminal wrongdoing by airbag supplier Takata is expected early next year—perhaps as soon as January—and could approach $1 billion. While that news might gratify some people angered by the defective inflator design that prompted the largest automotive safety recall in U.S. history, owners of affected cars may be more interested in simply getting repairs done.

Many have received notice of the recall and taken their cars in to dealers for a remedy, only to hear that replacement parts for the recalled airbag inflators made by Takata are not available.

Automakers and federal officials organizing the response to the huge recall insist that the supply chain is churning out replacement parts.

“We get that it is a frustrating experience,” said Bryan Thomas, communications director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “What we tell folks to do is get on the list at their dealer.”

How long you’ll have to wait most likely depends on where the vehicle lands on the agency’s list of 12 “priority groups,” based on the urgency of getting the vehicle fixed. Aside from the make and model of the vehicle, its geographic location and age play a big role in how likely it is that a faulty inflator would rupture.

NHTSA has deemed warmer states, including the Deep South and California, “high absolute humidity” regions. Independent testing found that the faulty airbag inflators are most likely to rupture after long-term exposure to temperature fluctuations and moisture, so older vehicles and those located in high-humidity parts of the country are considered top priorities for repair.

If a car or truck has been registered for even a day in one of the HAH zones, it is assigned that level of priority, Thomas said.

NHTSA’s 12 priority groups can by found in NHTSA’s Coordinated Remedy Order.

NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind

Vehicles in Priority Group 1 were to see the “remedy program” begin by March 31, 2016, according to rolling deadlines set by NHTSA that extend through the start of repairs for Priority Group 12 on Sept. 30, 2020. Thomas said automakers have generally been “beating these deadlines by substantial margins.”

As of December 1, there have been 220 confirmed cases of Takata-supplied airbags exploding in the United States, resulting in 11 deaths and 184 reported injuries, including cuts to the face and neck, broken facial bones, loss of eyesight, and broken teeth, according to NHTSA.

So far, about 12.5 million inflators have been fixed of about 65 million that will ultimately be affected by the recall, which spans 19 automakers and will encompass about 42 million vehicles by the time it is complete in three years.

Senior NHTSA officials told reporters in a conference call earlier this month that Takata is supplying almost none of the replacement inflators. The Japanese supplier is still filing defect reports, however.

Most replacement parts come from alternative suppliers, including Autoliv Americas, Daicel Safety Systems America, and ZF TRW, according to NHTSA documents. The prioritized replacement inflators are targeted to vehicles that could be as much as 15 years old in the hands of second, third,  or later owners, adding to the recall’s complexity.

Despite the sheer breadth of the recall, NHTSA said it is aiming for a 100 percent completion rate. Typical recalls result in fixes being performed on about 70 percent of affected cars.

Many car owners have received notification of the recall even though replacement parts were not yet in stock. While it’s common for automakers to send recall notices well ahead of parts availability, “because of the enormous size of this recall, the lag has been longer,” Thomas said. On the other hand, he said, in many cases parts are available but people simply aren’t getting their vehicles fixed.

For those who are waiting, NHTSA advises that people not disable the airbags, arguing that, statistically, it is most likely that the inflator will not rupture, so the car or truck is safer with the airbags functioning as intended.

“One thing that’s really important to know is that even with a defective airbag, the airbag is orders of magnitude more likely in a crash to save you than hurt you,” Thomas said.

The exception is a group of Honda vehicles that NHTSA is telling people to drive only to take them to a dealer to get fixed. These are:

• 2001–2002 Honda Accord and Civic
• 2002 Honda CR-V and Odyssey
• 2002–2003 Acura 3.2 TL
• 2003 Acura 3.2CL and Honda Pilot

In testing, the airbags in those Hondas had a far greater chance of rupturing than others under recall. There are about 300,000 such cars and trucks still on the road, compared with the 42 million vehicles affected by the recall.

