Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest - September 19-27, 2016

AUTO CENTRAL - Chicago, September 27, 2016: Every Sunday Larry Nutson, Senior Editor and Chicago Car Guy along with fellow senior editors Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau, give you TACH's "take" on this past week's automotive news in easy to digest mega-tweet sized nuggets.

If you are a car and driving fan like we all are here at The Auto Channel, you can easily "catch up" or put these stories in context by searching the past 25 year's 1,994,765 automotive news, automotive stories, articles, reviews, archived news, video, audio, rants and raves accessible from The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive.

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Enjoy and thanks for the positive feedback and ratings. See You Next Week, LN.

Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest - September `19-27, 2016

* Gasoline station lines are back. A massive pipeline leak in Alabama caused widespread gasoline shortages and significant price hikes on the East Coast of the United States. Though the leak reportedly posed no danger to the public, officials said it affected drivers all along the I-95 corridor from Florida to Maine. Colonial Pipeline Co., which transports some 40% of the gasoline along the I-95 corridor says at least 250,000 gallons of gasoline were lost. After a 12 day shutdown gasoline has started flowing again.

* Volkswagen of America, Inc., announced that its specially tuned Volkswagen Beetle LSR, powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged, direct-injection four-cylinder TSI gasoline engine producing more than 600HP, has achieved 205.122 mph over a flying mile—the fastest speed ever recorded for a Beetle. The car was driven by Automobile magazine contributing Editor Preston Lerner on the famed Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah, at the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) 2016 World of Speed event.

* Who is in charge of self-driving cars? The federal government says it is. U.S. regulators are getting more closely involved before self-driving cars can be put on the road. This is a significant shift from the self-certification policies that have existed for years that only involved enforcement after cars were in the hands of the public. New policy guidance will require automakers to assess the vehicle system design, development, testing and deployment work behind an autonomous vehicle or system before it can be offered for sale or put into service on public roads.

* Uber, which has self-driving cars being tested on the roads in Pittsburgh, has inked a deal with Volvo to develop a self-driving fleet and is now opening an office in Detroit to further the development of no-Uber driver behind the wheel. How soon will it be when you hail an Uber and find there is no driver to talk to and discuss what route to take?

* AAA says it does not pay to use premium gas on vehicles designed to use regular— and that U.S. drivers waste $2.1 billion in the past 12 months by paying for premium gas when the regular kind would do just was well. On cars designed for regular, AAA could find no difference between premium and regular in terms of horsepower, fuel economy, or lower tailpipe emissions.

* Reader’s Digest announced the results of its second annual Trusted Brands Survey. More than 5,000 Americans across the country participated in the online survey, which awards the “Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brand” title to winners in 40 product categories, including travel, food and beverage, automotive, beauty and healthcare, retail and customer service, financial services, household items, consumer electronics and more. Most trusted automobile (passenger cars excluding trucks) is Toyota and automobile (SUV/crossover) is Ford.

* Automotive News reports that Mazda, Bentley and Lamborghini have joined Ford, Rolls-Royce and Volvo on the list of automakers that will skip the Paris auto show, which starts next week. Exhibiting at auto shows is very expensive and there is lots of competition for attention. Car companies are breaking out of the traditional mold and trying new ways to be at the top of the news.

* We got a first-hand look at the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox compact SUV at its reveal this week in Chicago. The Equinox's new exterior design is influenced by extensive aero development in the wind tunnel. Three turbocharged engine options – including the segment’s first turbo-diesel in North America – provide performance, efficiency and capability options. The 1.6-L diesel is expected to be EPA-rated at 40 highway mpg. The 2018 Equinox goes on sale in the first quarter of 2017.

* The Financial Times of Britain reported recently that Apple is in negations to either invest in, or possible take over, the McLaren Technology Group. McLaren has denied there are any such discussions while acknowledging that as a major player in automotive technology they “regularly have confidential conversations with a wide range of parties . . .” Conventional wisdom is that Apple is less interested in producing their own self-driving car but may want to develop the systems that make that possible and McLaren Applied Technologies, part of the McLaren Group, may be valuable in that regard.

* Riots in Charlotte, NC Wednesday night sparked by the death of a black motorist at the hands of police resulted in damage to the NASCAR Hall of Fame complex. Damage was not extensive, mostly broken windows. The exhibits and artifacts in the facility were not damaged.

* Hackers in China took control of brakes, lights and other systems of a Tesla Model S from a distance of 12 miles as reported in The Hacker News this week. The hackers worked for the Keen Security Lab and had no malicious intent, rather they were demonstrating the vulnerability of the car's "CAN Bus" system. Tesla immediately provided owners with a software update that addresses the vulnerability adding that the risks of this kind of intrusion is very low.

* Consumers Union, the public policy advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, came out this week in support of continued strict fuel economy standards at the federal level. Official comments filed this week state, “Maintaining robust fuel economy standard helps ensure the consumers can keep transportation cost down.” Opponents of the standards say that the costs of meeting these standards may overshadow any savings, particularly considering the low cost of fuel.

* We learned this week that officials in Amsterdam are cooking up a plan to promote self-driving boats to ply the labyrinth of canals that define that bustling city. Beginning in 2017 a fleet of self-piloted boats will begin cruising through the canals much like we expect self-driving cars will be filling our cities one day. In addition to moving people and cargo these autonomous boats could be used as floating infrastructure like temporary bridges, according to promoters.

* New York City, the city that never sleeps and home to many renowned sports, has never been a center for auto racing. Come July, that will change, when the Formula E circuit comes to the city for two races. The race cars are open-wheel design like you would see in Indianapolis or Monaco but they run on electricity. The races will be held in late July as part of the circuit’s third season. The course will be laid out at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook. The Formula E series has involved companies like Audi, Jaguar, Renault and Richard Branson’s Virgin.