The Porsche 918 Spyder concept features hybrid and electric drive technology, but don’t let that fool you — this is still a sports car. The 918 Spyder offers the performance of a super sports car, with a top-end speed of 198 mph and acceleration from a standstill to 100 km/h in just under 3.2 seconds. Its high-revving V8 combustion engine pumps out more than 500 horsepower, and is paired with two electric motors: one on the front axle, and one on the rear, which add an additional 218 horsepower to the mix. With all that power, the fuel consumption must be through the roof right? Wrong. The Spyder is planned to provide an outstanding 78 mpg, putting even your Prius to shame. What kind of price tag does a car with this unique combination of supreme performance and low fuel consumption come with? A starting price of $630,000.
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.