Ford Raises The Ford F-150 Lightning Base Price, Again

Cruise said it has “driven nearly 700,000 fully autonomous miles in an extremely complex urban environment with zero life-threatening injuries or fatalities…. There’s always a balance between healthy regulatory scrutiny and the innovation we desperately need to save lives, which is why we’ll continue to fully cooperate with NHTSA or any regulator in achieving that shared goal.”

Last month, Cruise Chief Operating Officer Gil West told Reuters the company plans to enter a “large number of markets” and scale operations up to “thousands of vehicles” in 2023.

There’s this great scene in “The Magnificent Ambersons” wherein one of the characters is driving an extremely early automobile, with its seemingly endless problems and off-putting noise. When people see the horseless carriage driving down the street (or broken down) they jeer and yell “Get a horse!”

By the time Booth Tarkington wrote the novel, in 1917, the cars had won and the horses had lost. That moment will probably come for driverless cars and the question is always: How long will that be? Seems like it’s going to be a while to me, but maybe in a decade I’ll look back on me yelling “Get a driver!” and laugh at my pessimism.

Faraday Future Is Going To Deliver Cars In April, According To Faraday Future

It should be clear at this point that The Autopian maintains a great deal of skepticism towards troubled EV company Faraday Future. I refer you to: “Faraday Future Continues To Produce More Drama Than Actual Cars” and “Controversial Chinese Billionaire Will Try To Save EV Company That Spent $3 Billion And Hasn’t Delivered A Car.”

This is one of those situations where it would be nice to be wrong. I’ve actually met a couple of Faraday Future employees and they seem quite smart and believe in a lot of what the company is doing, technologically. In the spirit of optimism and Christmas and Saturnalia and all that, I’ll share some of their updates:

Engaged in discussions with both potential new investors and existing FF investors to provide the estimated $150-170M of additional capital needed to produce the FF 91 Futurist

The Company has received a draft $30 million binding letter of intent from a current FF investor, which remains subject to Board approval and certain conditions including the negotiation and execution of definitive documentation

Fingers crossed!

The Chicago Auto Show Is Back, Baby!

My first ever auto show as a professional member of the media was the Chicago Auto Show. I essentially bluffed my way into a press pass from Ray Wert. It was great fun and changed my life. It was a little less fun for Ray and Mike Spinelli as they suddenly had an enthusiastic kid in his early 20s running around and annoying everyone in the press room with his constant loud chatter [Ed Note: Some things never change. -DT]. They got over it.

Even in the peak era of auto shows, Chicago was never the place where the biggest news was broken, but it was always the biggest place where news was broken. Set inside the city’s cavernous McCormick Place, the show won on sheer acreage. It was gigantic. The pandemic led to the show shrinking a bit but now it’s back to full-size! From their release:

 The Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA), producer of the Chicago Auto Show, today announced it will reopen the north exhibit hall of McCormick Place, expanding once again to a two-hall show and reenlisting brands that missed during the pandemic. The 2023 show, Feb. 11-20, is positioned to be the most experiential Chicago Auto Show yet, offering outdoor ride-and-drives as well as a handful of brand-new indoor test tracks including a 100,000 sq.-ft. destination featuring EV test drives and education, called Chicago Drives Electric.

[…]

Additionally, the 2023 show will bring back fan-favorite events that took a backseat during the pandemic including Chicago Friday Night Flights, a local craft beer sampling event, and the Toyota Miles Per Hour run, where runners can experience the auto show via a 2.4-mile loop inside McCormick Place before the event doors open to the general public.

“Whether you’re interested in running or sipping your way around the show, are an auto enthusiast, or simply in the market to shop and see what’s new, there’s truly something for everyone at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show,” Keefe added.

I lived in Chicago and the two things I remember distinctly are:

• Exercising outside was impossible for what felt like eight months of the year.
• It’s the drinkiest place I’ve ever been.

Somehow, they auto show has addressed both of these issues at once! Amazing!

The Flush

When it comes to buying new cars (or new anything) are you a fast-mover or a waiter? Were you the first person to get an iPhone or did you let the bugs get worked out first?

• Elon Musk Sells $3.6 Billion In Tesla Stock
• The Volvo XC40 and Escape are the only two SUVs that did well on new IIHS test
• The men who helped Carlos Ghosn escape had a far worse fate
• The 2023 Subaru WRX Miraculously Only Costs $31,625
• Used car prices keep falling as inflation finally cools

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Photos: Ford, Faraday Future, Chicago Auto Show, Cruise