Anyone who’s spent any time in central London can’t have failed to notice the number of supercars and other luxury vehicles cruising the streets, particularly around the glitzy shops and hotels of the capital city’s bustling West End district.
In a desperate effort to be noticed, many of the owners drive their motors loudly or at high speed, and London’s Metropolitan Police has had enough.
In an operation targeting anti-social driving that began on August 8 and lasted for three days, the Met Police impounded numerous supercars and luxury vehicles worth a total of more than $8 million.
“Officers seized a total of 72 luxury vehicles, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Bentleys that were either unroadworthy or being driven illegally,” the Met said in a press release shared on Tuesday.
It said the operation had been organized in response to concerns raised by residents, businesses, and visitors about an increase in the luxury vehicles causing a nuisance, particularly in and around the Hyde Park, Kensington, and Chelsea areas.
A number of drivers were issued with tickets for motoring offenses that included driving without insurance, without a license, and while disqualified. Other listed offenses included false documentation and the use of fraudulent registration plates.
The haul even included several stolen vehicles.
And that wasn’t all. “Met officers uncovered a range of other criminal activity as part of their investigation, making eight arrests,” the police said. “These included individuals wanted for actual bodily harm and criminal damage, drug offenses, theft, and immigration offenses.”
Commenting on the three-day operation, Special Chief Officer James Deller, from the Met’s Special Constabulary, said: “The Met is committed to tackling anti-social behavior and this operation was set up to respond to concerns from residents, businesses, and visitors about high-value vehicles causing a nuisance in known hotspot areas in central and west London.”
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.