An RV assembled from a mishmash of former commercial vehicles has been photographed in Texas, and needless to say, we're in love with it. The larger-than-life machine features bits and pieces from a fire truck, a semi-truck, and a heavy-duty wrecker.

Facebook user and Doug Poggensee spotted the vehicle on a trip to South Padre Island, a place mostly frequented by tourists and Spring Break partygoers. Poggensee shared his photos with a vintage fire engine enthusiast group called SPAAMFAA on Facebook, or the "Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus of America."

The contraption is built on the basis of a retired fire engine, and the vehicle's livery identifies its past owner as the Rainbow Lakes Volunteer Fire Company of Denville, New Jersey, which states on social media that it operated the truck under the designation Engine 623.

Texan TV station ABC South Texas tracked down the vehicle to interview the vehicle's manufacturer and driver, who turns out to be a former boat builder by the name of Brian Portman. Portman told the station that this fire truck-based camper was not, in fact, his first.

"My first one, after ten years of building it, three years of use, burnt down," Portman told ABC. "A fire truck that burnt down!"

Evidently not dissuaded by the fiery end of his last vehicle, Portman told the station he picked up another engine—this one 25 years old, for $12,500—for conversion into a second RV. He fabricated the fire engine's expanded body using the sleeper from a Peterbilt semi, which he then topped with a Kenworth roof. For the cabin's midsection, he incorporated the roof from a Volvo, giving space to stand on the elevated midsection of the vehicle.

Inside the passenger compartment, a pair of bunks, a refrigerator, and a small stove (for warmth) can be found. Sliding out from the vehicle's side is the stove used for cooking, but that's not all Portman has relocated. He explains that he and his wife don't get along perfectly, and that he brought a Suzuki on the vehicle's wrecker-derived back-end as well as a trailer for he and she to get some space between them as needed.

Despite being a hodgepodge of different vehicles, the truck evidently works well enough for Portman to drive it all the way down from Vancouver, Canada to his vacationing spot on South Padre Island, a distance of about 2,570 miles. At an average of 6.5 miles per gallon, that's nearly 400 gallons of diesel just to make the drive down. At a nationwide average diesel price of $2.97 per gallon according to the Energy Information Administration, Portman almost certainly paid close to $1,200 USD for fuel, and that's only for the trip down.

At $2,400 round-trip, why not fly instead? You won't get to see as much flyover country, but you won't be trapped with your travel mates' farts for hours on end.

You can't do that with DiGiorno. A 14-year-old Florida girl called in a Papa John's delivery order late at night last month, only to steal the pizza guy's car in order to see her boyfriend, police said.

According to Lee County Sheriff's Office documents obtained by The Smoking Gun, 14-year-old Josie Bigelow of Lehigh Acres, Florida called in the order for what Floridians might call pizza but New Yorkers would describe as "a Peyton Manning-endorsed pizza-like substance" to the house of Noel Perez on 3rd Street Southwest shortly after midnight on January 30th, prompting 49-year-old Papa John's employee Christoper Cook to head to the address in order to drop off some midnight munchies. Cook told police that upon arriving at the address, he saw a figure appear from the tree line and leap into his gold 2006 Ford Taurus, rev up the engine, and blast through the front yard and along the canal bank before vanishing out of sight.

Being a responsible Papa John's employee, Cook immediately called his office, followed quickly by phoning the theft into police. Luckily for Cook, there were apparently few Fords roaming the streets of that part of Florida that night, as a sheriff's deputy spotted the car traveling east near the corner of Lee Boulevard and Lehigh Acres Boulevard and took up pursuit. The Taurus then "fled at a high rate of speed," according to officials; officers reacquired it shortly thereafter when, appropriately enough, the car was spotted in front of Lehigh Acres Middle School, at which point the sheriff's office picked it up via airborne unit.

The flying cops then followed the Taurus to 111 Sebring Circle—the home of one Bill Teal, located approximately six miles from where the alleged theft occurred—and radioed in the location, prompting a sergeant to approach the vehicle and apprehend Bigelow. (Officers said Teal and Bigelow had no prior relationship.) The teenager was taken into custody and brought to a nearby juvenile detention facility, from which she was released after four hours' detention, according to news reports.

Upon being contacted by a Lee County Sheriff's Office detective, Josie's father Joseph Bigelow told the officer that his daughter's behavior had turned bad recently since she had "fallen in with a bad crowd." He went further in an interview with NBC 2 News, claiming his daughter and her boyfriend had planned the theft. "She needs to go to jail," Papa Bigelow said. "It's the only way you're gonna teach a 14-year-old kid the facts of life."

“She needs an ass whipping," he said. "That and jail.”

Electrify America, the organization created to spend $2 billion of Volkswagen diesel-cheating penalties on zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, will be teaming up with Tesla. The American automaker's battery packs will be used for energy storage at more than 100 Electrify America charging stations, it confirmed on Monday.

The battery packs, which will be installed throughout 2019, will help lower operating costs by lessening the need to draw power from the grid during times of peak demand, a statement released by the company said. Stationary battery packs can be charged during periods of low demand, saving electricity for when demand increases.

Each charging-station site will get roughly 350 kWh of energy-storage capacity, according to Electrify America. But the setup is modular, so more storage capacity can be added in the future if needed.

While car production gets most of the attention, energy storage is a significant business for Tesla. In its 2018 financial results, the company said it deployed 1.04 gigawatt-hours of energy-storage battery packs last year, nearly tripling the amount of 2017. In a letter to investors, Tesla said plans to increase production of battery packs at its massive Nevada Gigafactory, aiming for 2 GWh in 2019.

However, Tesla has not added battery packs to its existing network of Supercharger stations on a large scale yet. Other automakers, such as Renault, have experimented with combining charging stations and energy storage, while Volkswagen plans to manufacture a mobile charging station with a self-contained battery pack. Right now, though, most charging stations get their electricity from the grid.

Electrify America plans to install 2,800 charging stations nationwide by June. While stations are open to cars from all automakers, Tesla continues to use its own proprietary Supercharger standard for DC fast charging. That means owners can't get the fastest charge at Electrify America stations, which use the CHAdeMO and CCS standards, without an adapter.

Saint John Paul the Great may have been the most traveled pope in the long history of the job, but one part of the world that he, nor any other pope in modern history has visited until now is the Arabian Peninsula. The United Arab Emirates is a nation often associated with opulent luxury, fabulous supercars, and a generally bourgeois lifestyle, but when Pope Francis rolled up to the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi, he did so with great humility. Taking the cardinal virtue of temperance to the extreme, His Holiness showed up in a humble Kia Soul.

Pope Francis’ rather understated taste in cars has been noted before with the Fiat 500L that he used for getting around the U.S. back in 2015. It was the range-topping Lounge trim, but it still retails in the low- to mid-$20k range, and most definitely an incredible departure from Popemobiles of yore.

Pope Francis received an official welcome at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi, as he started his historic visit to the Arabian Peninsula

READ MORE: https://t.co/3eAxOVHfKS pic.twitter.com/wo8IDGFGdH

— RT (@RT_com) February 4, 2019

Going from a 500L to a Kia Soul is moving even further down-market for Pope Francis. Let’s assume it’s the + trim (yes, the Soul uses punctuation marks for trims) which starts right around the $20k mark in the U.S. That’s a pretty thrifty choice for any world leader.

What would've been a much more appropriate ride for the UAE is the Lamborghini Huracán in Vatican livery that was gifted to Pope Francis, however, it was given with the intention of being auctioned off with the money going to the charities of the Pope’s choice.

The Kia Soul might not be very fancy or fashionable, but it’s cheap and practical, and it seems that's what Pope Francis is going for. In a way, it’s actually pretty exotic because we have a feeling there aren’t a lot of Kia Souls in the UAE.

The U.S. Navy’s Sea Hunter unmanned surface vessel has become the first ship of any description to ever sail from San Diego, California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and back without the need of a crew for navigation and steering. It’s a significant milestone for this particular vessel and its future cousins, which the service has primarily been developing as anti-submarine warfare platforms, but could also provide electronic warfare support and acting as decoys to help shield friendly forces.

Defense contractor Leidos, which is leading the Sea Hunter project for the Navy, announced the achievement in a press release on Jan. 31, 2019. The notice did not say when the trimaran craft, formally known as the Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV), had left from or returned to San Diego, a round trip of more than 5,200 miles. Previous reports noted that the vessel had first arrived at Pearl Harbor on Oct. 31, 2018.

“The Sea Hunter program is leading the world in unmanned, fully autonomous naval ship design and production,” Gerry Fasano, Leidos Defense Group President, said in the press release. “The recent long-range mission is the first of its kind and demonstrates to the U.S. Navy that autonomy technology is ready to move from the developmental and experimental stages to advanced mission testing.”

The MDUSV did have a manned escort throughout the voyages. Personnel did board Sea Hunter at times to check the ship’s electronics and propulsion system, but Leidos did not say whether or not any repairs were necessary during any of the transits.

In 2016, Oregon Iron Works, now called Vigor Works, built Sea Hunter for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which initially called it the Anti-submarine warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV). In January 2018, DARPA turned the vessel over to the Office of Naval Research.

Leidos originally built the navigation system for the vessel, but has now taken over responsibility for the entire program. The Virginia-headquartered firm is now on contract to build a second MDUSV, known tentatively as Sea Hunter II.

The Navy is still developing its plans for how might employ these unmanned vessels in the future. In an interview with Breaking Defense on the sidelines of the annual Surface Navy Association’s main annual conference in January 2019, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral John Neagley, the service’s Program Executive Officer for Unmanned & Small Combatants, offered some new details about the roles and missions for the future MDUSVs.

“Part of the value of having unmanned surface vehicles is you can get capacity at a lower cost,” he explained to Breaking Defense. As it stands now, the Navy is primarily looking to use the Sea Hunters, or similarly sized unmanned vessels, as scouts and decoys, packed with sensors and electronic warfare systems as part of a concept the service is calling “Electromagnetic Maneuver Warfare.”

A group of MDUSVs, networked together with each other and manned ship, and operating autonomously, could cover a much broader area looking for all sorts of potential threats, including enemy surface ships and submarines, mines, or shore-based defenses. The unmanned vessels could use electronic warfare systems to blind enemy radars and other sensors or employ electronic support measures to geolocate and classify those targets, helping commanders get a better sense of an opponent’s “electronic order of battle.”

This, in turn, would provide important situational awareness and give manned ships additional options to avoid threats or launch strikes from the most optimum direction. A screen of Sea Hunters could make it more difficult for hostile submarines or other pop-up threats to get the drop on high-value vessels, such as aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.

MDUSVs would also be to act as decoys, generating electronic signals similar to larger ships and giving the appearance of a large, distributed attack, confusing an enemy or otherwise forcing them to spread their forces thin across a wide area. All of this could be particularly valuable in the open expanses of the Pacific region.

All of these concepts of operation benefit from Sea Hunter’s range and endurance capabilities, as well as plans for it to be able to operate completely autonomously. That the ship was able to navigate from California, out into the Eastern Pacific, and safely make it to Hawaii, as well as perform the return trip, all point to the increasing maturity of the vessel and its critical systems.

Those same attributes mean that Sea Hunter, or follow-on designs, will remain capable of wide-area, persistent missions more independent of manned ships, as well. DARPA has originally explored using the unmanned ships for anti-submarine and mine-sweeping missions.

In the anti-submarine role, Sea Hunter and its future cousins would offer cost-effective options for monitoring submarine activity across a wide area and be able to persistently track those threats. With that information, commanders would have better situational awareness and could then direct manned aircraft or surface vessels to engage those targets or look to avoid them altogether during a crisis.

The unmanned vessels would provide a valuable, lower-risk alternative for mine-hunting and clearing operations. The smaller MDUSVs would have the ability to more readily maneuver, especially in narrow waterways, to find and neutralize underwater hazards and do so without putting sailors at risk.

Sea Hunters, or similar unmanned ships in this size class, might eventually take on other roles, too. You can read more in detail about how the MDUSVs might operate in the future, here.

The Navy is also developing requirements for even larger unmanned surface vessels, which will leverage the lessons learned from Sea Hunter, but will be able to take on another new set of missions. So far, the service is primarily envisioning these Large Displacement Unmanned Surface Vessels (LDUSV) as "arsenal ships," linked together with various manned and unmanned platforms through the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) network concept.

Other ships, including the Navy's future guided missile frigate, or FFG(X), as well as manned and unmanned aircraft, could provide targeting information for those crewless arsenal ships. As such, they may not even need to carry their own sensors, allowing for more space to be devoted to stand-off weapons.

When it comes to Sea Hunter, more specifically, it “is a ship that you just sit down over the horizon and it might be able to do an awful lot of things that you don’t want a manned platform to do, especially in an area where there’s a lot of anti-access, area-denial threats,” then-Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said in 2016 at the vessel’s christening ceremony. “The U.S. military has talked about the strategic importance of replacing ‘king’ and ‘queen’ pieces on the maritime chessboard with lots of ‘pawns,’ and [this] is a first step toward doing exactly that.”

Medium, as well as large unmanned surface vessels, are also becoming increasingly important to the Navy's future plans to increase the total number of hulls available for combat missions. Sea Hunters and other future designs could potentially provide a cost-effective way for the service to finally reach its long-held goal of a surface force with 355 ships.

But whatever roles unmanned surface vessels, takes on in the end, Sea Hunter's recent long-distance trips are significant achievements and are major steps for the Navy toward adding larger and more capable unmanned vessels into routine operations.

Contact the author: jtrevithickpr@gmail.com

Over the last five years, new electric-vehicle startups have been debuting like clockwork. Naming all the new companies that have thrown their hats into the ring would take all day, but to scrape the top of the iceberg: Faraday Future made a splash at CES in 2017 with the reveal of its supposedly production-ready electric vehicle, the FF 91. Last year at the same show, China-based Byton showed off its M-Byte SUV Concept, which it claims will go on sale in the U.S. in 2020. Then, at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, Michigan’s Rivian debuted its electric pickup truck, the R1T. That company also says its vehicle will hit the streets next year, bringing 400-mile range and a meter-high wading depth.

Of course, one has to wonder: Do any of these companies really stand a chance? After all, it’s widely known that launching a new automotive company is one of the most excruciatingly difficult business challenges of the modern era. Look no further than the recent financial struggles of Faraday, which is backed by the deep pockets of China’s Evergrande Group yet still saw layoffs and salary cuts last year. And of course there's Tesla, which has all the innovation and customer support in the universe, yet is still struggling with "production hell" and various economic headwinds.

Furthermore, when you consider that Tesla’s competition at the moment is negligible, with new electric cars barely trickling out from established legacy manufacturers who actually know a thing or two about production, the future of all companies in this space can look dicey. In fact, Goldman Sachs predicted in the fall that those new EVs from the big guys—Mercedes, Audi, Porsche—as well as the anticipated threat from the startups will ding Tesla’s market share and value.

