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GM, Honda announce new partnership to build affordable electric vehicles

Credit: GM

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General Motors and Honda have announced a new partnership to develop affordable electric vehicles based on a global platform.

“GM and Honda will share our best technology, design, and manufacturing strategies to deliver affordable and desirable EVs on a global scale, including our key markets in North America, South America, and China,” Mary Barra, GM’s CEO and Chair said in a statement. “This is a key step to deliver on our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in our global products and operations by 2040 and eliminate tailpipe emissions from light-duty vehicles in the U.S. by 2035. By working together, we’ll put people all over the world into EVs faster than either company could achieve on its own.”

Vehicles developed by the Detroit and Japan-based companies will run on GM’s Ultium battery technology, which the automaker developed for its massive transition to EVs. By 2027, GM and Honda plan to launch low-priced and affordable electric options, including compact crossover vehicles, officials said.

GMC Hummer EV sports its massive size alongside full-size SUV

Electric vehicle affordability has been a hot topic, especially recently, as prices of even the most-affordable electric vehicles are skyrocketing due to inflation, parts shortages, and other reasons, like material availability or supply chain issues.

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According to CNBC, the GM and Honda partnership is expected to bring vehicles priced at below $30,000, GM’s Executive VP of Electric Ken Morris said on Tuesday.

The partnership between GM and Honda could go past developing vehicles, with other opportunities possible down the road. The companies said they will discuss other “EV battery technology collaboration opportunities, to further drive down the cost of electrification, improve performance and drive sustainability for future vehicles.” The companies already have worked together with EVs and autonomy. Honda invested $750 million in the majority-GM-owned Cruise. GM also produced two EVs for Honda that will be released in 2024.

GM and Honda are adopting similar strategies for their EV transition projects. Both companies are developing batteries for their projects, including solid-state batteries with greater range and lightweight. These cells can also withstand longer life cycles.

GM is still working to ramp its electric vehicle program. The automaker struggled in Q4 with EV sales, mainly due to the sidelined Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV. However, GM is currently launching the GMC Hummer EV, which is proving to be a difficult process as only a handful of units have made their way to customers in the few months the vehicle has been in production.

Honda is developing in-house EV technology and plans to begin building electric cars after the GM-produced models are released in 2024.

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“Honda is committed to reaching our goal of carbon neutrality on a global basis by 2050, which requires driving down the cost of electric vehicles to make EV ownership possible for the greatest number of customers,” Toshihiro Mibe, Honda’s president & CEO, said.  “Honda and GM will build on our successful technology collaboration to help achieve a dramatic expansion in the sales of electric vehicles.”

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla rolls out new life-saving feature for kids in Europe

On average, 37 children die every year from being left in vehicles unattended.

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tesla model x
Credit: Tesla

Tesla is rolling out a new life-saving feature in the European market, one that has been available in the United States for some time and can be considered potentially invaluable.

One of the most preventable causes of death for children is being left in cars unattended. On average, 37 children die every year after being left in hot vehicles. The cause of death is usually heatstroke, and it is incredibly avoidable.

Tesla rolls out new crucial safety feature aimed at saving children

However, there are instances where kids are left in vehicles and lose their lives, something that many companies have tried to fight with alerts and features of their own.

Tesla is one of them, as it has rolled out features like ultrasonic sensors to detect heartbeats, interior cameras to detect movement, and alerts to notify parents if they leave someone in the car.

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A few months ago, Tesla rolled out a new feature called “Child Left Alone Detection” in the United States. It was described as:

“If an unattended child is detected, the vehicle will flash the exterior indicator lights, play an alert tone, and send a notification to your Tesla app. This will repeat at regular intervals until you return to your vehicle. Cabin data is processed locally and is not transmitted to Tesla.

This feature is enabled by default. To disable, go to Controls > Safety > Child Left Alone Detection.”

This feature was only rolled out in the U.S. at the time. It is now making its way to the European market, according to Not a Tesla App, which detected the rollout in the 2025.32.6 software update.

The rollout of this feature could specifically change many unfortunate situations. For many of us, it seems hard to think about leaving something as precious as another human life in a hot car. Many of us won’t leave our vehicles without our cell phones, so it seems unlikely that someone would do it without a child.

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Tesla gets another NHTSA probe, this time related to door handles

“Although Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside of the cabin, in these situations, a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them.”

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is facing another investigation into its vehicles by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this time related to an issue with its door handles.

In a new Open Investigation named “Electronic door handles become inoperative,” the NHTSA says that it has received nine complaints from owners of the 2021 Tesla Model Y stemming from “an inability to open doors.”

These issues were reported after “parents exited their vehicle after a drive cycle in order to remove a child from the pack seat or placing a child in the back seat before starting a drive cycle.” Parents said they were “unable to reopen a door to regain access to the vehicle.”

Tesla door handles become unlikely hero as they stump road rager

Four of the nine complaints ended with having to break a window to regain access to the cabin.

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The NHTSA goes on to explain that, while Teslas do have a manual door release inside the cabin, a child may not be able to access it:

“Although Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside of the cabin, in these situations, a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them. As a result, in these instances, an occupant who remains inside a vehicle in this condition may be unable to be rapidly retrieved by persons outside of the vehicle.”

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It appears that the agency is attributing the issue to a low voltage in the vehicle’s 12V DC battery. This would mean there needs to be some sort of notification to the driver that the battery is running low on power and should be replaced to avoid this issue.

The NHTSA estimates that 174,290 vehicles are potentially impacted by this issue. It plans to assess the scope and severity of the condition, the agency says. The NHTSA also wants to see what approach Tesla uses to supply power to door locks and the reliability of the applicable power supplies.

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Tesla won’t implement strange Grok character as Musk dispels rumor

It is nice to see that Tesla is not forcing this kind of character upon owners of their vehicles, especially considering that many people had a real problem with it.

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Tesla is not going to implement a strange character as a Grok assistant in its vehicles, as CEO Elon Musk dispelled the rumor, which seemed to truly invoke some quite polarizing reactions.

Yesterday, there was some controversy within the Tesla community as rumors of a Grok assistant, named Mūn (pronounced like Moon), being implemented into the vehicles started to circulate.

It had some legitimacy. It was initially posted by an employee, and it appeared to be a relatively confirmed development.

However, it really did rub some people the wrong way. Mūn was an Anime-style female dressed in promiscuous clothing, so it was not everyone’s style, and I’m sure not everyone’s significant other’s cup of tea. It seemed a very strange decision to add it, especially considering that, at the time, there was no confirmation to dispel the arrival of the Grok assistant.

That was until Tesla CEO Elon Musk stepped in to put the speculation to bed once and for all.

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It was somewhat strange that this type of issue arose in the first place, but given that it was initially released by an employee, the entire situation is self-explanatory.

It is nice to see that Tesla is not forcing this kind of character upon owners of their vehicles, especially considering that many people had a real problem with it. Many owners did not shy away from the fact that they would like the option to opt out:

For now, Grok remains a part of Tesla vehicles, and personally, it is very nice to have in my Model Y to answer some quick questions I might have or even to entertain some people in the car.

Nevertheless, I am relieved I won’t have this character forced upon me in my vehicle.

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