May the Fourth and Revenge of the Fifth have passed, but we get excited for Star War-related news whenever we get it. And in the rare case when elements of the franchise are brought out into the real world, we get ecstatic. The refreshed 2018 Mustang comes into play here, with a new face that may bring to mind a certain heavy-breathing Sith lord.
Yes, it was revealed that the new Mustang takes inspiration from Darth Vader, particularly his helmet and mask, and the news comes straight from the horse’s mouth. Ford’s design manager Melvin Betancourt recently spoke to Autoblog regarding the background of this design.
“When we were designing the new 2018 Mustang, the team wanted to make the new model look more aggressive, and one place where we found inspiration was one of the most famous screenplay villains of all time,” Betancourt said. “The angled nostrils and contours of Darth Vader’s mask became the inspiration for the Mustang’s new fog lamp scoops and front-end shape.”
Interpretation is in the eye of the beholder, so not everyone may see what Ford wanted you to see. But keep in mind that carmakers can take influence from anything, they don’t aim to directly superimpose that image onto the vehicle. Strong and standout elements are taken into consideration, and the best designs subtly integrate these into the car’s natural curves, points, and surfaces.
Whether or not you see the Vader resemblance, the 2018 Mustang does appear more aggressive. The shrunken, angled headlights glare at the road ahead, and a gaping grille makes it look hungry for its next meal. The meaner look may be polarizing, but it’s starting to grow on us.
Regarding the homage to one of history’s greatest silver screen supervillains, it helps if the Mustang in question is decked out in Ford’s Shadow Black paint.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.