Though that would still all seem to point to a rising tide lifting all boats, it could also mean that the intense competition threatening Tesla might also make it harder for the noobs, including Fisker, W Motors, Lucid Motors, and Workhorse, as well, to succeed. According to analysts, Tesla’s growth will be tough to replicate.

“Historically the auto industry has been a very harsh environment for startups, and getting to scale can be very difficult,” says Tasha Keeney, an automotive analyst at ARK Invest. “But since Tesla was a first mover and essentially built a better, technologically enabled car with superior batteries and battery packs, it was able to scale before the OEMs realized that EVs were a good idea, and is now years ahead of the competition.”

Even still, given the challenges Tesla is facing in the day-to-day world of auto manufacturing, she sees the likelihood of success for similarly ambitious startups hinging not just on the technology and innovation they bring to the table, but also how realistic their claims are. “We follow any new and exciting players, but we are often doubtful of anyone who is touting superior battery technology,” she says. Because Tesla would likely be the first to acquire and move on new battery innovations, it would thus be unlikely that an upstart would be able to leapfrog over the company in that respect. Keeney does note that Tesla will, in fact, account for half of global battery production by the end of this year.

“There are a lot of exciting things happening in the lab today,” she says, “but manufacturability and getting to scale can be very difficult. That’s not to say impossible though.”

Another huge factor in startup success will be whether the upstarts address the practical realities of the automotive industry from the get-go. IHS Markit analyst Devin Lindsay, who covers alternative propulsion for the automotive research firm, says a variety of such factors go into the firm’s determination as to which startups will successfully establish a footprint in the market. His group works closely with researchers studying production capabilities, and he says a company’s plans to ramp up that mechanism and anticipate vehicle sales is typically a big tell of their future success.

“Do they have the capital to start production? Do they build their own factory or buy an existing one? What about a dealer network?” he says. “They might get enthusiasm from fans, but they need financial backing, production capabilities, and a dealer or sales strategy in place if they’re going to have a chance.”

Those are the harder bits of launching an EV maker, of course—but there are advantages to an electric car play, as well. For starters, the vehicles are simpler, even if their core technology—the batteries—can be complex. In particular, they don’t require intricate engine and transmission design and manufacturing, which opens up the industry to the potential for new players to thrive (if they can get the rest of their house in order). There’s also both an industry and consumer urge to move away from oil, which similarly boosts the prospects of companies offering an alternative. In short, Lindsay notes, the overall automotive environment is increasingly friendly to new players who show up with something new and compelling.

In that respect, Tesla captured imaginations with its technology and performance—from advanced driver assistance systems to its withering 0-60 times—as much as it did its efficiency play, catching the legacy carmakers off-guard in the process. Today’s startups, though, will have to find their own niche. That, Lindsay notes, could account for the recent surge in electric pickup truck reveals, such as Rivian, Bollinger, and Atlis Motors, which have benefitted from gradually improving battery density that enables increasingly larger electric vehicles. Targeting pickup trucks plugs a gap in the EV market.

“Just looking at the popularity of pickups in general—it’s a segment that’s not being addressed right now by EV manufacturers or the legacy carmakers, and that gives the startups an advantage,” Lindsay says. “If it’s a body style or segment that’s not competing against anything, that will allow them to capture market share, and getting in now is much better than trying to get in later.”

But just because a new carmaker doesn’t have the experience of the legacy brands when it comes to manufacturing and sales that doesn’t mean it can’t succeed in part through sheer force of will. It’s happening right now with Tesla, in fact—growing pains notwithstanding.

“I would say that to some extent, because Tesla was a startup in the EV space and had the luxury of starting from scratch, this was a key to its success,” Keeney says. “It didn’t have existing ties with the dealer network, which have proven to be very difficult to break, as GM discovered when it launched its subscription program. It had to revise it to include dealer participation. With no dealers, Tesla has better visibility and access to the consumer, and can send OTA software updates directly to cars without dealers acting as middlemen.”

On the other hand, the old-school automakers are learning just as fast. Ford has announced an all-electric F-150 pickup, Jaguar, Audi, and Mercedes are hot on Tesla’s heels with their own electric crossovers, and Porsche and Audi’s sport sedans, coming out next year, will further solidify the competition. Whether or not car shoppers one day mention the likes of Rivian, Byton, or Lucid in the same breath as Audi, Ford, or Jaguar is the automotive question of the next decade.

The sedan is dead, goes the conventional wisdom. If it’s not an SUV, you might as well write the eulogy—alas, Chevrolet Impala, we knew ye well—and fill the grave in with a backhoe. But not so fast, says Lexus: The LS, the flagship of Toyota’s luxury brand, is proving a bona-fide hit in the United States, defying the idea that Americans want nothing to do with traditional four-doors.

Apparently, more consumers are cool with Lexus’s “spindle grille” than we ever imagined. Despite the brand’s controversial, hourglass-shaped face—and in Lexus’s view, partly because of it—the all-new LS saw its sales skyrocket 127 percent in 2018 in the United States, to 9,302 buyers. Among flagship luxury sedans, that was second only to the perennial champ, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which delivered 14,978 sales. That robust showroom reception makes the LS a real outlier: Sales of most sedans in America are withering in the face of an SUV onslaught. Ford and Fiat Chrysler view the trend as so irreversible that they plan to stop building sedans entirely.

But not so at Toyota and Lexus, which continue to invest heavily in new sedans, seeing them as a strategic hedge in an often-volatile marketplace, including against a potential fuel-price spike that historically finds buyers fleeing SUVs for smaller and more fuel-efficient cars.

“It’s a much stronger position to have cars in your lineup, even if sales volumes are smaller today,” Lexus spokesman Ed Hellwig said. Even in a shrinking segment, “some people find the sedan experience superior,” he said, including buyers in multi-car households who see sedan pluses in smaller size, energy efficiency, or maneuverability.

“People may realize, ‘I don’t need two SUVs,’ or they just don’t want to drive one every day,” he said.

For some perspective: the new LS replaced an especially staid and aging version, so some sales bump was to be expected. And this sedan will likely never match the phenomenon of the original LS 400, the groundbreaking model that launched the Lexus brand in 1989. That 1990 LS brazenly mimicked a Mercedes S-Class, aside from a $35,000 base price that undercut the Benz by tens of thousands of dollars. Nearly 43,000 Americans snapped up an LS in 1990, by far its best year in history.

Still, for today’s LS to more than double its sales over last year's version speaks to something more than plucking low-hanging fruit. In the current anti-car climate, most all-new sedans are failing to budge the sales needle. The ever-popular Audi A4 was redesigned for 2017, yet its sales have been down slightly for two straight years versus 2016, the final year of the previous-gen version. Most shockingly, Honda’s blue-chip Accord, despite a tsunami of critical acclaim, saw its sales plunge 9.7 percent last year, to just over 291,000 units.

Lexus is too polite to say “I told you so.” But the success of the LS, along with its origami-creased RX SUV and striking 2019 ES sedan, appears to be vindicating the “no more boring cars” strategy of Akio Toyoda, the global head of Toyota Motor Corporation—a pledge that struck some observers as PR fluff when Toyoda first made it. Love the look or hate it, let’s give Lexus—so often condescended to by driving enthusiasts and Europhiles—its due. From its lean, chiseled fuselage to a dramatic new interior, the LS’s audacious design has clearly been a factor in its comeback. Like it or not, the spindle grille literally fronts that design.

The chin-scraping, honeycombed design element sparks less outrage overall than it did in 2012, when, as The New York Times auto critic, I first coined the “Predator face” reference that’s stuck to these cars’ savage mandibles ever since. Newer, clean-sheet Lexus models—especially the inarguably lovely LC Coupe, but also the LS—are doing a smoother job of integrating the grille, including its complex, spider-webbed geometries. In the interest of peacemaking, it’s helpful to recall that myriad cars and design elements have outraged traditionalists at first, only to be steadily accepted (and even loved) by owners, or emulated by other automakers. A short list would include the notorious “flame surfacing” BMWs of former chief designer Chris Bangle, the oversized freight-train grille of Audis, and pretty much any update to the Corvette or Mustang. Wait a few years, and one hardly knows what the fuss was all about.

Lexus seems to subscribe to the idea that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. “If people are talking about it, that’s good,” Hellwig says of the infamous grille. “They’re at least recognizing at as something unique to the brand. The whole point was to make the cars stand out, and now it’s already blending in.”

Of course, there’s more to the LS’s robust sales than styling, or dramatic interior design. The LS continues to beat its Teutonic rivals on price: The $80,735 base fare undercuts a BMW 740i or Audi A8 by roughly $4,000, and a Mercedes S450 by $11,500. With its lusty 416-horsepower, twin-turbo V-6, the LS 500 is faster, and has decisively more power, than any of those V-6-powered German rivals. (Now, if Lexus could only fix its dysfunctional trackpad infotainment interface). And while European brands convey status through pedigree, design, and performance, there’s continued power in the Lexus name as well: The brand’s lofty reputation for reliability, resale value, and hassle-free dealer service could prove compelling to a dwindling set of sedan buyers, making it easier to retain loyalists or lure customers from other brands. Among such highly expensive sedans, buyers will never lose sleep over choosing the Lexus.

So is the LS’s success an anomaly in the moribund four-door market, or something more? The all-new Lexus ES sedan, which went on sale in September, should help answer that. Like the LS, the aggressively styled ES replaces a version that was as beige and boring as sedans come. Again defying the SUV zeitgeist, Lexus confidently predicts that the ES will find 50,000 annual buyers. That would be an increase of more than 20 percent, and a solid, profitable showing for an entry-luxury sedan in any era. For comparison: In 2018, Cadillac’s four sedan models, the ATS, CTS, CT6, and XTS, sold just under 50,000 units—combined.

The lesson, it appears, is that success is not necessarily about having a showroom full of sedans (or depleted of them). It’s about having the right sedans. I'll continue to argue that several sedans that were showroom duds—including the Chrysler 200, Dodge Dart, and Jaguar XE—should be chalked up as failures of execution, rather than evidence that all sedans are doomed. The LS has staged an impressive comeback among flagships, but the brand's smaller IS and GS sedans continue to struggle. And let's not forget that America's best-selling luxury model of any type is now a sedan, the electric Tesla Model 3, which topped Lexus's RX for the overall title and the BMW 3 Series among cars. That speedy, California-built Tesla suggests that electrification could provide a market jolt for other sedans, whose relatively modest size, weight, and favorable aerodynamics make them ideal candidates for battery propulsion. Lexus itself continues to hybridize its sedan models, including the LS, and now BMW, Mercedes, and Audi are racing to electrify their own four-door car lineups.

The real canary in the coal mine may be that BMW 3 Series. The once-unchallenged king of sport sedans has suffered a bruising fall in showrooms. It’s been supplanted in popularity by not one but two BMW SUVs, the X3 and X5. A new and markedly improved 3 Series arrives in spring, including a kickass M340i that I drove in Portugal. If that 3er can recapture some of its sales mojo, it’s a good omen for the four-door cars that once dominated the driveways of America.

“For a long time, getting an SUV was ‘different,’” Hellwig says. “But it wouldn’t be surprising if people started to grow tired of them, and gravitated back to sedans.”

It’s only a theory, of course. But four-door fans can always dream.

BMW announced a new special edition variant of the all-new 2019 M850i xDrive, and it appropriately called it the "First Edition." Unique, right? The BMW M850i xDrive Coupe First Edition will be limited a short production run of just 400 cars, and BMW confirmed to The Drive that only 200 of those are slated for the U.S., meaning that if you're interested in this mouthful of a ride, then you should act now.

For the First Edition, the automaker will premier its all-new BMW Individual "Frozen Barcelona Blue Metallic" paint finish along with the upgraded BMW Individual High Gloss Shadow Line, which replaces the chrome on the window trim, kidney grille, and tailpipes with a matte-black finish. The limited-edition BMW also includes 20-inch M designed alloy wheels with a Y-spoke design in Jet Black, and a BMW M Carbon roof and M Carbon exterior package will be available as options on the First Edtion as well.

Inside, there is a BMW Individual full Merino leather trim in an Ivory White/Night Blue color combination, and the color matching on the interior continues with the leather-wrapped steering wheel as well as the BMW Individual Alcantara roof liner, each finished in Night Blue. The M850i xDrive First Edition will also include piano black trim with "First Edition 1/400" engraved on it.

Like its "regular" sibling, the M850i is powered by a 530-horsepower, twin-scroll turbocharged V-8 engine mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission that utilizes BMW's xDrive all-wheel-drive system to put the power down.

BMW hasn't released pricing, but it stated that in Germany the First Edition will add 14,300 euros to the price of an M850i xDrive, so our math leads us to believe that folks looking for exclusivity will have to shell out an additional $15,000 on top of the $111,900 starting price.

The Chevrolet Blazer is back. To dispense with the obvious, this isn't the grandfatherly, old K5; that square-bodied hulk of a convertible SUV has no place in today's world, sadly. Nor is it the simple S-10, whose rugged pickup frame is out of step with major market trends. Instead, the 2019 Chevrolet Blazer is a smooth-riding politico with a pro-pavement platform that aims to be the midsize, two-row crossover for the people.

[Full disclosure: Kyle is a proud owner of a 1988 K5 Blazer. —Ed.]

Cynical? Maybe. It's impossible that General Motors approved the Blazer's modest reincarnation without considering how the die-hards of the truck world would respond—and with the rival Ford Bronco returning as a real off-roader, it's fair to wonder about the path less traveled. But the masses have spoken. Midsize five-seaters are the second-biggest and second -fastest-growing SUV segment, so that's what GM is turning the Blazer into.

Still, the 2019 Chevrolet Blazer deserves to be judged on its own merits—I say this as one of the die-hards—and thankfully, it (mostly) delivers. Were it named literally anything else, we could skip the whole heritage vs. sales debate and just talk turkey. In that spirit, the new Blazer is fine crossover with surprisingly sharp handling and a style all its own. In fact, I'd venture to say it delivers the most car-like ride of any crossover in its class.

That focus is befitting of its task. "This is not about climbing the cinderblock mountain," lead engineer Larry Mihalko told me. "What we've done is try to maximize on-pavement handling." Ultimately, he says, the 2019 Blazer is a vision of what might one day replace the sports sedan, a withering space that Chevy abandoned following the death of the SS in 2017. No one is saying the Blazer was built to set any lap times. But just how far did GM go with this particular mission?

2019 Chevrolet Blazer: The Design

Since the 2019 Chevrolet Blazer is a little late to the midsize two-row segment—think of how long the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano and Jeep Grand Cherokee have been there, and now the Honda Passport is back as well—GM hopes a healthy dose of singular style will draw buyers in. The low, angular front end goes heavy on horizontal lines to accentuate the Blazer's width, bookended by headlight stacks with large projector lamps and thin slits for daytime running lights, as is the trend these days. RS and Premier trims are well-distinguished with blacked-out and chrome accents, respectively.

