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Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla software suggestions, 'Audi at home' car sharing

Norwegian Tesla buff Bjorn Nyland wants the Tesla community to offer suggestions for the Firmware 7.1 over-the-air update. 7.0 includes a variety of small changes to the interface design, which Nyland discusses in depth in the video above. He offers constructive criticism, especially for things like the placement of certain data within the display. He calls upon other drivers to suggest their own changes and features they'd like to see in future updates. Nyland plans to tweet at Elon Musk once there are enough comments with hopes that Tesla will take the community's suggestions into consideration. See the video above, and read more at Teslarati. A survey of NRG eVgo stations found that drivers use DC fast charging over Level 2 charging by a ratio of 12 to 1. While businesses might prefer to install a Level 2 charger because it is cheaper and could help convince the customer to linger longer while they wait for a charge, this study suggests that DC charging could actually be a better way to attract customers. But the question is how to make DC charging sustainable for businesses with regard to the costs. Read more at Green Car Reports. Audi is launching its vehicle sharing program at luxury residences in San Francisco and Miami this week. Called "Audi at home," the program provides residents with a fleet of Audi vehicles at their disposal at either hourly or daily rates. The cars – the S7, S5 Cabriolet, SQ5, TT Roadster, Q7, and RS5 Cabriolet – are all of the Prestige trim level. Drivers needn't worry about mileage charges, tolls, fuel costs, insurance, or cleaning. Just reserve the car online, and drop it off at the property's valet when finished. Audi at home is launching at the Lumina luxury condos in San Francisco and at the Four Seasons Residences in Miami, with expansion to more cities planned for the future. Read more from Audi. Ballard is partnering with bus manufacturer King Long to build fuel cell buses in China. The two companies will work together to design and deploy the hydrogen-powered buses first in China, then in King Long's global network. "We are delighted to be working with the second largest bus OEM in the world on this important fuel cell bus design and market opportunity," says Ballard President and CEO Randy MacEwen. "Together, we are looking to optimize the design in order to improve performance, while lowering cost.

Tesla Wins Technology Of The Year Award

The winner of AOL Auto's second annual Technology Of The Year award ran away with the votes for the award, clearly surpassing all of the other contenders. We're giving it to Tesla's Supercharger Network, which today is made up of 54 charging stations in the U.S. that can provide about half an electric car's full charge in just 20 minutes, compared with the 8-hour charges from conventional outlets. The editorial staff agreed that the Tesla Supercharger is a game changer, and easily deserves to be called the Technology Of The Year. "Tesla is showing, again, that there are amazing technological breakthroughs to be made in the EV game, and are kind of making the rest of the industry look bad," said Sebastian Blanco, editor of Autoblog Green. AOL Autos' Multimedia Director Adam Morath agreed that the Supercharger is a game changer. "With the Supercharger, Tesla is tackling the tired arguments against the electrification of the automobile head on by addressing range, charge times, charger accessibility and clean energy production (the Supercharger is powered by solar energy, not coal) all in one stroke," he said. The panel reviewed more than 40 qualified submissions from readers, editorial staff and industry, the panel of judges named the following as finalists: Chevrolet MyLink Valet Mode; Infiniti Backup Collision Intervention; Tesla Supercharger Network; Volvo Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection with Full Auto Brake; Mopar In-Vehicle Wireless Charging for Portable Devices; and Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Drive. Superchargers are located across the U.S., making it possible for an electric car driver to take a coast-to-coast trip. They're strategically placed near amenities like roadside diners, cafes, and shopping centers so drivers can stop, eat, and come back to a charged electric car. Most of the staff did not get to test the Supercharger network firsthand, but have been following it closely. A former TRANSLOGIC reporter tested it, and said it works as promised. And Blanco has been following the Supercharger's development quite closely, and said he hasn't heard a single complaint from users in the U.S. or Europe. Jeremy Korzeniewski, Managing Editor of Autoblog, said the Supercharger levels the playing ground, making electric cars almost as convenient as gas-powered cars. "There's simply no way the average consumer is going to consider putting an electric vehicle in their garage if there's no way to refuel it on the go," he said.

Regulators consider adding more carmakers to Takata recall

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal has been getting a lot of press recently, but the Takata airbag inflator affair could be grabbing headlines again soon. According to Bloomberg, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is contemplating an expansion to the campaign that could add seven automakers to the 12 already affected. They are Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Spartan Motors, Suzuki, Tesla, Volvo Trucks, and VW Group. To be clear, there's no recall for any of these automakers, yet. The government is simply asking for a full list of vehicles that each of them have with Takata-supplied inflators containing ammonium nitrate propellant. The agency is concerned this substance could play a roll in the ruptures. "NHTSA is considering not only whether to issue an administrative order that would coordinate the remedy programs associated with the current Takata recalls, but also whether such an order should include expansion of the current recalls," the letters say. All seven can be viewed, here. From a report supplied by Takata, the government already knows that the company supplied 887,055 inflators with ammonium-nitrate propellant to VW and 184,926 of them to Tesla. In an incident during the summer, a side airbag allegedly burst in a 2015 VW Tiguan. In early September, NHTSA put out a revised report that there were 23.4 million inflators to be replaced in 19.2 million vehicles in the US. An earlier accounting from the agency had about 34 million of the parts in 30 million cars. High humidity is still believed to be among the biggest risk factors for the ruptures. Although, if ammonium nitrate also gets the blame, some already recalled models might need to be repaired again. Related Video: