Audi is hard at work preparing the RS Q E-Tron for the 2022 Dakar Rally in hopes that it can earn the distinction of being the first electrified vehicle to win the grueling competition. In fact, the vehicle has just completed an eight-day endurance test near the Spanish city of Zaragoza. The Volkswagen subsidiary tested the off-road SUV on unpaved ground back in July. But this was the first time it put the vehicle through its paces in actual conditions it's expected to encounter during one of the toughest rallies in the world. 

Three teams with two drivers each participated in the event, dividing the eight days and 1,056 miles of intensive testing between them. On the gravel roads that stretched for up to 11 miles, the RS Q E-Tron reached a speed of 112 mph. The drivers admitted that there's still some fine-tuning to be done, but they were impressed with the vehicle's performance. Arnau Niubó Bosch, Audi's development engineer, explained that the test "was focused on getting in as much driving as possible and detecting weak spots." For the SUV's next test in September, Audi will take it into the dunes for the first time.

As we previously mentioned, the RS Q E-Tron has an electric drivetrain with two modified Formula E motors. It has an energy converter with a TFSI engine to charge its battery while driving and braking, since one wouldn't find charging stations in the middle of a rally. That means it's not a zero-emissions vehicle, though Audi says the converter is energy efficient. 

The city of Detroit in partnership with both Ford and Bosch is about to open a new Smart Parking Lab, hosted in Detroit’s Bedrock Assembly Garage. It’s a real-world environment to test future autonomous technologies that could be used to refine autonomous valet parking into a product. Opening in September, the facility will also enable these companies to test if it’s possible to introduce automatic smart charging into the system.

The Detroit Smart Parking Lab is designed to continue work showcased last summer, when Ford and Bosch showed off a self-parking Ford Escape in that same building. The vehicle was able to drive through the car park without human assistance, find a space, and reverse park into it without any stress. It’s hoped that, in some far-flung future when climate change doesn’t kill us all, that this sort of automatic valet parking could free people up to spend more time doing anything other than fighting for a space in a multi-storey car park.

As well as Ford and Bosch, rental company Enterprise is going to test how this technology could streamline its own processes. It hopes that cars that drive themselves to a valet station, then recharge themselves before parking back on the lot ready for pickup will reduce dead time between rentals. At this stage, at least, the hope is to just get the cars to park themselves in a manner that’s cost-effective for the company.

President Biden is throwing more of his weight behind electric cars. Biden is signing an Executive Order that sets a target for half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to have some form of zero-emissions driving, whether it's a pure EV, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The move is meant to not only promote clean transportation and limit climate change, but help the US "outcompete" a Chinese car industry that's quickly shifting toward electrified vehicles.

In sync with the order, the EPA and NHTSA will outline how they plan to undo the Trump administration's rollbacks of emissions and fuel efficiency standards. The two agencies will collaborate using standards built on the "momentum" from an agreement between California and automakers BMW, Ford, Honda, Volvo and VW. The EPA's proposed rules would take effect in the 2023 model year, while the NHTSA's would arrive in the 2024 model year. The team-up would have the standards mesh until model year 2026.

The Biden administration has rallied support from domestic brands for the effort. Ford, GM and Stellantis have declared a "shared aspiration" to meet the 2030 target and otherwise support Biden's vehicle electrification policies.

It's a significant goal. EVs have represented about 2 percent of US car sales for the past three years, according to the International Energy Agency and Pew Research. While the pandemic might have played a role in limiting 2020 sales, meeting the 2030 target would fundamentally transform the US car market, not to mention the charging infrastructure needed to support it.

However, it might drag behind some states, not to mention car makers. California and Massachusetts will ban all sales of new gas-based cars by 2035. GM also plans to exclusively sell EVs by that year, while Ford will go completely electric in Europe by 2030. Brands like Volvo and Stellantis' Fiat badge have also committed to full electrification by 2030. However ambitious the Biden plan might be, it could seem relatively modest in some respects.