Honda, which built the largest number of vehicles affected by the Takata airbag recall, said it is on schedule with fixes.

“Honda currently has adequate supplies of replacement inflators to meet repair demand for all of the Takata inflator recalls currently in place,” company spokesman Chris Martin said in an emailed statement. “All of these replacement inflators are from alternative suppliers, not Takata. We continue to encourage owners of Acura and Honda vehicles to confirm if their vehicle is affected and, if so, pursue repair as soon as possible.  Owners can check for free at http://ift.tt/yYawDI and http://ift.tt/17RFzet.”

Owners can also get information by plugging in their vehicle’s VIN on NHTSA’s online recall lookup tool.

Ford said it has permanent repairs in place for 2005–2012 Mustang driver’s-side airbags, some 2013–2014 Mustang driver’s-side airbags, and 2005—2006 Ford GT driver’s-side airbags.

And, like other automakers, Ford is prepared to install temporary “like for like” inflators that can be replaced with other designs at a later date. The like-for-like inflators are a temporary remedy because they are the same as the inflator being removed, except they haven’t been exposed to climate conditions over time.

“For other Takata airbag inflator-related recalls, development of a permanent repair is in process,” Ford spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt said in an email. “We are working with our suppliers to expedite parts as quickly as possible.”

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With 1 Million Micro-Mirrors, These Trick Headlights Don’t Just Illuminate—They Communicate

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The technology was touted by BMW back in November 2002 as the “light from the future” and the “third step after bixenon and adaptive light.” And while it would be an auxiliary device at the outset, it would—at some point—become “the only front lighting device.” BMW called it pixel light, a lighting source that uses hundreds of thousands of micro-mirrors, and said the technology would be ready in five years.

But 2007 came and went, and we’ve heard nothing more about the technology until now: This time, it’s from Mercedes-Benz, and it appears to be a lot closer to production. Partner Texas Instruments has the capability to make those micro-mirror modules, which now contain 1 million units, controlled by ultrafast software developed by Daimler—which calls it Digital Light.

The ultra-tiny micro-mirrors reflect light sent from an LED; it’s so accurate and precise that it could project a movie onto a wall. Its purpose on a car is somewhat different: This technology is not about entertainment but about guiding and warning the driver and communicating with others on the road.

The digital light unit can provide the illumination of full high-beams while preventing glare from hitting oncoming traffic or the faces of pedestrians. The system also is capable of projecting signals and arrows onto the road ahead, providing traffic information and directions, or pointing at perceived dangers and obstacles. And it can create lines of light on the pavement—especially helpful in construction zones, where actual lane markings may be missing. The communication can go as far as projecting a crosswalk onto the road to signal to pedestrians that it’s safe to cross.

On our demonstration ride in an S-class, the system—mounted adjacent to regular LED headlights—performed admirably, with ultraclear cutoff lines. Mercedes is not the only automaker Texas Instruments is talking to, but Mercedes may be the first to market: “We wouldn’t be showing this if we didn’t think of it as a viable and affordable option in a few years,” said a Daimler engineer. The advanced lights appear to provide real benefits to drivers. The biggest hurdle, in the United States at least, might be regulatory approval—just ask Audi, which finally got the okay for its laser headlights.

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Honda Recalls 634,000 Odyssey Minivans for Second-Row Seat Problems

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American Honda is recalling and putting a stop-sale on some 634,000 newer Odyssey minivans for issues with the second-row seats.

A safety recall affecting 633,753 Odysseys from the 2011 through 2016 model years involves a second-row release lever that allows access to the third row. The lever could stay unlocked, causing the second-row seat to move unexpectedly, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) documents.

No injuries have been reported related to the issue, which was discovered in warranty documents, Honda said in a statement.

Honda dealers will add an additional bracket and a spring to both second-row outboard seats for free. The recall is expected to begin in February 2017, although parts are not expected to be available until spring. Until the repairs can be completed, Honda is telling Odyssey owners to lock the seat in place manually with the horizontal position adjustment bar.

