AD #2882 – Jeep Gladiator Impressions; Q2 Production Capacity Plunges; Ford Tests Dog-Like Robots to Scan Plants
July 27th, 2020 at 11:46am
Listen to “AD #2882 – Jeep Gladiator Impressions; Q2 Production Capacity Plunges; Ford Tests Dog-Like Robots to Scan Plants” on Spreaker.
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Runtime: 9:47
0:07 Alcohol Detection Systems Can Save Thousands of Lives
1:14 Audi Developing Bidirectional Charging Technology
2:03 Production Capacity Plunges in Q2
3:30 Ford Tests Dog-Like Robots to Scan Plants
4:42 Rivian To Start Delivering Vehicles Next Year
5:04 Hyundai Develops New Air Conditioning Technology
6:34 Jeep Gladiator Mojave Impressions
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ALCOHOL DETECTION SYSTEMS CAN SAVE THOUSANDS OF LIVES
Drunk driving is a big problem in the U.S. Alcohol has been a factor in 30% of roadway deaths every year for the past decade. And each year, police arrest around 1 million people for driving drunk. But if vehicles were equipped with alcohol detection systems, it would greatly reduce the number of traffic deaths, according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It found that the systems could prevent more than a quarter of road fatalities and save around 9,000 lives a year. Alcohol detection systems prevent a car from starting if it detects the driver is over the legal limit. While the technology is available now and there’s bills in both the U.S. House and Senate to mandate the system in new vehicles, it would still take a long time before its commonplace. IIHS researchers say that even if all new vehicles were required to have alcohol detection systems this year, it would take 12 years before the systems were common enough to save around 4,500 lives a year, half of their potential.
AUDI DEVELOPING BIDIRECTIONAL CHARGING TECHNOLOGY
As the number of electric vehicles increase, the potential to use them as mobile energy storage units also rises. That’s why Audi is researching bidirectional charging technology for electric vehicles. The battery of the electric car not only is charged via a wall box at home, it can also supply energy back to the house. If the owner has a solar panel system, the car can supply electricity to the building when the system is not providing power or during peak price phases. And in combination with a home storage unit, the car can kick power into the home, if the power supply fails. By using this method, Audi says that the battery of an e-tron could supply a home with energy for around one week independently.
PRODUCTION CAPACITY PLUNGES IN Q2
Here’s a good rule of thumb for you to know about the auto industry. Assembly plants generally reach their break-even point when they hit 80% of capacity utilization. In other words, until they make 80% of what the plant is capable of making, all they’re doing is covering the cost of operations. But once they go over 80% they become profitable. When they’re over 90% they’re making really good money. And when they go over 100% with overtime, they become money machines. Just to give you an idea of how much the U.S. auto industry was hit by the pandemic, Wards reports that in the second quarter a year ago it was running at 94% capacity. In the second quarter this year it ran at only 31%. And so when automakers report their second quarter earnings, it’s going to be a bloodbath.
FORD TESTS DOG-LIKE ROBOTS TO SCAN PLANTS
After an automotive manufacturing plant is designed and built, it’s likely to go through a number of small changes. Over time those changes can affect the layout of the factory, but in many cases, they’re not documented. So, Ford is taking a unique approach to digitally scan one of its transmission plants. The pilot program will see two dog-like robots, equipped with 5 cameras map out the plant floor. Those digital scans will then be used when Ford is ready to retool the plant. The robots can move up to 3 MPH and have roughly two hours of battery life, which would allow them to scan an entire plant in about a week, twice as fast as the old way. That old way also cost about $300,000 per facility. If the pilot works, Ford says it could scan all its plants for a fraction of the cost. Currently the robots need to be programmed with a route and require a handler, but in the future, they could roam wherever they want, like a normal dog.
RIVIAN TO START DELIVERING VEHICLES NEXT YEAR
We’ve got an update on Rivian. The company revealed in a Twitter post that the pilot production line is now running at its plant in Normal, IL and that it expects deliveries of the R1T electric truck to start in June of next year, while the R1S SUV will follow in August.
HYUNDAI DEVELOPS NEW AIR CONDITIONING TECHNOLOGY
With cleanliness a big concern for everyone right now, the Hyundai Group has developed new air conditioning technologies that aim to maintain clean air in its vehicles. You ever notice how your vehicle drips water after turning on the A/C system? That’s just condensation that builds up in the system, but in some cases that moisture can turn into mold. So, the Hyundai Group’s new unit has a feature, called After-Blow, that blows air through the system for 10 minutes after the vehicle is shut off to dry up any remaining condensation. A Multi-Air mode reroutes air through the driver and passenger seats as well as the vents, which keeps wind volume the same, but reduces direct contact. And lastly, a Fine Dust Indicator measures the amount of ultrafine particles inside the vehicle and puts a display on the dash of the current level. If a certain level is reached, the system will automatically switch to recirculation mode and kick on the A/C to reduce humidity. No word when we’ll see this yet. The Hyundai Group only says it will be introduced on upcoming new models.
