Every report about the Tesla Cybertruck makes it more understandable why Tesla had so little to say about its long awaited pickup at the launch event. The automaker says it’s not far away from shipping out another big software update to add features to the electric off-roader, following an OTA package in February. The new code mainly enhances off-road features, but there are some on-road goodies as well. There’s now an Off-Road driving mode with two settings, Overland and Baja. These are the activation and expansion of menus already in the infotainment menu that we found out about in December but that didn’t work and didn’t come with any explanation.  

Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill broke the features down in a series of posts on X. Overland Mode lets the driver set the truck up for the best traction on all kinds of surfaces. New buttons and sliders enable a choice of terrain such as Rock or Sand, whether to activate a brake holding feature or let the truck roll when not on the brakes, three ride heights, activating rear-wheel-steering, locking the differentials, and wading. There’s also a set of digital gauges indicating heading, pitch, and roll in degrees.

Note, Morrill explains the locking differentials as, “On uneven or slippery terrain, if a wheel has limited or no traction, Cybertruck can direct that torque to the opposite wheel.” This sounds more like traction control or torque vectoring to us, or a feature lost in translation because the Cybertruck doesn’t have solid axles, but as long as it gets the truck unstuck, who’s complaining. The front and rear locking e-differentials are a boon for the dual-motor truck; the tri-motor Cyberbeast comes with a variable locking rear that’s always active, and adds the front e-diff. As far as we can tell, the Wade Mode still doesn’t put a number to maximum allowable water height. A graphic explaining the Overland Mode menu only indicates, “Use when navigating through shallow bodies of water.”

In Baja Mode, the Cybertruck is said to have better vehicle balance and “handles more freely when Stability Assist is set to Minimal” as opposed to Standard or Reduced. Called “the equivalent of track mode,” this opens up some high-speed off-road capability, the notes explaining that the mode’s Rugged setting is the best one to use, and there’s a Handling Balance slider to choose which axle does the most work.  

Trail Assist is an off-road cruise control. A camera feed shown at the top of the off-road pages lets passengers swipe through surround-camera views while on the go. And a Cybertent Mode keeps the tonneau cover open and works the suspension to get the truck level, making it easier to get a good night’s rest in the $3,000 overlanding add-on. This also keeps the bed lights and outlets powered on in trucks so equipped.   

For on-road duty, a selectable Slippery Surface terrain control engages the new rear e-diff locker for better traction in slick stuff like ice and snow, but Tesla says it “should only be used temporarily,” without explaining how long is temporary. The adaptive suspension has been tweaked for better estimation of payload weight so it can deliver a better ride. A Vitals page displays data such as battery and motor temperatures and tire pressures. 

At this point, we’re ready to believe it will be a year from the Cybertruck launch before the Cybertruck is finally updated with all of the features buyers expected at the launch. Anyone looking for a deeper download is welcome to check out the 22-page Cybertruck Off-Road Guide with additional info on the new systems. On top of that, a Teslarati report says the automaker’s Spring Release software update could bring even more features to the Cybertruck and other Tesla models.

All but two states require that drivers have car insurance, yet a recent MarketWatch Guides study found that one in eight drivers (12.5%) were uninsured. It ranked the states with the highest percentages of uninsured drivers, and none of them included the two where insurance is optional.

Though not technically a state, the District of Columbia (D.C.) had the most uninsured drivers, with 25.2% lacking coverage. MarketWatch attributes some of that delinquency to the astronomical insurance costs in the region, which averages $644 for minimum-liability coverage.

The rankings are from 2022, the most recent year for which data was available.

The top 10 states with the most uninsured drivers:

1. District of Columbia: 25.2%
2. New Mexico: 24.9%
3. Mississippi: 22.2%
4. Tennessee: 20.9%
5. Michigan: 19.6%
6. Kentucky: 18.7%
7. Delaware: 18.1%
8. Georgia: 18.1%
9. Colorado: 17.5%
10. Ohio: 17.1%

Though it landed fifth on the list, Michigan had the highest average monthly and annual insurance costs, at $134 and $1,604, respectively. Delaware, at No. 7 on the list, had the largest fines for a first offense of driving without insurance, with drivers potentially receiving a six-month license suspension and a fine of up to $1,500.

Insurance is not required in New Hampshire and Virginia, but the “Live Free or Die” state had one of the lowest numbers of uninsured drivers, with just 7.8% driving without coverage. Wyoming had the smallest number at 5.9%, and Idaho was second, tied with Maine at 6.2 percent.

