Waymo Versus Tesla Autopilot: Which Will Win

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Is Waymo better than Tesla? Waymo CEO John Krafcik thinks so. He recently said that Tesla was ‘no competitor at all’ to Waymo’s system in the autonomous and semi-autonomous market. Elon Musk countered, saying Waymo is too expensive. Is that true? Let’s look at what the Waymo system has that Tesla doesn’t.

Tesla Model 3 | Tesla

What is Waymo Autopilot?

Waymo’s autonomous driving system began as a Google project. It calls itself an autonomous driving company. Unlike Tesla, whose cars, SUVs (and forthcoming trucks) come equipped with Tesla Autopilot, Waymo doesn’t make its own cars. Instead, it collaborates with car companies to put its driving system into vehicles. 

Currently variations of Waymo semi-autonomous and autonomous driving systems are in Toyota Priuses, Lexus SUVs, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans, and Jaguar I-PACEs. In Phoenix, Arizona, Waymo has instituted driverless taxis in the form of the Chrysler Pacifica. These fully automated minivans can be accessed via Google Maps. 

Waymo says that by developing autonomous driving systems, they’ll be helping to save lives. Driverless cars don’t make the same mistakes that humans do. However, the technology and capabilities to put mass amounts of driverless cars on the roads is still years away.

Currently they are working on making autonomous driving systems available in trucks, which are responsible for a little more than ten percent of all fatal crashes each year. Waymo recently partnered with J.B. Hunt to operate in Texas. 

How is Tesla Autopilot different?

While Waymo is working toward a fully autonomous driving system, Krafcik believes that Tesla isn’t headed toward the same thing. Instead, he believes that Tesla is only developing a good driver assistance program. Currently Tesla uses Tesla Autopilot, which is a semi-autonomous driving system. Tesla drivers are still supposed to keep their hands on the wheel at all times (though not all do). 

In an interview, Krafcik said that Tesla only had a “really good driver assistance system,” according to Business Insider. 

People in the market for a Tesla can pay an extra $10,000 for full self-driving (FSD), which despite its name doesn’t currently offer full autonomy. Musk says that he hopes one day it will. The only fully driverless option on Teslas right now is Summon. Summon allows a Tesla owner to call its car from up to 200 feet away. 

Additionally, Krafcik believes that Waymo’s sensors are better than Tesla’s. Waymo uses the same technology that most car manufacturers do: radar, lidar, and cameras. Tesla recently stopped making Model 3 and Model Y cars with radar sensors, and instead relies only on Tesla Vision. Tesla Vision uses cameras to determine whether there are objects in the path of the vehicle, and to judge distance. 

In return to Krafcik’s statements, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk said that Waymo’s cars with autonomous driving would be too expensive, starting at $100,000. While it is possible to get a Tesla for considerably less than that at $38,000, it’s worth noting that the newly debuted Tesla Model S Plaid starts at $131,000. 

The race to full automation continues. It will be interesting to see whether Tesla or Waymo has the biggest influence on fully self-driving cars.

RELATED: Is Tesla Vision Better Than Radar

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The Brand New $2000 EV Pickup Truck: CLZKC-009

by Gabrielle DeSantis

If you’re like most of us you don’t have $50,000 to pop for a new pickup truck. But you really want that new truck smell. Basically, you want a new truck at a broken-down truck price. Will miracles never cease? Behold, the $2,000 CLZKC-009-your brand new electric truck! Yes, it’s true. You can thank your pals at MotorBiscuit for finding the real deal $2000 pickup truck.

A Cybertruck or F-150 EV is still a year off. But you can order your CLZKC-009 factory direct from China right now. Look, it may not be as exciting as a Cybertruck or any F-150, but how can you beat the price and crazy-cool looks? 

The $2,000 CLZKC-009 will provide you with an honest 880 lb capacity payload

$2000 EV Pickup Truck CLZKC-009 | MB

Now, if you’re looking for a lot of payload then you’ll have to step up for an old F-350 or something like that. But even one with a seized engine or sitting in a field for years will cost more than $2,000. The CLZKC-009 will provide you with an honest 880 lb capacity payload. 

Ready to hear more? We thought so. Jiangsu Ruipaiying Import and Export Company, LTD., makes these slick little trucks. They’re only available as a single cab. Sorry, no crew cab or dually options. But there are plenty of other options.

Well, not plenty, but a few. But they will run up that $2,000 figure pretty fast. Still, you can up the power with a four-horsepower, 3,000 K motor. That will move this truck to 28 mph on the street or sidewalk. And the good news is that with the lithium-ion battery and 60V 80Ah combo, you get 4.8kWh capacity. 

