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The 2020 Genesis G90—a good luxury sedan from an alternate dimension

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 15:47:18 GMT

At $76,695 fully loaded, the Genesis G90 seriously undercuts similarly sized luxury sedans from Germany. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

When Genesis was spun out as its own brand, the G90 luxury sedan was chosen to lead the way. A flagship sedan makes sense when the point was to show that Korea could mix it alongside the Germans. And the G90 did that, feeling solid and over-engineered. Now the big car has had its midlife makeover, gaining a whopping new grille and some other distinctive styling details that better align the G90 with Genesis' design language. It has also received a bit of a tech upgrade, with some new advanced driver assistance systems.

And yet, despite the car's competence it felt out of step, like it belongs to a reality close to ours but subtly different. In this alternate universe, there's no climate change, and so the naturally aspirated V8 in the $76,695 G90 5.0L Ultimate still makes plenty of sense. Its 420hp (313kW) and 383lb-ft (519Nm) is more than enough to move the big rear-wheel drive sedan via an in-house eight-speed automatic transmission. And it's only 1 mile per gallon more thirsty than the twin-turbo V6 version we tested last time, at 24mpg (9.8l/100km) on the highway and 17mpg (13.8l/100km) in the city.

Just as importantly, in this alternate timeline, the SUV never reached ascendancy. Instead, executives still flock to the sedan as their preferred form of conveyance, and the G90's newly sharpened jawline offers a more classic look alongside the power bulges of a BMW 7 Series or the crisp folds and creases of an Audi A8. The high points are the intricately detailed headlights, a new family look for the Genesis range, and the 19-inch alloy wheels that go from flat disc to G-Matrix crisscross pattern to tire, seemingly skipping the rim altogether.

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Consumer Reports: Tesla Autopilot a "distant second” to GM Super Cruise

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 15:33:23 GMT

Enlarge / Super Cruise will be available on the 2021 Cadillac CT4-V. (credit: Cadillac)

Cadillac Super Cruise has retained its title as the best driver assistance system on the market, Consumer Reports declared in a new ranking. Super Cruise also won CR's last ranking in 2018. While Super Cruise started out as a Cadillac-only feature, GM is planning to bring it to 22 vehicles by 2023.

Tesla's Autopilot came in second place—a "distant second" according to Consumer Reports. The group says it saw "minor improvements in lane keeping performance" from Tesla's offering since the system was last evaluated in 2018.

Those minor improvements were enough for Autopilot to get the top spot in the "lane keeping and performance" category of CR's report. CR ranked Autopilot 9/10 for performance, while Super Cruise scored 8/10. Tesla also got top marks for Autopilot's ease of use.

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Ford is making new Broncos; mockumentary John Bronco has its ideal pitchman

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 16:15:55 GMT

The trailer for Hulu's John Bronco.

John Bronco—Hulu's new sub-40-minute mockumentary about a "lost" "Ford pitchman"—is a good idea, well-executed. What if you took the competent-idiot Southern charm of Justified's Boyd Crowder, but, instead of an Appalachian criminal, made the character the unlikely pitchman for a beloved classic SUV, who oozes over-the-top marketable machismo a la the Marlboro Man? And... what if you can get Walton Goggins himself to play the S.O.B? To call that comedic premise excellent, well, "It'd be like saying, 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter is just margarine...' which I guess it is," as one interviewee describes Bronco.

In case the title alone doesn't explain the premise: sometime around the 1960s, Ford had a rugged SUV, called the Bronco, lined up for the masses. But it needed a way to sell this new contraption. The company decided it would enter a prototype of the vehicle in the Baja 1000, a famed off-road race. It needed someone tough enough to handle this beast of a vehicle and course, so it sought out whoever seemed to be the most rugged guy in the region—a rodeo champ named John Bronco. John Bronco chronicles the (to be clear, fictional) man's rise, fall, and disappearance before trying to figure out where the legendary ad icon is now.

