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China Moves Forward with Electric Cars

China has announced its plan to require auto manufacturers to sell more alternative-fuel vehicles in the country. Companies that manufacture or import more than 30,000 vehicles a year will be required to obtain credits for “new energy vehicles” (including battery electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles) that amount to 10% of annual sales by 2019. In 2020, that...

Traffic Fatalities Decline in First Six Months of Year

Traffic fatalities are 1 percent lower in the first six months of 2017, compared with the same period in 2016, according to preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council (NSC).  The organization says the decline comes after the steepest estimated two-year increase in traffic deaths since 1964.  Despite the decline, traffic fatalities in the first six months in 2017 are still 8...

Mercedes-Benz to invest $1 billion in to produce electric vehicles in Alabama

Mercedes-Benz announced plans to invest $1 billion in Alabama to produce electric vehicles. The investment will go both to an expansion of the German luxury brand’s existing plant near Tuscaloosa and to build a new 1 million-square-foot battery factory. Mercedes’ move comes as the major German automakers, including Volkswagen and BMW, are pivoting rapidly away from diesel...

New Federal Policy on Automated Vehicles

The U.S. Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have issued “version 2.0” of the Federal Automated Vehicle Policy, originally released in 2016. Automated Driving Systems: A Vision for Safety 2.0 is shorter and more streamlined than the original policy guidance. It contains voluntary guidance for manufacturers of Level 3-5 automated driving...

House Passes Self-Driving Car Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the SELF DRIVE Act, federal legislation governing self-driving cars. As previously noted, the bill would exempt up to 100,000 autonomous vehicles from existing federal safety rules, and would instead require the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop new standards for autonomous vehicles. The DOT would have authority over testing of...