Rebuilt Regulations: California moves forward with salvaged vehicle repair inspection regulations
Sacramento, California — The California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) is nearing implementation of a more stringent inspection program for rebuilt total loss salvaged vehicles. Governor Gavin Newsom signed act AB 471 into law in 2021, which at the time, required BAR to create and implement the inspection program in development by January 1 of […]
Under the Microscope: Fatal crash in Calif. prompts yet another NHTSA investigation into Tesla Autopilot
Toronto, Ontario — Another fatal collision involving a Tesla vehicle, another special probe from the NHTSA to root out the cause behind a tragedy allegedly linked to the company’s highly controversial driver assistance features. This latest incident took place in California and involved a 2018 Tesla Model 3 that is suspected to have made use […]
TAI-ed Together: Toyota Auto Insurance expands into Calif., no word yet on plans for Canada
Toronto, Ontario — Toyota’s in-house auto insurance division has officially made its way into California, marking the ninth U.S. state to receive the Japanese automaker’s “customizable coverage” insurance offerings. The company said further expansion of Toyota Auto Insurance (TAI) will be seen in the coming months, with plans to integrate Oregon, Georgia and Colorado into […]
No Place Like Home: Two class action suits launched against Tesla in Calif., claim OEM is running a repair monopoly
Toronto, Ontario — Adding to the already busy workload of Tesla’s legal department, the leading EV automaker is being sued by two classes of customers in San Francisco, who allege that Tesla has effectively run a monopoly on the repair of its vehicles. The pair of federal class action suits, headed up by two Model […]
EV/AV Report: Autonomous vehicle startups, ICE bans and more
Toronto, Ontario — An autonomous vehicle fleet gets some new toys, California finalizes its restrictions on the sale of gas-powered vehicles and a British company announces plans to deploy autonomous vehicles in Canada within two years. This is the latest in electric and autonomous vehicles. Ghost in the machine Autonomous vehicle developer Gatik has announced […]
AV Espionage: Former Apple AV engineer pleads guilty to trade secret theft in U.S. federal court
San Jose, California — Some high-tech nefariousness seems to be at play with the development of Apple’s mysterious autonomous vehicle, as a former engineer for the tech giant pleaded guilty to trade secret theft in U.S. federal court on Monday. Zhang Xiaolang was heading to the airport to catch a one-way flight to China in […]
Geofence Gameplan: Ford engineers in Calif. and Germany testing geofencing tech
Toronto, Ontario — A joint project between Ford engineers in California and Germany is currently in the midst of trials for a geofencing technology that the OEM boasts “could one day do away with the need for speed limit signs completely.” What Ford is calling the Geofencing Speed Limit Control system is purported to make […]
Who Sent You?: San Francisco police stumped by driverless rideshare vehicle
San Francisco, California — Are they the San Francisco Police Department or amateur ghost hunters? Officers were caught on camera earlier in April attempting to perform a traffic stop on a driverless rideshare vehicle shortly before it took off on history’s lowest effort escape attempt. The video that has been circulating social media over the […]
Bolt Battle: Class action launched against GM for Bolt fires
Toronto, Ontario — Taking more than a year of tensions surrounding the Chevrolet Bolt to new heights, a class action lawsuit has been levelled against General Motors alleging that the EV is unsafe due to its known fire risks. David Kennedy v. General Motors Company et al., currently before California’s northern district court, refers to […]
Qapter Down South: Tesla Insurance to use Audatex Qapter software on Texas, Calif. claims
Toronto, Ontario — American collision repairers must now get on the Audatex agenda when repairing Tesla vehicles going forward, as the automaker’s insurance wing announced a partnership with Audatex to use their Qapter platform on all Tesla insurance claims. Tesla Approved Collision Centers (TACC) were notified of the change through an email sent out in […]
