2011 Kia Sorento Lx Sport Utility 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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NHTSA looking into non-Takata airbag shrapnel case

The global airbag inflator recall from Takata has been one of the biggest topics in auto safety for months. Now, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation into the components from Arc Automotive to investigate whether two reported ruptures and two injuries signal a wider problem. So far, only the 2002 Chrysler Town & Country and 2004 Kia Optima are believed to be affected. If a safety campaign is deemed necessary, it could cover an estimated 420,000 of the minivans and 70,000 of the Korean sedans. NHTSA first noticed these ruptures in December 2014. The agency received a complaint of a 2009 case in Ohio about the bursting of the driver's side inflator in a 2002 Town & Country. According to the report, the incident broke the woman's jaw and sent shrapnel into her chest. The government investigated the case, and this was found to be the only known occurrence in these vehicles. The analysis indicated the part's gases were possibly blocked somehow and caused the component to explode. FCA US spokesperson Eric Mayne told Autoblog that the company is "cooperating fully" with NHTSA. "Also, we no longer use that inflator," he said. A second incident came to NHTSA's attention in June 2015 with the driver's side rupture in a 2004 Optima in New Mexico. The agency lists fewer details about the case, and a root cause isn't known. This is also the only currently known example in a Kia vehicle. According to a statement from Kia to Autoblog, "We are taking this matter very seriously and support NHTSA's action and will continue working cooperatively with the agency and suppliers throughout the process." Arc's components are sealed within a steel housing that's meant to protect them from "external atmospheric conditions," according to NHTSA. Multiple suppliers also use them. In the Chrysler, the airbag module came from Key Safety Systems and from Delphi in the Kia. In a statement to Autoblog the company said, "We have received NHTSA's notification and are cooperating fully with its Preliminary Evaluation." At this time, NHTSA admits that it doesn't know for certain whether these two cases are linked. The agency is conducting this preliminary evaluation to learn more.

WTF China? Why copy the Kia Picanto for anything?

While we certainly don't condone it, we at least get why Chinese companies copy the work of global automakers. It's all about the prestige in the China, and when versions of expensive imports can be had from a cheaper, domestically built automaker, it's clear where the money will go. But of all the prestigious, luxurious, handsome, high-performance vehicles for a Chinese automaker to rip off, why in the name of Chairman Mao did they choose a Kia Picanto? For those not in the know, the Picanto is a tiny city car that'd slot in below the Rio, were it sold in the US market. It's a fine car for what it is, but hardly one that is so packed full of innovative, handsome styling that makes sense to copycat, even if it isn't actually sold in the People's Republic. But that's just what Yogomo has done, with the new 330 electric car. While the real McCoy is a proper car, complete with a range of gas engines, the electric 330 is what's known in China as a low-speed electric vehicle – despite its size, according to Car News China, it can't be used on highways and is not eligible for the PRC's green subsidies. While most copycat designs are pretty flagrant, they're easily discernible from the cars on which they're based. That's not the case with the Yogomo 330, though. The mirrors are different, sure, and the grille, while roughly the same shape, isn't as exact the trademark Kia grille. But beyond that, the design is virtually identical, and that's sure to ruffle the feathers of copyright lawyers in South Korea. Head over to CNC for a look at the Yogomo's copycatting efforts. Featured Gallery Yogomo 330 EV Related Gallery 2015 Kia Picanto News Source: Car News ChinaImage Credit: Kia Government/Legal Green Kia

Hyundai, Kia and U of M studying 'highway hypnosis'

Next up on the hot-button list of things that can kill you behind the wheel: "highway hypnosis." That's the zombie-like, autopilot phase you get into on a long highway drive when there isn't much to distract you, like curves or traffic. Digging further into what it is and how to combat it, Hyundai-Kia engineers and the University of Michigan are commencing a study that will measure brainwave activity in order to track the body's slide into highway hypnosis.
We're not sure how much overlap this has with Mercedes-Benz's Attention Assist, which tracks more than 70 in-car parameters to determine when you're not focused on the road anymore. That system is billed as an alarm against fatigue, in our experience it does more than that - if you use your phone while driving, for instance, it will chirp.
They don't know what form a warning system will take yet, but Hyundai-Kia plans to develop a method for warning drivers when they being to zone out. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were more than three thousand deaths and nearly 400,000 injuries due to distracted driving in 2011.