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Vol. 14 / Issue 2 / April 2023 REGIONAL NEWS
Florida Senator Aims To Ban EVs from Evacuating State Amid Hurricanes By Steven Loveday
InsideEVs
Republican Florida State Sen. Jonathon Martin believes the state should not allow electric cars to evacuate during a hurricane. His reasoning is based in part on misinformation already debunked when others have made similar suggestions in the past.
Credit: Shutterstock
IIHS Research Scientist: ‘It Seems Calibration is the Weakest Link’ By Abby Andrews Autobody News
A first-of-its-kind consumer survey conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) showed the majority of people who own a vehicle with increasingly popular ADAS features are reporting issues with those features after a repair for any reason—but especially when the repair was the result of crash damage, or a windshield replacement. While the self-reported survey of a sample of about 500 owners in the U.S. cannot say exactly how widespread the problem really is in the entire registered fleet, it’s a clear sign repairers need to invest in the tools and training to perform calibrations, and automakers need to make that information more accessible, said Alexandra Mueller, senior research scientist at IIHS and the study’s designer. “Changes need to be made, and
there are definitely solutions that can be implemented,” Mueller said. The survey, conducted in 2021, sought out owners of vehicles model year 2011 and newer, that had certain popular ADAS features: front crash prevention, which includes automatic emergency braking and front collision warning; blind spot monitoring; and cameras, including those providing rear and 360-degree views. Of the 3,000 owners contacted, about 500 had taken in their vehicles for repairs and participated in the survey; 40% of those said their vehicles were a model year 2019 or newer. Post-repair problems with ADAS were substantially more common among people who had features repaired because of crash damage or in connection with a windshield replacement. About two-thirds of owners whose ADAS feature repairs involved windshield replacement and
According to a recent article published by Electrek, Martin, of Fort Myers, serves on the Florida Senate’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources and the Select Committee on Resiliency. He reportedly asked the state’s Department of Transportation to consider banning EV evacuations, since the cars could run out of charge and get stranded, thereby blocking other (gas-powered) traffic from evacuating. During some recent storms in the Midwest, people posted similar suggestions on social media with claims that a bunch of EVs were expected to end up stranded in the snow while gas car owners made it l CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
REGIONAL NEWS
Mississippi Bill Aiming To Restrict EV Direct Sales Passes Senate By Simon Alvarez Teslarati
Electric vehicle makers may find it harder to open new companyowned stores in Mississippi in the future. Following a nearly two-hour debate among lawmakers, House Bill 401 passed through the Senate by a vote of 38-14. The bill is now on its way to Gov. Tate Reeves’ desk. House Bill 401 is controversial. If
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it does get signed into law, electric vehicle makers like Tesla, Rivian and Lucid would be mandated to sell their vehicles through a franchised dealership. EV makers today typically
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE 18
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PERMIT #288 ANAHEIM, CA
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Columnist Mike Anderson: My ‘Wish List’ of Changes to Improve the
Collision Repair Industry
Columnist Ed Attanasio: Tesla Owners Club of LA Gets Up-Close Look at Repair Experience at Bistagne Bros. Columnist Stacey Phillips: Mitchell Report Provides Insight into EV
Vehicle Claims, Market Data
Columnist John Yoswick: Attorneys Say Consumer Data Privacy Concerns for Collision Repair Shops are Real
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