AD #2363 – Hella Lights Up Audi’s A8, Acura Reveals All-New RDX Price, Nissan Celebrates with Convertible LEAF

On today’s show… how supplier Hella is lighting up Audi’s flagship sedan… Acura reveals pricing for the all-new RDX… and Nissan creates a convertible LEAF. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

HELLA ILLUMINATES AUDI’S A8
Lighting supplier Hella is illuminating new features in the new Audi A8. Rear seat passengers now have access to a reading light that features seven individually controlled LEDs and has been integrated into the ceiling. Light brightness, size and focus are all adjusted via a tablet. There’s also dimmable LED light strips throughout the car that have 30 different color combinations. One light band down the center tunnel of the car even fires off LEDs one after the other creating a chase light effect. In the future, Hella thinks lessons learned from the reading light can be applied to autonomous cars with reconfigurable interiors and the lighting strips could be used to convey information to the driver, like safety warnings.

ACURA SETS PRICE FOR ALL-NEW RDX
Acura just revealed pricing for the all-new RDX, which arrives at dealer showrooms on June 1st. It starts at $38,295, including destination charges and a fully loaded model costs $10,000 on top of that. It features new styling, an exclusive, Acura-only platform and a new powertrain, a 2.0L turbo that’s mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. The RDX is an important model for Acura, not only is it the best-selling model in its line-up, it’s also one of the top selling premium compact crossovers in the segment. We got a chance to drive the new model and we’ll share our impressions in this Thursday’s Autoline Daily.

And we’ll be back with more right after this.

WEEKEND RACING RESULTS
In racing news over the weekend, it’s been a long time coming but Will Power finally won his first Indy 500. He had to overcome a lot of yellow flags to take the top spot and the win marks the 17th victory at the 500 for owner Roger Penske. Kyle Busch won the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte in his Toyota Camry. And lastly Red Bull driver, Daniel Ricciardo overcame engine issues to beat Sebastian Vettel in the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.

Remember to join us this Thursday for Autoline After Hours when we’ll have Brian McKay, the head of powertrain technology for North America for the supplier Continental. If you have any powertrain questions direct inject them our way to viewermail@autoline.tv, then join us live at 3PM eastern time for some of the best inside talk in the automotive industry.

Coming up next, BMW creates wireless charging for its electric vehicles.

(DON’T) PLUG IT IN, (DON’T) PLUG IT IN
You can soon charge your electric BMW without plugging it in, thanks to the company’s upcoming “Wireless Charging” option. It consists of two parts, called the “GroundPad,” placed on the ground, and the “CarPad,” fixed to the bottom of the vehicle. The GroundPad generates a magnetic field, creating an electric current in the CarPad that charges the car. BMW even claims Wireless Charging can help users park by using a Wi-Fi connection to show them an overhead view of their car. It will first be available for the 530e iPerformance model. Production of the wireless charger starts in July, and it will be available in Germany first before heading to the U.S., Japan and China.

NISSAN CELEBRATES WITH CONVERTIBLE LEAF
And in other EV news, Nissan is showing off a convertible version of the LEAF in Tokyo. The company created it to celebrate reaching 100,000 sales of the LEAF in Japan. Nissan doesn’t have plans to produce this vehicle and that’s probably a good idea, since we’re not too crazy about how it looks. So, what do you think? Which one hurts your eyes less, this or the Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet?

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching and please join us again tomorrow.