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Ford C-Max Solar Energi takes a recharging station wherever it goes

Companies ranging in size from small startups to major automakers have been experimenting with solar-powered charging stations for EVs and plug-in hybrids. And, of course, people have been powering vehicles with onboard solar panels for quite some time, too. Still, Ford's new C-Max Solar Energi Concept shows the promise of a truly practical implementation of solar on a production vehicle, and it may not be as far off in the future as we had thought.
As we reported a few days ago, the Solar concept makes use of a "concentrator lens" that focuses sunlight onto the Ford's roof-mounted solar panels. The special lens follows the rays of the sun to maximize the amount of charge being fed to the batteries of the car, taking about a day to fully charge the 21-mile, all-electric range of the C-Max Energi. Ford data suggests that combination might be enough to power 75 percent of all trips made by a statistically average driver. In turn, using the sun to power a vehicle could reduce yearly C02 emissions by up to four metric tons when compared with the driver of an average gasoline-powered sedan.
We've got live images of the C-Max Solar Energi Concept, jauntily tilted on its display to best present it's signature solar panels, straight from the CES floor.

2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 revealed, plus driving the BMW M8 Convertible | Autoblog Podcast #632

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Producer Christopher McGraw and News Editor Joel Stocksdale. Before they get to this week's big news, they talk about the cars they've been driving, including the Toyota Land Cruiser, Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition, BMW M8 Convertible and BMW 840i coupe. Then they talk about Ford's big reveal of the 2021 Mustang Mach 1. Finally, in lieu of the regular Spend My Money segment, they talk about how Joel recently spent his own money on the newest edition to his personal fleet, a 2013 Volkswagen Beetle. Autoblog Podcast #632 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser 2020 Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography 2020 BMW M8 Convertible 2020 BMW 840i Fords reveals 2021 Mustang Mach 1 Spend Joel's Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

White House clears way for NHTSA to mandate vehicle black boxes

At present, over 90 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States today are equipped with event data recorders, more commonly known as black boxes. If the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gets its way, that already high figure will swell to a full 100 percent in short order.
Such automotive black boxes have been in existence since the 1990s, and all current Ford, General Motors, Mazda and Toyota vehicles are so equipped. NHTSA has been attempting to make these data recorders mandatory for automakers, and according to The Detroit News, the White House Office of Management Budget has just finished reviewing the proposal, clearing the way. Now NHTSA is expected to draft new legislation to make the boxes a requirement.
One problem with current black boxes is that there's no set of standards for automakers to follow when creating what bits of data are recorded, and for how long or in what format it is stored. In other words, one automaker's box is probably not compatible with its competitors.