The team behind John Bronco—Director Jake Szymanski (HBO's Tour de Pharmacy) and producer Marc Gilbar—started on the idea in 2019 but ultimately timed the project for maximum impact when they learned Ford had real-life plans to relaunch the iconic Bronco late this summer. According to The Ringer, the team met directly with Ford and earned access to the company's marketing archives, which get mined thoroughly for aesthetic and pseudo-accuracy in the film. For instance: if you, too, were also born after the mid-1980s, maybe it'd be surprising to learn Doug Flutie had enough of a Q score to actually hawk cars for Ford in 1985 (though the original ad does not seem to end in tragedy).

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Lamborghini’s Huracán Evo RWD is made for maximum fun, not lap times

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 13:00:49 GMT

The all-wheel-drive Lamborghini Huracán Evo was determined to be too drama-free, so now Lamborghini has made a $214,366 rear-wheel-drive version. Which is a lot, but it's a massive $50,000 cheaper than the all-wheel-drive version we tested in 2019. [credit: Lamborghini ]

"Hang back for a second so I can show you the course," Dean DiGiacomo says over the radio as we approach the skid pad in a pair of 610hp (455kW), Skittle-colored Huracáns.

A professional racer and the chief instructor for Lamborghini's various performance schools—which range from customer track days to an intensive training program for the automaker's Super Trofeo wheel-to-wheel racing series—DiGiacomo takes a moment to explain the vehicle settings I'll need to select before he sets off on a demonstration pass.

The matte-purple machine arcs gracefully from one cone of the figure eight to the next, V10 wailing as it turns rubber into smoke. Before I know it, DiGiacomo is already back in the pit area and it's my turn to give it a go. "Now, do it just like that," a photographer says to me with a knowing grin. We share a laugh. But how hard can it be, right?

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Why is everyone building an electric pickup truck?

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 12:00:17 GMT

The shape says Aston Martin Bulldog, the materials say Delorean DMC12. [credit: Tesla ]

The electric pickup trucks are here. Or almost here, at least.

General Motors dropped a pretty penny to debut its new electric Hummer during the World Series on Tuesday, with a two minute, 15 second ad that took up an entire commercial break. But you won’t be able to drive the $112,595 truck off the lot until at least next fall. Tesla staged a smashing reveal for its Cybertruck pickup nearly a year ago, but it hasn’t yet built the factory in Texas that will make the thing—reservation holders can probably expect their truck late next year. Other contenders on the horizon include the Rivian R1T, which, after delays, should show up around June; the Lordstown Endurance(sometime in 2021); the Bollinger B2 (probably next year); the Ford F-150 EV(due mid-2022); and the Nikola Badger (thanks to the company’s leadership troubles, who knows). The competition for the hearts and minds of the American electric pickup truck buyer is bound to be intense.

Here’s the problem: No one knows who that American electric pickup buyer is. “It’s not like people have been asking for this,” says Jessica Caldwell, the executive director of insights at Edmunds. “I don’t think people have been sitting around and thinking, ‘You now what I need? A pickup with an electric motor.’”

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The 2020 Polaris Slingshot—still a conversation starter on three wheels

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 17:47:08 GMT

The 2020 Polaris Slingshot has an all-new engine and transmission, but it remains for extroverts only. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

The Polaris Slingshot was definitely the most unusual vehicle I reviewed last year. Classified as a motorcycle, this three-wheeler looked like nothing else on the roads. In fact, it would be hard to draw more attention without the help of some sirens and a bullhorn. For 2020, Polaris has substantially revised the Slingshot. Well, on the inside, that is. There's an all-new four-cylinder engine, unique to the vehicle, and an optional automated gearbox for those who want three wheels but only two pedals. But it still looks like nothing else on the road, and as I discovered over the course of a few days, it still isn't the vehicle for you if you want to blend in.

Instead of using a 2.4L Ecotec engine from General Motors, Polaris decided to create its own in-house. It's a 2.0L four-cylinder design called the ProStar, and in addition to being smaller than the old engine, it's also about 65lbs (30kg) lighter thanks to an aluminum block. It's also more powerful, and it likes to rev, too. In SL-spec, it makes 177hp (132kW) at a heady 8,500rpm; we tested the Slingshot R which packs 203hp (151kW) at 8,250rpm. Both SL (120lb-ft/163Nm) and R (144lb-ft/195Nm) are less torquey than the old Ecotec (166lb-ft/225Nm), although that never felt like a problem as there's just that single 20-inch rear tire with which to apply it.

