Hagerty Magazine
Editor-at-large for Hagerty Magazine.
PROFILE
Aaron Robinson
Guest
FROM Aaron Robinson
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Trouble for Tesla's Model 3 Consumer Reports says Tesla’s new Model 3 has not turned out as promised. It has problems with its brakes, and will cost lot more than $35,000. The company is struggling to meet production goals.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Fuel efficiency standards: California v. Trump administration Trump’s EPA wants to roll back greenhouse emissions rules, an issue that California led the way on. But does the federal government have the power to overrule California’s efforts? What does the auto industry make of the effort?
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
When it comes to electric cars, what does China have that the U.S. doesn't? Governor Jerry Brown is in China this week talking climate change and economic development. He’s focusing partly on electric cars. Brown says he’s pushing Chinese leaders to boost their efforts because California can’t do it alone.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
With lower emission standards expected, will electric car market be hurt? States are dropping tax incentives for electric cars and President Trump has unveiled new fuel economy standards, which are a lot lower than before. Will that encourage carmakers to build more gas guzzlers?
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Environmental regulations and the car industry We find out how California’s emissions standards have affected the auto industry, and whether car makers would welcome laxer rules.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
A visit to AutoMobility LA The LA Auto Show opens today. We look at what’s new there, including technology for people who don’t want to buy a car.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Driver Killed by CHP Following Illegal Street Race Rally The California Highway Patrol shot and killed a 19-year-old driver Sunday while looking into illegal street racing. He’s been identified as Pedro Villanueva of Canoga Park. The officers were part of a special task force created to combat street racing over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. What have the LAPD and Highway Patrol been doing to crack down on street racing?
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Volkswagen Settles for Nearly 15 Billion for Emissions Violations Volkswagen will pay up $14.7 billion to consumers and the government for selling so-called “clean diesel” cars that were designed to cheat emissions regulations. The settlement is by far the biggest payout that any auto manufacturer has ever had to make. About $10 billion will go to compensate owners of the almost half a million cars affected in the U.S. The settlement also includes a $2.7 billion payment to the Environmental Protection Agency for the environmental damage caused by the cars. What impact will the payout have on the German automaker long-term?
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Car Roundup Apparently one man-bun joke does not a millennial buyer make. Toyota launched Scion in 2003 to target millennial car buyers, but sales have dropped in the past few years. So Toyota recently announced that it would kill the Scion brand this summer. That’s where we’ll start with Press Play’s car guru today, in our recurring roundup of automotive news.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Cars: Detroit Auto Show and More Last year was a record one for car sales: 17.5 million sold in the U.S. in 2015. But for everyone interested in what the automobile’s future looks like, the Detroit Auto show is happening this week. It’s the biggest car show in the country. Press Play’s regular car expert gives us the scoop on the latest in automotive news.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Volkswagen Announces New Software Investigation Volkswagen’s emissions scandal is the automotive story that keeps on giving. The company announced an investigation today to see whether more car models than previously thought are affected by this software cheat.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Volkswagen Emissions Scandal Fallout Volkswagen’s CEO, Martin Winterkorn, has resigned after it was revealed that the car company had been cheating emissions tests. The company’s stock has taken a nosedive. The company has set aside more than $7 billion to deal with the fallout of the clean diesel scandal. We’re talking about 11 million cars worldwide.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Cars Roundup: Fuel Efficiency and Safety Standards How far will a gallon of gas take you? In ten years, new cars will need to average 54.5 miles per gallon to meet federal fuel efficiency standards. But automakers are running out of easy ways to get there. They're now looking to improve not your car, but your gasoline. Higher octane gas makes cars more fuel efficient, but it's also more expensive.
Recommended
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Accusations of lying fly between James Comey and White House During his testimony Thursday, former FBI Director James Comey accused President Trump and other White House officials of lying when they said the FBI was in disarray and its staff had lost confidence in him. President Trump’s lawyer said Comey was wrong -- that the president never asked for his loyalty, and never asked him to back off the investigation into former NSA director Michael Flynn.
Bookworm
Morgan Parker: There Are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé Morgan Parker says that the poems in her book There Are Things More Beautiful than Beyoncé take a stand against the clichés of the dominant culture.
Bookworm
George Saunders: Lincoln in the Bardo (Part I) Lincoln in the Bardo dramatizes a grieving President Lincoln as he visits the grave of his beloved son Willie, who died at age eleven. In the novel, the buried dead believe they're not dead -- "they're sick and refer to their coffins as "sick boxes."
Design and Architecture
Farewell LA freeways, Peter Shire is back Angelenos don't want more freeways but we seem not to want mass transit either. Metro has killed the 710 freeway extension, and bus and train ridership is down across the region. What's the future of getting around in LA? And, Peter Shire is having a comeback. What attracts a new generation to his playful ceramics and furniture?