Staying in your lane is a lot easier when you know how much of the road is yours to use. Unfortunately, America’s decades-long love affair with performing the absolute bare minimum of basic infrastructure maintenance has left many stretches of the nation’s highway lane markers faded, damaged and obscured. A new pilot program from Honda Research Institute USA could one day help local highway and traffic departments keep a closer eye on the state of the roads in their care, using the cars travelling upon them.

The Honda Road Condition Monitoring System leverages the cameras and GPS navigation systems already found in many of today’s automobiles to monitor the real-time conditions of roads and detect potential hazards. The onboard system will evaluate each stretch of lane marker as green, yellow, grey and red. Green and yellow denote ideal or good quality lane markers, while red indicates markers in need of repair and grey means that there are no markers present at all (like on city streets or rural roads).

The system captures road conditions using the vehicle’s cameras and other sensors, coordinating that feed with the onboard GPS to provide exact locations of any hazards or damage and then uploads that data to a secure server. Once the data is in the cloud, local highway and transportation departments will be able to access it through a web portal to see which stretches of roadway need to be repaired or repainted most urgently.

“We regularly inspect our roadways throughout Ohio and act quickly to address any issues, like faded or damaged pavement markings, that are identified. It’s a labor-intensive process. Good pavement markings are important to the drivers of today and the vehicles of tomorrow,” Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jack Marchbanks said in a statement Monday. “We’re excited to work with Honda to improve the process.”

Honda is working with the Ohio Department of Transportation for its upcoming pilot program, which is slated to begin early next year. During that study, obviously only select Honda vehicles will be recording datam, “to help enhance the efficiency of the road maintenance operation in Ohio,” according to a Monday press release. The research institute is looking to eventually connect entire fleets of Honda and Acura vehicles, allowing them to share data via V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) networks and provide real-time updates to their ADA systems.

Ford CEO Jim Farley tweeted that it's been tough keeping up with the "incredible demand" for the company's all-electric Mustang Mach-E, but the automaker's going to try. In the tweet, he said Ford is increasing production of the Mach-E to 200,000 vehicles per year in the US starting in 2022 and in Europe by 2023. That's triple the units the company manufactured in 2021. While Farley didn't detail how Ford plans to make that happen, Automotive News has reported that the company will delay its Explorer and Aviator EVs to make way for Mach-E production. 

According to the publication, Ford sent a memo to suppliers telling them that the electric vehicles would be delayed by 18 months. Further, the EVs will no longer be manufactured at Ford's Cuautitlan, Mexico plant, which will now be dedicated to manufacturing the Mustang Mach-Es. The Explorer and Aviator EVs were supposed to be the company's next major EV launch after the F-150 Lightning and were scheduled to start production by mid-2023. The 18-month delay means it won't be rolling off the production line until December 2024 — Ford also has yet to announce which factory will manufacture the new vehicles. 

Farley previously said the Ford has decided to double its EV output to 600,000 electric vehicles per year by the end of 2023 as part of its efforts to become the biggest EV manufacturer in the US. Back then, Automotive News reported that production will be spread across the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit.

Mercedes-Benz has issued a server-side update to fix an oversight that had allowed owners of its EQS EV and recent S-Class sedans to watch video content on the 56-inch MBUX Hyperscreen displays found in those cars while they were in motion. In a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filing spotted by Consumer Reports editor Keith Barry, the automaker says it found an “incorrect configuration” on its backend server in November that may have been installed on some vehicles. It estimates nearly 227 cars were affected by the oversight. And while Mercedes is not aware of any crashes, it’s moving forward with a recall.

News of the decision comes in the same week that a report from The New York Times said Tesla recently updated its vehicles to allow passengers to play select games even while their car was moving. “Solitaire is a game for everyone, but playing while the car is in motion is only for passengers,” the company’s infotainment system says after someone launches the title. It’s possible for the driver to bypass that warning and then play the game. It’s a feature NHTSA says it’s in contact with Tesla about.

“The Vehicle Safety Act prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with design defects posing unreasonable risks to safety,” a spokesperson for the agency told Engadget. In 2019, NHTSA said 3,142 people in the US died in crashes involving distracted drivers.

GM will take the wraps from its Silverado EV at CES 2022, but you'll have to wait considerably longer to put one in your garage. According to Automotive News, GM has revealed that its mainstream electric pickup will enter production in early 2023 ahead of sales late that year. It's arriving well after the Hummer EV pickup ships this December, then, and months after the electric Hummer SUV (now slated for early 2023).

