Auto Central August 20, 2023; Every Sunday Larry Nutson, The Chicago Car Guy and Auto Channel
Executive Producer, with able assistance from senior editor Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau, compile The Auto Channel’s “take” on this past week’s
automotive news, condensed into easy to digest news Nuggets.
LEARN MORE: Complete versions of today’s news nuggets, along with thousands of pages of relevant
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Here are Larry’s picks among the past week’s important, relevant, semi-secret,
or snappy automotive news, opinions and insider back stories presented as expertly crafted easy-to-understand automotive universe news nuggets. for Nutson’s Auto News Weekly Wrap-up August 13-19, 2023
* From Cox Automotive we read that the consumer kept the economy on a growth trend through the month of July with robust spending. However, the index of consumer sentiment from Morning Consult fell last week as gas prices rose again. The average price for a gallon of unleaded gas is now down only 3% year over year when it had been down 23% a month ago.
* HONDA ACCORD: Rear seat safety is important and it’s an issue, according to IIHS. The Honda Accord outperformed other midsize cars in the updated moderate overlap front crash test, earning a rare good rating in the new, challenging evaluation focused on rear-seat protection. Among the other six midsize cars tested, the Subaru Outback earns an acceptable rating. The Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry are rated marginal. The Hyundai Sonata, Kia K5 and Volkswagen Jetta are rated poor.
* US DoE factoid of the week: From cradle to grave, electric vehicles have fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional vehicles. Cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for a small gasoline SUV in 2020 were estimated to be 429 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per mile, while the same size EV with 300 miles of range had 48% fewer GHG emissions. Argonne National Laboratory’s cradle-to-grave analysis considered everything from raw material extraction to vehicle scrappage to provide a holistic view of the sustainability of different vehicle and fuel technologies. The analysis showed that EVs (which have no tailpipe emissions) also have fewer GHG emissions than conventional gasoline or hybrid electric vehicles when the entire life cycle is considered. Argonne also provided emission estimates for technology anticipated to be available in 2030‒2050.
* EV charging satisfaction continues to drop, J.D. Power says. As EV adoption increases, J.D. Power says industry leaders should be concerned. Satisfaction with public charging during the first half of the year fell to its lowest level recorded in J.D. Power studies. Overall customer satisfaction with public Level 2 charging, the most commonly used option, declined by 16 points compared to a year ago, the lowest level since the report began in 2021, J.D. Power said. Satisfaction with direct current fast charging