The other major new addition is the AutoDrive automated manual transmission, something the company says has been its most common request from potential customers. It's a five-speed with a hydraulically activated clutch and is the only gearbox available for the $26,499 Slingshot SL. The R offers buyers the choice of AutoDrive ($32,699) or a conventional three-pedal manual option ($30,999). Polaris says that AutoDrive only weighs about 14lbs (6.3kg) more than the regular manual, and at 1,645lbs (746kg) the 2020 Slingshot R is about 100lbs (45kg) lighter than a 2019 model.

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Tesla made $331 million profit in Q3 2020

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 21:03:51 GMT

Enlarge (credit: Tesla / Aurich Lawson)

On Wednesday, Tesla published its financial results for the third quarter of 2020. The company says it ended Q3 2020 with a GAAP profit of $331 million, the fifth profitable quarter in a row for the US automaker. Despite the pandemic, it's a strong improvement on Q3 2019.

Tesla ends Q3 2020 with a positive free cash flow of $1.4 billion and $14.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents. Tesla says in its presentation to investors that Q3 was marked by substantial growth in vehicle deliveries, which counteracted a decrease in the average selling price as the company sells fewer and fewer Models S and X and sells more and more Models 3 and Y. Regulatory credits accounted for $397 million of its revenues, and the company had to pay out $280 million in stock-based compensation for CEO Elon Musk after the company reached certain milestones.

The automaker had already released data on its Q3 deliveries earlier in October, but to reiterate, it made 16,992 Models S and X, delivering 15,725 of the same. Models 3 and Y production clocked in at 128,044; in total, it delivered 124,318 of these vehicles during the three months in question. Impressively, total deliveries are up 54 percent quarter-on-quarter and 44 percent year-on-year. In total, the company's automotive business brought in $7.6 billion in revenue.

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American excess is back with the 1,000hp 2022 GMC Hummer EV truck

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 15:03:15 GMT

If a small electric hatchback couldn't capture Americans' interest, maybe a gigantic electric truck will do the trick. This is the GMC Hummer EV, and if you squint, it looks like a cross between a Toyota FJ Cruiser and a Porsche 914. [credit: GMC ]

On Tuesday night, and after a long teaser campaign that included a Super Bowl advert, GMC introduced its new Hummer EV to the world. The Hummer EV is the first of a promised onslaught of new electric vehicles from General Motors, but for real, unlike the last time GM promised such a thing. It's also the company's first battery electric vehicle since the Chevrolet Bolt EV, and it represents a complete volte-face for the automaker.

After all, if an affordable, compact, efficient BEV won't find favor with American consumers, maybe a 1,000hp (745kW) super truck with a 0-60mph time of three seconds will do the trick. Oh, and a $112,595 price tag, at least to begin with.

And this one is big: 216.8 inches (5,507mm) long, making it slightly shorter than the Escalade that you all hate. It's 86.7 inches wide (2,201mm) without counting the mirrors, or 93.7 inches (2,380mm) with them included. and we're pretty sure it's 81.1 inches (2,060mm) tall. I have no idea about its curb weight in pounds but would guess it starts with a six.

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SSC takes Bugatti’s crown with a new 316mph production car speed record

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 15:00:50 GMT

On October 9, SSC North American took the production speed record away from Bugatti with a 331mph top speed run in the SSC Tuatara. [credit: James Lipman ]

If you want a car that can go really, really, really fast, forget about ordering that Bugatti and give the people at SSC North America a call. On October 10, racing driver Oliver Webb got behind the wheel of one of SSC's new Tuatara hypercars and, on a closed stretch of Nevada State Route 160, reached a top speed of 331.15mph (532.93km/h). When averaged with his 301.07mph (484.53km/h) run in the opposite direction, SSC North America set a new world speed record for production vehicles at 316.11mph (508.73km/h).

Until now, the record for the world's fastest production car belonged to Bugatti, which claimed it in 2019. Andy Wallace was behind the wheel for that attempt, driving a 1,578hp (1,177kW) Bugatti Chiron Super Sport to top speed of 304.77mph (490.48km/h) at Volkswagen's massive test track in Ehra-Lessien, Germany. The SSC Tuatara packs even more power than the Chiron: 1,750hp (1,305kW) of power on E85, and it all gets sent to just the rear wheels, too. The Tuatara also has a more slippery shape, with a smaller frontal area than the Chiron (1.672m² vs 2.072m²) and a lower drag coefficient (0.279 vs 0.319).

