The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced that the scrappage scheme for the London ULEZ expansion has been altered to now cover all residents of London, unlike previously where only a small number of eligible groups were allowed to apply. Click this BBC News article link to read more.
The legal case brought against the test operator, Rafaela Vasquez, who was working for Uber in their autonomous vehicle program who was monitoring the system when it hit and killed Elaine Herzberg five years ago, has ended after she pleaded guilty to endangerment. This has resulted in three years probation but avoids any jail time.
Of note is that no charges have ever been brought against Uber or anyone else from the company. Rafaela disputes claims she was watching The Voice on her phone, instead stating she was checking the in-company channel on the app Slack, as the Uber had instructed all operatives to do. Click this article link from WIRED to read more on these developments.
We also strongly recommend you check out a piece from Ed Niedermeyer, discussing the case and what it means for the industry and us drivers. You can read that by clicking this link here.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), have released the registration figures of new cars, for July 2023. Growth continues once again, which is positive news, but it is still over a decade (apart from the previous two years) to find a worse month. EV registration continue to hover around 16%, with diesel continuing to fall. To read more, click this link to the SMMT article.
With physical access to a Tesla researchers have managed to access parts of the system that allow them to enable some options and activate them, without handing over their money to the company. As more companies fit all options and then hide them behind extra payments we will likely see a rise in such activities. You can find out more by clicking this TechCrunch article link here.
Californian’s privacy regulator has announced it is investigating the collection and sharing of data by connected cars. This follows some moves in Europe. Click here to learn more, from a MSM news link.
Alan clarifies the different model sizes of the range, which many in the US could’ve done with understanding when reporting on the reveal of the new Land Cruiser. The looks have been inspired by their historical models but they have managed not to create a pastiche. In the UK we will get the same 2.8 litre diesel until late...