JEEP GLADIATOR MOJAVE IMPRESSIONS
We recently had a Jeep Gladiator in the Autoline Garage. And even though this is one of the most capable off-road vehicles that you can buy, it can even be enjoyable just for tooling around town. But if you do a lot of highway driving, this is not the car for you. Let me explain.
The Gladiator, along with its kissing cousin, the Jeep Wrangler, will get you in and out of off-road situations that look impossibly impassible. As long as there’s an opening as wide as the Gladiator, you can probably get through it. Don’t worry if the path ahead looks too steep, just lock the diffs and start crawling. In fact, don’t worry if you don’t even see a path. These Jeeps can get through just about anything.
Of course, most of us can’t go off-roading every day. Even so, the Gladiator can be a pleasure to take for running errands, visiting friends, or just going for a ride. The top opens easily. Just undo a couple of latches and flip the whole thing back. But because it’s so big, you’ll have to get out and stand in the rear door footwell to fold it all the way down. Don’t worry, it only takes a moment to do, and the same goes for putting it back up again.
With the top down, you get a great open-air feeling. And then you can take it a step further by taking the doors off and dropping the windshield down. That takes more work, but it’s truly exhilarating when driving around with everything open to the great outdoors.
Or at least that’s true when driving at lower speeds on country lanes. When you’re on the highway, even when the Gladiator is all buttoned up, it’s noisy and rough. The suspension is perfect for bouncing over boulders, but it transmits every bump, ripple and heave on the highway. This is not the vehicle you want for your everyday commuter.
The Gladiator we test drove, with the Mojave trim line and the 3.6 liter V6, starts at just under $44,000. But it was loaded up with enough options to push the price to almost $61,000.
But here’s the most amazing thing about the Gladiator. Here we live in a world of an economic crisis brought on by a pandemic. The auto industry has taken it on the chin. Car sales have collapsed and factories are struggling to maintain production. So how has this affected sales of the Gladiator? Why not at all. Ward’s reports that sales are up 380% this year. Now that’s partly because production was only starting to ramp up a year ago. But it’s impressive to see how much demand there is for something like this, and it explains why Ford is so keen to get the Bronco into this segment.
But that wraps up today’s report, thank you for watching.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com
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Comments (39)
July 27th, 2020 at 12:03 pm
I knew Gladiators could get pricey, but $61K. Yikes. It looks like you can get big money for a crude vehicle like that, when there is no competition.
July 27th, 2020 at 12:15 pm
I was told DUIs were on the decline due to ride sharing apps like Uber. Even still 12 years to be affective. Wont we all have autonomous cars by then?
July 27th, 2020 at 12:18 pm
@Lambo – That 12 years is based on the average age of vehicles involved in crashes.
July 27th, 2020 at 12:25 pm
Sean, we’d love to learn more about those alcohol detection systems. Are they passive or active? Will they ignore alcohol-based mouthwashes?
I know New Mexico has been studying such devices for over a decade. Challenges included the ability to ignore alcohol-based mouthwashes and concern about annoying innocent drivers with gauntlet-like active systems.
Many of the worst drunk driver accidents are the result of repeat offenders and extreme intoxication. I am curious if the technology targets the entire population or just a select/extreme high risk population..
July 27th, 2020 at 12:29 pm
My C-6 Corvette had the A/C fan run after the car was shut off to remove the moisture from the system
July 27th, 2020 at 12:39 pm
With these alcohol detection systems, will people get arrested for sitting or sleeping in their cars, as sometimes now happens when people are in vehicles not driving, but suspected of being inebriated?
July 27th, 2020 at 12:48 pm
While twelve years sounds like a long time, the longer this is delayed from being mandated, the longer that (12) year clocks even begins as a countdown. But saying that, I also see the implementation fraught with problems and also wondering how much this is going to cost per each vehicle. And also wondering how this system will be defeated by drunks (as they are a resourceful bunch) after all.
If you need or want a Jeep (Gladiator), go ahead and get one if that is so your desire, but for many more who do drive them, it’s the wrong vehicle. (I’m pretty sure that what was John was saying in his review).
July 27th, 2020 at 1:03 pm
Wrangler and Gladiator both score 4 of 5 with CR’s “owner satisfaction” survey. At one time, I think Wrangler was one of the highest ranking vehicles in that survey question, so it seems that more people are buying them, not knowing that they are buying a noisy, crude vehicle, which is not too great for some things, like highway driving.
