~Toyota will be coming out with a Prius hybrid minivan next year.  Not too many other details have come out other than it will most likely have a third row to allow for 5-7 people.  The price will be comparable to the other Prius hybrid models.

~Ford will be debuting a new traction control system on their 2011 Ford Explorer.  The driver will have a choice as to what traction control they want depending on the road conditions.  There will be a dial in the center of the console where you can choose one of four modes: normal roads, muddy or rutted roads, snowy roads, or sand.  This traction control system will adjust the engine, transmission, brakes, and wheel rotation speed accordingly.  This traction system will be standard on all Ford Explorers, which goes on sale at the end of the year.

~Toyota’s trouble continue yet again.  They announced that they are voluntarily recalling 600,000 Toyota Sienna minivans because there could be a problem with the spare tire.  If you own a 1998-2010 Sienna, you might want to look further into this recall.

~GM went a different route to market their cars today.  They went to the biggest baptist church in Detroit and offered churchgoers the opportunity to test drive many of their models, even the Chevy Volt.  GM was trying to interest some minorities to take a look at their cars without the pressures of showrooms and salespeople.  This is not a risk free marketing strategy though. Some may think it’s great that GM is going to the potential customer; to their communities and such. Others might think that GM is overstepping coming to their place of worship on Sundays. I’m in the middle on this one. I see both sides.

Wouldn’t it be quite bizarre if you were driving down the road and next to you was a car without a driver?  I think you would probably do a double take then hope that you don’t drive off the road.  Well, Stanford University has created a coupe that it just that.  The Audi Shelley is a self-driving car that Stanford developed to help make driving safer and possibly allow cars to drive on their own some day.  The Audi Shelley has a huge test to face this coming fall.  It will be tested at Pikes Peak in Colorado at the International Hill Climb.  This track has “steep grades and treacherous switchbacks” with 156 turns and 12.42 miles long.  This will be a good test to see how the Audi Shelley is able to do.

It’s really an interesting concept car.  It’s amazing that people can create such technology that could possibly allow a car to drive without a driver.  The Shelley is actually the Audi TTS that has been equipped with GPS receivers and can be programmed to follow any route using a digital map.  Computer “algorithms” let the car make real time adjustments to the terrain and calculate how fast it can go without spinning out of control. That’s the information that can hopefully make driving safer in the future.  We’ll see if the Audi Shelley actually makes it past a concept car, but either way it’s pretty neat.

Has everyone heard of these Segway vehicles?  Their saying is that they are the “leader in personal, green transportation.”  They are supposedly better than a bike, but easy to handle yourself. I’ve seen them in Washington, DC. People use them and can ride them on the sidewalk and such. Well, I found them a little odd, but of course that’s just my opinion. 

GM has designed a Segway called the EN-V “future urban mobility” concept vehicle.  This is a battery-operated two wheeler with wheels side by side instead of front and back like a bike or motorcycle.  When you ride in it, you are like doing a wheelie and then when you park it, the EN-V rests on 2 little wheels in the front of it.  Supposedly it has potential to have network capabilities, GPS, and proximity sensors, so the EN-V can talk to its friends, finding parking spaces, and charges stations.  GM unveiled the EN-V in Shanghai stating that they need to find better transportation in their overcrowded city.

Point taken, but is the EN-V and other segways the answer?  I’m not so sure.  I guess to some this is better than a bike, but it’s obviously more cumbersome and you have to worry about the battery.  Plus at least with the bike, you are getting exercise while transporting yourself from place to place. Not the case with the GM EN-V or segway.  I can’t imagine that these vehicles will be taking over our urban communities anytime soon (or actually ever,) but what do I know???

First I have a crazy story for you.  A couple in Normandy Park, WA has sued Toyota demanding that they take back their 2009 Toyota RAV4 or reimburse them for the loss of value since the Toyota problems have started.  Sounds crazy, right?  I sure think so.  I understand that there is a loss of value, but holy smokes!  I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the federal court system thinks about this lawsuit, but if they agree with this couple, yikes for Toyota!  There will be a million lawsuits out there, literally.

A man in Dallas, TX was fired from his auto dealership job and was clearly unhappy about it so he used a login of a former colleague and used an internet service to remotely disable and set off car horns of more than 100 vehicles.  Several of the car owners had to have their cars towed.  What a crazeball!  He’s being charged with a felony breach of computer security.  I’ve never heard of a computer hacker doing this.  How mad would you be if your car horn was going off and there was no way to stop it or worse your car didn’t start?!

McLaren is going to build commercial sports cars in Britain and they will use race technology to try to compete with Ferrari and Porsche.  The car will be called the MP4-12C and it will go on sale late 2011 for about $190,000-$240,000.  Chunk change!  They plan to make about 1000 of these vehicles next year and sell about 40% in North America.  Start saving now!

Vehicles are much safer now. Five-star crash test ratings are extremely common, but of course there are ways that cars could be even safer. CNN reports that Mercedes-Benz has come up with a concept car the Mercedes-Benz ESF that is supposedly the safest car that could become a norm in the near future.  The ESF has several ideas of how cars can be safer.

The first idea is a “braking bag” under the car.  There are sensors under the car and when the sensors detect that a crash is about to happen, the bag inflates which pushes a metal plate down onto the road to slow the car and help reduce impact.  Sounds good to me.

Another safety idea is an air bag inside the a metal beam in the car door.  If there is side impact, the air bag will inflate pushing the beam outward to help take the impact.  Another good thought.

Lights that will use infrared night vision to detect people or animals in the road and then shine lights directly on them to try to prevent a crash/accident. Good idea but seems like a stretch.

