NO GREEN
Automakers are struggling to get on track to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a recent report by the Capgemini Research Institute.The academic think tank explains that investment in sustainability initiatives has fallen to less than one percent in 2022, compared to 1.22 percent in 2019. At current investment levels, greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 will be reduced by 24 percent—a far cry from the goal of a 45 percent reduction. These reductions were accomplished by less than 10 percent of companies in the industry actively working towards sustainability strategies, meaning that over 90 percent of companies failed to make the necessary adaptations.
RIVIAN IS READY
As of late September, Transport Canada has authorized Rivian to sell vehicles in Canada. The news came days after Drive Tesla Canada reported that Rivian in fact, did not receive certification, following its application to Transport Canada earlier this month. The electric automaker reached out to the site a day later to clarify that it never failed the application; the OEM was simply required to provide supplemental information to finalize its certs. To meet Transport Canada’s certification requirements, Rivian had to meet specific standards in speedometer units of measure, certain labels, immobilizer requirements for anti-theft, pass-by noise standards and more. Collision Repair can confirm that the OEM has visited collision centres in several Canadian city centres, though the nature of those meetings was not specified.
Images from Rivian’s customer open house in B.C. The OEM celebrated its first international deliveries to the Canadian market in late November
TRIPLE THREAT
Several false advertising lawsuits have been levelled against Tesla recently, leaving the OEM with the possibility of class action lawsuits taking shape in California and Florida. In California, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP announced a class action lawsuit alleging that Tesla misled the public regarding its autopilot and full self-driving (FSD) technology, saying that the OEM made untrue and misleading statements while having yet to produce a fully self-driving car. Meanwhile in Florida, a Palm Beach County court has set a date in February for the first in a series of autopilot collision trials.
According to an article published by Bloomberg, Tesla’s use of the term “autopilot” might lull
drivers into a false sense of security that the vehicle could automatically pilot itself.
THIN SKINNED
An American vehicle detailing shop has made an interesting discovery—the OEM coating on a new Lucid Air Grand Touring is so thin that polishing can damage the paint. According to a Youtube video by Out of Spec Detailing, the Lucid Air’s Grand Touring paint was too thin to even polish. In fact, paint thickness measurements regularly scored below 3mm and went as low as 2.24mm. For context, most vehicle coatings vary between 4 millimetres to 7 mills—enough for a polishing abrasive material to polish scratches away.
The Out of Spec Detailing team used a paint protection film to cover scratches, and highlighted vinyl wrapping as another possibility.