In a separate, noncompliance recall of 7549 Honda Odysseys from only the 2016 model year, there’s an issue with the horizontal adjuster bar in the second row’s center seat. The bar could stick in the unlocked position, causing the seats to slide unexpectedly, according to NHTSA recall documents.

No reported injuries have been linked to the issue, which was discovered in internal-quality checks, Honda said. Honda dealers will inspect the slide function and replace the affected bar if necessary. That recall is expected to begin late next month.

As is common practice, Honda has put a stop-sale on all minivans affected by the two recalls.

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Subaru WRX Refresh, Not Complete Redesign, Reportedly Coming for 2018

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The Subaru WRX’s most recent complete overhaul only debuted in the 2015 model year, but fans are constantly looking forward to what’s next for the rally-bred legend. As reported by motoring.com.au, the WRX will get a mid-cycle refresh for 2018, and a wholly new car won’t arrive until around 2020.

Thoughts of a brand-new WRX have been stirred by the debut of the new Subaru Global Platform that underpins the new Subaru Impreza. By continuing as a derivative of the former Impreza, the WRX now, technically, has the model-specific architecture that had been rumored for 2015. The Global Platform will eventually underpin every Subaru, but according to an engineer quoted by Motoring, there’s not enough time to properly work it onto a new WRX for 2018.

“The full model cycle will be about four or five years,” the unnamed source told Motoring. “2018 will be a facelift only. It’s not the cost, but everything goes through a production cycle. You can’t shorten that production cycle, there’s many things to consider such as durability testing and likewise. It’s not as simple as taking the turbo engine out of one car and presto, off you go . . . You’re talking about complete suspension tune and a development team. It’s a big process.”

That doesn’t mean people won’t be sad about waiting until 2019 or 2020 for a new one. Perhaps by then, the company will have found a way to infuse it with more power than the 268 horsepower generated by the turbocharged 2.0-liter flat-four in the WRX and the 305 horsepower made by the turbo 2.5-liter in the STI.

Subaru wouldn’t confirm or deny the media report.

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First U.S. 350-kW Charging Station Will Allow Speedy L.A.–Vegas EV Road Trips

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Does spending on a robust charging network sell electric cars? Or do we first need enough electric cars to justify investment in that infrastructure? Automakers have faced these chicken-or-egg questions ever since all-electric models like the Nissan Leaf and the BMW i3 were first announced.

DC fast charging has been at the core of the debate. While today’s 50-kW CHAdeMo or Combined Charging System (CCS)/Combo fast chargers can restore 75 miles or more of usable range in about half an hour, their usefulness decreases as we look beyond today’s crop of around 30-kWh small cars to the many models expected over the next several years that will pack 90 kWh or more.

The answer, of course, is more power—in the form of 150-kW and 350-kW fast charging. But it’s not as simple as that. Electrical systems need to be upgraded in many cases; vehicle charging systems and battery packs aren’t equipped for it; and neither the hardware nor a finalized standard for it exists yet. That hasn’t stopped the EVgo charging network from breaking ground on a new test station for 350-kW fast charging—in Baker, California, at the site of the World’s Tallest Thermometer.

The site, which will open next year, will serve as a waypoint between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, enabling electric cars with ranges of 200 miles or more to comfortably make the 270-mile trip without skimping on climate control or lowering cruising speeds. EVgo said that the Baker site’s chargers will be seven times faster than any (50 kW) fast chargers currently available and that they represent a new level of convenience. Under 350-kW fast charging, a vehicle with a maximum range of about 310 miles would be able to gain 80 percent, or nearly 250 miles, in less than 20 minutes.

If They Build It, Will EVs Come?