Those were conscious decisions during the Tuatara's design—SSC's founder Jerod Shelby has had his sights on the production speed record for some years now. "My goal was always to beat this record by such a substantial amount that maybe it's going to stand in for a little while. I felt like that's what McLaren did back in the late nineties, and they held that record a long time because they just smashed the record. That was my dream in a perfect world," Shelby said.

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Cadillac gives the new 2021 Escalade SUV a huge technology upgrade

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 12:00:13 GMT

Enlarge / Augmented reality is a standard feature on the new Cadillac Escalade SUV. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

I will admit it; when Cadillac asked if we wanted to spend a day with the new 2021 Escalade, I was in two minds about saying yes. A 6,000lb body-on-frame SUV is about as far from my automotive comfort zone as it's possible to get with a regular driver's license. And while there is a choice of gasoline V8 or turbodiesel inline-six, there's not a sniff of a hybrid option—not even the 48V mild kind, which feels inexcusable in the year 2020.

On the other hand, Cadillac has turned up the technology dial in an effort to regain its crown as the King of Bling. From the driver's seat you can see 38 inches of OLED screen wrapping around you. The highlight is an augmented reality mode that's cool enough to tempt you away from navigating by CarPlay or Android Auto and worthy of Ars' attention on its own.

This might be the Escalade's best angle. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

The body-on-frame light truck is an American speciality. It's where the domestic automakers make their money, and the new Escalade is built on General Motor's latest and greatest body-on-frame platform. And I do mean greatest. Our test vehicle was a $105,995 Escalade ESV 4WD Platinum, which stretches out across 226.9 inches (5,766mm), with a 134.1-inch (3.407mm) wheelbase. More than one neighbor remarked on how large it was as it jutted out of my parking space, which luckily is slightly wider than the Escalade's 81.1 inches (2,059mm). At 76.4 inches (1,942mm) tall, I was grateful for the retractable running boards that emerge when you open a door; if you're shorter than average, it is a $1,750 option you might want.

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Cruise will soon hit San Francisco with no hands on the wheel

Sat, 17 Oct 2020 10:15:46 GMT

Enlarge / Cruise has been testing its self-driving cars, with safety drivers, in San Francisco for about five years. (credit: Andrej Sokolow | Getty Images)

Last week, Waymo, the self-driving-vehicle developer owned by Alphabet, expanded a first-of-its-kind service offering rides to paying passengers around Phoenix—with no one behind the wheel. Videos shared by Waymo and others show its minivans navigating wide, sunny streets with ease.

Now rival Cruise, a General Motors subsidiary, has taken a step toward running its own self-driving-taxi service—on the hilly, winding, pedestrian-swarmed streets of San Francisco. On Thursday, Cruise said the California Department of Motor Vehicles had granted it a permit to test up to five of its modified Chevy Bolts without anyone behind the wheel. In a blog post, Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said truly driverless cars would operate in the city before the end of the year.

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Nikola stock falls 14 percent after CEO downplays Badger truck plans

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 18:42:59 GMT

Enlarge / The front half of the Nikola Badger. (credit: Aurich Lawson / Nikola Motor Corporation)

Nikola CEO Mark Russell downplayed the company's Badger pickup truck in comments to the Financial Times on Thursday.

“The Badger was an interesting and exciting project to some shareholders, but our institutional shareholders are mostly focused on the business plan,” Russell said. “Our core business plan since before we became publicly listed always focused on heavy trucks and hydrogen infrastructure.”

Russell's comments were published after markets closed on Thursday. Nikola's stock price plunged on Friday morning and is currently down about 14 percent for the day.