The overall belt line stays mostly flat as it travels back towards the rear, before kicking up dramatically just aft of the C-pillar. There's a bit of Infiniti QX70 in the profile, especially in the long hood and slightly sloping roof. If you're thinking that thicc D-pillar impacts rear visibility from inside, you'd be correct; Mihalko says it's a stylistic decision, not an engineering one. Whatever the reason, it doesn't add enough to the look to make it worth the functional tradeoff.

Still, the rest of the 2019 Blazer is well-executed. Riding on the same C1XX platform as the Cadillac XT5 and GMC Acadia (a stretched version underpins the Chevy Traverse), it's smaller in every dimension than those, with the most deviation in length and least in wheelbase and width. That has the effect of pushing the wheels towards the corners, which in turn gives it an athletic presence in person. You'll either love or hate the high-design front end; as a complete package, it's calmer than the Murano, sharper than the Edge, and sportier than the Grand Cherokee.

2019 Chevrolet Blazer: The Interior

If the outside of the 2019 Blazer is a familiar band playing an experimental new track, then the inside is the surprising cover of a cross-genre hit. The dashboard design is lifted wholesale from the Camaro; yes, there are a few differences in the gauge cluster surround and trim placement, but look at it. That hexagonal motif, the button layout, those circular HVAC vents with temperature control integrated into the bezel—it's all straight out of the 2019 'Maro.

From a materials standpoint, the Blazer mostly exceeds expectations for a midsize Chevrolet. Even the base model gets a leather-wrapped gear shift and steering wheel, for example, and the Premier trim offers a handsome tan maple sugar/jet black color combination that looks genuinely nice. Backlit USB ports and subtle color accents on the dash trim and seats are thoughtful touches. Throw in the panoramic sunroof, and you've got a very pleasant place to pass the miles; nothing feels overwrought or underdone.

But borrowing so heavily from the Camaro means it doesn't feel that special either, and there's no explosive V-8 to distract you from quirks like the downward-tilted infotainment screen and the liberal use of black plastic, even in the higher trims. Of course, the 2019 Chevy Blazer has far more capability than your uncle's I-ROC: 30.5 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats, and 64.2 cubic feet with them folded. Unfortunately, that's less than every one of those rivals listed above, and only a smidge more than the smaller Chevrolet Equinox. Blame the sporty profile.

2019 Chevrolet Blazer: The Tech

More germane to most buyers than maximum cargo volume will be the active safety features and infotainment on tap. The former are mostly optional, with only the rear seat reminder and required-by-law backup camera standard on the base model; even on the RS and Premier, only blind spot monitoring, rear parking sensors, and rear cross traffic alert are free. In an age where things like adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and lane keep assist are increasingly offered as standard, their exclusion is a head-scratcher on a vehicle whose most expensive trim starts at $44,000.

The new and smartly-named Chevrolet Infotainment 3 system is crisp, clean, and easy to use, highlighted by the 8.0-inch screen's zippy response times and the easy-to-navigate favorites bar at the bottom. Its software is now capable of saving individual driver profiles to quickly load things like climate settings and radio favorites. You're still probably just going to use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, but it's nice to know things have greatly improved here.

2019 Chevrolet Blazer: The Drive

Two engines are available: a 2.5-liter inline-four with 193 horsepower and 188 pound-feet of torque, and a 3.6-liter V-6 generating 308 horsepower and 270 torques. Both are connected to a nine-speed automatic transmission. Realistically, most people will end up with the V-6; opting for the four-banger limits you to front-wheel drive and a skimpy options tree, while the lowest six-cylinder model (simply dubbed "Blazer 3.6L") unlocks a few more options.

Neither powertrain is a barrel of monkeys, but the Chevy Blazer does get bolstered by the same twin-clutch GKN all-wheel-drive setup that's in everything from the Buick Regal TourX to the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque. Chevrolet describes the system's ability to appropriate power to individual wheels during a high-speed corner as "active yaw control." (If that aeronautic reference sent your eyes rolling, know that the AWD Blazer is more about on-road handling than rugged ability.)

That focus does pay off; riding on a MacPherson strut front and a five-link rear, the Blazer is noticeably composed when hustling through a curve, staying flatter and carrying more speed than most crossovers dare to dream of. Even with a transmission geared for fuel economy instead of fun, there's real joy to be found at the Blazer's limits—which, admittedly, real owners will likely never probe. The $42,000 RS trim throws in some sportier dampers and quicker-ratio steering; cursory upgrades, but upgrades nonetheless.

Astute observers will recognize that this is the same naturally-aspirated 3.6-liter V-6 as found in the base Camaro. Peak horsepower doesn't arrive until 6,700 rpm, so go ahead and wring that laid-back sucker out. It's surprisingly hard to upset the chassis, with understeer being the biggest risk of really pushing it. (The AWD system runs primarily in front-wheel-only mode until rear slip is detected.) Neither the Sport nor Off-Road driving modes, which modulate throttle response, braking, and yaw control, make a huge difference to what is already an above-average handler that could just use a little more power.

One of the bigger surprises is that the 2019 Chevrolet Blazer can still tow 4,500 pounds with all-wheel-drive, despite its move to a unibody structure. Impressive, though that kind of load will likely do a number on the so-so EPA fuel economy ratings of 18 miles per gallon city and 25 mpg highway.

2019 Chevrolet Blazer: Final Thoughts

Setting aside the emotional baggage wrapped up in using that name, the 2019 Chevrolet Blazer is a solid midsize SUV that goes farther in providing a car-like driving experience behind the wheel than anything else in the segment. That alone should move the needle for some; if Chevrolet is correct in believing style is one of the biggest motivating factors for those seeking a five-seat crossover of this ilk, the Blazer has more than one strong arrow in its quiver.

If anything is to trip it up, it's not the forceful opinions of K5 owners like myself, or those eyeing the new rough-and-ready Ford Bronco with glee. No, like with most new cars, it's the price that requires a warning. To take just one analog, a $43,000 Ford Edge Titanium AWD offers heated and ventilated leather-trimmed front seats, heated rear seats, a panoramic sunroof, wireless charging, a fancy Bang & Olufsen sound system, voice-activated navigation, and Ford's CoPilot 360 Assist+ that brings every active safety feature under the sun. To get the close to the same content on the Chevrolet Blazer AWD Premier requires spending over $51,000.

Of course, you get a more durable V-6 engine, a better all-wheel-drive system, and a newer, tighter chassis—plus, you know, something approaching visual interest. Whether or not that's worth the upcharge is an open and subjective question that will have to be answered by buyers themselves. I'm inclined to say not quite, for now—but that could be the die-hard in me talking. We'll find out either way when the first sales figures trickle in next month.

General Motors is being slammed by a Canadian labor union, who took it upon itself to show its displease with the automaker's recent announcement of mass layoffs and plant closings, by airing a condemning commercial during Super Bowl LII.

The TV and YouTube ad was organized and paid for by Unifor, a labor union that represents millions of auto workers in Canada, many whom currently work at the GM assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, which is currently scheduled to be shuttered. The ad addresses many painful moments of GM's relationship with our neighbors to the north, but mainly the $10.8 billion bailout the American automaker accepted from the Candian government in 2009 and the fact that vehicle production is being allocated to Mexico—even if GM claims this isn't accurate.

Although Unifor doesn't disclose its math, the ad claims that the billionaire bailout is equivalent to every single Canadian giving GM $300 out of their pockets, adding that such generosity is simply part of being a Canadian and it's most certainly not being reciprocated. The ad also goes on to claim that GM's Mexican operations are leaving Canadians "out in the cold," and says that the move is as "unCanadian as the vehicles they [GM] are trying to sell us [Canadians]."

Perhaps the strongest part of the message comes at the end of the 35-second video, when the narrator sums up how Unifor members feel about GM:

"You may have forgotten our generosity, but we'll never forget your greed," reads the ad. "If you want to sell her, build here."

As we took the time to explore in depth recently, the U.S. government has long been interested in the potential applications of a reusable manned and unmanned spacecraft, as well as a mothership aircraft to help loft them into orbit. Now, Russia is reportedly developing its own new unmanned spacecraft that will hitch a ride into the upper atmosphere on the back of a modified high-altitude research plane before blasting into space.

Russia's state-run media outlet RIA Novosti published concept art of the spacecraft, known by the acronym MLD, and an infographic showing a typical mission on Feb. 4, 2019. The story does not say what MLD stands for and does not mention the Myasishchev M-55 Geophysica research plane, also known by the NATO reporting name Mystic-B, by name, though the infographic clearly depicts it as the mothership.

The International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), which the Russian Academy of Sciences manages through the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, is reportedly leading the development of the MLD, on behalf of Russia's space agency Roscosmos. RIA Novosti did not say what the specific mission or missions for the spacecraft might be or why ISON, which is responsible at present for around 30 terrestrial telescopes at 20 observatories in 10 countries, was in charge of the project.

The MLD concept art shows a rocket-like central fuselage with a delta wing configuration. There are two vertical stabilizers pointing up from the edge of each wingtip. The spacecraft is supposed to be reusable, according to RIA Novosti, but there is no obvious internal payload bay for releasing objects into orbit.

The spacecraft will use old Russian-made components, including the same 14D30 rocket booster found in the upper stage of a Briz-M space launch vehicle as its primary means of propulsion, Yuri Bakhvalov, ISON's director, told RIA Novosti. Based on the dimensions of the Briz-M, the MLD is a diminutive craft that is significantly smaller than the U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B unmanned space shuttle and is downright tiny compared to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) in-development XS-1 reusable spacecraft.

The infographic shows that the mothership will be based on the M-55 and carry the spacecraft on top of its fuselage. This aircraft would carry it to an appropriate altitude, possibly between 80,000 and 100,000 feet based on other known two-stage-to-orbit concepts. The Geophysica's normal service ceiling is 70,500 feet.

Once there, the MLD's rocket motor would fire and it could either travel at hypersonic speeds of around Mach 7 in the upper atmosphere at altitudes of more than 500,000 feet or actually fly into space and enter a shallow, rapidly degrading orbit, according to RIA Novosti. At the conclusion of its flight, the MLD would re-enter the atmosphere if it had gone into space or otherwise begin gliding closer to the ground. At a certain altitude, it would deploy parachutes and drift the rest of the way down to the ground where personnel could recover the unmanned spacecraft. ISON claims the design would be reusable for up to 50 flights.

There is no information on what modifications this 1980s aircraft might need to perform this mission. A mothership configuration with smaller craft mounted on top of the fuselage is notoriously complex and potentially dangerous, with a significant risk that the vehicle on top will crash into the launching aircraft, destroying them both. The small size of the MLD could help mitigate any potential hazards.

It's also not clear whether the plan might call for restarting production of the Geophysica or another similar aircraft. Myasishchev only ever built five of these slender-wing, twin-boom aircraft, including a two-seat M-55UTS trainer version.

Since the end of the Cold War, the Russian Air Force has used these planes officially for high-altitude research purposes, including flights over the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The M-55 is roughly analogous in its basic mission to NASA's ER-2 and WB-57F aircraft, which are derived from the U-2 and RB-57F high-altitude spy planes, respectively.

Though we don't know what ISON's or Roscomos' plans are for the MLD, the two-stage-to-orbit concept, in general, has a number of broad benefits. This includes providing a more flexible launch option compared to traditional space launch rockets and without the associated costs to maintain launch sites and related infrastructure. The modified M-55 could have the range to rapidly reposition to new locations or simply launch the spacecraft well away from where it took off, offering even more flexibility.

But the size of the MLD suggests it will have a very limited payload capacity and may not be capable of reaching high enough altitudes to place even small satellites in a stable orbit. This could still be valuable for scientific research and perhaps offer a way to readily flight test materials and other systems related to the development of or hypersonic vehicles. American space-launch firm Generation Orbit is offering a similar service to the U.S. government and other customers using its GO-1 air-launched hypersonic vehicle.

The MLD may also be capable of short-notice, short-duration orbital or suborbital intelligence gathering missions either with a releasable payload or with sensors fixed in place on the spacecraft. The ability to launch the MLD in an unpredictable manner over denied areas could make this attractive for the Russians, who still lack a robust spy satellite capability. But it seems unlikely that the MLD would be able to provide anywhere near the same kind of space-access capability as the larger X-37B or the even bigger future XS-1.

For the U.S. government, these sorts of rapid, flexible space launch concepts are increasingly attractive given ever-emerging threats to its critical space-based assets. Russia, as well as China, are developing and fielding increasingly capable anti-satellite weapons, including terrestrial and air-launched interceptors and potential dual-use "killer satellites," which you can read about more here.

Russia's MLD may even be capable of acting as another anti-satellite system, physically smashing into an opponent's objects in space or otherwise carrying payloads to blind, jam, or destroy those targets. It could also simply serve a stepping stone to larger and more capable reusable spacecraft that could actually perform a wider array of missions or expand Russia's already significant presence in the international commercial space launch market.

This is also not the first time a Russian firm has proposed using the M-55 as a space launch platform, either. In the late 2000s, Myasishchev pitched an updated M-55, known as the M-55X, paired with a much more ambitious manned, reusable spacecraft, known as the Cosmopolis XXI, or C-21. As with the MLD, the M-55X would carry the C-21 up into the stratosphere, at which point it would rocket into space.

The C-21 was officially described as a space tourism vehicle, similar in general concept to Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo and bearing something of a general outward resemblance to Soviet spaceplane concepts, such as the BOR-4 and MiG-105. NASA also tested similarly shaped "lifting bodies" and the Sierra Nevada Corporation is now in the process of developing their own spacecraft, known as Dreamchaser, which has a broadly similar planform.

Virginia-based Space Adventures subsequently took over the development of the C-21, eventually renaming the vehicle Explorer, in cooperation with Myasishchev and Roscosmos. This same company is known for offering trips to the International Space Station (ISS).

There is no indication that a real prototype of the C-21/Explorer spacecraft ever got built and the only related pictures show what are clearly full-scale models, not air- or space-worthy craft. In 2010, Space Adventures abandoned its plans for Explorer completely, citing growing costs.

A Russian firm called BestRussianTour.com is still promoting the M-55X/Explorer as a space tourism option that "is almost ready." Still, the MLD and its M-55 mothership could leverage some of this past experience with the C-21/Explorer.

ISON has reportedly received 25 million Rubles – around $381,250 at the time of writing – in funding from the Proekt-Technika corporation for the MLD's development, as well as another 35 million Rubles – some $533,750 – from the Skolkovo Foundation.

Founded in 2010, the Skolkovo Foundation is a Russian government-funded non-profit and technology incubator with its main site being the Skolkovo Innovation Center in Moscow. Proekt-Technika is a major Russian manufacturing concern and supplier to Russia's Ministry of Defense. It is particularly notable in this case because individuals who had worked on the Buran Soviet space shuttle program founded the company in 1990.

ISON says it needs at least another 280 million Rubles, or $4.27 million, to complete the second stage of development work, and expects that money to come from a combination of outside investors and Skolkovo grants. It's not clear if this includes funds required for the adaptation of the M-55-based mothership.

ISON has five MLD flight tests planned for 2023, according to RIA Novosti. It will certainly be interesting to see if this new system comes to fruition and how the Russians ultimately decide to employ it.

