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Bentley Bentayga spied on soon-to-be home turf

If we had to bet where Bentley would sell the most Bentayga crossovers, our money would be on the Middle East, with a particular focus on the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. Considering that – not to mention the blistering heat – it's no real surprise that the British manufacturer is testing its first CUV on the sand-strewn roads of Dubai. This video comes from an Arab YouTube channel that Google Translate calls "net box." It gives us a great look at the new Bentayga while both parked and in motion, traveling along Dubai's highways. While this is not the exact same vehicle we've seen in previous spy photos – the number plate on this car ends in a Z instead of a W – the camouflage job is more or less the same. There are large, obstructive headlight and taillight covers, and the same strakes designed to obscure the rear haunches. Seeing an engineer getting out of the car and standing next to it, though, does give us some sense of its overall size. Either Bentley's engineer is a giant or the Bentayga is relatively low for a crossover, relying more on a lifted ride height than just being big and tall. You can check out the video above. Like we said, it's a good first look at Crewe's first CUV in motion. Check it out, and let us know what you think in Comments.

Meet the Bentley Inspirator, your A.I. Bentayga configurator

The future of the car configurator just sprouted a tender new shoot. The Bentley Inspirator app relieves Bentayga buyers of most of the heavy lifting when they're trying to sort out what kind of image they want their super-luxe SUV to project. Usable on any Apple iOS device, the app plays a video and then scans the viewer's face for emotional cues. The video changes based on the viewer's responses to on-screen images, so theoretically, two viewers shouldn't see the same video. The app achieves this by noting 34 "facial landmarks" based on an "emotion data repository" filled with "more than 12 million emotion data points" provided by 3.4 million faces from 75 million countries. At the end of the film, the app suggests a Bentayga configuration, from colors to veneers to wheels. Now fresh from the effort, the prospective customer can apply all of his or her energies to fine tuning the result. You can download it from Bentley's site or the app store, watch the video of how it works above, and check out the press release below. Related Video: BENTLEY INSPIRATOR: PERSONAL PREFERENCE BROUGHT TO LIFE - Inspirator app is the next generation of digital car configurator - Emotion-recognition technology interprets users' facial expressions and generates vehicle configuration - Bentley Inspirator application available to download now at www.bentleymotors.com/inspirator and in Apple App Store (Crewe, 21 October 2015) Personal style preferences can now be transformed into recommendation, with Bentley's latest innovation: the Inspirator. The application monitors the users' facial expressions and reactions and interprets them in order to configure the perfect Bentley for them. Utilising any iOS device's camera function, the application's facial and emotion recognition software measures and analyses the viewer's emotion based on nuanced facial expressions. 34 facial landmarks are identified at 15 frames per second, as the viewer reacts to stimulating film content. The accurate emotion metrics algorithms are built using the world's largest emotion data repository – 3.4 million faces have been analysed in 75 countries amounting to more than 12 billion emotion data points. The viewer's reactions dictate a unique film narrative; the film changes according to what the user responds to most positively, but also deciphers their preferences, creating a unique configuration revealed at the end of the film.

City of LA's electric vehicle fleet adds Tesla Model S, BMW i3

For anyone who thought that Los Angeles' efforts to turn its traffic problems green would end after a partnership with Waze, think again. The City of Angels has committed to leasing 160 battery-powered electric vehicles and 128 plug-in hybrids for its municipal fleet. A post on the LAPD blog says that the police, fire, general services, water and power departments will split the former, while the general services will also take all of the latter. Mayor Eric Garcetti says that this move puts LA closer to its goal of becoming the "most sustainable city in America." For now it has to settle for having the largest city-owned fleet of battery-powered rides. The blog post goes on to say that as part of this Sustainable City pLAn (not a typo), it also has a shiny new Tesla Model S P85D and BMW i3 for "testing and research." Hopefully that includes seeing how effective Ludicrous Mode is against fleeing perps. #LAPD: @LAPDChiefBeck speaking at the news conference on Historic Transition to Green Energy Vehicles. pic.twitter.com/n1KdFOrX8F — LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) September 11, 2015 This article by Timothy J. Seppala originally ran on Engadget, the definitive guide to this connected life. News Source: LAPDImage Credit: LAPD on Twitter Government/Legal Green Bentley Tesla Electric lapd