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Red Bull could quit F1 if new engine rules don’t happen

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 18:16:37 GMT

Enlarge / Pierre Gasly driving the Alpha Tauri Honda AT01 leads Alexander Albon in his Red Bull Racing RB16 during the F1 Eifel Grand Prix at Nürburgring on October 11, 2020 in Nürburg, Germany. The energy drink company Red Bull may quit the sport with both teams if it cannot find a solution to its engine supply problem. (credit: Dan Istitene - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

At the beginning of October, Honda shocked the world of Formula 1 by announcing its decision to quit the sport at the end of 2021. Currently, it supplies a pair of teams—Red Bull Racing and Alpha Tauri—both owned by the Red Bull energy drinks company. Red Bull now has to find a replacement supplier for the fiendishly expensive, insanely complicated hybrid powertrains required by the rules. And it, too, might quit the sport in 2022 if it can't do that to its satisfaction, a warning issued this week by Red Bull's sporting director, Helmut Marko. So what the heck is going on?

F1’s hybrid era

The first F1 cars to add an electric motor to their internal combustion engine powertrains took to the track in 2009. These were 80hp (60kW) motor-generator units (MGUs) that could recover kinetic energy from the rear wheels under braking and return it to those same wheels for short bursts of additional power during a lap. However, only four teams adopted this idea—called KERS, for kinetic energy recovery system—during the year, and it was abandoned by mutual consent at the end of that season.

In 2014, the sport adopted its current technical ruleset. The old naturally aspirated 2.4L V8 engines were replaced by new 1.6L turbocharged V6s, now with two mandatory hybrid elements to the power train. In place of KERS, there was an MGU-K (for kinetic), and a new MGU-H (for heat), which captured or deployed energy to the engine's turbocharger. The new powertrains are hugely powerful, reaching around 1,000hp (746kW) in qualifying trim last year. And they use less fuel than ever: since this article was written in 2016, the V6es have actually now exceeded 50-percent thermal efficiency.

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Lidar used to cost $75,000—here’s how Apple brought it to the iPhone

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 16:40:29 GMT

Enlarge

At Tuesday's unveiling of the iPhone 12, Apple touted the capabilities of its new lidar sensor. Apple says lidar will enhance the iPhone's camera by allowing more rapid focus, especially in low-light situations. And it may enable the creation of a new generation of sophisticated augmented reality apps.

Tuesday's presentation offered little detail about how the iPhone's lidar actually works, but this isn't Apple's first device with lidar. Apple first introduced the technology with the refreshed iPad in March. And while no one has done a teardown of the iPhone 12 yet, we can learn a lot from recent iPad teardowns.

Lidar works by sending out laser light and measuring how long it takes to bounce back. Because light travels at a constant speed, the round-trip time can be translated into a precise distance estimate. Repeat this process across a two-dimensional grid and the result is a three-dimensional "point cloud" showing the location of objects around a room, street, or other location.

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Now there’s a cheaper, single-motor version of the Lucid Air EV

Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:11:04 GMT

Enlarge / The Lucid Air is a stylish and aerodynamic sedan. (credit: Lucid Motors)

When Lucid Motors revealed the final production version of its new electric vehicle in September, the only thing not to like was the price. The specs for the Air Dream Edition were eye-opening: 1,080hp (805kW), zero to 60mph in 2.5 seconds, and a range of 503 miles (810km). But they were matched by the MSRP—$169,000 for this fully loaded hypersedan.

Cheaper versions costing $139,000 (the Air Grand Touring) and $95,000 (the Air Touring) were also announced, and Lucid told us that an entry-level Air would also arrive in due time, at "under $80,000." (All these prices are before taking into account the $7,500 IRS tax credit or any state incentives.) On Wednesday, it filled in that final blank.

It's not quite the $60,000 model that was originally on the cards a few years ago, but a regular Lucid Air will be available for $77,400, or $69,900 after the IRS tax credit. For your money, you get a single-motor variant that packs 480hp (359kW) with an estimated EPA range of 406 miles (653km) on a single charge. The biggest catch: you'll have to wait until 2022 before taking delivery.

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Feds to investigate the Chevrolet Bolt EV after three fires

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 20:31:46 GMT

Enlarge / This is the 60kWh battery pack found inside a Chevrolet Bolt EV. The front of the pack is to the right of the picture, and the hump to the left are the double-stacked modules that live under the rear seat. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation of the Chevrolet Bolt EV following several reports of vehicle fires. Specifically, NHTSA says it was contacted by two owners reporting that their Bolt EVs had caught fire while parked and unattended. The agency did some digging and turned up a third instance, and on October 9 it opened a preliminary investigation into the scope, frequency, circumstances, and safety consequences of the fires.

