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Jaguar solution to keyless start could save lives

UPDATED: An earlier version of this story indicated the Jaguar keyless start function was meant as a safety feature, when in fact, it is meant as a convenience one and will not work as described if automatic stop/start is not engaged. Today, The New York Times published an article about more than two dozen deaths related to drivers accidentally leaving their cars running, closing their garages and later succumbing to carbon monoxide that flooded their homes. The reason has been identified as "keyless start" features, or proximity entry and push-button start, where owners don't need to physically handle a key or fob to gain entry into the vehicle or start it. It is the latest, and deadliest, issue raised with this system after those related to security and simple inconvenience (for instance, leaving the car at a valet or car wash with the fob in your pocket). From my personal perspective, The New York Times had a rather harsh "evil carmakers" tone throughout the article. This is not a matter of a known faulty component, as with the GM ignition switch recall. This has as much to do with user error where people leave their car without pressing the "off" button and without noticing the engine is still running. About half of the cars in question are produced by Toyota and Lexus, brands that have offered keyless start longer than most. They are also brands with high rates of elderly owners, who seemingly made up a majority of reported deaths and injuries. One fire department in Florida even started a campaign alerting those in the area of the dangers of leaving your car running when it noticed a correlation between an increase in cars equipped with keyless start and calls related to carbon monoxide poisoning. I see several contributing issues at play, most of which go well beyond this particular issue. First is insufficient training of owners by dealers and/or owners not paying close enough attention during this training. Cars are complicated, but you should at least know how basic functions work. Second, woefully inadequate driver training in this country. Third, and with apologies to the AARP, insufficient testing of elderly drivers and/or insufficiently low standards for elderly drivers. If you don't know you have to shut the car off or cannot hear that an engine is running, perhaps you shouldn't be driving. Fourth, re-examining keyless start systems.

Jaguar Land Rover building new R&D center for hybrids, EVs, autonomous cars

The success of Jaguar Land Rover in recent years has largely been down to a resurgent product lineup, but a recent move into the research and development will see the British-based, Indian-owned brands take the fight to its German rivals more aggressively than ever before.
JLR is investing 50 million pounds ($80,345,000, as of this writing) in a joint R&D center in central England. The move will more than triple its staff dedicated to research, from 150 to 500, with Wolfgang Epple, JLR's Director of Research and Technology telling Automotive News Europe, "In order to play among the big animals in automotive and to be anchored in the mind of customers you have to have offered something unique, to be first in market. We want to be one of the key premier automotive manufacturers."
Jaguar Land Rover's 50-million-pound contribution represents more than half of the 94-million-pound tab, on the so-called National Automotive Innovation Campus. Based at Warwick University, Tata's European Technical Center, Warwick Manufacturing Group and the Higher Education Funding Council, an agency of the British government, are all chipping in for the facility.

Newest Spectre trailer shows DB10, car chases, awesomeness

It's not due in theaters until November and it's not like we've detected any weaknesses yet, but here we are with another trailer for the upcoming James Bond film, Spectre. That is not a complaint, because it looks like it's going to be, as one YouTuber said, "Spectretacular!" We digress. This time we get a little more of the Aston Martin DB10, including the top line for the spec sheet: Q says it will do 0-60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds. Putting on the hat that lets us sincerely debate totally fictitious facts in a totally fictitious universe, we don't think that's fast enough to stay away from the villain's Jaguar C-X75, but it's not like Bond needs to when he's got flamethrowers. So there. You 'll find the latest bout of awesome in the clip above, and look for all the throwback cues. Christoph Waltz dresses like one Ernst Stavro Blofeld and uses the same interior decorator. Bad guy Dave Bautista in a three-piece suit is remarkably reminiscent of Oddjob, and there are various nods to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Enjoy. News Source: James Bond 007 via YouTube TV/Movies Aston Martin Jaguar Coupe Concept Cars Luxury Special and Limited Editions Performance Videos spectre jaguar c-x75 aston martin db10 movie trailer