Larger wheels and off-road tires would transform the 009 into a serious-looking off-roader

Not-a-Jeep
Not-a-Jeep but an CLZKC-009

That gives you a range of 43-80 miles, depending on load and how aggressive you drive the CLZKC-009. And helping you stop all of that power and range are hydraulic disc brakes hiding behind those 12-inch wheels. Slapping on some larger wheels and off-road tires would transform the 009 into a serious-looking off-roader.

It won’t be a serious off-roader, but it will look like one. From a distance, anyway. Other features one would expect to be options are also standard equipment. Things like electric windows, a front windshield wiper, an electric heater, and a backup camera. There is also a cargo rack on the roof and off-road lights mounted there, too. 

Now you’re curious about the options, right? There are plenty of those, too. And they separate the 009 from being just another golf cart. Air conditioning and a gas-powered range extender mounted in the frunk are available. That makes the 009 a hybrid.  

The CLZKC-009 offers a cool option no other truck manufacturer has

And there’s even a sunroof. The folks that designed the 009 thought about almost everything. In fact, they thought of more than everything. They’ve included a cool feature that no other truck manufacturer offers. For an extra $228, they’ll add a hydraulic dump truck bed. 

Ordering a complete, functional pickup from China involves some up-charges. Shipping will cost $210. Then there are the customs broker fees. Those will likely be a few hundred dollars. And of course, those Trump tariffs really foul things up. They’ll likely cost you about 25 percent. That will likely add a hair over $500. 

So with some of the cool options and not-so-cool fees and tariffs, you’re probably looking at more like $5,000. Still, that is one-tenth of what a new pickup runs. And another thing is that with a top speed of only 25 mph you might not be able to use it on public streets. Laws vary from state to state so, depending on how you want to use this you better check first. 

Imagine yourself on Saturday mornings going to town in your shiny new $2000 pickup

$2000 EV many Pickup Trucks CLZKC-009
Many CLZKC-009 EV pickup trucks | Changli

Some states will allow you to drive it on streets with a 35 mph speed limit. If so, that would mostly get you an all-purpose pickup truck to use around town. Just imagine yourself on Saturday mornings going into town in your shiny new $2000 pickup truck. 

There are a bunch of colors to pick from. So think of your favorite color and then imagine cruising around town impressing your neighbors and even strangers. There is no better feeling than on a sunny Saturday profiling in your brand new EV pickup. And you can thank MotorBiscuit for the tip!

RELATED: Two Chinese Pickups The US Won’t See

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Lamborghini Almost Sold Out for the Year After “Revenge Spending”

by Gabrielle DeSantis

After a strained 2020, Lamborghini is reporting that the brand is almost sold out across the board for 2021. While most brands saw slow sales through 2020, Lamborghini is having a record-breaking start to 2021. With the release of the Huracán and Urus SUV, it seems buyers are emerging from the spending slowdown that dampened the mood for most of last year. What else has the brand been up to lately?

How many Lamborghinis are sold a year?

A Lamborghini at the Milano Monza Open-air Motorshow (MIMO) in Milan, Italy| Mairo Cinquetti/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Lamborghini sold about 7,430 vehicles worldwide last year. However, things are looking up for 2021. Lamborghini Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann reported to Bloomberg that Lamborghini has sold out about 10 months of production capacity. Deliveries were up by almost 25% for the first quarter of the year. Winkelmann also noted that Lamborghini had its second-best year despite the company shutting down production for two months during 2020. In the first quarter, the brand increased revenue by 5.4% to $615,915 million during the first quarter.

The new Huracán has been making quite a splash in the industry. The Lamborghini recently released the Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 to compete in the Super Trofeo Race. A few variations of the Huracán seem to be capturing a lot of interest on the market. In addition to the Huracán, the Urus SUV has also captured attention on the market. Lamborghini was at the Milano Monza Motor Show in Milan this week and showcased the Huracán STO and a few other models.

Lamborghini’s focus on electric vehicles

While buyers are obviously not shying away from the gasoline-powered lineup, the brand has started shifting its focus to the electric future. Lamborghini is spending $1.8 billion to offer plug-in hybrid options of each model in the lineup by 2024. It also has plans to launch a battery-powered vehicle sometime after that. Brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini have been apprehensive about changing to electric vehicles, but it sounds like the change is underway.

“Lamborghini doesn’t want to be the first-mover at all cost. In electrification, we need to choose the right moment, when we think the market is ready and we think we can really be the best.”

Stephan Winkelmann | Bloomberg

At the end of 2020, the Volkswagen group threw around possibly selling Lamborghini to focus more on Audi and Porsche. These two brands are “key profit drivers,” Bloomberg says. Winkelmann noted that the brand was not up for sale and essentially denied the news that there was an offer on the table. Winkelmann says there are no plans in place to sell.

