By Karl Peskett.
No, we’re not talking about how tight the screws are that hold your numberplate on. Rather, how many people have access to your licence and numberplate information.
In Australia, law enforcement agencies have access to that information, as well as those from the various transport departments in each state. But that’s who we know about.
In the U.S., even more people have access to licence plate details. According to a recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union, around 9200 employees of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency have access to government databases which have personal details linked to millions of vehicles on the road.
The union is crying foul over the lack of legal safeguards that prevent unauthorised use of the information, whether for personal or business reasons. Billions of licence plate scans were also available as law enforcement patrols continually add millions of scans each month.
However, what most people forget is each scan can be cross referenced with a location, meaning vehicles can effectively be tracked as other police cars scan the plates. An ICE agency employee with a vendetta against a family member or a member of the public could indeed locate that person and who knows what could happen next?
And as far as what happens here? We just have to trust that we’re being told the full story.
Hybrids get a billion-dollar injection
The global economy hasn’t been looking the best lately, yet Toyota is moving forward with plenty of investments. A couple of years ago, the Japanese company announced that it would invest $10 billion to factories in the US alone.
This week, Toyota committed to investing a further $3 billion to build new plants. Specifically, to ramp up production of RAV4 and Lexus ES models, with around AU$1 billion going to hybrid versions of the two vehicles.
One plant in particular will be producing 240,000 hybrid transaxle cases and housings every year, plus around 290,000 engine blocks.
Toyota’s commitment to hybrids has always been strong, but demand for hybrid technology has ramped up in recent years, with the fallout from the Dieselgate scandal still turning people away from distillates. Petrol is in favour, but high prices mean that everyone wants the most economical version of any vehicle. And hybrids fit the bill perfectly.
That’s why here, in Australia, the hybrid version of the Camry has become the most popular version of the ever-popular mid-size sedan. We’re now eagerly awaiting the arrival of the RAV4 Hybrid, which should also prove to become the best-selling version of Toyota’s medium SUV.
Faraday Future trying to create a new future
We’ve spoken about Faraday Future and its lacklustre future before. A quick recap, though.
The company promised to produce a vehicle called the FF91 that was an EV capable of making 783kW, able to go from 0-100kmh in under 2.4 seconds, with over 480km from a charge and could unlock with facial recognition. Impressive stuff, and recently the company published on its Twitter feed that final shakedown testing for the FF91’s suspension was happening and that things are progressing nicely.
However, behind the scenes things aren’t looking so rosy. Faraday’s CEO, Jia Yueting, recently requested around US$700 million in funding. That’s on top of the $800 million already invested by Chinese real estate group Evergrande. And not a production car in sight.
Some of that money has disappeared on lawsuits, with the company dodging around $2 million, which is one of the few instances of it not paying its bills that are the record. In 2016 it failed to pay a construction firm for a plant in Nevada where it was supposed to build the FF91, and that went to court. Then in 2017 staff were cut, the CEO’s assets were seized and suppliers were left unpaid. The first pre-production vehicle to roll off the line and shown to investrors was said to have caught fire straight afterwards.
Now, though, the company is looking to claw back some of the money it has invested in real estate. It bought 900 acres in Nevada on which it was supposed to build a $1 billion production facility. The company now has it listed for sale.
And the price to scoop up this land? A mere $40 million. Considering how much money the company has allegedly squandered, this money will be a drop in the bucket.
The future doesn’t seem so bright afterall…