States with the fewest uninsured drivers:

1. Wyoming, 5.9%
2. Idaho, 6.2%
3. Maine, 6.2%
4. Utah, 7.3%
5. Nebraska, 7.8%
6. New Hampshire, 7.8%
7. North Dakota, 7.9%
8. Kansas, 8%
9. South Dakota, 8%
10. Minnesota, 8.7%

Though it’s scary to think about sharing the road with people who can’t or won’t get car insurance, the good news is that most major insurers offer uninsured motorist coverage — and as these numbers indicate, it’s coverage you’d be wise to have. It can protect you if you’re involved in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver and the other party can’t pay for the damages or injuries you sustained in the crash. Uninsured/underinsured coverage is also required in many states, so there’s a good chance you already have it.

Other interesting findings: 

• Delaware has the highest fines for uninsured drivers — $1,500 for a first offense, and a six-month license suspension.

• Missouri’s fines are the most lenient, with first offenders fined just $20, though your license will be suspended until you provide proof of insurance.

• In Maryland, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Georgia, Connecticut, and South Dakota, you risk jail time for driving without insurance. In Connecticut, the maximum sentence is 5 years!

اگر شما چیزی شبیه به بسیاری از کارکنان Jalopnik هستید، احتمالاً آرزوی تبدیل شدن به یک تعقیب کننده طوفان را داشت در مقطعی از زندگی شما ایده در حال اجرا کردن پیچش در چرخ سوبارو کراس‌ترک یک چشم انداز بسیار سرگرم کننده است، اما اگر به شما بگویم که می توانید به عنوان یک راننده قطار فروتن، شغلی موفق در تعقیب طوفان ایجاد کنید، چه؟

این دقیقاً همان چیزی است که خدمه یک کشتی باری BNSF هفته گذشته هنگامی که لوکوموتیو آنها در قلب یک چرخان در نبراسکا گرفتار شد، کشف کردند. شبکه هواشناسی گزارش می دهد. در روز جمعه، طوفان‌های شدید چرخ‌هایی را به غرب میانه آورد که درختان را از بین برد، به خانه‌ها آسیب رساند و ماشین‌ها را مانند اسباب‌بازی به کناری انداخت.

در میان همه اینها، خدمه قطار در حال هدایت یک کشتی باری عظیم بین Waverly و لینکلن، نبراسکا بودند. خدمه مجبور شدند قطار را متوقف کنند در حالی که در میان طوفان منتظر سیگنال بودند و در حالی که صبورانه نشسته بودند، جاسوسی چرخاننده مستقیم به سر می برد برای لوکوموتیو

خدمه به جای دویدن برای پوشش، در ایمنی موتور باقی ماندند، موتوری که می توانست بین 100 تا 200 تن وزن داشته باشد. خدمه در ایمنی کابین فلزی خود به راه افتادند فیلمبرداری از طوفان پیش رو، که هر چه بیشتر به جلوی قطار نزدیک می شد، ریزه ها را از بین می برد. همانطور که شبکه هواشناسی توضیح می دهد:

کل این مصیبت تنها یک لحظه کوتاه به طول انجامید، اما از طریق ویدیو، بینندگان می‌توانند عواقب ناشی از پرتاب شدن اندام درختان به همه جا، خاک را در قطار و حتی شکستن یکی از شیشه‌های کناری ببینند.

گردباد همچنین چندین واگن ریلی را از ریل خارج کرد و به طور کامل آنها را از ریل خارج کرد و قطار را بی حرکت کرد. خوشبختانه هر دو مرد آسیبی ندیدند.

خوشبختانه، لوکوموتیو که خدمه در آن پناه گرفته اند، به نظر می رسد از این مصیبت آسیب ندیده است. با این حال، واگن بیشتر در قطار بودند طوفان از مسیر خارج شد.

در نتیجه این انفجار هیچ آسیبی ندید خبرگزاری trains.com گزارش می دهدو مقامات تأیید کردند که در نتیجه خروج از ریل هیچ ماده خطرناکی رها نشده است.

The S-Class enters its final stretch as a combustion-powered sedan with a pinpoint refresh for the 2025 model year that’s entirely about the details; only those who keep track of the S-Class color palette year-to-year will know this is one is different to the 2024 sedan by looking at the exterior. The two new colors are Verde Silver Metallic and Velvet Brown Metallic — that’s right, brown, baby! Every auto scribe’s dream color. 

Inside, the comfort headrests that put a fluffy pillow between one’s hairdo and the traditional leather will be standard equipment. Streaming options rise by one, Mercedes integrating Sony Pictures Entertainment’s RideVu, porting films from Sony’s library into the cabin and onto devices in the cabin. RideVu says its custom interface tweaks just for the S-Class, which includes parental controls, allows “content to be streamed synchronously on up to six different in-car screens or personal devices or watched independently on each device.” A rotating roster of titles will count gems like “Jumanji: The Next Level,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” and “The Equalizer 3.”