The automaker is still shy on details, although it has already teased a few key details. The Silverado EV will share the same drivetrain and Ultium battery tech as the Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq, with promises of over 400 miles of range and four-wheel steering. The regular version will have a glass roof that adds to the perceived interior space, and there will be fleet variants for workplace buyers.

The timing isn't ideal. The electric Silverado will surface over a year after its expected main rival, Ford's F-150 Lightning. Tesla's Cybertruck might arrive sooner, too. And while pricing is still unknown, there's a chance the Rivian R1T might siphon some of Chevy's customers for the next two years. Simply put, the CES unveiling could be crucial to sparking interest and setting expectations — buyers will want to know if the Silverado is worth the extra patience.

Many car brands are touting recycled parts in their vehicles, but Ford thinks it can claim some extra bragging rights. The badge claims the Bronco Sport is the first vehicle to use parts made entirely of recycled ocean plastic. Ford used plastic from the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to make wireless harness clips in the SUV. They're as durable as previous petroleum-based clips, but require less energy to make and even cost 10 percent less.

The company has been using some degree of recycled plastic for over two decades, although it has been getting creative as of late. It recently started making F-250 fuel-line clips from 3D printer waste, and used water bottles for the underbody shields on the 2020 Escape.

This move could be an important step toward more sustainable car production. At the same time, it shows just how far Ford has to go. They're small parts in an SUV that's sold exclusively with a combustion engine inside — this would carry more weight if they were larger components in a hybrid or pure electric vehicle. Ford has vowed to further electrify its lineup and explore future uses of ocean plastic. Until that happens, though, this is more a hint of that future than a major milestone.

Many Tesla vehicles allow drivers to play a selection of games on the infotainment system while the car is in motion, according to a report by The New York Times. The company rolled out an update in the summer that reportedly let drivers play Solitaire, jet fighter game Sky Force Reloaded and strategy title The Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise while on the road.

The touchscreen is said to display a warning before a game of Solitaire starts. “Solitaire is a game for everyone, but playing while the car is in motion is only for passengers," the message reads, according to the Times. That indicates Tesla knows the game is playable while the car's moving.

Although players have to acknowledge that they're a passenger, the driver can tap that button and play the game. Even if a passenger is playing something, it's possible that a driver will divert their attention to the screen to see what's happening anyway.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says 3,142 people died in crashes involving distracted drivers in the US in 2019. A 2017 study suggested that many infotainment features absorbed drivers' attention too long for them to be safe. Researchers at the University of Utah found that, when drivers used voice-based and touchscreen systems, they "took their hands, eyes and mind off the road for more than 24 seconds to complete tasks."

Drivers are supposed to keep their hands on the steering wheel when Tesla's Autopilot is engaged, but a recent study suggested drivers become less attentive when the mode is active. In August, the NHTSA said it was investigating Autopilot following a number of crashes with parked first responder vehicles. Those resulted in one death and 17 injuries.

Other automakers lock many touchscreen and infotainment features when the car is in motion. Stellantis (fka Fiat Chrysler), for instance, lets drivers and passengers watch a DVD on the dashboard screen in some vehicles, though only when the car's parked. NHTSA guidelines urge automakers to ensure that cars with infotainment devices prevent drivers from carrying out "inherently distracting secondary tasks while driving.”

Tesla has addeda numberof games to its infotainment system over the last few years. Until a few months ago, they were only playable while the car was parked. The Times says Tesla and CEO Elon Musk didn't respond to requests for comment — the company no longer has a PR department. Engadget has contacted the NHTSA for comment.

Tesla will replace the Autopilot cameras in the front fenders of some its electric vehicles for free, according to CNBC. While Tesla has yet to issue a recall, the news organization has seen internal documents distributed to authorized service providers in late November, asking them to replace faulty repeater cameras at no cost to owners. Apparently, the cameras on some Model S, X and 3 vehicles manufactured by the company at its Fremont, California plant have faulty printed circuit boards. 

Those cameras capture the car's blind spots, and Autopilot wouldn't work without them. If they're not working as intended, drivers typically only see a block box on their main display and may get alerts that their Autopilot has limited function. CNBC says Tesla may have to replace cameras for at least several hundred vehicles as a result of the faulty PCBs it used.