During a side impact, the outside seat bolster will push the driver or passenger inward, away from the door.  The last future safety idea that is a part of the Mercedes-Benz ESF is the belt bag.  These are air bags within the seat belts that will help prevent injuries. Ford Motor Co. will be using the belt bag is all of their 2011 Ford Explorer and Mercedes-Benz expects that it will have the belt bags on its cars within 5 years.

Isn’t it amazing the technology that just keeps improving for vehicles?  It’s crazy. Every time you buy a car, there will be some big technological improvement within a year, and to have safety technology improved is great!

Aftermarket wheels are always a huge hit for vehicle gurus.  People love them.  There is a downside though.  Now that the technology in vehicles is so much better, it’s hard to just buy new, bigger wheels without causing your tire pressure system to go crazy.   I read an article where someone bought 19 inch wheels and tires, but then needed to buy 17 inch wheels to put snow tires on.  The cost of all of those wheels and tires is just the beginning of his problems.  Now, the tire pressure monitoring system cannot recognize all of these different tires.  So, now he has to buy new tire sensors for these tires.  It’s at least $50 a sensor. In some cases, you may want to be aftermarket sensors, because they will be cheaper.  So, now your tire upgrade is probably approaching $800-$1000. Yikes. This is where you really have to think about making changes to your vehicles.  The technology hurts you.  Everything costs more and you can’t not buy the new sensors. Low tire pressure can majorly screw up your car as well as be unsafe. Check into these things before you spend the money to buy the aftermarket wheels then you can enjoy your aftermarket wheels and tires!!!

John Brown is an editor of roadabletimes.com, which is a website for database of flying cars.  He predicts that flying cars will not longer be a fantasy but actually a reality within the next 5 years…”a practical everyday flying car.”  When you think about this it seems ridiculous to me. We are trying to get electric cars and hybrids to become everyday use in the next 5 years, let alone flying cars.  Well I saw pictures and little descriptions of these 6 flying cars on msnbc.com that have slight potential to become more than a concept, and some of definitely more believable that there is a chance than others.

First instance, there is one that is called a Skycar and it is like a dune-buggy car that has a huge propeller on the rear and then a parasail for when you want to fly.  This Skycar actually made a successful trip from London to Timbuktu, Mali recently.  The car goes from 0 to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds, that’s good!  It also can drive a top speed of 140 mph.  When it flies, it can go 100 mph at top speed and if the engines were to fail midflight (hopefully not!) you can glide to safety with the parasail.  Skycars are on sale for about $80,000 and will be on sale starting later this year.  The Skycar seems like a pretty legit flying car, but where will you fly it?  I don’t know if doesn’t seem that practical to me.  I guess maybe I’d need more information.  If our society is having a hard time considering hybrids and electric cars, will people really buy these flying cars?  Especially for that price?  We’ll see.

I’m not privileged enough to have a car with the keyless cars, but there are 155 models this year that are offering an option of the keyless cars.  There were only 41 models with this available in 2006.  So in case you don’t know, the keyless cars work like this. You have to have a fob in your pocket or purse and as you approach the car your car doors will unlock and then you push a button to start your car and off you go.  Sounds easy and awesome, right?  i think so.

Well of course there are the skeptics and the problems with the keyless cars as their is with all new technology.  Not major problems or complaints, and probably in time their kinks will be ironed out.  One complaint by customers is that they are not sure what to do to turn off the car in an emergency.  Some models have your hold down the button, others must press the button 2-3 times.  There is no consistency with these keyless cars. Safety groups are trying to get Congress to have federal regulations put on these cars so that all of the procedures are the same.  This would make it easier for people, especially if these keyless cars become the norm.  That way if people were borrowing a car or renting a car, they would know exactly how the fob/car works without a key.  I love the idea of keyless cars and expect that this technology will become the norm before we know it.  Then I’ll be cool like the keyless car customers are.  Maybe not too, but I’ll try.

Do you have a fancy new car or are planning on getting one soon?  Well, you may very well have an opportunity to have some seriously cool technology in your dashboard, and yet another distraction while you are driving. Some vehicles will have 10 inch screens with availability to the web, 3-D maps, and high-def videos. You can even watch a movie…..all while driving!  Great!  Well, supposedly you will not be able to access some of the technology while your car is actually in motion, but still.  Sounds great but how can having a video screen and access to everything under the sun be good while you drive.  I understand that the automakers will limit some things, but there has to be something else.  More distractions cannot continue to happen while we are driving. Texting, talking, surfing the web……what’s next?  I know some of you probably think I sound like some little nerd that is prim and proper all the time. Not true. I like to follow the rules, but with these distractions it is hard to follow the rules all the time!  Too much other good stuff going on!!!

I think it’s kindof sad that I am writing about this today. I guess sad is not the right word.  I just can’t believe that there is now new computer software, DriveSafe.ly, that will read incoming text messages aloud, which of course then allows drivers to keep their eyes on the road. Crazy!  First of all, it’s against the law to text message while driving, but then again that doesn’t necessarily stop people from doing it, so I guess that’s why I am writing about this. In today’s society, we need a computer software that will allow people to get their text messages read to them while driving. They NEED to have access to the texts.  Anyways, then the software will send a message back to the person with a pre-recorded message of the driver’s choice such as “Hey, I’m driving, txt u later.”  It’s even got the text language as well!  

There are also some applications out there that will let you know when you are speeding or a voice will warn you that you are approaching a red-light camera, speed traps, school zone, or something else that might catch you up while you are driving. This software system is called PhantomALERT.  This system is like a radar detector but supposedly better.  You should never get a speeding ticket again…at least that’s their motto.   

I don’t know all of this seems kindof crazy to me. Just turn off your cell phone or use a bluetooth or handsfree headset. I’m not naive, I know that we are a mobile-device addicted nation. I get it because I am as well, so we’ll see how successful these computer software programs become as they become available across the country.  I’m sure they won’t be cheap.