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Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Wrap-up November 17-23, 2024


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America's Longest Running Internet Automotive Column

Auto Central November 24, 2024;Every Sunday Larry Nutson, The Chicago Car Guy and Auto Channel Executive Producer, with able assistance from senior Detroit 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.

Here are Larry's top story picks from this past week's important to you, relevant, semi-secret, or snappy automotive news, opinions and insider back stories presented as expertly crafted easy-to-understand automotive news nuggets.

If you are a car nut like we all are, you can easily "catch up" with these stories as well as the past 18 year's 1,592,003 automotive news, automotive stories, articles, reviews, rants and raves by just searching for the subject you are interested in The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive

LEARN MORE: Complete versions of today's news nuggets, along with hundreds of thousands of pages of relevant news, information and opinions, are stored in a million-page library published and indexed on The Auto Channel during the past 25 years. Complete information can be found by copying a headline and inserting it into any Site Search Box.

Automotive News November 17-23, 2024.

  • From the Wall Street Journal. Abandoning the idea of a $25,000 electric car comes as a blow to those who were betting that the electrification of the automobile was on track to happen seemingly overnight—with EVs for every pocketbook replacing the tens of millions of vehicles on the roadways. Instead, we’ve swung back to a belief that the transition, at least in the U.S., is going to be slower. Read it: HERE

  • Keep EV tax credits. A group representing major automakers including General Motors, Toyota Motor Corp, and Volkswagen urged President-elect Donald Trump to retain key tax credits for electric vehicle purchases and take steps to speed deployment of self-driving cars. Last week, Reuters reported that Trump's transition team wants to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases - a move that would likely slow an already stalling U.S. EV transition. Full story: HERE

  • The EV Barrier. The inhabitants of U.S. cities are among those most likely to want EVs—and the most likely to be able to afford them. The lack of charging infrastructure is the biggest barrier to owning an electric car in many urban areas.   HERE

  • High speed AEB by 2029. Automatic emergency braking systems have significantly improved, with newer models avoiding crashes in the 12-to-35-mph range during testing, according to a report from AAA. NHTSA will require by 2029 that these systems work at higher speeds of up to 62 mph and detect pedestrians day and night, a challenge automakers consider to be costly and technologically demanding. Full Story: HERE

  • Gas prices. GasBuddy now counts 30 states where gas prices average less than $3/gal Move over, $2.99! The most common gas price in the US is now $2.89/gal, the lowest since the pandemic! The cheapest 10% (15,000 stations) average just $2.44/gal today. That's like paying $1.99/gal in 2019. The numbers may "feel" high, but you're spending less of your annual income on gas today than you did then.

  • Holiday travel. AAA projects 79.9 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday travel period. For the first time, AAA’s forecast includes the Tuesday before and the Monday after Thanksgiving Day to better capture the flow of holiday travelers. This year’s projection of nearly 80 million travelers is an increase of 1.7 million people compared to last year and 2 million more than in 2019. HERE

  • US DoE factoid of the week: In 2023, at least 172 million shared micromobility trips were taken in 421 cities across North America. In North America, e-bikes had the highest utilization rate at 3.9 trips per bike per day. Pedal bikes were close behind, with 3.4 trips per day, while e-scooter utilization was 1.4 trips per day. The average for all shared micromobility was 2.7 trips per vehicle per day.

  • Most deadly cars. I See Cars.com analyzed fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) of model year 2018-2022 cars with car crashes that resulted in at least one occupant fatality to identify the most dangerous vehicles on U.S. roads today. They identified the 23 most dangerous cars on the road. These vehicles are up to five times more likely to have had a fatal crash. Distracted driving and high rates of speed are often to blame. See how your car stacks up;  HERE

  • Best car brands. U.S. News & World Report, a global authority in rankings and consumer advice, announced its 2025 Best Vehicle Brand and Best Certified Pre-Owned Program awards. See the top picks: HERE

  • Car of the Year.  MotorTrend Group, a Warner Bros. Discovery company, announced the Mercedes-Benz E-Class as its 2025 Car of the Year award winner. The new E-Class, available as both a sedan and wagon-crossover, claimed the top spot amongst competitors for its elegant, refreshed design, excellent performance, and technology. Each MotorTrend Car of the Year competitor is judged against MotorTrend’s six key criteria: safety, value, advancement in design, engineering excellence, efficiency, and performance of intended function. Full details:  HERE

  • NACTOY finalists. The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) awards organization named three cars, three trucks and three utility vehicles to its prestigious list of 2025 finalists. The announcement was made at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The 2025 North American Car of the Year finalists are the Honda Civic Hybrid, Kia K4 and Toyota Camry. 2025 North American Truck of the Year finalists are Ford Ranger, Ram 1500 and Toyota Tacoma. 2025 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year finalist are Chevrolet Equinox EV, Hyundai Santa Fe and Volkswagen ID. Buzz. NACTOY jurors will continue evaluating the finalist vehicles over the coming weeks and cast their ballots for the winners before the end of the year. Award recipients will be announced on January 10, 2025, as part of the kickoff for the media days of the Detroit Auto Show.