Following its Q2 earnings call this week, Tesla representatives confirmed previous reports that its commercial EV project, Semi, will be delayed until 2022. The company cites both the ongoing global processor shortage and its own currently-limited battery production capability for the new 4680 style cells as contributing to its decision. 

On the plus side, Tesla executives also confirmed that development of the highly-anticipated Cyber Truck continues apace. What's more,they explained that once production fully ramps up for the Model Y in the new Berlin and Texas plants, Tesla intends to launch production lines to begin the Semi line. For the full story, watch the video above, and for continuing coverage of all things Tesla, stay tuned to Engadget!

Tesla is adding another popular streaming service to its in-car infotainment system. As part of its latest software update, you can now watch Disney+ when you have some downtime during charging. Tesla's Theater Mode already offers Netflix, Disney-owned Hulu, YouTube and Twitch. All it's missing is HBO Max, Peacock and Paramount+ before it can call itself a true video hub. A Tesla owner shared screenshots of the "2021.24" update, which includes several additional features, in a Reddit post.

Another highlight is the new "Car Wash Mode" that secures the vehicle for a scrub down. Once activated, it can close or disable everything from the windows to wipers to sentry mode and the parking sensor chimes. For car washes with conveyor belts, the mode can switch the free roll option to neutral to prevent the car from auto-braking if you leave.

There's also a new dashcam auto-save that automatically stores clips whenever the vehicle detects a safety event (like a collision or airbag deployment). To stave off any more damagingprivacy concerns, Tesla has chosen to make the feature opt-in. Clips will also be stored locally and never shared with the automaker.

Rounding out the new additions are auto-dimming for mirrors, more battery info, remain connected to WiFi in drive, along with language support for Russian, Romanian and Hungarian. As usual, the quality of life improvements are designed to keep Tesla owners satisfied long after they've shelled out thousands on an EV.

Tesla appears to have shrugged off the production woes it suffered last year during the COVID lockdown with the company announcing a number of "new and notable records" during its Q2 earnings call on Monday. Not only did Tesla build and ship 200,000 vehicles during the quarter, a 151 percent increase over last year, it also earned $1.1 billion in net income during the same period — a whopping tenfold increase year over year. Overall, revenue grew 98 percent from this time last year thanks in large part to Tesla's increased deliveries though the company did suffer from a "Bitcoin-related impairment" of $23 million during the past quarter.

Additionally, Tesla rolled out 85 MW worth of solar capability in Q2, a 215 percent increase from last year's 25 MW as well as added nearly 1,000 Supercharging stations to its ever expanding network. 

In terms of tech, Tesla's use of radar as part of the vehicle's Full Self Driving system will soon be coming to an end. "After selling over a million vehicles equipped with radar, we have collected enough data to start removing it in some regions," the company wrote in its shareholder deck. "The removal of radar, which is enabled by our collection of a vast dataset of corner cases, allows us to focus on vision and increase the pace of improvement."

The company is also getting closer to switching over to its new 4680 battery cells, having successfully validated the battery tech's "performance and lifetime" at its California-based fabrication facility. With that testing out of the way, Tesla is focusing on "improving the 10 percent of manufacturing processes that currently bottleneck production output," though the company has not yet announced when the battery style changeover will actually take place. 

Developing

Ford might be excited about its BlueCruise hands-free driving tech, but GM is less than thrilled about it. The Detroit Free Press and The Verge report that GM has sued Ford for allegedly violating the trademarks for both its rival Super Cruise feature and its autonomy-focused Cruise company.

GM was holding mediated talks with Ford to reach a "good-faith" arrangement, according to DFP sources. The two sides reportedly didn't make a deal before a July 24th deadline, however, prompting the lawsuit. A GM spokesperson said the company had "no choice" but to sue Ford after trying to resolve the dispute "amicably."