There is a catch: Not a single production model on the market today can charge at 350 kW—or even take advantage of the 150-kW standard that’s in the works, to which the 350-kW chargers would default for some vehicles or situations. “We are working with automakers and their research vehicles to support the growth of this technology,” said Terry O’Day, EVgo vice-president for product strategy and market development.

The high-power station at Baker will initially have four DC fast chargers with up to 350 kW; EVgo said the station can expand later to accommodate up to eight chargers. A group of manufacturers have already cooperated to propose a draft standard, which is being used for the test charger, and the test chargers will be compatible with both CHAdeMO and CCS/Combo formats. And it’s highly likely it will serve as a test stop for projects and vehicles that are part of a Department of Energy public-private partnership “to examine the vehicle, battery, infrastructure, and economic implications of fast charging of up to 350 kW.”

Tesla, of course, already has made a strong argument for faster fast charging. Its models use a proprietary Supercharger interface that typically charges up to 135 kW, although Tesla officially rates its hardware at 120 kW. With a simple charge-port adapter, Tesla models can use CHAdeMO chargers.

Current non-Tesla standards for fast charging were written with the 150-kW upgrade in mind, but 350-kW systems will require entirely different hardware. Even upgrading existing 50-kW chargers to 150 kW, according to the CHAdeMO Association, the group behind that standard, will require an additional fuse in the “gun” rather than in the charger body, a thermosensor at the gun and/or cable, and standards that require parts to be held below 140 degrees F and those to be touched below 185 degrees F.

Overcoming a Former Barrier: Heat

EVgo’s choice to locate its charging station near a thermometer landmark is apt. One of the main concerns in pushing charging power to high levels has always been heat. While charging at 350 kW was unthinkable a few years ago—either because it would incinerate the battery or greatly reduce its service life—it’s now possible through some very careful cell manufacturing and pack designs that include precise thermal monitoring and cooling.

Looking ahead, many manufacturers, from Porsche to upstart Lucid, view faster charging to be essential to sparking real movement for EVs into the mainstream. However,  not all manufacturers remain convinced that even at 50 kW it’s a must-have. General Motors, for instance, continues to balk about infrastructure investment and has made fast charging in the Chevrolet Bolt EV a $750 option. Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted in a tweet that his company is aiming well beyond 350 kW for a future upgrade to its Supercharger network.

@FredericLambert A mere 350 kW … what are you referring to, a children’s toy?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 24, 2016

Should the charging stations come first, driving sales of the cars, which will then fit more consumers’ needs, or will electric-car sales spur rapid development of charging infrastructure? Do automakers go ahead and install potentially expensive, heavy hardware to make their vehicles compatible with 350-kW fast charging? Today it seems like that familiar chicken-or-egg question with higher-power fast charging; but some companies look poised to get a jump start.

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Elon Musk: A New Tesla Roadster Is “Some Years Away”

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In July 2015, when announcing updates to the Tesla Model S, Elon Musk said a new roadster model would be coming in four years, complete with a Maximum Plaid mode. Earlier this year, when he posted his Master Plan, Part Deux on the Tesla blog, one key point was to “expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments.” However, there was no specific mention of a roadster, a new version of Tesla’s first car. Now, a new tweet confirms that it is still in the works.

Musk has been generous lately in answering questions posed via Twitter, and when @JellePrins (incidentally, Uber’s design manager) recently asked about a successor to the original roadster, Musk replied, “Some years away, but yes.” That’s not a major flood of new information, but it’s good to know that Tesla’s chief still includes sports cars in his definition of serving “all market segments.”

Musk and his team already have quite a To Do list: the upcoming release of the mass-market Model 3; plans to build a crossover, a bus, and a pickup truck; finishing the Gigafactory; and further development of the Model S, Model X, and Autopilot, the company’s autonomous-driving software. With so much on Tesla’s plate, and considering that a roadster probably won’t be a huge money maker for the company, it’s not likely to be a top priority.