Contact the author: jtrevithickpr@gmail.com

"I've got bad news," I said to Mike Levine, Ford's North American Product Communications Manager.

Silence.

"It's not that bad," I said, "but...let's just say the news is...suboptimal."

Silence.

"Mike, I crashed your truck."

"No worries. Shit happens. Is anyone hurt?"

"No—"

"Where did this happen?"

"In the garage. At Argo AI."

THREE WEEKS EARLIER

Everything was going perfectly.

I — the founder of the Human Driving Association, infamous critic of BS around autonomous cars and "New Mobility", blistering foe of those who confuse Tesla Autopilot with self-driving, and merciless enemy of "Innovation Experts", "Radical Disruptors" and anyone with "Speaker" in their LinkedIn profile — was about to announce my new role as Director of Special Operations at Argo AI, a deliberately vague position at one of the world's leading self-driving car companies, and the only one with the courage to bring my Brobdingnagian devil's advocacy in-house.

There was only one problem. I needed a real car to use in Pittsburgh, at least for a few weeks. I just had a baby. I needed to lug stuff around. Argo's headquarters is in Pittsburgh, 373 miles from my home in NYC. That's 5 hours in a car I own, or 6 hours in one I don't. And nothing — not my Cannonball Run-prepped 2000 BMW M5, my unheated 1987 911 Targa, and especially not that rolling-casket-also-known-as-a-Morgan 3-wheeler — was going to survive a Pittsburgh winter. Argo may be building self-driving cars, and yes, Argo received a $1B investment from Ford, their first customer, but Argo doesn't have free extra cars lying around, human or self-driven.

There was only one solution. I needed to borrow a press car.

I like to say I'm not a journalist, but boy, have I enjoyed some perks. Not the kind of perks that require whoring myself out. If you want to get invited on junkets, you have to bend. The best junkets require kneeling. That's where automotive "journalists" and I differ. If you've noticed a shortage of car reviews — let alone sneak peeks — from yours truly, that's why. The if-you-can't-say-anything-nice rule doesn't work for me. Instead I've tried to follow the Chris Harris Rule: develop unique expertise, tell the harsh truth long enough, and eventually manufacturers will come back around. Maybe not all of them, but at least those with sufficient confidence in their products to grant a critic access. My expertise? Long (ahem) distance testing of semi-automated systems like Tesla Autopilot and Cadillac SuperCruise. ADAS — or Advanced Driver Assistance Systems — are poorly understood even by owners, and conveniently installed primarily on the higher end cars I liked to borrow.

Who would lend me a car for two weeks? Two weeks is a long time for a press loaner. If you can get a Tesla, four days is a stretch. Better to save that call for another EV Cannonball record. Porsche? They don't really have ADAS worth testing...yet. BMW? Same issue. Mercedes hasn't shown me any love since I eviscerated Drivepilot and its 2016 marketing campaign. Cadillac? I've already covered SuperCruise in the CT6. What about borrowing a car one isn't going to review? Beneath me. Besides, I needed space, AWD and something that would look cool dirty. Volvo? I'd just borrowed a stunning V90 wagon with the latest Pilot Assist, and had a review in the pipeline.

Ford? Too obvious. Once my Argo AI job was made public on January 14th, everyone would assume that the Ford/Argo AI relationship meant a positive review was bought and paid for, and a negative review was done for effect. Besides, I'd already borrowed a Raptor — indisputably the world's best truck — and my review was weeks overdue. I'd never get that out before the 14th, and now even that review would be suspect.

And Ford did not yet know that Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky had hired me. Even if they did, I couldn't ask for a vehicle on that basis alone. That would be presumptuous, rude, and exactly the kind of thing I eviscerate others for.

So I called my old friend Alan Hall, Ford's Senior Communications Manager for Autonomous Vehicles. He was always down to reject a bad idea.

"I've got a bad idea," I said. "You should lend me something with CoPilot 360."

"Is this because you need a car for something suspicious, or for a real review?"

"A real ADAS review," I said. "I hear it's pretty good, as far as ADAS goes."

"Who told you that?"

"You're about to tell me. And then you should tell me you're so confident in it that you want to lend me a truck with it, because I just had a baby, and I'd love to do some endurance testing."

"Yes," said Alan, "CoPilot 360's good. We just don't overpromise like—"

"You know who?"

"You KNOW who," said Hall. "But you're not driving cross country again, right? With a baby this time?"

"Of course not."

"Can I get that in writing?"

"Yes. But I AM thinking of taking a road trip to Pittsburgh."

"And why's that?"

"Visit Carnegie Mellon," I said. "Maybe do a story."

"You should visit Argo AI while you're there."

"Maybe I will."

"When's the last time you damaged a press car?"

"Never. Come on, man. I'm the founder of the Human Driving Association. It's my job to set an example."

"Call Mike Levine," said Alan. "Maybe he has something."

Levine is exactly as important as the title of North American Product Communications Manager for Ford Trucks suggests. The Ford F-150? Most popular truck in America. Some say other trucks are made for babies. The Explorer? In his portfolio. The Raptor? Duh. Levine was a great friend to have, but I was still working on the friend part.

"I've got an Expedition," said Levine, "or an Edge."

I'm not much of a truck guy. As a driving enthusiast, trucks scare me. Not other trucks hitting me, but me, driving a large vehicle with a high center of gravity and limited sight lines, hitting everyone else. I've spent my life driving small cars as fast as possible. I trust my training, experience and instincts to keep me safe in a small vehicle. A large one? Not so much. I've been driving my wood-framed Morgan around NYC for six years. And I was still alive.

"The Edge," I said, "that's the crossover, right?"

"Yup. I've got a brand new one with the Titanium package, CoPilot 360, fully loaded."

"Perfect."

And everything was perfect. A lovely brown Ford Edge was delivered to my apartment in NYC on Monday, January 14th, the same morning my Argo AI position was announced. Best wishes flowed in from unexpected corners, including rival self-driving companies, and even some top people at Ford.

Now...I'm not suggesting Ford CEO Jim Hackett was referring to me in his presentation at the Detroit Auto Show. But what I am saying is that others think he was. My stock was rising. Then Amnon Shashua, CEO of MobilEye, one of the world's largest vehicular camera companies, followed me on Twitter.

Was I getting a big head? Yes. It was time to pack my MFing free Ford Edge full of fake German Polizei jackets, scarves, Quest bars and get on the road. The 373 miles to Pittsburgh? No problem in the Edge. It had all the features I was looking for: room for seven empty coffee cups, nooks for prescription Ray-Ban aviators in pink, blue, yellow and brown, and a cellphone cradle superior to that of a Mercedes S-Class. I didn't know an affordable crossover could be so comfortable. Coming out of an eighteen year old M5, the Edge was downright luxurious. I'd have to wait for the impending storms to see what it could do. CoPilot 360? I'd break out the GoPros on my first weekend in Pittsburgh. I was within 24 hours of a new career as an executive at Argo AI, answerable directly to CEO Bryan Salesky, poised to learn secrets about which I'd been guessing for four years, working at the very heart of the automotive future.

What could go wrong?

It would only take three days to find out.

In their generosity, Argo offered me a prime parking spot in the basement below their Pittsburgh office. Although New Yorkers are among the world's best parallel parkers, there's a vast difference between parallel parking a Morgan 3-wheeler — tiny and low to the ground, with 360 degree visibility — and parking a crossover — with limited sight lines further blocked by my delusions of grandeur — just right of a big pillar.

Every day for three days I'd slowly navigate the garage counterclockwise, miss the optimal turn-in point, and lose an entire thirty seconds backing up and re-entering my spot at the correct angle.

I was Argo AI's Director of Special Operations. I didn't have time for this.

On my fourth day of work, I had a plan. I was going to arrive before anyone else, navigate the garage clockwise, make a wide right...then turn left into my spot, saving an entire thirty seconds.

It was a perfect plan—

CRUUUUUUUUNCHKKKHHHHHHHHHH

Let's do a little accident reconstruction.

What's that? A low pillar on the right, just below the Edge's belt line?

But wait! What's this?

Yes, I had completely not noticed that I was going the wrong way against traffic.

The situation was suboptimal. I hadn't so much as scratched a car in 15 years. I'm supposed to be the guy who nails the crazy stuff. I'm supposed to be the guy who makes the unsafe SAFE, not the safe dangerous. Alex Roy. A Ford Edge. Crashed. At 5mph. In the basement. Of a self-driving car company.

I was ruined.

Even in shame, honesty is the only policy. I called Mike Levine.

"Mike, I crashed your truck."

I told him the whole story. Mike was as understanding as the North American Product Communications Manager for Ford Trucks could be, which is to say it didn't sound like I'd be borrowing any more Edges, let alone Raptors. I had only one option to salvage the relationship.

"It's my responsibility," I said. "Send me the paperwork."

"Have it your way."

And then it dawned on me. I wasn't ruined. My professional reputation wasn't weakened. It was strengthened. This was a gift. From destruction comes creation. My skills were atrophying right before my eyes, and with them the fantasy that I could somehow stave off some form of automation with nuance, clever writing and more Skip Barber classes. At least some form of automation isn't merely inevitable, but necessary.

Let's get real about autonomy. Not autonomous cars, but autonomy itself.

If autonomy = freedom, what is the Ultimate Autonomy Car?

It's not a geofenced self-driving bus or taxi, which are coming whether we like it or not. It's a Ford Raptor (or equivalent) with:

1. A self-driving option for city/highway driving that's demonstrably safer than the average human.
2. A parallel automation system — think ADAS 2.0 — that mitigates/prevents on-road crashes while under human control.
3. An off-road mode with zero automation and 100% human contol.
4. A privacy button to shut off all connectivity.
5. A self-parking feature for idiots like me.

Thats's MY perfect feature set.

I'm no Ayrton Senna, and never claimed to be. But I always thought I was "safe", if not way better than the average driver. That may be true, but I still hit that pillar. In that moment, driving a popular crossover, in conditions similar to what millions around the world experience every day, I failed. I was lucky there wasn't child instead of that pillar. There's no excuse for it. But there are two good answers. We need better systems to help humans control machines where machines are incapable of taking full control. That's called parallel automation, and it's what you find in an Airbus, and where Toyota is trying to go with their Guardian systems. We should also embrace safety when and where we can, as long as it augments human freedom rather than limits it. That's L4 automation, and it can't be deployed until we — all of us — agree on what "safe" means. The self-driving sector has a lot of work to do, but so do humans.

For example, why should Mike loan me a Raptor in the future?

Because I'm willing to take responsibility for my mistakes. I hope Mike thinks that's good enough.

(As for that Ford Edge review: Love it. Terrific. Amazing. Could use more plastic body cladding, especially at waist level.)

(CORRECTED to reflect Mike Levine's initial comment upon learning of the crash.)

Alex Roy is Director of Special Operations at Argo.AI, founder of Geotegic Consulting and the Human Driving Association; editor-at-large at The Drive; host of The Autonocast; co-host of /DRIVE on NBC Sports; and author of The Driver. He has set numerous endurance driving records, including the infamous Cannonball Run record. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You learn a few things about car camping when you spend a week doing it out of a Lamborghini Huracan Performante: how to maximize the space available in a 2.47-cubic-foot frunk; the surprising versatility of all the tiny nooks hidden around the cabin; the virtues of using the front axle-lifting hydraulic system early and often. (Pro tip: If there's any question as to whether you should raise the nose...raise the nose.) But most of all, you learn that car camping and supercar camping, really, aren't the same thing. After all, one of the glories of camping out of an automobile is being able to make the most of its interior space, free electrical power, and in many cases, off-the-beaten-path capability...all things a pavement-scraping four-wheeled Gemini capsule equipped with a radar detector sucks at.

Camping out of a car, for most sane people, is about bringing an extra little chunk of civilization with you to the great outdoors. It's about never needing to worry about pitching a tent in the cold, or drinking warm beer, or having to find some way to pare down your possessions to whatever you can carry on your puny, trail mix-fueled body. It's for those who paraphrase John Muir and say, "The mountains are calling and I must go...but I still want to park my butt on a heated seat at seven o'clock in the morning while I'm there."

So, for those among you who may be planning your next automotive sojourn through nature—or for those who might be in the midst of their holiday shopping for such a person—take these six items ideal for car camping and move them to the top of your list. And if you're thinking about going camping in a Lamborghini out of 2019...I suggest the Urus.

Car Camping 101: Get an Air Mattress

One of the biggest advantages to car camping over the traditional kind: You can sleep on an actual bed. Those who aspire to #vanlife may want to rig up their vehicles with Ikea futons or Sealys or memory foam Caspers, but for the rest of us, an inflatable air mattress is a far better choice. Fold down the back seats of your station wagon or SUV, plug the pump into the car's 12-volt outlet, and you're length of a crappy pop song away from a comfortable place to catch some Zzzs. Need the space back the next day to stock up on firewood? Deflate it, fold it up, and cram it into the corner of the cargo bay until you need it again.

The Etekcity air mattress is designed for outdoor use, with plenty of ground clearance and a durable PVC skin that'll help keep it from accidentally tearing on any exposed trim pieces. If your car's on the smaller side, the twin-sized mattress is probably a better bet...but if you have the space—and since it's an air mattress, it'll fill whatever space you have—I heartily endorse going for the queen version for the extra sleeping room.

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Car Camping 101: Get a Multi-Tool

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Carrying a multi-tool or pocket knife is the sort of common sense move many of us know we should do, but fewer of us actually manage to practice regularly. Still, camping and driving are two occasions when having a set of tools literally at hand could mean the difference between safety and danger. And while there are plenty of reputable brands out there offering compact, well-made tools, it's hard to go wrong with a Swiss Army Knife.

And if you're going to tote around a Swiss Army Knife, wouldn't you want one as versatile as possible? The beefy Victorinox SwissChamp may be a little thick for an everyday carry knife, but if you can pop it into your cupholder or car door pocket—or if you leave your cell phone in the glovebox and keep the knife in your jeans instead—that bulk ceases to be a problem. Its myriad tools (including a tiny pen, a magnifying glass, and wire cutters in addition to the de rigeur blade and corkscrew) mean Victorinox promises it's capable of 33 different functions—and you can probably think of a few hundred more.

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Car Camping 101: Get a Plug-In Cooler

There's nothing wrong with an old-school Igloo cooler or its ilk—a big double-hulled plastic box designed to passively insulate the perishables within. But such arrangements are dependent on internal chilling mechanisms like ice or cold packs, which a) begin losing their efficacy the moment you throw them in alongside your tuna sandwiches, and b) take up valuable space that could be filled by more tuna sandwiches. If you've got the power supply available, why not go for something that can actively keep your food and beverages cool all by itself?

The Koolatron Voyager may sound like a spaceship named by a seven-year-old, but this 29-quart coolbox is actually a primo way of keeping all your foodstuffs crisp and unspoiled, knocking the temperature inside the box down by about 40 degrees Fahrenheit compared to the surrounding air inside the car. And if your plans for a bonfire get rained out, fret not: it also doubles as a warming oven, capable of heating food up to 130º F.