July 27th, 2020 at 1:14 pm
The “Bell the Hybrid” act, S.841, was passed in 2009 to impose sound generators on hybrids and EVs (aka. the Prius) for the blind. There had been no fatal blind-Prius accidents. It wasn’t until this year that we’re hearing these silly sounds in traffic, 11 years later.
Cabin alcohol detection could save thousands. If the alternative is self-driving cars, it would solve two problems at once.
July 27th, 2020 at 1:22 pm
For all those ride sharing services where you are driving the car. I could see this alcohol detection system being very useful. Keep intoxicated people from driving the shared vehicles. For my own personal vehicle I wouldn’t not want it or to pay for such a feature.
July 27th, 2020 at 1:29 pm
Gladiator; Sounds like Jeep delivered on exactly what everyone expected the Gladiator to be. Another derivative of the Wrangler line with similar off-road capabilities and a bed. Didn’t really expect anything different other than a slightly better ride due to the longer wheelbase. From Johns report sounds like that is the results.
July 27th, 2020 at 1:39 pm
Preventing drunks from driving is desirable… yes…..and sounds simple enough… not quite. There will be people who will argue alcohol detection systems are a violation of their liberty/rights. The counter argument will include statements that driving is a privilege, not a right, and that laws already exist to mandate seat belt and helmet usage (I know, not in all states). But failure to not use the safety belt or helmet results in a misdemeanor. DUIs can result in a felony. Hmmmmm. I’m not a lawyer. A lawyer’s perspective will be interesting.
Whatever technology is pursued, I hope it is effective and does not irritate the tens of millions of responsible drivers. Ideally, the cost and any potential inconvenience of the technology is focused narrowly on the target population of “offenders”.
July 27th, 2020 at 1:42 pm
I just hope that Ford has the new Bronco 100% perfect as if it is not what the public is expecting. Jeep will eat the Bronco for lunch !!!
July 27th, 2020 at 1:56 pm
9. My 2012 Prius had reverse beeping, inside the passenger cabin. I never figured the reason for that. There was no way to shut it off with regular controls in the car, but the dealer could disable it, which they did for free.
July 27th, 2020 at 2:00 pm
11. The first concept vehicles for what would become Gladiator were two door, which looked much better to me than the production one. Since they are making only one version, though, they certainly made the right choice to make if 4 door, given that most Wrangler sales are now the 4 door.
July 27th, 2020 at 2:01 pm
In addition to drunk driver detection, cars should have cell phone jammers as standard equipment.
July 27th, 2020 at 2:08 pm
I’m surprised that Ford is using a robot dog to scan and not drone which could scan at a much faster rate and the tech is already available to do so.
July 27th, 2020 at 2:19 pm
https://www.autonews.com/video/first-shift-mercedes-plans-cut-7-cars-us-lineup?utm_source=antv-first-shift&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200727&utm_content=hero-image
ANY rational person who wants the auto industry to be healthy so it can CONTINUE offering the GOOD models, would applaud Merc’s, even as late as now and only after the 1-2 punch from BOTH Tesla AND CV.
Then again there will be always the selfish, mindless professional mourners who prefer to see the indistry awash in RED INK and offering 1,000 lousy models instead of 300 GOOD ones.
July 27th, 2020 at 2:23 pm
1 Actually I already knew they went for over $60 (62k) from YOUR posts in the past. As for having no competition, maybe it is because this is a niche of a niche segment that has a high risk of having poor sales after the initial period of fools getting excited about any new product.
July 27th, 2020 at 2:24 pm
16 With Android auto and Carplay jamming isn’t necessary as it requires any calls or texting to be done via voice commands/hand free. Plus jamming could be a safety risk and its tough to jam just the driver and not the passengers or cars next to you.
July 27th, 2020 at 2:40 pm
re: Gladiator
I’d rather spend 1/3 to 1/4 of that for a clean, decent Jeep CJ8 Scrambler.
July 27th, 2020 at 3:05 pm
Is the alcohol sensing idea also going to detect cannabis? As I understand it, the early states allowing recreational cannabis have high rates of driving under the influence of cannabis.
July 27th, 2020 at 3:21 pm
Amazing. Seems like nothing will keep Americans from buying/owning Lifted Trucks, be they Gladiators or whatever!
July 27th, 2020 at 3:46 pm
22 Yea but those drivers were pulled over for going 25 in a 45.. lol
July 27th, 2020 at 3:52 pm
16,20 I wasn’t serious about the jamming. It would interfere with navigation using google maps.
July 27th, 2020 at 4:03 pm
The article about the alcohol interlock links to a company making a passive system which measures the alcohol content in the air. Lets set aside the ease at which that could be defeated for the moment. Lets look at who shares responsibility when this system fails to detect a drunk driver.