“Some years” could mean a lot of different things, but don’t expect the new Roadster to be rushed out like some of the other Tesla products. After all, he doesn’t want another mess like the one the first model created.

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Idea of an Auto-Loan Bubble “A Little Overblown,” Economist Says

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Throughout 2016 there have been rumblings that increasingly loose auto credit is inflating an economic bubble alongside record-level sales of new cars and trucks. Prominent figures such as JPMorgan Chase CEO James Dimon and comedian John Oliver have poured varying amounts of fuel on such a fire.

A report released earlier this month by credit-tracking firm TransUnion seemed poised to add a further can of gasoline. TransUnion’s report projects that serious borrower-level delinquency rates on auto loans will have risen by 21 percent over the five-year period from 2012 to 2017. It defines “delinquency” as a loan that is 60 days or more past due.

TransUnion expects an overall auto loan delinquency rate of 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter of this year, a 7 percent rise from 1.3 percent in the same period of 2015.

So auto loan defaults are climbing. But despite this evidence, TransUnion economist Jason Laky said that such a trend does not necessarily signal a bubble, especially given the fierce rebound of U.S. auto sales since the bleak days of 2008 and 2009. “The auto industry during the recession took a big hit, new-car sales dropped in 2009, then went on a path to recovery that was pretty swift compared to other parts of the economy,” he said.

As a result, auto lenders were among the first in the banking sector to bounce back from the economic downturn, he said. As lenders have become more comfortable, they have also begun to reach out to more subprime borrowers, who are typically defined as those with credit scores of 660 and below. That in turn has led to more loan delinquencies, Laky said.

Even with the overall auto-loan delinquency rate projected to rise to 1.4 percent in 2017, it is still down from 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, during the so-called Great Recession.

Still, if there were systemic cracks in this growing number of subprime loans, could it have the kind of disastrous effect as when Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns closed their doors? Not really, thanks in part to the difference in volume, Laky said.

“We reported $1.1 trillion in auto loan and lease balances,” Laky said. “Of that, about 16 percent were subprime loans. So subprime is not a big category of overall auto lending.” By comparison, total mortgage-loan balances at the end of the third quarter stood at $8.35 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Mortgage loans and securities are far more complex than auto loans, Laky said. “It’s a well-understood lending product,” he said of vehicle loans. “It’s secure in that if someone does get really late, you can repossess the car” and close out the loan. This may not give solace to the apparently rising number of subprime borrowers struggling to make payments.

And a downturn in the economy, which has been humming along lately, could put serious pressure on the balance sheets of lenders who have been increasingly relying on subprime auto loans. But for the moment, Laky said, “the idea of a bubble is probably a little overblown.”

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2017 Subaru Forester Review: What’s in the Box

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The 1980s Pontiac Jingle Has a Verse! It’s Not Very Good! [Video]

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The Sunbird before its headlights went all semi-pop-up. The mighty third-generation Trans-Am, resplendent in black and gold. The flippin’ Fiero, Homes! If your mouth just watered involuntarily, you were likely well under the age of 16 in the mid-1980s. Revamping the performance-oriented image it had cultivated since the 1960s, Pontiac recast itself as the General’s Excitement Division for the Reagan era. After all, what thrills like a Parisienne?

Anybody who lived through the Excitement Era can’t shake the earworm of a creepily confident chorus belting out, “We build ex-cite-ment! Pon-ti-ac!” But there was more! What might have been lost to the mists of history has been saved by YouTube and some forward-thinking schnook’s VHS collection. As this 1984 video proves, the Pontiac jingle had other words! A whole verse, even! “We build excitement that you’ve got to try!/Pon-ti-ac!/Built with a feel for the road/Excitement to drive!/For feeling aliiiiiive!”