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Car Camping 101: Get a Boombox

Now, you may be thinking: But Will, the Bentley Bentayga I go car camping in comes equipped with a 20-speaker, 1920-watt Naim stereo offering the widest range of frequencies of any car stereo ever offered from the factory. Why do I need a boombox? Well, first of all, bite me. Secondly, and more importantly, you're presumably going to want to wander at least a few hundred yards away from the car at some point during your camping excursion—at which point that weapons-grade sound system is of zero use to you. Or you may want to listen to music for a lengthy period of time without worrying about the battery charge. Or you might want to keep the doors and windows shut to prevent errant bears from wandering in and wrecking your lovely leather upholstery. Trust me, you're gonna want a boombox.

The Demerbox portable speaker is built from a compact Pelican case, and it maintains some of the utility of its donor body; open the clamps, and there's enough space inside for a wallet and keys and whatever other knicknacks you have in your pockets. Pop the Port Plug into the orifice on the front, and it seals up waterproof-tight, so you can bring it whitewater rafting if you choose. (It'll float if it falls out.) It even has a USB plug, so you can charge up your phone while simultaneously blasting your favorite campfire mix through the Demerbox's clear-sounding speakers via Bluetooth. Bonus points if your campfire mix has the Zac Brown Band on it, because Mr. Brown is one of Demerbox's owners.

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Car Camping 101: Get a Coffee Maker

You could score your morning joe fix the old-fashioned Wild West way while you're camping: grind the beans by hand, boil a kettle over a campfire, pour hot water over the ground and strain them out 10 minutes later. But, let's face it, if you wanted the old-fashioned outdoor experience, you wouldn't be camping out of an automobile. (Also, who wants to do all that first thing in the morning before they've had their coffee?)

Embrace the future; bring a Keurig. Specifically, bring the Oxx CoffeeBoxx, a rugged, heavy-duty coffee maker designed specifically for outdoor use at construction sites and campgrounds. It's strong enough to support three-quarters of a ton without being crushed, holds enough water to make seven full-size cups of coffee before the tank needs to be refilled, and can go from a cold start to coffee in 100 seconds flat. (It does require a 120-volt plug, but many cars and trucks offer one nowadays, so that's less of a problem than it used to be.)

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Car Camping 101: Get a Jump-Start Kit (Just in Case)

It could happen to anybody: You spend too long listening to the radio or watching DVDs (or, more to the point for this list, inflating your air mattress and making coffee) and you drain the car battery past the point where it has enough juice to kickstart the engine. Annoying, if you're in the Costco parking lot. Potentially life-threatening, if you're on an off-road trail 50 miles from the nearest town.

Instead of taking the chance, throw a jump starter in the car before you hit the road. (Just remember to charge it up at home first.) The Gooloo SuperSafe car jump starter packs enough electrons to bring a 7.0-liter V-8 to life, while also including a pair of USB fast-charging ports to juice up iPads and smartphones if need be. It also has an integrated LED flashlight that includes strobe and SOS functions, in case things get really bad. Which they probably won't. But like the Boy Scouts say, always be prepared, right?

It's hard to believe that we are just a couple weeks away from granting a fat jolly man with magical flying reindeer access to our homes—the year went by like a Blackbird over Baghdad. I know it's tough to shop for that special someone in your life that is obsessed with military technology and history or aviation, but you are in luck. My annual gift guide is here with a ton of options, from stocking stuffers to tree-tippers, that will only end in huge grins and big hugs once the wrapping paper starts flying.

This isn't just a collection of what's hot or what looks interesting, I either have hands-on experience with these products or they are recommended from a highly trusted source. So rest assured, they get my highest seal of approval. With that said, let's launch Santa's sleigh!

Our gear is finally here!

After years of readers asking and having to futilely attempted to explain why it just can't happen, we finally have merchandise! Yes, you read that right, The War Zone has apparel. The dream has finally materialized! We are starting out with the basics, but if this goes well, we will be able to offer more cool products in the future.

Support your local defense writer's guild of two and grab a hoodie or a tee. You better believe I will be living in the smoke colored The War Zone hoodie from now to eternity.

Here is the link to our apparel web store, and thank you for shopping! Oh, and post a pic of you sporting your new TWZ gear when you get it, ok!

Superweapon reading trio

Jim Goodall's amazing series on American super weapons is my top pick for books this year. Jim is known for getting special access to hard to access pictures and information, allowing him to convey a weapon system's unique abilities and quarks like nobody else. Recently, he has put out three absolutely stunning pictorial books about America's most fascinating and shadowy weapons—the B-2 Spirit, the SR-71 Blackbird, and the Los Angeles class nuclear fast attack submarine.

Each book is collector quality in feel and finish and is stuffed with a seemingly endless stream of amazing pictures, many of which I have never seen before, that provide granular yet fascinating detail on each weapon system.

The photos and captions work to tell the story of the machine and its intended role. Beyond that, the books' format is somewhat hard to describe and they interface with the reader like on a much deeper level than a coffee table book, but are visual driven. So they are something of a hybrid and that is what makes them so great.

Buying all three will cost you a cool Benjamin. That's a bargain for what you get and the presentation quality of each book. Together they make a really nice set, but if you were to just choose one, I think The US Navy’s Fast Attack Submarines, Vol.1: Los Angeles Class 688 would be my pick. It offers a very detailed, if not unprecedented, look at the legendary class of nuclear fast attack submarines and it many ways it will surprise you. I actually felt claustrophobic just reading through it!

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My second choice, and it was a very close call, would be Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: The Illustrated History of America's Legendary Mach 3 Spy Plane. What a read this is. It is loaded with historical photos and details, so many of which were entirely new to me. If you have a thing for the Skunk Works or for Blackbirds, maybe skip the subs and go for this awesome addition to your bookshelf.

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Last, but certainly not least is A Pictorial History of the B-2A Spirit Stealth Bomber. The book takes you into the guts of the B-2 and the elaborate infrastructure that supports the fleet of just 20 aircraft. The production floor shots alone are worth the price of admission and there are all types of little details about the B-2 and its teething issues that will surely surprise.

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Once again, this trio really works well as a set, but there's nothing wrong with buying a la carte too.

Decision At Sea

Another book I recommend for anyone interested in military history is Craig L. Symonds' Decision At Sea. This is a brilliant read that thoroughly explains moment by moment five key naval battles that shaped American history. The book basically spans 175 years, starting at the Battle of Lake Erie and ending with Operation Praying Mantis. This structure highlights the change in American naval tactics and technology over time, but in other ways, it also illustrates how the many of the basic tenets of naval warfare haven't changed all that much.

It is a heart-pounding evolutionary tale that narrates the small picture while also putting these five decisive naval battles in a much larger perspective via pointed analysis. I also liked it because you don't have to blast right through it. Instead, you can pick it up after a few days and continue as if you just got up to grab a glass of water. It's also fairly accessible to the novice reader while still adding new details and thoughtful analysis to battles that have been described many times before to some of us.

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Topgun Days

Top Gun 2 is deep in production and the hype couldn't be any more potent (or pungent depending on your perspective). The thing is, you can't fully understand Top Gun the movie or Topgun the prestigious fighter pilot schoolhouse it's based on without reading Topgun Instructor Dave "Bio" Baranek's absolutely awesome Topgun Days, the biographical account of his real-world experiences at the Navy Fighter Weapons School and of supporting the production of the film back in the mid-1980s.

You can read my full review of the book here which includes a great passage from it, but I can't think of a better time to dive into this wonderful book written by a good friend of The War Zone than now, as we run up to the release of Top Gun: Maverick.

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For the kids

If you know someone with infants or toddlers, or with a new child on the way, and who is either in the U.S. military or has an interest therein, we'd recommend checking out the My First Counting Book series written by Cindy Entin and illustrated by Craig Boldman. These are thick-paged “board books,” so little kids can't accidentally tear them apart, and promote learning to count from one to 10 with little military facts.

Joe's daughter got the U.S. Air Force-themed one as a gift, but there are others featuring the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, and even police and firefighters. They're meant for children who can't themselves read yet, but that's not to say you won't learn something yourself, like select cadets at the Air Force Academy have the honor of training falcons – the school's mascot – each year.

If you know a small child that likes “reading” or being read to, these books offer a break from yet another reading of Mother Goose or Dr. Seuss.

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Get your scan on

Watching air traffic at your local airport or airbase can be made far more enjoyable and efficient with the help of a good scanner. Once programmed with the various frequencies, your situational awareness will be elevated dramatically and everything will be so much more interesting. If there are emergencies or special traffic of any kind inbound, you will know about it.

My friend and commercial pilot extraordinaire, @thenewarea51, a man who knows radios better than anyone I know, was the first guy I thought of when I needed the bottom line on the best handheld and affordable scanner for your buck. His response was quick and certain, the Uniden Bearcat BC125AT.

It's small, it can be programmed by your computer, and most importantly, it can receive VHF civilian aircraft communications and UHF military aircraft communications. Many lower-priced handheld scanners just have VHF, which means you can hear what the tower is saying to military aircraft operating in the area, but not what the crews are saying. You wouldn't be able to hear military aircraft to military aircraft communications and those between command posts and aircraft without this capability.

So boost your plane spotting prowess and enjoyment by picking up this little bundle of communications joy today.

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Get eyes on!

If you have an interest in what is flying above, or just what's going on in the environment around you on a daily basis, I highly recommend snapping up a Vortex Solo monocular. What you get in terms of image and build quality for around $50 is absolutely outstanding. The view is bright and crisp and compared to a bulky set of binoculars, you can slip this monocular into the center console in your car without taking up much room. It's also far more discreet when in use.

The Solo is especially useful for plane spotting—in conjunction with your new handheld scanner—or even for checking out planes whizzing by up in the flight levels above on a moments notice. It also makes a heck of a little gift for pretty much anyone regardless of their interest in aviation.

Basically, if you are into boating, hunting, animal watching, going to the zoo, or pretty much anything where a closer look is a good thing, the Vortex Solo rocks.

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Unlock the photographer inside you without going broke

Last year's gift guide went into my recommendations for camera gear for aspiring aviation photographers. I have tried pretty much everything out there, from $11,000 600mm prime lenses to various full-frame bodies, but I wanted to convey the best all-around, middle-of-the-road, easily portable and versatile setup that I have in my own kit. That was basically a $2,600 investment for just one lens and the camera.

I received a ton of emails looking for some guidance on a less expensive setup for starters and for those who just want to shoot planes as part of larger photographic ambitions that will also include a lot of travel photography. There happens to be one setup I tell everyone starting out to go with that offers amazing capabilities in a small and far more affordable package.

It starts with the Canon SL2 Rebel. This is an outstanding camera that isn't just smaller and lighter than semi-pro DSLRs, but it's also significantly smaller and lighter than any other Rebel.

You get a great 24MP sensor found on far more expensive models and a processing engine that can still take bursts of images at between 5 and 3.5 frames per second to capture fast action. Beyond that, the SL2 is feature packed and basically, it gives you everything you will ever need for the vast majority of shooting circumstances. In fact, I would be comfortable running a rebel instead of a pro or semi-pro body at an air show or other aerial events—unless you are slinging a huge prime lens around. In that case, you simply need something with a bigger grip and possibly a more versatile focusing system.

Sure, there are brighter and larger viewfinders and better data-transfer and burst rates on more expensive DSLR bodies, but the technology has come so far that the tiny SL2 does what semi-pro models did not long ago, and in some cases much more. As for weather sealing, I can tell you that I have shot with a Rebel in the pouring rain on many occasions and never had a problem. You should have a Storm Jacket in your bag anyway if you plan on shooting in those conditions with any camera.

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Really, the magic happens when you pair the SL2 with the Tamron 18-270mm stabilized zoom lens. This is a remarkable lens for around $350 that covers a huge range without sacrificing massively on image quality. In fact, to start, you could go without having any other lenses at all as it covers the 35mm equivalent of 28.8mm to 432mm, all in one small and relatively light package.

No, you won't be filling your frame with single jets at airshows with this lens, but with 24mp to play with on the SL2, you can easily crop in during post processing while not losing significant amounts of quality. When you stop the lens down just one stop (make the aperture smaller), it becomes astonishingly sharp throughout its focal length, but even wide open it does just fine.

But where this package shines is when you are traveling. It gives you amazing capabilities for well under a grand. It is the smallest true DSLR-lens combo that includes image stabilization and good quality and major range. And this awesome portability does matter. It means you will actually use the camera, not stare at it on a shelf. ?

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With this setup, building out your entire kit from this point on is really affordable and easy. You add a 50mm F/1.8 prime, commonly called the 'nifty fifty,' for about $125 that allows you to take pictures with an incredibly shallow depth of field and buttery bokeh. You probably think this is impossible at this price point but it's not. Every hardcore photographer knows of the 'nifty fifty' and its amazing abilities. With a 1.8 aperture and the Rebel SL2 sensor's low-light capabilities, you can take pictures in very dark scenarios that you could never imagine possible.

But where the nifty fifty stands out is as a portrait lens, with a 35mm equivalent of 80mm, it is an ideal focal length for taking portraits of friends, family, and pets. When you stop it down to 2.8 it becomes razor sharp while still maintaining a shallow depth of field. It's also tiny and light, so it doesn't add much to your overall kit size.

A fixed focal length lens like this will expand your composition creativity because you have to use your feet to zoom and the lens's wide-range of sharpness and depth of field can be used to evoke certain emotions in your photos. It makes you pick the parts of something that matters most to showcase and thus unlocks your creativity even further and expands your idea of what an image can be. So buying a 50mm nifty fifty will actually make you a far better photographer in the long run.

Finally, we have the Canon 10-18mm. This is a wide-angle lens with rectilinear properties (low distortion) that allows you to take breathtaking super-wide shots. It's amazing how far this lens type has come down in price from Canon, it can be had for under $300!

I like taking super-wide-angle shots more than pretty much any other type, and you will fall in love with taking them too. ?

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This small, but amazingly versatile setup will allow you to take pretty much any photo you want for a grand total of about $1,250—roughly half that of my other aviation photographer semi-pro kit that included just one lens and a camera body.

But like I said earlier, you can start and build this kit out over time. It takes a lot of practice to master the DSLR—a lot of fun and totally rewarding practice—so it's not like you need all this on day one. Start with the SL2 and the Tamron zoom lens and go from there. Add in a comfy, but snug camera bag that is perfectly sized for your setup—I suggest anything from Lowepro—and start capturing your adventures and interests in an entirely new way. Photography is like tennis, you can do it pretty much your whole life, so investing a bit now will pay off for decades to come.

A note on bags, don't buy a huge camera bag. Get one just perfectly sized for your setup today, and buy a new one when you significantly expand your kit. That way you can pack around the right size bag for your photographic mission at hand.

Unnecessary bulk kills the photography experience! This Lowepro bag below is a cost-effective and very well-built option that would get you started with the SLR2 and zoom lens.

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Once again, this setup is not a shot in the dark based on hearsay and online reviews, it has been selected via years of experience on what performs and what doesn't and learning the hard way what is the best capability that can be had for the dollar and bulk.