The Urus shells will travel by train to reduce CO2 emissions

Lamborghini started shipping Urus shells by train to certain areas through the Österreichischen Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) Rail Cargo Group, a local paper reported. This is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 85% a year. Lamborghini shipped the Urus shells from the Zwickau, Germany Volkswagen headquarters to the headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese. The SUV bodies will exclusively travel by train before further assembly.

The trip will take place weekly, saving 1,903 tons of carbon dioxide. This trip is estimated to take only 48 hours, much faster than the typical transportation option. This is all part of the brand’s plan for “Cor Tauri Management” or Towards Cor Tauri. This is part of the roadmap for the electric future of the brand.

RELATED: Florida Man Used $3.9M PPP Loan To Buy Lamborghini

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The 2022 Volkswagen Taos Is Almost Too Big for Its Class

by Gabrielle DeSantis

When an infatuation with SUVs meets the desire for eco-friendliness, subcompact crossovers like the Volkswagen Taos offer a solution. Along with providing incredible fuel efficiency, the 2022 Taos is creating plenty of excitement in several ways.

Volkswagen will release an off-road package, the Taos Basecamp, which has off-road aficionados giddy with excitement. However, even those who stick with the base model can look forward to cabin and cargo space that rivals those in the larger compact class.

How does the 2022 Volkswagen Taos’ size compare to Tiguan’s?

The label “subcompact” is a bit misleading with the 2022 Volkswagen Taos. According to Car and Driver, the additional space in the Taos gives it a significant advantage over the competition — such as the Jeep Compass, Kia Seltos, and Subaru Crosstrek — while catching SUV shoppers’ eye.

The Taos sits on Volkswagen Group’s MQB-based platform, measuring 105.6 inches from wheel to wheel on all-wheel-drive variants and 105.9 inches on front-wheel-drive models. The Taos’ compact SUV sibling, the Tiguan, sits on the same MQB platform with a wheelbase only four inches longer than the Tiguan’s.

Passengers in the Taos will enjoy slightly more elbow room than those in the Tiguan, as the little sibling measures 72.5 inches wide, and the Tiguan stretches the tape to 72.4 inches. But the Taos does an excellent job of using that hair-width difference. Taos riders won’t give up much headroom and legroom to the Tiguan in the front or back seat, either.

Compared to the three-row Tiguan, the 2022 Taos has twice the available cargo space (25 cubic feet AWD/28 cubic feet FWD) behind the rear row but five to eight cubic feet less than the Tiguan with the rear row folded down. Thus, at the upper end of the subcompact class in size, the Taos has great potential to attract consumers looking for a two-row compact SUV.

The 2022 Volkswagen Taos has some exciting features to look forward to

Though size makes a difference when shopping for an SUV, that isn’t the only exciting feature capturing automobile reviewers’ attention. Compact SUV shoppers who step down to the subcompact 2022 Taos won’t be making many sacrifices.

The 2022 Volkswagen Taos has a newly engineered 1.5-liter version of the Jetta’s EA211 1.4-liter turbo-four. As a result, the Taos’ engine produces a respectable 158 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque. And it still gets a combined fuel economy of 31 mpg on FWD models and 28 mpg on AWD models.

Though the 2022 Taos doesn’t boast the same agility as the outgoing Golf, its overall handling and noise handling are decent due to a higher center of gravity. In addition, its finishes and more familiar infotainment system — rather than the newer, less intuitive ID.4 — also allow for decent riding and driving comfort.

Volkswagen didn’t skimp on the Taos’ active safety features, either. They include stop-and-go adaptive cruise control with semiautomated assistance, active blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist, automatic forward-collision warning, and emergency braking.

But perhaps the most impressive part of the 2022 Volkswagen Taos is the sticker price. The base-model Taos S starts slightly above $24,000, while the SE and SEL start at $28,000 and $32,000, respectively. Not only is that $2,000 less than the 2022 Tiguan and the 2021 Jeep Compass, but it’s also less than a grand more than the 2022 Kia Seltos and 2021 Subaru Crosstrek.

Compact crossover SUV shoppers should consider the Taos

The Volkswagen Taos steps into the gap between compact and subcompact SUVs, allowing small-crossover buyers to pay less without sacrificing many features. Major selling points include a lower sticker price, excellent fuel efficiency, and space rivaling larger models. These perks make the Taos hard to ignore.

RELATED: 2022 Volkswagen Taos: You’ll Pay Up to $900 Extra for These Advanced Safety Features

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