With a newly refreshed Ford Explorer set for 2016, it seems to make perfect sense that the police interceptor thats based on the SUV would also see an update. According to the teaser image put out by Ford, that’s just what we’ll see at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show.
The image just shows the backlit Interceptor menacingly shrouded in mystery, save for the distinct red and blue lights we hate seeing in our rear view mirror. As far as details, Ford has given us nothing to go on. The current Interceptor SUV houses a slightly larger 3.7-liter six-cylinder than the 3.5-liter available to civilians. We know that the refreshed explorer will keep the same engine lineup as the current one, with one revision: both the naturally aspirated six-cylinders remain, but the 2.0-liter four-cylinder Ecoboost will be swapped with a marginally bigger 2.3-liter.
There’s little to suggest that the new Interceptor will get any different engine options, though having 365 horsepower on tap from the six-cylinder Ecoboost sounds menacing enough. Again, We’ll have to wait a week for any details.
As for Ford’s other police cruiser, the Taurus-based Interceptor, there hasn’t been any word suggesting it will be included in this announcement, though we’re sure to see a similar announcement if/when the long-in-the-tooth Taurus gets its refresh. Interestingly, the SUV Interceptor was the B-side to the Taurus Interceptor launch as the sedan was in place to step in for the retiring Crown Victoria. Since then, its the SUV that those in the service prefer, almost two to one.
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.