We’re officially into the traditional year-end sales period for automakers. That means big discounts are on the way, as both manufacturers and dealerships want to get rid of unsold inventory to make room for next year’s models.
This season, Ford has decided to boost incentives on its bestselling electric vehicles, the 2024 F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E models.
For a purchase of the Mach-E or the F-150 Lightning XLT and Platinum models, Ford is offering 0% financing for 72 months, as well as a $5,000 bonus cash. The lease for the Mach-E comes with a $7,500 lease cash and $3,000 bonus cash. For the Lightning models, it’s a $3,500 lease cash and $3,000 bonus cash.
Ford’s offer also includes a complimentary home charger, with the company covering the cost of standard installation as part of its Ford Power Promise program.
“Ford believes it will take more than jumbo rebates to truly break through with the estimated 19 million people in the U.S. interested in electric vehicles,” says Ford CEO Jim Farley.
The Power Promise program, launched in late September, seeks to reassure would-be EV buyers regarding their main concerns about going electric. Ford, like many automakers, has focused on making public charging easier, including giving its EVs access to Tesla’s SuperChargers with an adapter.
“We have learned just how important home charging is to overall electric vehicle adoption in the U.S.,” Farley says. “Nearly 90% of shoppers say they would be more likely to buy an electric vehicle if they knew they could charge at home.”
As for on-the-road charging, Ford seeks to ensure its drivers know where to fill up: Its BlueOval charge network searches for chargers across various networks such as Electrify America and Tesla SuperChargers.
Ford EV batteries also come with an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty.
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.