A Tesla sales manager told the publication that internal service notices are sometimes followed by voluntary recalls, but the automaker has yet to issue a statement. Tesla recalled vehicles several times in the past over various issues. In October, it recalled nearly 3,000 Model 3 and Y vehicles, because their front suspension lateral link fasteners may loosen. The company also recalled 11,704 Tesla EVs from 2017 and later in November after they became prone to false-positive braking following a buggy Full Self-Driving beta update.

Two years ago, BMW delivered its 500,000th electrified vehicle (including EVs and hybrids), promising to deliver one million units in two years. Now, the company has announced that it's met that goal by delivering its one millionth electrified vehicle, an iX xDrive40 SUV (shown above), to a customer in Europe. It's also promising to double that tally to two million by next year, while delivering two million fully electric EVs by 2025. 

BMW was a pioneer in the pure electric category with the i3 and i8 EVs, but has been slow to ramp up its offerings since then. As such, the majority of its electrified sales have been hybrid, rather than pure EVs. (The term "electrified" generally encompasses both PHEVs, mild hybrids and EVs.) Between January and September of 2021, BMW reportedly sold 59,688 EVs and 171,887 plug-in hybrid vehicles worldwide, according to CleanTechnica. In 2020, it sold 192,646 plug-in vehicles, including PHEVs and EVs, InsideEVs reported. 

This year, the company launched the i4 sedan and iX SUV pure electric models into the US market, but they only went on sale last month. It also offers four PHEVs, including versions of the 7, X5, 3 and 5 models. Over the next year, BMW will add the fully electric BMW 7 series and X1, plus the high-volume BMW 5 series by 2023. It plans to have "about ten million fully-electric vehicles on the road" by 2031 or so.

Toyota has selected a site for its proposed $1.29 billion US battery manufacturing facility. On Monday, the automaker said it would build the plant on the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite, a tract of land located in Randolph County in central North Carolina. When the facility is complete sometime in 2025, it will consist of four production lines, each capable of producing batteries for 200,000 vehicles per year. Toyota plans to eventually expand the facility to produce enough power cells to support up to 1.2 million cars annually.

The plant is part of a broader $3.4 billion investment the automaker has earmarked to expand its battery production capabilities in the US. When Toyota first announced the $1.29 billion facility, it said it would create approximately 1,750 jobs. The company notes it picked Greensboro-Randolph Megasite for a handful of reasons. One of the more notable ones is that it’s a location with access to renewable energy. Toyota says it’s “committed” to using 100 percent clean energy to produce batteries at the facility.

The scale of the project is an acknowledgment by the automaker that it needs to diversify its electrification strategy. More so than any other automaker, Toyota invested significantly into fuel cell technology. So far, it has little to show for its efforts. Outside of California, you can’t buy its Mirai fuel-cell sedan. However, the company’s latest plan is to offer 70 different electric models, including 15 battery electric vehicles, by 2025.

One of the toughest nuts to crack when it comes to developing carbon-free transportation is flying. Commercial electric planes won't be feasible until batteries become more powerful and lightweight. Hydrogen-powered flight is another possible way forward, and a research group has revealed what such a plane could look like.

The FlyZero project, which is led by the Aerospace Technology Institute and funded by the UK government, came up with a concept for a liquid hydrogen-powered midsize aircraft. It said the plane would be able to fly 279 passengers non-stop from London to San Francisco, or from London to Auckland, New Zealand with one stop for refueling. The aircraft, which has a 54-meter wingspan with two turbofan engines, would offer the "same speed and comfort as today’s aircraft" but with zero carbon emissions. 

The ATI says its concept plane would have cryogenic fuel tanks in the rear fuselage, which would store hydrogen at -250 degrees Celsius (-418 degrees Farenheit). Two smaller "cheek" tanks along the forward fuselage would keep the plane balanced as fuel is used.

We're years away from commercial hydrogen aircraft becoming a reality, though. The refueling infrastructure doesn't exist yet and hydrogen is more expensive and difficult to store onboard than kerosene-based fuel. Those types of planes might not be too much of a pipe dream, however.

The ATI expects that, by the middle of the 2030s, efficient hydrogen planes might be a more economical option than current planes. That's partly because other sectors are shifting toward hydrogen, which is likely to reduce supply costs. 

The FlyZero project plans to publish more detailed findings early next year, including concepts for regional, narrowbody and midsize aircraft, economic and market reports, roadmaps for the required tech and a sustainability assessment.