Tesla Motors got some real-world publicity for its touted car safety back in August. The Norwegian newspaper site Bergensavisen reported that a Tesla Model S was caught in a landslide outside of Bergen, Norway. The car was pushed close to the edge of a cliff and crushed by a large tree. The woman and child occupants survived uninjured — a testament to the strength of the car’s construction. In fact, the Model S did get an overall five-star rating by the NHTSA, and Tesla itself claimed it broke the crushing machine used in one of the tests. Whether this is true or not, it certainly proved itself when a tree landed on top of it.
Last week, the crushed Model S 60 was put up for sale on a Norwegian classified ads site, though it’s being sold as a parts car.
The car is indeed a write-off. The front truck (or frunk) appears to have sustained the most damage, and the hood is unsalvageable. The bumper cover is hanging on by a thread. The rear end of the car was also crushed, so it’s a good thing nobody was in the rear-facing seats. The interior seems mostly intact, if you can look past the broken glass and rearview mirror hanging by its wires. The windshield was smashed, but it did not shatter.
The latest safety reports for Tesla focus on its new Autopilot system, which was released as a software update earlier this month. The Autopilot allows the Model S to steer within a lane, change lanes by tapping a turn signal, and manage speed by using active, traffic-aware cruise control. The system can also control the indivudal motors, brakes and steering to help avoid collisions and keep the cars on the road. It can even scan for parking and then do the job itself.
The Autopilot system is only available in North America, so don’t go blaming it for the tree incident. However, American Tesla owners are reporting malfunctions with the system, which is currently in a beta stage.
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.