  • LA Auto Show. In addition to the NACTOY announcement, Kia introduced revamped 2025 EV6 and 2026 Sportage models along with the EV9 GT. Hyundai showed off its new 2026 Ioniq 9 electric 3-row SUV. Fiat unveiled the 500e Georgio Armani Collector's Edition. In the days leading up to the LA show VW showed the freshened Tiguan and Genesis displayed its 2026 GV70 and Electrified GV70.

  • Electric boats. After years of development and rigorous testing, the Vision Marine's proprietary fully electric E-Motion broke the world electric speed record. As illustrated in the documentary, “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop”, the powerboat fitted with Vision Marine’s powertrain technology, reached 116 mph in the hands of champion boat racer, Shaun Torrente. Watch it HERE

  • 1000 Miglia Experience China. After four days and about 1000 km, the Alfa Romeo of the San Marino-Luxembourg crew, the Buick SGM7250G of Zhanhe and Hongjiang Zhang and the Mini of Chen Kangwei and Xiao Shanming took the overall podium at the first 1000 Miglia Experience China. The 11 cities visited by the race welcomed the passage of the cars, divided into 6 different categories, from the historic 1000 Miglia Era to the more modern, with enthusiasm and curiosity. This was the inaugural 1000 Miglia Experience China.

  • NASCAR off-track battle. The two teams suing NASCAR over an antitrust complaint said they will compete in 2025 as “open teams” after the sanctioning body removed anticompetitive release claims that will allow them to race while the legal process continues. 23XI Racing, the team owned by basketball great Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports refused in September to sign revenue sharing offers made by NASCAR just 48 hours before the start of the playoffs. The teams have filed an antitrust suit alleging NASCAR is “monopolistic bullies” and were denied in federal court last week a request to be recognized as “chartered” teams as the suit continues. A charter is essentially a franchise and guarantees prize money, a spot in the field each week, and other protections. Both teams insisted they’d compete as “open” teams, which would require them to show up each week and qualify their cars for every race. Open teams also don’t receive the same benefits as chartered teams, including a fair cut from the financial purses.

  • NHRA Champs. Greg Anderson joined exclusive company with his sixth NHRA Pro Stock title. Antron Brown secured his fourth Mission Foods NHRA Top Fuel world championship. Gaige Herrera locked up his second straight Pro Stock Motorcycle championship. Austin Prock clinches his first Funny Car world championship in dominant fashion. Tony Stewart edged a strong field of NHRA rookies to win the NHRA Rookie of the Year Award, which was announced at the the series' annual awards ceremony in California. 

  • Toyota wins in NHRA. For the first time in its 23 seasons of NHRA competition, Toyota has won the NHRA Manufacturers Cup. The 2024 season was the first time NHRA included the Top Fuel category in its distinctions for the Manufacturers Cup, to which Toyota’s resounding success in Top Fuel this year, along with its achievements in Funny Car, led to its first-ever season triumph. 2024 was another astounding year for Toyota in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, where the manufacturer captured 16 victories in 20 NHRA events across the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories.

  • It's a boy. Tony Stewart Racing announced the arrival of their new teammate, Dominic James Stewart. Momma Leah Pruett and baby are doing great. Congratulations LP and Tony Stewart on becoming new parents! 

  • RIP. Long-time automotive enthusiasts know the name C. Van Tune, one of the iconic names in automotive buff-book editorial leadership. We are saddened to report his death due to cancer. During his seven years as Editor-in-Chief of Motor Trend Magazine, C. Van Tune launched Motor Trend's TV shows, radio shows, and the industry-leading automotive website http://www.motortrend.com. Tune left Motor Trend to become the host/presenter of the ESPN TV show Drive for five seasons, and the automotive expert of NBC's Today Show, for six years. His on-camera reporting & interview venues included TV news programs in the Top-10 media markets, as well as CNBC Business and the NBC Sports Network.

  • Stay safe. Be Well., Happy Thanksgiving

Larry Nutson
The Chicago Car Guy