Are the OEMs liable at least partially? I bet there are thousands of lawyers that would say yes. Who is also responsible when the system fails and you can’t get someone to the help they need in an emergency causing less than ideal outcomes because the car wouldn’t start? I am sure there are thousands of lawyers that will say the OEM is 100% liable for that scenario because they made a system which was not robust.
If the OEM makes the system “fail to open” meaning that it will not interlock if it detects a system fault….Then that will simply be exploited by the drunk driver by pulling a fuse and not bothering about the light on the IP. This system really will not do anything in the end but it will make 1 company rich and the rest of us get an expensive placebo.
July 27th, 2020 at 4:13 pm
18. The problem with MBUSA, is that they sell crappy cars, like the CLA and A-Class sedan in the US, but refuse to sell excellent cars, like C-Class wagons, and normally equipped E-Class wagons. Meanwhile, they spend a lot of money tooling lifted 4wd hatchbacks like GLC and GLE “coupe” that don’t sell very well anywhere.
That article didn’t say which models they would be dropping, but they have a lot of choices to come up with 7. Go here, and select year 2020, select make Mercedes-Benz, and select model to see a very long list.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbsSelect
July 27th, 2020 at 4:22 pm
19. It’s a lot bigger niche of a niche than, say, lifted 4wd hatchbacks, like M-B and BMW have become fond of with their CUV “coupes.”
July 27th, 2020 at 4:40 pm
Drunk driving, simple solution, Federal law overriding all state BS. You drive drunk and kill somebody, you go to Jail for LIFE. Period. no trial no BS
July 27th, 2020 at 4:48 pm
back to drunk driving, the professional drunks where I worked all drove beaters with dents all over them. Leaving bars at 2-3am, you can bump into lots of stuff. They are not going to buy a new car. In Pa. if you come out of a bar and decide you better not drive and crawl in you back seat to sleep it off, If a cop finds you, that is drunk driving!
July 27th, 2020 at 5:00 pm
28 4 door coupes,I don’t buy into that thinking,a coupe should have 2
July 27th, 2020 at 5:23 pm
Sorry about the low factory utilization but they did give to Tesla, “$428 million, coming from sales of regulatory credits.” (see web link)
Instead of designing and making desirable EVs, they used “PowerPoint” engineering and designed compliance cars that no one wants to buy. They simply made a market place for Tesla performance EVs … willingly.
July 27th, 2020 at 6:00 pm
#30. I know that happens in PA – sleeping it off and you’re considered drunk driving. I could never understand the logic behind this. If you’re smart enough not to drive and decide to sleep it off – hooray for you. Don’t penalize them.
July 27th, 2020 at 6:05 pm
30. ” In Pa. if you come out of a bar and decide you better not drive and crawl in you back seat to sleep it off, If a cop finds you, that is drunk driving!”
They do that in other states too. Why the (blank) do they do that? They are actively encouraging people to drive drunk.
July 28th, 2020 at 8:37 am
29 As with most people, I’m all for taking drunk people off the road. Not to the point I’m willing to give up due process and forgo a ones right to a trial. That’s dangerous thinking.
30,34 Yeah I don’t understand that either other than the cops thinking is most likely that if your that drunk when you do wake up and decide to drive home you’ll probably still be too drunk to drive.
26 As you mention I would be concerned as a manufacturer the liability they are assuming by offering this “protection”. Most states have a legal limit so you are allowed to have a drink and still drive. Does this system know if your within the legal limit or is it just zero? If it is zero I can see the system getting disabled by many users or people just avoiding buying a vehicle with such a device. They already have these added to peoples cars that need them by court order from a conviction. I think that’s sufficient.
July 28th, 2020 at 8:52 am
That DUI should probably be a misdemeanor public drunkenness. Seems more fair; still a nuisance but probably a lesser charge (but a more responsible action than driving.)
July 28th, 2020 at 9:19 am
There’s probably a lot less drunk driving now than usual, with bars closed a number of places. Now, people are drinking at home, rather than at bars.
Anyway, I’d think any alcohol detection systems that would be put in all cars would be “passive,” and would be highly inaccurate. Even devices where you blow through a tube, are not particularly accurate, and if those were in all new cars, people would quit buying new cars until the current ones were all worn out.
July 28th, 2020 at 11:10 am
37) Certainly the person who kept throwing his bottles of wild turkey out his window on his way home and into my yard every single day for the past 4 years has stopped drinking and driving. Haven’t seen a bottle since the lockdowns. Or, maybe he died since his liver can’t be in any good shape at this point. Either way, no more bottles in my yard so +1 for COVID-19. I wasn’t even mad at him for it. I just thought to myself with every bottle picked up…They still make people like you?
July 31st, 2020 at 6:39 am
Can this alcohol detection system allow for a designated driver – the only one in the vehicle who is not drunk?