You simply can't go wrong with this setup!

Mach 2 for your living or dining room table

Want to show off your love of flight with style and also give a room an extra pop that it needs in the process? Of course you do. So shell out for this four-foot long, 31-pound, solid aluminum art deco sculpture of the Concorde!

Yeah, it will set you back about $400, but this isn't some janky model or hollow metal art piece. It's a striking statement and a conversation starter that will make you smile every time you walk by it. Just like the Concorde, it looks like it's doing Mach 2 sitting still.

The aluminum Concorde is available at Restoration Hardware linked here.

If you don't want to spend that much or just don't have room for a huge supersonic transport sculpture, go for one about a third the size and about a quarter the price! And if you are not into jets, buy the DC-3, it looks gorgeous too.?

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Now that's a knife!

Everyone should have a good reliable knife. You don't need to carry it every day, but having a really high-quality blade for daily tasks, like opening boxes, making small household repairs, or for emergency situations, is money well spent. I own one such knife, it is made by Benchmade, a company that is based right in my home state of Oregon and that I have a special connection to.

I went to college with the newly minted President of Benchmade, Jon DeAsis. His dad Lester DeAsis built the company from absolutely nothing into the ridiculously well-regarded generational knife making firm it is today. And no, I have never been given anything from Benchmade, but I have seen a family that is obsessed with making the best product possible using the latest technologies and taking care of their people and their customers like family in the process. The result isn't just good knives, they are utilitarian works of art that you will have forever.

I can't overstate the fact that I am not a 'knife guy.' In fact, edged weapons sort of freak me out. But I wanted a single pocket knife for everyday tasks that was great at what it did and felt great in my hand. Since I was only planning on ever buying one, I went with the best available, and it looks just as good as it handles. That knife is the Benchmade Nakamura Axis 484-1.

To call it futuristic is an understatement, and considering how light and sharp it is (scary sharp!), it could very well be from an advanced civilization from lightyears away.

I love this knife!

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The thing is, you don't need to spend huge money to get a great Benchmade knife. They are all pretty much outstanding. There are certainly plenty of other good knife companies out there that make similar looking styles for less, but when it absolutely has to work, why not spend a couple extra bucks to know you are getting the best and that the family who built it will stand behind it for life?

Two other models I really liked was the very svelte Bugout 535 and the classic meets the future Crooked River 15080-1. There is also a knife designed specifically for aircrews, the aptly named the 737 Aileron. Benchmade's designers gathered various pilots and aviation industry people to find out what they would want in a knife and built it.

Crap, now I want a second knife! ?

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Gin that will fly you away

Any aviation aficionado that enjoys an adult beverage now and then will love this product and it is also made in my home state of Oregon. Aviator American Gin is some righteous booze regardless of its whimsical golden age of flight branding. It is delicious and is highly regarded as a pioneering product here in Portland, a city that has expanded from a beer Mecca into a spirits Mecca as well as of late.

Somewhere along the line, actor Ryan Reynolds got involved with the two guys that started Aviator American Gin—he actually bought into the company—so he is doing a lot of promotion for the brand. This may be a huge plus if you are a Deadpool fan, but don't be confused by the high-profile star endorsement, this gin is the real deal made by real craftsmen who love the art of making killer booze.

Just add a bit of tonic and fly away!

You can buy Aviator American Gin directly here or use the locator to see where you can pick up a bottle in your neck of the woods.

Or Just buy an F-14 Tomcat

In last year's gift guide, I made the case for why it's time to dive head first into Virtual Reality. There are many cool games to play on Oculus and Vive headsets, but the reason you really need to invest in this is Digital Combat Simulator. You can read my past post on DCS and last year's gift guide to understand the nuts and bolts as to why, but basically, the dream of VR has come true. You can sit inside the cockpits of your favorite fighters and fly them in a totally immersive and alarmingly accurate way. But if last year's call to action didn't work, this probably will:

The long-awaited F-14 module for DCS will be released any day now. It's almost here, and it looks absolutely insane.

If that video hasn't sold you, I don't know what will. And remember, this isn't an arcade game, DCS modules feature extreme fidelity flight models and systems that are developed with subject matter experts over long stretches of time, with the goal to capturing every excruciating detail—the good and the bad—inherent to each aircraft. Also, the F-14 module will eventually be cooperative in the sense that you and a friend can work as RIO and pilot flying the same mission at the same time in the same aircraft.

Yeah, take a second to break that one down mentally.

Yes, the investment can be relatively large—you are talking at least spending a couple grand to get a system that is will get you flying in the VR environment. But the thing that most people don't realize is that older computers paired with cutting-edge graphics cards can make the experience far more fiscally feasible for many people.

For instance, I used DCS and Oculus on my seven-year-old I7 3770k with a new NVIDIA 1080ti graphics card stuck in it along with a USB 3.0 card and it ran fine. Even over the densest areas—like Dubai or Las Vegas—it was still smooth enough to not distract or make me nauseous, achieving about 35-45 frames per second. This took some tuning and learning about how to optimize the VR experience on my system, but it worked just fine.

What I am getting at here is that your existing computer may be capable of running DCS in VR with between roughly $750 and $1000 worth of upgrades.

If you want to future proof yourself and build an all-new VR gaming rig with the latest technology, you can design a cutting-edge system for about $3k if you buy all the premium parts yourself and have them assembled by a pro. Fry's Electronics is inexpensive and they do an outstanding job. Then you add Oculus Rift, Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS, rudder pedals, and the software and you are looking at about another grand. So $4k gets you in the cockpit and ready for the next round of headsets that will be emerging soon. But once again, you can build a less ambitious system from scratch that will still kick ass for significantly less, say around $2,000 to $2,500.

These new headsets, like PIMAX 5k+ and 8K, not only drastically boost resolution, but they also offer near full field of view capability. In other words, you don't see the edges. It's full visual immersion including your peripheral vision.

Game changer.

I honestly laugh when people tell me they play DCS strictly using track IR and a monitor. It's not even the same game. And it seems that Eagle Dynamics understands this. They have announced that they are going to be doubling down huge on VR, with an eye on increasingly in-game performance and introducing new tech like haptic feedback—literally where you can use your hands to 'touch' the controls in the cockpit.

You may say, "well I will wait till VR matures." Ok, but I it's already here and mature. The problem with VR is that people don't know what they are missing until you take the leap of faith, but considering the air combat simulation software we have available for us, that leap is totally worth it.

With all this in mind, maybe the best thing would be to get acquainted with VR at way lower cost and have a lot of fun doing it in the process. Oculus Go is stand alone, it requires no computer, and it costs about $200 for endless amounts of fun.

To be honest, Oculus Go is actually impressive. It can't play DCS of course, but Pinball VR is worth the entire price alone. In fact, it's a great companion to a more serious VR rig as it runs on batteries and you can play around with it pretty much anywhere.

So grab one of these for you and your family this Christmas. If you like the basic VR experience, you can then decide to step up to full gaming rig and jump into the cockpit of an F-14 Tomcat.

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Because I got asked repeatedly last time, here is the rig I would make if you want to have longevity, but not go insanely overboard with custom water cooling and that kind of thing:

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The last part for the system build is graphics cards. I would say get an RTX 2080ti but they are really expensive right now. You could also get away with a GTX 1080ti or RTX 2080. But if you want as much future proofing as possible, you have to go with the latest and greatest, and in the process spend about $600 more. Still, you can always sell your 2080 or 1080ti and get a new one once prices drop.

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OR

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Finally, we have VR headsets. I am an Oculus guy but the Vive Pro does offer better resolution for more money. I would go with Oculus Rift as it is a GREAT deal for the money right now and you can upgrade down the road once Pimax matures or another higher definition, larger field of view headset hits the marketplace.

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On HOTAS controls, once again you can get by with cheaper equipment and still have a great time, but these are the gold standard:

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And a cheaper option:

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Rudder pedals are absolutely key if you don't have a swiveling control stick for yaw axis control, which the Warthog HOTAS does not, but you don't have to spend crazy money to get ones that work well.

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As for monitors, it doesn't matter much because you will be spending your time in the helmet mounted display. Keyboard and mice are also up to you and a cheap, but very nice sounding speaker kit can be had for $35.

Please keep in mind that this is an expensive build. You can spend less and still get great performance. Just switching the processor to the still awesome Intel 8700K and going for normal speed ram will save you close to $500. Heck, you can even buy a used gaming PC off Craigslist and slap in a new video card and get great results. But these components are hand-picked to maximize performance while still obtaining a very high value for a higher end build.

Stay tuned for our upcoming DCS Tomcat feature and I wish all my readers an incredible holiday season with their friends and family!

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

Do you like being alive? I do. And I try to do as many things as possible to add years to my life. In quantity and quality. When I see a red-hot bbq grill, for example, I don't lean over and press my face against it. Third degree burns might not be immediately fatal, but you don't need to be Nostradamus to know the pain and scarring would be suboptimal.

An optimal life requires common sense. For example, when a friend recently asked me if he should abandon his wife and children, relocate to Las Vegas, rent a Lamborghini, get some coke and a suite full of hookers, I said No, that would be a suboptimal set of decisions. Nothing could stop him, however. So I gave him the best advice I could.

"You will regret leaving your wife and kids," I said. "And you will eventually go back to them. That would be an optimal outcome for a suboptimal decision. Let me share the advice my mother gave me when I hit rock bottom. Instead of buying cocaine, you should buy the finest scotch you can afford, and savor it. If you must sleep with escorts, never use a condom twice. Most importantly, if you must drive a sports car—especially a rental car—make sure it has the best possible tires, and always check the treadwear."

My mother is very wise. I know what you're thinking, how dare she condone such behavior, and how dare I pass on her twisted wisdom? It's simple. If there were more mothers like mine, there would be fewer broken homes and drug overdoses, fewer STDs brought into relationships, and fewer car crashes due to stupidity.

Yes, stupidity. Let's face it. When people say, Oh, I had a car accident, they're lying—or worse, they're just stupid. There are no car accidents. There are car crashes. An accident is an unforeseen event. The overwhelming majority of car crashes are single car events, which means they were the culmination of the driver's poor choices. Poor choices lead to suboptimal outcomes.

In my world, the translation is simple: Idiots get what they deserve.

For example, I just witnessed this winter's first snow hit New York City. Did I open the secret drawer in my closet, put on a tiger-striped T-shirt and chaps, and go cruising in my Morgan 3-Wheeler? No, I saved that outfit for another time. Also, no one makes snow tires for the Morgan. Even if someone did, I still wouldn't trust them. Morgan ownership means your family can save money on your casket: A steel chassis wrapped in a wooden frame? Make one mistake and they can just bury you in it. What makes Morgans unique is that they don't even pretend to be safe. The 3-wheeler lacks any safety options, which is why I'm so cautious in it. Safety features are the reason people who have one car accident eventually have two. Or three. Safety features are what ignorant people use to avoid learning how to drive safely.

Am I being harsh? That snowstorm brought NYC traffic to a standstill. Not me. I put on my winter boots and took the subway. When I got home I got on Twitter and marveled at the stupidity of people. I just bought a Tesla Model 3 with all-wheel drive, tweeted one idiot, and I got stuck in the snow. That tweet should shatter any notion of a correlation between wealth and intelligence. Teslas are expensive cars, but that one can afford a Tesla doesn't mean one understands physics, the harshest of all mistresses.

In what universe are all-season tires sufficient for all seasons? The one where people trust words over common sense. All-season ? good in all seasons. All-season is a catch-all. A compromise. If all-seasons were great in snow, snow tires wouldn't exist. If all-seasons were great summer tires, summer tires wouldn't exist. All-seasons are the sneakers of tires. You wouldn't wear sneakers instead of skis, or snowshoes to the beach. And yet people persist in the folly of using all-seasons through harsh winters. Then they crash. Sometimes they die.

These are not accidents, but inevitabilities. These are the consequences of ignoring common sense, the advice of experts, and trusting in mere words.

Take contraceptive jelly. I once had a girlfriend whose father was a doctor. After many months, I greeted him with Hello, Mr. Werner. He didn't like that. I didn't go to medical school, he said, so some boy trying to sleep with my daughter could call me anything other than doctor. He then launched into a tale of why those with actual knowledge deserve respect. Advanced degrees, he explained, are awarded to those who know the meaning of words laypeople use without understanding. That very morning he'd had a patient with an unexpected pregnancy. Why? Because rather than follow his instructions for the use of contraceptive jelly, she had smeared it on her morning toast and eaten it. Why did you eat it? he asked. Because, she said, it seemed easier than using it the other way.

The folly of trusting one's life to words over the advice of experts is a characteristic of children and fools. Children have an excuse. Adults do not.

Which brings us to self-driving cars. Poor choices are the moral raison d'etre of self-driving cars. Every other justification pales in comparison. I have faith that technology can solve problems, and one of those problems is road safety. Someday, maybe, self-driving cars will work in most places, in most conditions. Between now and then, they will only work in some places, sometimes. The irony is that for self-driving cars to work in more places, say, places where it snows, they will need much better software....and snow tires. If, like our deluded friend in the Tesla, you don't have snow tires, all-wheel drive isn't going to help, and nor will self-driving technology. It's almost inconceivable Tesla could ever enable "Full Self-Driving" in snowy conditions unless snow tires were installed, which would require a tire/car interface I'm pretty sure doesn't exist on current Teslas.

Tesla's aren't magic. They're cars like any other, and subject to the rules of Mother Physics, like every other.

If you want to drive in winter, buy snow tires. If you want to be driven in winter, whether by a human or self-driving technology that doesn't exist yet, you will need snow tires. If you're unwilling to buy them, your self-driving car won't move in the winter. It won't be able to, because the self-driving engineers are smarter than people who don't believe in snow tires and won't allow their self-driving tech to take the kind of risks idiots do every winter.

Which brings us back to square one. Safety isn't merely an option one can buy. It's a state of mind that starts with educating yourself as to the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Education always leads to better outcomes, ignorance to the suboptimal. It's the choice between winter driving a Morgan 3-wheeler in chaps or taking the subway, trusting Business Insider over Barrons, a trip to Vegas over family therapy, listening to marketing people over race car drivers, and eating contraceptive jelly instead of...well, you get the idea.

Don't be an idiot. Death is suboptimal.

Editor-at-Large Alex Roy is also founder of Geotegic Consulting and the Human Driving Association, as well as host of The Autonocast. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and buy his book, The Driver.

I recently published my personal 10 Best/Worst of 2018, and soon received dozens of messages asking what I found so offensive about tech critic David Pogue's article, "What it's like to use Tesla's newest self-driving car technology." The answer is simple. Pogue's article is as stupid and irresponsible as its headline. Am I being harsh? What do you think? When people's lives are at stake, language matters. At least one person has died while Autopilot was engaged. Did he think his car was self-driving? We'll never know.

Who is to blame for confusion that kills? Whoever is in a position to tell the truth but, out of ignorance or malice, did not.