In each case, NHTSA says the burn pattern was similar: fire damage was concentrated in the lithium-ion battery compartment (which sits underneath the passenger compartment), with some penetration into the passenger area through the rear seat. The three affected cars span model years 2017-2019.

In one case—a MY 2018 Bolt EV in Belmont, Massachusetts—the vehicle was plugged into a charger in the owner's driveway when it caught fire. In this case, the residents and their neighbors had to be evacuated by the fire department due to noxious fumes and smoke.

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Electric car sales triple in race to meet Europe CO2 rules

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 15:30:13 GMT

Enlarge / Kia says the Niro EV can fast-charge at up to 100kW. For some reason it tells chargers it can actually do 150kW, but in practice you might never see more than 77kW. Confusing, eh? (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

One in 10 new cars sold across Europe this year will be electric or plug-in hybrid, triple last year’s sales levels after carmakers rolled out new models to meet emissions rules, according to projections from green policy group Transport & Environment.

The market share of mostly electric cars will rise to 15 percent next year, the group forecasts, as carmakers across the continent race to cut their CO2 levels. The projections are based on sales data for the first half of the year, as well as expected increases as manufacturers scramble to comply with tightening restrictions in 2021.

“Electric car sales are booming thanks to EU emissions standards,” said Clean Vehicle Director Julia Poliscanova. “Next year, one in every seven cars sold in Europe will be a plug-in.”

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Sixty Coinbase employees take buyout offer over "no politics” rule

Fri, 09 Oct 2020 16:41:07 GMT

Enlarge / Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. (credit: Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

Sixty Coinbase employees have accepted a buyout offer after CEO Brian Armstrong announced a controversial new policy curbing political activism inside the company. Armstrong disclosed the figure in a Thursday email to employees.

Armstrong announced the new policy last week after a summer when many technology companies faced pressure from their employees to become more outspoken on issues of social justice.

"While I think these efforts are well-intentioned, they have the potential to destroy a lot of value at most companies, both by being a distraction, and by creating internal division," Armstrong wrote in a September 27 blog post. "We've seen what internal strife at companies like Google and Facebook can do to productivity. I believe most employees don't want to work in these divisive environments."

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Waymo finally launches an actual public, driverless taxi service

Thu, 08 Oct 2020 21:29:28 GMT

Enlarge

After covering Waymo for several years, I've learned to take the company's announcements with a grain of salt.

In 2018, for example, Waymo said it would launch a fully driverless commercial service by the end of the year. Waymo did release a service called Waymo One in December 2018, but it came with a couple of huge asterisks: every vehicle had a safety driver, and the service was only open to a small group of people.

But today Waymo finally seems to be launching the taxi service it promised two years ago: one that's fully driverless and open to the public. Waymo told Ars that the service will initially operate in a 50-square-mile area in the Phoenix suburbs of Chandler, Tempe, and Mesa.

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Owning an electric car really does save money, Consumer Reports finds

Thu, 08 Oct 2020 14:00:27 GMT

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

If you bought a Tesla Model 3 instead of a BMW 3 Series or Audi A4, you'd probably save $15,000 over the total lifetime of the vehicle. That's according to a new analysis from Consumer Reports, which examines the total cost of ownership for electric vehicles—both battery EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs—versus comparable internal combustion engine vehicles.

CR found that much lower maintenance costs and the lower price of electricity compared to gasoline more than offsets the higher purchase price of a new BEV compared to an ICE.

Operating and maintenance costs were calculated using data from annual reliability surveys conducted by CR in 2019 and 2020. Among other data collected, the survey asked CR members to estimate their automotive maintenance and repair costs and driven mileage over the previous 12 months, as well as total mileage of their vehicle. (CR filtered out outliers who drove fewer than 2,000 miles (3,200km) or more than 60,000 miles (96,560km) in 12 months, as well as vehicles with more than $20,000 in maintenance costs or vehicles with more than 200,000 miles (322,000km) on the odometer.)

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