Closer to the sedan’s German home, Mercedes’ MBUX infotainment interface will make assisted parking suggestions easier to find and use. For international markets, pre-installation for the Digital Key will make its way to the U.S. and Canada, and be compatible with Android devices. And for everyone, a new rear seat reminder uses the opening of the rear doors — as in, putting something in the back seat before starting the car and taking off — to figure out when to alert front-row occupants about something potentially left in the back seat. 

Moving up to the sedans in the Manufaktur program will get an OLED main display as standard equipment, part of MBUX Entertainment Plus. 

Based on a previous report, a more substantial facelift and refresh is on the way for 2026. At some point, either then or perhaps for another update planned in 2029, we’re told a less fussy user interface will return, with touch sliders on the steering wheel supposedly being replaced by capacitive buttons and thumbwheels, and a reworked instrument panel showing off a new Hyperscreen with an optional passenger display. Hartmut Sinkwitz, head of interiors, said, “Intuitive ergonomics will return, but I’m not saying analog is the new digital. Instead, we are going to offer the customers the best of both worlds.”

Orders for the 2025 S-Class are open now, deliveries in Europe will begin at the end of July, those for the U.S. will start at the end of August.  

Toyota is adding the Crown sedan to its growing range of Nightshade Edition models for the 2025 model year. Rolled out across several nameplates since it made its debut for 2019 on the last-generation 4Runner, the package bundles an array of blacked-out exterior accents.

Based on the Limited trim level, the Nightshade Edition adds dark emblems, black door mirror caps, black exterior door handles, and 21-inch wheels with 10 spokes and a matte-black finish. The rest of the standard equipment list reads just like the Limited’s: Toyota includes multi-beam LED headlights, a fixed panoramic roof, an 11-speaker JBL sound system, plus numerous driving aids including Traffic Jam Assist.

Like the Limited, the Nightshade Edition comes with the less powerful of the two available hybrid drivetrains. The system consists of a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, a continuously variable transmission (CVT), a pair of electric motors (one per axle), and a nickel-metal hybride battery pack. It sends 236 horsepower to the four wheels, and Toyota pegs the sedan’s zero-to-60-mph time at 7.6 seconds. Fuel economy is what you’d expect for a Toyota hybrid: excellent. The Crown returns 42 mpg in the city, 41 mpg on the highway, and 41 mpg combined.

The only other noteworthy change for 2025 is that the range-topping Platinum trim comes standard with a head-up display. 

Pricing for the full 2025 Crown range is as follows:

• Crown XLE: $42,535
• Crown Limited: $47,045
• Crown Nightshade Edition: $49,860
• Crown Platinum: $56,085

Note that these figures include a mandatory (and surprisingly reasonable) $1,095 destination charge. Prices have increased across the board compared to the 2024 Crown, however. The XLE, Limited, and Platinum cost $41,145, $46,745, and 54,165, respectively, for 2023.

Deliveries of the 2025 Toyota Crown will start in the coming weeks. While the range will soon grow with the addition of a crossover called Crown Sigma, nothing suggests that the lifted, outdoorsy Crown Landscape model unveiled in Japan will be sold in the United States.

Three recent Toyota patent filings look at different ways to mount tow hooks for better crash performance.

One of these filings, which was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) April 25, 2024 (and originally filed October 19, 2022), discusses tow hooks that would extend out when in use and retract into housing the rest of the time.

Toyota pivoting tow hook patent image

This arrangement could help improve safety, Toyota claims. In the patent filing, the automaker notes that rigid-mounted tow hooks can transmit impact forces to other parts of the vehicle, potentially causing damage. This design uses a shearing pin that will break if an impact is hard enough, causing the tow hook to retract and thus absorbing some of the force.

Another patent filing, submitted by Toyota and published by the USPTO within the same timeframe as the first, features a similar idea. Here, though, tow hooks would pivot up and down. Again, Toyota believes allowing the tow hooks to move when hit will improve a vehicle’s crash performance.

Toyota tow hook assembly patent image

The third patent filing, which surfaced around the time as the other two, proposes a more complex mounting assembly that would act as a crash structure for two hooks. The tow hook would be attached to a “crush box” designed to deform on impact, absorbing the force of the impact rather than transmitting it to other parts of the vehicle.

Not all patented ideas make it to production, but these three iterations at least indicate that Toyota is thoroughly investigating different tow-hook mounting options. And with the continuing proliferation of off-road variants of SUVs and pickup trucks, a closer look at the safety of permanently-mounted tow hooks might be a good idea.