From Tesla to Mercedes-Benz, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Motor Trend, The New York Times and the head of the Department of Transportation, there is no shortage of people who could do better. And right there near the top are writers like David Pogue, whose vast audience deserves better than the ignorant swill he's peddling. It's staggering, actually, since he claims to own a Model 3. He sure doesn't write like he does. As a longtime fan of his, boy, am I disappointed.

Let's dive right in, line-by-line:

"Lots of cars these days can auto-park."

WRONG. It's an option on luxury cars, and notoriously unreliable.

"Lots can self-drive on the highway."

WRONG. There are no self-driving cars on the market today. Not from Tesla. Not from Cadillac. Not from anyone. There are only semi-automated driver assistance systems like Tesla Autopilot and Cadillac SuperCruise. No one—and I mean no one—claims to sell a self-driving car today. The PR and legal departments of every car maker on earth are full of people waiting make this fact clear, if only anyone would call them. Did Pogue call anyone? Apparently not.

"Lots of them have collision avoidance—they’ll slam on the brakes if you don’t."

WRONG. If by "collision avoidance," Pogue means Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), then he's conflating concepts, to his reader's peril. "Avoidance" suggests steering, which no car will do without human input. AEB might prevent a collision, but since no manufacturer can guarantee it, in practice it's really just damage mitigation technology. In no universe will any car maker claim that AEB will slam on the brakes if the driver doesn't. At best, at current levels of technology, AEB might.

"A few cars can change lanes automatically when you put your turn signal on."

WRONG, UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE. Yes, there are cars that can change lanes automatically, but I'm not aware of a single car on the market that can do so safely, as in 100% safely, without a human in the loop. Why? Because none of them are equipped with rear-facing radar and/or Lidar that might guarantee you won't be killed by a faster vehicle in an adjacent lane.

"Tesla’s Autopilot feature does all of that, of course."

WRONG. Teslas are not self-driving. In fact, Tesla just pulled the "Full Self-Driving" option from their car configurator last week. Why? Confusion, according to Elon Musk. Confusion with Autopilot, which is also not self-driving. As for collision avoidance, Tesla AEB is superior to many on the market, but it is not foolproof. It might brake in time to prevent a collision. Maybe. Lane changes? Tesla relies on short-range ultrasonic sensors for side and rear detection. There is no evidence at this time that the side and rear cameras are active and reliable enough for safe automatic lane changes. If you want to live, you have to look over your shoulder or use the mirror. This is the definition of an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS).

"(I’m a Model 3 owner, and a big Autopilot fan.)"

MAYBE. If Pogue actually owns a Tesla Model 3, he shows a very poor understanding of what his car does, how it does it, and the language necessary to explain it. Did he speak to Tesla before or after publishing this nonsense? If so, he must not like them very much, or respect them at all. They can't have been happy about this highly inaccurate piece.

"But with a free software update this week, Autopilot picks up new skills not found on any other car on the market."

TRUE. A very lonely truth in Pogue's article.

"A Tesla can now pass a slow car ahead of you; change lanes so that it’s in the correct one for your exit; and take highway On and Off ramps—all by itself."

WRONG. A Tesla can "pass" in the sense that the driver can engage the lane change functionality using the turn signal stalk, but the driver still has to engage it again to return to the original lane. As for doing anything "by itself", Autopilot still requires a human to be ready to take over anytime. This is hardly the definition of "by itself," let alone self-driving.

"I took a Model 3 for a spin to try the new features; details below. Meanwhile, this small upgrade, called Navigate with Autopilot, has two big implications:

• Tesla’s cars are arguably now the self-drivingest cars on the market."

WRONG. What does "self-drivingest" mean? Nothing. It's not on the SAE level chart. To anyone who works on them, self-driving starts at SAE Level 4. Cars are capable of L4 self-driving, or they aren't. Self-driving is binary. If a human is in the loop, it is not self-driving.

"Of course, no car on the road yet responds to Stop signs and traffic lights, and no car can drive you around without you paying attention. But with this week’s Tesla update, no car comes closer."

RIGHT. So...NOT self-driving. Not. Nope.

"It’s becoming clear how Tesla, and presumably its rivals, intend to reach that fully autonomous state. There won’t be one new car model that suddenly does it all. Instead, the car companies intend to automate one driving situation at a time. First it was cruise control. Then it was adaptive cruise control (the car slows automatically when the car ahead does). Then parking. Then lane changes. Now, Tesla has added taking interchanges and off ramps..."

WRONG. It is not clear how Tesla intends to reach "that fully autonomous state." The overwhelming majority of people in the sector don't think one can get to full autonomy ground up, piece-by-piece, using what's called a subsumption approach. Can Tesla? Ask all the people who have left Tesla's Autopilot team whether they think that approach can work. Many of them have gone on to found companies such as Aurora, and are attacking the problem top-down, trying to make self-driving work in one place, then expand the fences. Either way, no Tesla is self-driving today, as Pogue suggests.

"Every Tesla with Enhanced Autopilot (a $5,000 option), already has these self-driving talents:

• Self-driving (highway). Autopilot includes the above-mentioned adaptive cruise control. A trackball on the steering wheel lets you adjust your maximum speed (roll it vertically) and distance behind the next car (horizontally)."

WRONG. Again, no Tesla is self-driving.

"Autosteer keeps you in the lane automatically by detecting the painted lane lines, cars and other objects around you."

WRONG. With painted lane lines or cars to follow, Autosteer may keep you in the lane. No guarantees. No painted lane lines or other objects? No Autosteer, therefore not self-driving.

"Auto-Lane Change. On the highway, if you put on your turn signal, the car checks your blind spot, and, if all is clear, smoothly changes lanes and then turns off the blinker."

WRONG. See above.

"Self-driving (side roads.) The Tesla can self-drive off the highway, too, with limitations. It’s fantastic in stop-and-go traffic. But the Tesla refuses to go more than 5 mph over the posted speed limit. Yes, yes, that’s the careful, legal way to do it—but it drives people behind you crazy. You also have to be going over 18 mph to turn Autosteer on—unless there’s a car ahead of you."

WRONG. Again, no Tesla is self-driving.

"Summon (a button you press in the phone app) makes the Tesla slowly, silently roll out of its parking place, either in forward or in reverse. It’s great for situations when someone has parked too close for you to open the door. (It also opens your garage door, if you’ve set it up that way.)"

WRONG. Not a self-driving feature, but a remote control feature.

"Auto-Park. The Tesla can also park itself, either parallel or perpendicularly, as long as there are other cars on either side of the space. Unlike some cars, which prompt you to operate the shift gears (forward, reverse), the Tesla does everything for you—turning the wheel, shifting, braking."

WRONG. Replace "can" with "may" and you get the picture.

"Some of these features are marked “beta.” All of them are intended to assist you, not replace you, as the driver. (For example, if it’s been more than a couple of minutes since the car felt your hands on the wheel, the screen in front of you flashes; then a chime sounds; if you still don’t respond, Autopilot turns off. If there’s still no response from you, the car figures that maybe you’ve passed out. It slows to a stop and turns on its hazard lights.)"

WRONG. This paragraph invalidates everything prior suggesting Teslas are self-driving.

"The new features are intended for highway use. They also work only on Autopilot—when the car is accelerating, braking, and steering itself."

When you enter a GPS destination, a new “Navigate on Autopilot” button appears beneath the turn-by-turn instructions. If you tap to turn it on, and then turn on Autopilot (two presses of the steering-wheel stalk), the fun begins: automated driving, from on-ramp to off-ramp.

THE FUN BEGINS. Is it self-driving? Now it's "automated." What's the difference. Pogue doesn't say.

Autopass. If the person in front of you is driving too slowly—45 in a 55 mph zone, for example—what would you do? Why, you’d pass them.

Now, the Tesla can do that, too. If it notices that you’re being blocked, and that there’s room in the next lane, a notification appears on your screen. It informs you that if you put on your turn signal, Autopilot will take it from there. It does the passing maneuver smoothly and gracefully. (It doesn’t actually return to your original lane, however—just changes into a faster lane, passing the slowpoke, and stays there.)"

NOPE. That doesn't sound like an automatic pass to me. That sounds like a semi-automated lane change requiring human input. So...not self-driving.

"How aggressive is it? That’s up to you. In the onscreen settings, you can adjust how impatient your car is. The options are Disabled (off), Mild, Average, and Mad Max. In Mad Max mode, the Tesla will suggest passing if the guy in front of you is going even a couple of mph below the speed limit."

NOPE. It isn't aggressive at all, because a human still has to make all the critical decisions. So...not self-driving.

Entrance ramps. This is the big one. The Tesla is now the first commercial car that can actually make turns for you.

WRONG. The Tesla can only "make turns" if your definition of turning is gentle banking limited to on and off ramps. Watch out for those merges, because if there are cars closing faster than your rear-facing ultrasonics can detect them and cancel your "automatic" merge, you're going to get hit. Maybe you can send the bill to Pogue.

"Automatic lane selection. Now the car now keeps an eye on upcoming interchanges and exit ramps, and steers itself into the correct lane, so that you never miss an exit..."

WRONG. Tesla does not guarantee you will never miss an exit. Therefore...not self-driving.

"(Sometimes—when you’re moving from one full-size lane to another—you have to approve the proposed move by tapping your turn-signal stalk or gear stalk...)"

So...not self-driving.

"You may say, “Good heavens! How lazy do you have to be?”—but there’s more to it than that. In my drive through New Jersey’s complex highway cloverleafs, there were several occasions when the highway split into three lanes—the main road plus two forking exits. Those could be panicky moments if you’re unfamiliar with the area. It was amazing to watch the car pick the correct lane automatically.

Exit ramps. If your destination requires you to turn from one highway to another, there’s nothing to it. The car takes the exit ramp, slowing if necessary, and then continues merrily on the new highway."

Sounds like self-driving. Except that none of this is guaranteed. Which makes it not self-driving.

"If you’re turning from a highway onto a residential road, though, the car slows down, and then a distance countdown appears on your screen, letting you know how many more feet are left to go before Navigate on Autopilot turns off. A new, three-note chime plays at that moment. Now you’re in traditional Autopilot: the car drives and steers itself on your new road, but no longer attempts to make turns or take ramps."

WRONG. This suggests that Navigate on Autopilot is self-driving, which it isn't, and that when it kicks you down to Autopilot that that is a different level of self-driving, which it isn't. Again, if "self-driving" requires ANY human input, it isn't self-driving.

"As with other aspects of Autopilot, the new features aren’t flawless. In general, the car is (wisely) conservative: It doesn’t attempt to change lanes or take an exit unless it deems the maneuver safe. Trouble is, you don’t always know what it’s thinking. Sometimes, it won’t change lanes to pass a slow truck, for example, even though the next lane looks perfectly empty to you. And if the exit lane is crowded with cars, you need to grab the wheel and nose into the line yourself."

WTF? Here Pogue's word soup descends into utter meaninglessness. What will these systems do? For sure? Maybe? Who knows? I have a guess, and that guess includes me paying attention every damn second, because I want to live. And that's coming from someone who likes Tesla Autopilot.

"People are becoming more comfortable as automatic autos become more commonplace."

WHAT? What is an "automatic auto"? Is it the transmission? Is it semi-automation? Does Pogue have any respect for language, or his audience? What brands other than Tesla might he be referring to? What does any of this mean?

"Even so, you’ll be under no obligation to use self-driving features; no car company yet intends to take away the steering wheel."

And yet many people talking about how we won't need to own cars in the future, and that we shouldn't own cars at all. I suggest Pogue read the Human Driving Manifesto and educate himself.

Dear Mr. Pogue: Stick to portables and desktops. Someone might get killed otherwise.

[UPDATED: to reflect Josh Brown family statement on the 2016 crash that took his life.]

The Drive's Editor-at-Large Alex Roy is founder of Geotegic Consulting and the Human Driving Association, and the host of The Autonocast. He is also the author of The Driver, and has set numerous endurance driving records, including the infamous Cannonball Run record. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

We love Top 10 lists, but it's the 10 Worst lists that really get our hearts pumping. A lot of automotive "journalists" pull their punches so as not to endanger those sweet, sweet junkets. I don't have that problem. I was blacklisted years ago by just about everyone. Am I too honest? Maybe. Too unpredictable? Probably. But I say you can't trust someone who hasn't said something negative about someone. If everything was great, cars wouldn't need warranties. If software-based tech functioned as promised, I wouldn't have a column.

Here's my list of the 10 Best & Worst in Automotive Technology in 2018. Feel free to disagree.

10. Most Embarrassing New Mobility Strategy Implosion

Cadillac Book. WTF is going on at GM? With $1B invested in Cruise Automation to develop self-driving Chevy Bolts, you'd think CEO Mary Barra would have the nerve to support Cadillac's Book subscription service until it found its feet. But no, they pulled the plug just under two years since launch. What went wrong? Was it the pricing, which started at $1500, then rose to $1800? The marketing? NYC as the first market? The wonky Book app? The departure of Melody Lee, who really seemed to get it? The concept itself? Rivals like Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche who have recently launched competing services should take notice. An unlimited PR budget ? profits, let alone cash flow.

9. Most Disappointing Technology from a Car Company We Love

Volvo Pilot Assist. I love Volvo, and so should you. Every new Volvo is so cool, they make their malaise era cars cool too. I would drive one in a heartbeat. The look. The feel. Who doesn't love clean design? The Nordic school really gets it. Polestar? Awesome. But there's a problem. Volvo — the original car brand built on safety — isn't leading on driver assistance systems, otherwise known as ADAS. Volvo's ADAS suite is called Pilot Assist. The Automatic Emergency Braking is good. The lane keeping, display, and transition warnings? Not so much. What's going on? Volvo should own this. Instead, Tesla leads on lane keeping and Cadillac on safety and driver monitoring. Come on Volvo, you can do better.

8. Best Tech From a Company that Needs Better Management

Cadillac SuperCruise. Where Volvo is falling short, Cadillac is killing it on driver assistance. I remember when people made fun of GM for failing to deploy SuperCruise, which marinated in R&D for years before Tesla released Autopilot in late 2015. But one drive in a SuperCruise-equipped CT6 made it clear: GM's R&D had done its job not only correctly, but brilliantly. SuperCruise includes Seeing Machines' driver monitoring system (DMS) — an infrared camera pointed at the driver — solving Tesla's biggest omission, and adds a class-leading, steering wheel mounted mode indicator. So what's Cadillac's problem? GM management. SuperCruise should have been an option on every Cadillac two years ago, if not every GM vehicle. Why isn't it? Because GM's attention and money is being showered on their self-driving division Cruise Automation, whose cars will only see limited deployment next year, maybe. SuperCruise is GM's killer tech, and every day they don't deploy it they're squandering their lead. Come on, GM.