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In retrospect, it’s pretty terrible, and we’re not entirely sure it should’ve been unearthed. But is this really any worse than the recent Toyota Corolla ad featuring millennial-cliché humans singing along with Lesley Gore? Admittedly, the Sunbird was significantly worse than the current Corolla—or any other automobile on sale today, for that matter. Perhaps it’s time to just go back and watch the Pontiac Stinger concept video again. At least that clip proffered a spot of beachy fun to a populace in the midst of winter’s grip. This one, in retrospect, merely reminds you just how strange and disturbing the 1980s actually were.

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2017 Subaru Forester – Quick-Take Review

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Sizing Up Your Level of Car Enthusiasm

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There are many ways to size up a car, there are even more ways to be officially labeled “a car person.” We assembled a group of three very different car people who represent three very different views to get behind the wheel of the entire Genesis line-up. Michael Prichinello of the Manhattan Classic Car Club, Racing Expert Jeannette Klein, and Industrial Designer Nolen Niu describe their passion for cars and how that frames their view of the world around them.

See the the entire series here

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You Can Own Pieces of Mid-Engine Corvette History Past and Present

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Pretend for a moment that you received a holiday stocking stuffed with large-denomination currency. If you’re at a loss regarding how to invest your windfall in something both significant and satisfying, our counsel is to buy Corvette. Not just any Corvette but one or both of the two automobiles on sale with direct ties to the upcoming C8 mid-engine Corvette.

Selection one is a 2013 Ferrari 458 Italia Spider. The careful reader will notice this is not a Corvette. But considering this very car was used for benchmarking by the Corvette engineering team, this is a highly significant Ferrari.

This 458 Italia will roll across the block at Manheim’s Detroit auction house in Carleton, Michigan, on December 28.  This rosso example of fine Italian craftsmanship will be sold to the highest bidder in Manheim’s lane 21, just after a 2017 GMC Acadia and immediately before a 2016 Chevrolet Cruze, as part of GM’s year-end consignment of 794 vehicles.

A GM confidant confirmed that this Ferrari was indeed one of several sports cars studied over the years to prepare for coming Corvettes. Another source reported that the rear diffuser was damaged in shipping, necessitating its replacement.

Views of the car on the Manheim website suggest that it’s now in pristine condition with 3883 miles on the odometer, half a tank of fuel, and an original MSRP of $330,831. The list of optional equipment includes Daytona-style seats, sports exhaust, the essential Scuderia Ferrari fender shields, and carbon-fiber dashboard inserts. Manheim lists an estimated (wholesale) market value of $225,000.

Frankly, that’s stocking change compared with the second piece of Corvette-related history up for grabs at the January 14–22 Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. The 1960 CERV I (first Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle) surely will bring several million dollars.

This one-off was constructed by Corvette chief Zora Arkus-Duntov after his Corvette SS road racer cooked driver John Fitch’s feet at the 12 Hours of Sebring race in 1957. Looking ahead to a possible Indy 500 entry, Arkus-Duntov concluded that moving engine heat behind the driver would be a wise move for his open-wheel single-seater.  Tested first at Pikes Peak, then at California’s Riverside Raceway by Dan Gurney and Stirling Moss in 1960, the mid-engined CERV later lapped GM’s Milford Proving Grounds five-mile circular track at 206 mph. Both supercharging and turbocharging were examined during the car’s experimental life and it pioneered the use of rubber-bladder fuel cells.

GM donated this vital piece of Corvette history to the Briggs Cunningham Automotive Museum in Costa Mesa, California, in 1972. Against the General’s best wishes, it fell into private hands years ago with the price rising every time the car sold. An undisclosed reserve price and a buyer’s commission apply to January’s sale. Bidding online is permitted at http://ift.tt/SIu8yn. We cordially offer safe, fast test-driving assistance to CERV I’s new owner.

