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Category: transportation – Page 255

Tesla cut a steering component from some cars to deal with chip shortage, sources say

Under pressure to hit fourth-quarter sales goals while coping with widespread semiconductor shortages, Tesla decided to remove one of the two electronic control units that are normally included in the steering racks of some made-in-China Model 3 and Model Y cars, according to two employees and internal correspondence seen by CNBC.

Tesla did not disclose the exclusion, which has already affected tens of thousands of vehicles being shipped to customers in China, Australia, the U.K., Germany and other parts of Europe. It was not immediately clear whether Tesla would make similar changes to cars manufactured in or shipped to the U.S.

It’s Official, No More Stick Shifts for Mercedes-Benz

Using an automatically-operated clutch.

New patent filings from Ford outline a design for a new type of manual box that only uses hand inputs and doesn’t require a clutch pedal to shift, a report from *The Drive* reveals.

With its new design, Ford aims to remove some of the negative associations drivers have with manual transmission vehicles, which has led some big automakers, such as Mercedes-Benz, to announce they will stop producing stick shift cars. ## An easier way to shift gears.

The patent, for a manual transmission with [an] electric clutch\.

Ford’s new patent filings show a new type of manual box design that only uses hand inputs and doesn’t require a clutch pedal to shift.

The Ethical Debate About Whether AI Ought To Warn You When The Self-Driving Car That You Are Riding In Is About To Crash

We’ve all likely had our share of car crashes over the years. Let’s trace the various published research underlying a somewhat simple but altogether crucial question, namely if you know that a crash is about to occur should you go limp or attempt to tighten and brace yourself. Turns out that the answer is complicated and often dependent upon the circumstances at hand. First, there is a popular assumption that you ought to let your body go loose or limp when an impending car crash is about to occur. Some claim that this ragdoll posturing will be advantageous. The purported logic is that we all know that a straight and narrow stick will presumably break and snap entirely when placed under intense pressure. As such, if you tense up, you are risking all manner of personal bodily damage. According to the sage wisdom of Confucius: “The reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.”

Full Story:

Quick, you are inside a self-driving car and it is about to get embroiled in a car crash, what should you do? And what should the AI driving system do? Tough questions, for sure.

19-year-old rejects free Tesla offer for deleting Elon Musk account

A 19-year-old has turned down the offer of a free Tesla Model 3 in return for deleting his Twitter account which tracks the location of Elon Musk’s private jet.

College freshman Jack Sweeney manages a Twitter account called @ElonJet which tracks the aircraft using bots to detect air traffic data.

Musk had previously asked for Sweeney to take the account down earlier in the fall in exchange for $5,000 but he ultimately refused and asked for an internship instead, he previously told DailyMail.com.

NASA’s X-48 Aircraft Test Flights Promise a ‘Green Airliner’ For the Future

Fewer CO2 emissions, more cargo space.

California-based startup Natilus revealed a new unmanned aircraft that it believes will make air cargo more sustainable as well as cost-effective, a report from *NewAtlas* reveals.

The company designed a blended wing body aircraft, similar to NASA’s X-48 “green airliner” concept, which it says allows it to offer “an estimated 60% more cargo volume than traditional aircraft of the same weight while reducing costs and carbon dioxide per pound by 50%.” startup Natilus’ new aircraft promise fewer CO2 emissions and more cargo space.