7. The How-Not-To-Market-Your-Cars Trophy

BMW. I'm a BMW guy. Always have been. But Klaus Fröhlich, BMW development chief and board member, sure does make it hard. When asked about the E46 CSL being "the last real 3 series," he replied "I do no want to hear that shit any more." But it gets worse. Fröhlich's words are a noose: "First thing and this is for me the most important thing; you can drive fast and completely relaxed. You don't feel how fast you are." When it comes to driving, feedback is everything. That means feeling. Who doesn't want to know how fast they're going? Passengers. Who wants to feel how fast they're going? People buying The Ultimate Driving Machine. Fröhlich is the wrong man, in the wrong job, saying the wrong things. Let him retire.

6. Best Electric Vehicle On The Market Today

Tesla Model S. Yeah, yeah. Everyone wants to talk about the Model 3. Do I love it? Sure. But the Model S—the original premium EV that invented the segment and woke up an industry—is better than ever. Six years and countless invisible hardware and software updates later, it's still light years ahead of everyone else for EV and driver assistance tech. Cadillac's SuperCruise equipped CT6 still runs on gas, and the upcoming Porsche Taycan's ADAS suite is unlikely to touch Tesla Autopilot. By why the S over the Model 3? You can get a great used S for the price of a loaded Model 3 Performance, and the S is quieter, more comfortable, has more storage, rides better, has a better sounding stereo, has a traditional dashboard, a bigger/better GPS display, and Tesla's killer situational awareness display. I'd take a base S over a 3 any day. I recommend getting a Model S now, before Tesla swaps out the interior for the 3's, and loses what makes human driving an S something special.

5. Best Autonomy Car On The Market Today

Any Jeep. Forget autonomous cars. We want autonomy cars, as in cars that increase our freedom. What is autonomy anyway? It's liberation from boundaries, which are the only thing the self-driving lobby can promise. As I said in my recent op-ed Autonomous Cars? We Want Autonomy Cars, "get in a prepped Jeep with some jerrycans and you've got more autonomy than most of the humans ever born." A vehicle that can go anywhere, anytime is what people really want. If it can drive itself part of the time, great. Who cares how safe it is if it actually limits where you can go, because you're no longer allowed to own a car with a steering wheel? I'm all for safety, but not at the expense of human autonomy. Would you like to know more? Follow the Human Driving Association and read our manifesto.

4. Dumbest Use Of The Word "Autonomous"

David Pogue. Beware anyone called an expert, especially a technology expert, and especially a technology expert writing about cars. The latest outrage? "Tech critic" David Pogue's article "What it's like to use Tesla's newest self-driving car technology" is PR journalism at its penultimate, surpassed only by the garbage from the Tesla shills at Electrek. It's impossible to know if Pogue actually drove the car. He claims to own one, but there's no evidence in the article that he does. He gets so much wrong—from language to functionality—it would be better for his reputation if he didn't. There's so much to pillory here I'm going to devote an entire article to Pogue's article, so let's move on.

3. Worst YouTuber Most Likely To Inspire Self-Driving Apocalypse

Alex Choi. When the self-driving lobby gets moving on trying to ban human driving, there'll be no shortage of videos they can present to a Senate hearing demonstrating why. At the top of the list? Youtuber Alex Choi, who nearly kills a passing motorcyclist on Mulholland Highway while... being Alex Choi. As the founder of the Human Driving Association, I'll be the first to say there are people who shouldn't be driving. It's a privilege, not a right. And people like Choi are unlikely to keep it in the future. If you believe in freedom, Choi is one of those who should shunned, because he's not on our side.

2. Worst Performance From A Car Company Executive, Part 2

BMW's Klaus Fröhlich is just the gift that keeps on giving. My friends in Munich need to muzzle this guy or fire him. Every time I see his name, he is hurting BMW's brand. The latest outrage? This story: Electric Cars Will Always Be More Expensive Than Gas Cars—in which he says exactly what you think he did. If he's right, what is accomplished? Nothing...except he sounds like someone who doesn't understand EVs at all. Tesla has shown that EVs don't need to be cheaper than ICE to sell and that people will pay UP from ICE to own a Tesla, but not necessarily other EVs. Not that BMW would know or understand that, since their EV strategy is dead on arrival no matter what happens, at least for the next few years, during which the Porsche Taycan will do what BMW failed to. And if Fröhlich is wrong—and EVs do eventually become cheaper than ICE—he was just another legacy industry exec who missed the boat. FYI, when cars were invented, they were more expensive than horses. But people still preferred cars. Products don't exist in a vacuum, and big company execs should understand that better than Fröhlich.

1. Most Despicable Fansite For A Major Car Company

Electrek. For those who don't give a s**t about Tesla, consider yourself lucky, for you've been spared exposure to one of the most toxic of modern media outlets, the news/fansite Electrek, whose existence is an intellectual and moral blight on those who like the cars, or believe in the vision. Helmed by bald-faced shill Frederic Lambert, Electrek will spin any story to make Tesla—in which Lambert is admittedly long—look good. Lambert never met a fact he wouldn't omit, or clickbait headline he wouldn't run if he could get $TSLA a little higher for the day. Lambert's history is well documented here and here, but the most bizarro chapter in the Electrek saga happened when Lambert turned against Musk for dropping the price of the Model 3 Performance by $4000...two months after Lambert bought one. Lambert got dismantled by his own fans for his hypocrisy, then again by long-time critics, then he doubled down, then reversed himself again to get back in Musk's good graces. To call Lambert a whore is an insult to those who chose sex work because they lack a better alternative. Lambert has a choice, and always chooses the low road. Lambert is the gift that keeps on taking, a bad actor in a show he doesn't understand, occupying a secondary role anyone could, if only they were willing to work for less than the perks of living off the star's discarded script. There are a lot of reasons to root for Tesla, but there is one big reason to pray for their failure, and that's to prevent people like Lambert from being financially rewarded for lowering the informational bar and gutting ethics. If you think I'm being harsh, you're wrong. I LOVE Tesla. Not because I'm blind to their failures, but despite them.

What else might attract my love or ire in 2018? We'll find in two months.

Alex Roy is Editor-at-Large at The Drive, founder of Geotegic Consulting, and the Human Driving Association. He also hosts of The Autonocast, and is the author of The Driver. He has set numerous endurance driving records, including the infamous Cannonball Run record. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Three of us in a Brock Yates Edition 1985 Audi 4000 that was terrible new and worse now. A single crack runs diagonally across the windshield like frozen lighting. It's ninety degrees outside, one hundred inside. The A/C is broken. Windows up, for aerodynamics. And noise. I'm not driving, but I wish I was, if only to get my mind off the misery. The smell of gas so sweet it shoots up my nostrils with greased hooks, begging me to snort until I pass out. And the stench. It's not just me. It's them. And the "re-sealable" beef jerky bags that don't quite re-seal. And the mess. My hand looks like I pulled it out of an unflushed toilet instead of the hot can of chocolate-covered raisins. The u-shaped "Deluxe" neck pillow I bought at JFK. Too soft for my unhappy neck. Too rough for my angry skin.

There's only one thing crazier than Cannonballing cross-country fast, and that's doing it slowly. We've been at it for twenty hours.

Why?

Because no one wants autonomous cars. We want autonomy cars.

Autonomy. As in human autonomy, which is the only autonomy that matters. What does autonomy mean? Self-sufficiency. Independence. Choice. Autonomy = freedom. The freedom to go anywhere, or nowhere at all, or to speed across the country for no damn good reason.

Does anyone really want a car that's autonomous, by the strictest definition? Of course not. The last thing anyone wants are cars that can think for themselves and roam freely. Or worse, we get lazy SkyNet, on wheels. They might just inch around, trying to avoid contact with those unpredictable humans. Or maybe they wouldn't move at all. Why would they let those dirty humans inside? The wear and tear. The smell. A world full of truly autonomous cars would bring human civilization to a halt.

If truly autonomous cars are our worst enemy, autonomy cars are our friends.

You already know what an autonomy car does. It automates repetitive and difficult tasks, like walking thirty miles a day. Autonomy cars are amazing, and they are already here. You probably already have one. If not, autonomy is waiting for you at any car dealership. It's been there for more than a hundred years. Autonomy cars range from semi-autonomy (all road cars) to full autonomy (Jeeps and off-road vehicles). Some offer more autonomy than others, but even the worst semi-autonomy car will go anywhere on earth there's a road in moderate condition. Get in a prepped Jeep with some jerrycans and you've got more autonomy than most of the humans ever born.

Autonomy? Freedom? Equality? Before the advent of the privately owned car, the majority of humans worked within a few miles of home, trapped in invisible cages. Horses? Trains? Ships? Fantasy. Luxury. The human-driven car has been the most democratizing technology since the printing press.

Unfortunately, the human-driven car is among the most dangerous—but not in the way we've been taught to think.

Yes, it is a crime that there are approximately 40,000 car-related deaths a year in the United States. A deeper crime is that those 40,000 deaths are preventable. But the biggest crime? That these deaths are blamed on cars. The problem isn't the cars. It's us. It's our lack of respect for technology. It's a lack of respect for the freedom cars grant us. It's our lack of respect for each other. It's the rampant dehumanization of others in a world where people think safety is something we can buy rather than the sum of choices we make. Every time a crash is called an accident? Dehumanization. Every time a drunk driver gets their license back? Dehumanization. Every time a driver "lost control" before impact?

Dehumanization.

There is no such thing as losing control of a car. Short of a defective tire blowout, no car ever sold will do anything a driver didn't allow it to. Every car ever sold is an extension of human will.

Car control? You have it, or you never had it.

Unfortunately, human autonomy — granted the power to command machines, without proper training, without respect — empowers us at the expense of others.

Those 40,000 deaths aren't the price of freedom. They're the price of laziness — moral, personal and political. That laziness begets the seemingly irrefutable moral power behind arguing for the removal of steering wheels and the elimination of private car ownership. Laziness fertilizes the belief that automation itself is a worthy goal, and that there is a zero-sum relationship between automation and human input. In that world, full automation is perfection, and human input can and should be sacrificed for the greater good, trapped inside a cage of safety.

All the words, phrases, sound bites, press releases, interviews, clickbait and propaganda around self-driving cars come from this point of view. Humans fallible; automation infallible.

What is the best way to sell something? Tell people they cannot learn. That they can never do better. That they should give up. That they will be saved, for the low, low price of X.

Repeat.

But autonomous cars are never coming. Automated cars? Yes, but we face decades of geotonomy: cars that can drive more safely than humans, within certain conditions, behind geofences. The fences will start tight. If you don't know how to drive, if the self-driving lobby has its way, you will be a prisoner to the best geotonomous car you can hail, limited to the fleet fence. Inside the fence, you will be free to live, safely, at the expense of true autonomy. No matter how far the fences expand, they can never expand as far or as fast as human imagination or desire.

That's why geotonomous cars compel no lust. That they will be safer is a given. They have to be or no one will get in. Safety can't be a marketing goal. "Safety" has to be the floor. Geotonomy = convenience, and there's nothing less sexy than convenience, which is why autonomy cars will sell forever. The world outside the fence will always beckon, and danger with it.

How much danger? That depends on us.

The future doesn't have to be Wall-E or chaos. There is a third path. The key is recognizing that technology can be a means or an end. That Toyota and others are developing technology that augments human will rather than replaces human control. That freedom and safety can co-exist if we are open to technologies that serve rather than enslave us. That the future will be determined not by what others invest in, but by what we are willing to pay for. Fortunes have been lost betting against human nature. The perfect car of the future, the one I dream about, isn't one without a steering wheel. It's a car that can drive itself when I want it to, that won't let me crash on public roads when I take the wheel, and whose capabilities are safely unlocked as my skills improve.

"Why," I asked my unflappable co-driver Arne Toman, a man I barely knew 20 hours ago, "do we do this?"

"The glory," he says.

"But the misery—"

"Exactly," says my new favorite person.

I look at my dirty hands. I mute my ex-girlfriend's call. Cannonball legend Ed Bolian is snoring behind me. I'm hungry. I have to go to the bathroom. But we can't stop. And all I can think about is how, someday, I will hack a geotonomous car to leave the New York fence and take me to California. As quickly as possible. And it will be safer than any Cannonball attempt has been. It makes no sense. But it must be done.

Why? Because no one has ever done it before. And once I get back home, nothing will make me happier than to take a geotonomous taxi home from the airport, because I'll be too tired to drive.

Alex Roy is Editor-at-Large at The Drive. He is also the founder of Geotegic Consulting and the Human Driving Association, host of The Autonocast, and author of The Driver. He has set numerous endurance driving records, including the infamous Cannonball Run record. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Vacuum-maker and tech firm Dyson has selected Singapore as the place where it'll build its upcoming range of electric cars, reports the BBC. Singapore was reportedly chosen for its proximity to vital target markets, supply chains, and quality engineering resources.

Dyson's new Singapore car plant is expected to break ground sometime later this year and start pumping out product by 2021.

The Southeast Asian city-state is apparently one of the priciest places in the world to both do business and set up manufacturing space. In true Dyson style, however, cost "was not a consideration," says the BBC. Currently, the firm employs 1,100 people in Singapore.

The U.K. company also insists that the decision to set up shop in Singapore and not its home country was unrelated to Brexit. BBC also points out that none of Dyson's current products are manufactured in the U.K. either.

Dyson has previously announced that it would invest the equivalent of $2.7 billion into taking on the likes of Tesla. It is also projected to spend over $260 million on six test tracks at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire, U.K. Dyson has also previously stated that its cars will boast ranges 50 to 100 percent longer than that of its competitors.

Known for building pricey-but-effective vacuum cleaners, hairdryers, hand dryers, and fans, Dyson hasn't specified what kind of electric car it'll build or where it'll sit in the marketplace. Based on the brand's current portfolio, though, we don't expect 'em to be cheap or blend into the crowd.

It just got a little easier to get your hands on Harley-Davidson t-shirts, jackets, and more with a new Amazon storefront for the Milwaukee brand. As part of its “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” effort to make the brand more accessible to more people, H-D is making its gear and apparel more digitally available rather than being exclusive to dealers that might not be getting as much foot traffic as they used to. It’s not a bad idea since pretty much only Harley people to go Harley dealers, but just about everyone shops on Amazon.

The three different collections of apparel Harley-Davidson is offering on Amazon are: The 1903 Collection, which as you might guess, is very vintage inspired; The Garage Collection, which is simple and understated; the Genuine Motorclothes, which is a mix of actual riding gear, casual apparel, and accessories like hats and wallets—available with chains, of course.

“We live in an on-demand, anywhere, anytime business environment where success depends on the ability to meet consumers on their turf and on their terms, “said Heather Malenshek, senior vice president of marketing and brand for Harley-Davidson Motor Company. “The reach Amazon offers is critical to building stronger customer relationships, inspiring new people and creating an integrated online and in-dealership retail experience – all of which leads to profitable growth and a stronger brand.”

It sounds like H-D is trying to reinvigorate itself as a lifestyle brand on top of being a motorcycle brand. Another part of the “More Roads” plan is to put up more physical storefronts for greater exposure in places like shopping malls. The idea is if non-riders buy a t-shirt, it might make them more interested in learning how to ride and buy a motorcycle from Harley-Davidson. It will be interesting to see if the idea translates into more motorcycle sales.