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You Can Own Pieces of Mid-Engine Corvette History Past and Present

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Yes, There’s an AMC Car that’s Worth a Million Bucks

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December 27, 2016 at 11:19 am by Joe Lorio | Photography by Gooding & Company/Mathieu Heurtault

Joining the expected highbrow selections at Gooding & Company’s Scottsdale auction in January 2017—vintage offerings by Ferrari, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Packard, Bentley, and Mercedes-Benz—is one from an American automaker whose wares aren’t usually found in such rarefied environs: American Motors. Although it came from the people who brought you the Gremlin and the Pacer, the AMX/3 was a bona fide exotic, one that has every right to share the podium with the better known vintage-car royalty at the Gooding sale.

A mid-engine two-seater, the AMX/3 was the ultimate product of the push to reverse AMC’s staid image, an effort that also saw the introduction of the Javelin and the AMX. Interestingly, it brought together several heavyweights of late-1960s sports-car construction: BMW did engineering and testing; Italy’s Giotto Bizzarrini (who also did work for Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Iso) developed the chassis and suspension; and Italdesign engineered the body, from a design by AMC’s Dick Teague. Power came from an AMC 390-cubic-inch V-8 mated to a four-speed transaxle. Assembly was to take place in Italy—we say “was to” because, although initial plans called for a production run of 1000 cars, only five were built before the project was halted.

This example, a prototype that tested at Monza (where it exceeded its top-speed target of 160 mph), is fresh from its second appearance at the Pebble Beach show field, where it took first place in the Bizzarrini class. That turn of events may add a few thousand dollars to the final hammer price, but with their deep pockets, those AMC collectors no doubt will be undeterred.

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Yes, There’s an AMC Car that’s Worth a Million Bucks

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The Audi TTS Is a Great Design Before Anything Else. I’m Okay with That

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From the January 2017 issue

Make no mistake: I was deeply honored to be invited to take part in the deliberations toward selecting the 2017 10Best. I spent five days driving 40-­some contenders and most of the incumbents . . . fantastic. But there were moments when I couldn’t help but feel as though I had been plopped down in Dr. Alterman’s Camp for Mildly Wayward Boys. I mean, the entire two-week drive-athon is staged at a freaking Boy Scout camp, and there are, like, 42 dudes (plus one brave woman) in their scruffy facial hair (the dudes) and ­vintage Car and Driver tees worn under untucked flannel shirts. Nearly every conversation deals with the minutiae of a highly specialized sub-sector of American culture, and it seemed as though we had all been magically transported to some kind of Neverland (the original one; not Michael Jackson’s) where no one has to grow up, where the cars are always brand-new, and where the Washtenaw Dairy doughnuts are always fresh and warm.

In this environment, after let’s-call-it-two-decades as editor-in-chief of Esquire, it should have been no surprise that the car by which I was most surprised to be delighted, the car that I spent the most time in, was one that gets no love from this crowd: the Audi TTS.

To be fair, the TT has always seemed, even to me, a bit unmanly. Its original iteration was too cute. A little underpowered. Kinda small. And those traits kept me away for a long time. But nearly 20 years since its debut, the new TT is a badass. The moment all four wheels hit the pavement, I was shocked by its acceleration and then maybe more impressed by how much the car had left in it at the point when I was starting to get scared. But I’m no car reviewer. All I know is that my best drive of the week was chasing the hallowed 718 Boxster in the screaming-yellow TTS and the Porsche never got away from me.

“The Audi TTS may be the ultimate car to be built off VW’s MQB platform, but it still seems less targeted at fun-to-drive than drive-to-impress.” —Jeff Sabatini, features editor

The reason the TT gets no official love is because, well, fashion. The mass of American men lead lives of instinctively recoiling from conspicuous displays of design, especially design that calls attention to itself. It’s pretentious. It’s ostentatious. Even though we live in a century in which design has become necessary to teach us how to make use of the technological advances of the past 20 years, we are still suspicious of products that call attention to how well designed they are. Even though we’ve endured 15 years of cable TV (from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to freaking Ryan Seacrest asking men what they’re wearing on the red carpet) teaching us that it’s okay to wear slim-fit trousers and a fitted suit jacket, here we still are, in untucked dress shirts and comfortable Levi’s.

