Toronto, Ontario — Canadian auto industry leaders warn the federal government to adapt its electric vehicle (EV) strategy in response to growing American investment, U.S. lawmakers consider mandating noisemakers on post-1997 EVs and hybrids and a Waymo autonomous vehicle (AV) self-drives itself into an open trench. This is the latest in electric and autonomous vehicles.
Sensing Urgency
Automotive industry representatives had a clear message at the EV Innovation & Technology conference at Humber College: act quickly or lose an opportunity.
Currently, the United States has passed the Inflation Reduction Act which subsidizes domestic EV manufacturing and sales, pressuring Canadian manufacturers into a fiercer state of competition.
While Canada has already invested over $15 billion since the start of 2021, industry executives say more incentives are needed.
“We’re not going to be able to beat the IRA in terms of amount of money, but we need to match some aspects,” said GM Canada president Marissa West. “The sense of urgency really can’t be overstated here.”
Pop goes the EV
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering expanding the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, questioning whether hybrids and EVs manufactured as early as 1997 should require pedestrian noisemakers.
This follows a petition in July 2022 arguing that all EVs and hybrids should have noisemakers for pedestrian safety, regardless of manufacturing date. Currently, all EVs and hybrids weighing under 4,536 kilograms manufactured on or after Mar. 1, 2021 must have these noisemakers installed.
If passed by the NHTSA, this may impact 9.1 million cars, with the lack of a noisemaker being retroactively considered a safety defect.
Beware, new driver
An autonomous Waymo vehicle in San Francisco has made its virtual instructors proud, driving into a construction site and stopping seconds before rolling into an open trench.
According to a video published on Instagram, the visibly empty vehicle appeared to struggle with deciding between coming to a stop, pulling over or driving through the trench.
In a statement by Waymo to the San Francisco Standard, the autonomous driving system alerted the assistance team of the issue after bringing the vehicle to a safe stop.
“Still has Waymo to learn,” captioned Freward Guido-DeVeyra on the video.
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