Ford's representative, meanwhile, argued that GM's lawsuit was "meritless and frivolous." People understood that "cruise" was short for cruise control, Ford said, and BlueCruise was ultimately the "next evolution" of its Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control feature. The automaker added that GM didn't seem to have issues with other brands' naming schemes, such as BMW's Active Cruise Control and Hyundai's Smart Cruise Control.

The attention to Ford isn't surprising. Both companies see hands-free driving as a major selling point for their cars, with full self-driving a long-term goal. It's also no secret that the two Detroit brands have been fierce rivals for a long time — neither Ford nor GM will want to cede ground, at least not quickly. We wouldn't be surprised if the lawsuit ends with a settlement, but not before the companies have traded some verbal jabs.

The Volkswagen group's desire to crush records with electrified cars now extends to one of the world's toughest off-road challenges. Autoblogreports that Audi has started testing the RS Q E-Tron, a from-scratch hybrid off-roader it hopes will score overall victory in the 2022 Dakar Rally. If so, it would be the first electrified vehicle to win the gruelling competition.

 The RS Q E-Tron relies on an electric drivetrain with two modified Formula E motors, one at each axle. As you won't find a charging station in the middle of the desert, however, Audi uses a race-ready TFSI engine as part of an energy converter that charges the battery while driving and braking. This isn't a zero-emissions car, then, but it stays in a relatively efficient power band (between 4,500RPM and 6,000RPM) that should reduce the racer's environmental impact.

The machine should be highly adaptable, too. Unlike many EVs, the front and rear axles aren't mechanically connected — software handles torque distribution instead. That not only allows for an easily reconfigurable center differential, but saves the bulk that would normally be used for a conventional differential and propshaft.

Audi plans to enter the machine into multiple cross-country rallies in 2021 before participating in the Dakar Rally in January.

If Audi is successful, the RS Q E-Tron will make a stronger case for eco-friendly endurance racing. While not a pure EV, it will handle extremely long stages (up to 500 miles) with a significantly reduced emissions footprint. It also won't surprise you to hear that Audi wants more than just bragging rights. It expects lessons learned from the car to reach production cars. We wouldn't count on something with a similar drivetrain when the VW group is transitioning to EVs, but it's easy to imagine electric SUVs and crossovers that are better-suited to off-roading.

The dream of autonomous driving everywhere is still a long way away. But soon Mercedes will launch Drive Pilot, its level 3 autonomous driving system in Germany on the S-Class and EQS. We had a chance to try the system out at the automaker’s test track and, while it did what it was supposed to do, we found it hard to turn off our driving brain while behind the wheel.

The system works on highways in traffic at speeds up to 60 kph (37 mph). Essentially it’s for daily commuting. But during that time the driver can stop paying attention and the Mercedes is responsible for everything that happens. That’s not to say you can nap, the vehicle still tracks the driver with an in-car monitor and it requires the driver to take over when it’s about to go faster than 37 mph, an emergency vehicle shows up, it rains or other situations that the vehicle is not built to handle. But you can play Tetris and text people. So that’s fun. Watch our video for the full story.

Mercedes has a lot to prove with its first proper EV coming to the United States. The EQS will land in dealers this fall at a yet-to-be-announced price point and, when it does, it’ll take on offerings from Tesla and Porsche. How will it fare against these EVs? We had a chance to drive the 2021 EQS for two days and figure out how it stacks up not just against competitors but up against the S-Class itself.

On our drive we got time behind the 450+ with rear-wheel drive, the 580 4Matic with all-wheel drive, and the Edition One version with its two-tone paint and 580 4Matic powerplant. All vehicles have a 107.8 kWh capacity battery pack and on the WLTP range test, the vehicle is rated at 485 miles. Of course, the more stringent EPA testing needs to be done and that number should fall. For now, we have a drive and impressions while we wait for range estimates and pricing. Watch our first drive video above for the full story.