I admit that the TT makes a point of calling attention to itself. Before I drove it, I found its paint job to be a little, um, alienating. And my first impression, upon falling into its driver’s seat, is that it’s awfully ­luxurious, a trait that I’m sure interferes with some drivers’ sense that they are one with the road. And maybe its interior is just a little too clever (though not in the annoying way, say, a Mini’s interior can be). But that was the first thing that thrilled me about the car. It took me a minute to figure out how to get the air conditioning going because the controls are integrated into the three round air vents in the dash. I’d never seen such a thing, and after another 15 seconds, it began to seem like a deficit in every other car I’d ever driven.

I’ve always been a little suspicious of Audis, worrying that they were more flash than substance. But I’m a TT man now. Think of me what you will.

2017 10Best Cars: Return to Overview

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10Best Cars: What Do We Mean By Best?

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From the January 2017 issue

We have a crack copy-editing department, the best in the business, mind you, so how is it that we can have 10 “best” cars? Or for that matter, five Volkswagen Golf variants making our list? Deviant grammar aside, there’s actually some logic to having a group of superlatives. Not every car can be everything to everyone. Automotive attempts at ubiquity tend to result in lowest-common-denominator products that are neither best at anything nor best for anyone. And still we recognize those machines that manage mass-market excellence: The Honda Accord has been on the 10Best list since a growing cohort of Car and Driver editors were mere twinkles in the eye.

Unlike comparison tests, in which we stage trials of equals, ­pitting 10Best challengers against our incumbents involves an intentional imbalance. We’re not awarding spots based on market segment; we’re sussing out transcendence. Which is why the Accord and Golf families perfectly demonstrate the three pillars of 10Best evaluation: driving engagement, value, and mission fulfillment.

Take the first, the C/D equivalent of “Will it blend?” We could call this “Will it accelerate, shift, turn, handle, and stop?” But that’s a mouthful. Our awarded cars perform each of these individual tasks exceptionally. Yet engagement is not just a numbers evaluation. In fact, it’s highly subjective. For instance, Honda, with no good reason to, offers a six-speed manual in its mid-sizer that has such a perfectly balanced shifter and delicately fluid clutch pedal that you can’t help wanting to hustle it through the gears. You’ll never find these virtues on a spec panel, yet they amplify the Accord’s other sporting credentials, such as its near-perfect body control and sublime ride. So winners must also present a cohesive and superior Gestalt; they’re the ones that tie the route together.

On its surface, value seems a simple calculation; a Volkswagen Golf starts at just $20,715, so where do we sign? But a Golf R is almost twice as much. Is it twice the car? Is a stripper Golf half as good as an R? Of course not. Yet no matter which of the many Golfs in the range you might pick, you’ll never find one that feels cheapened or decontented to meet a price point. Each Golf is priced fairly for how it drives and performs, rather than assigned an MSRP based on what the market will bear. While we can’t guarantee 10Best winners won’t follow normal paths of depreciation, we don’t expect owners to be as bothered by it. Reward never begets regret.

Mission fulfillment seems a litmus test. Does the car deliver on its promise? Of course it provides motorized transportation, but how well does it do everything else its buyers demand of a car in its segment? 10Besters stand proud of their competitors in meaningful ways, and not just with a laundry list of features. But this criterion also has a Rorschach quality, wherein we imagine ourselves owning and driving a 10Best winner every day. Indeed, many honorees will be invited to join our long-term fleet to endure 40,000 miles of making those perceptions reality. Both the Accord and Golf passed these tests with aplomb: The Honda is the perfect low-stress family sedan, and the VW is the para­gon of hatchback efficiency and utility.

All of this is why they continue to stand as our 10Best benchmarks.

2017 10Best Cars: Return to Overview

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