Gridlock For Days

Gridlock For Days

ICYMI: Toronto has the worst traffic in North America and is ranked 3rd worst in the world. TomTom GPS data suggested that the average commuter in Toronto spent the equivalent of four days sitting in rush-hour traffic in 2023. nationalpost.com, tomtom.com

From the school of, thank you fucking captain obvious, Statistic Canada came out with data in August saying that Torontonians have the worse commute times in the county. cbc.ca

One Direction singer Niall Horan had to get out of his ride and walk the remaining kilometres to get to his own Toronto concert on time. “In all the years I’ve been playing shows, I don’t think I’ve ever walked into a venue,” Horan said. cp24.com

Will Farrel was delayed in traffic en route to the screening of his new film at the Toronto International Film Festival. He commented, “It took us 30 minutes to go a block”. toronto.ctvnews.ca

The traffic situation in Toronto is now considered a “crisis,” with survey respondents saying they avoid driving, and traffic issues make them late for meetings (calling bullshit on that one, just call in, asshole). It is causing some people to consider moving away from the city. cbc.ca, cp24.com, torontolife.com,

In response to Toronto’s traffic nightmare, the Toronto Board of Trade launched a “Congestion Task Force” to address the issue. bot.com, globalnews.ca

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has said that new(er) data shows Toronto’s congestion management plan is working to reduce gridlock. Some progress is being made by finding opportunities at specific choke points to increase the flow of traffic and enlisting traffic agents. Last week, the city expanded their efforts to include more automated traffic monitoring, hiring more agents, and increasing fines for certain traffic violations. cp24.com, cbc.ca 

However, Toronto is also the fastest-growing city in North America. The bandages the municipality has put on the congestion problem aren’t likely to help for long. visualcapitalist.com

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has a different plan for Toronto. He wants to build a fucking insanely massive tunnel spanning 60 kilometres across the city beneath Highway 401 — the busiest highway in North America. If built, it will be the largest traffic tunnel in the world. The project is expected to cost billions and take decades to complete. The province has already committed to a feasibility study. Critics aren’t even sure it will help. globalnews.ca, ctvnews.ca, theglobeandmail.com, ontario.ca

The rest of Toronto’s infrastructure is also at risk of crumbling under the weight of the growing population. Estimates suggest an incremental $26 Billion will be required over the next decade to keep the lights on in the 6. As lovely as it might be to travel under the city by tunnel, maybe Dougie wants to invest in this instead? cbc.ca

In the interim, we Toronto folk know that the only way to get anywhere on time is to walk or bike there. Just don’t forget to wear your helmet. thestar.com

China’s Automotive Expansion

BYD prepares for the launch of its second 7,000-vehicle car carrier. electrek.co

BYD wants an extension of tariff relief for electric vehicle imports from Mexico. reuters.com

BYD opens up sales in Kenya. electrek.co

Dongfeng Motors claims to have built the most aerodynamic production EV ever. carnewschina.com

Nio and China's oil giant Sinopec kick off charging partnership. cnevpost.com

CATL now has a heavy-duty commercial vehicle battery. arenaev.com

Chinese auto stocks are unphased by news from the US (and Canada) plan to block software and parts. cnbc.com, arstechnica.com

Luxury brand company LVMH might get sucked into the EV trade war between China and the EU. reuters.com

Must Know Musk News

Cards Against Humanity sues SpaceX for trespassing on land they bought in 2017 to obstruct Trump’s border wall plans. cnn.com, nbcnews.com

Twitter (X) capitulates to Brazillian government requests. Elon will need to pay fines before service can be restored. cnbc.com

Twitter (X) is the least trusted big tech company. businessinsider.com

Tesla is getting weird with how it manages workers in Germany. arstechnica.com

Tesla ships their millionth Chinese-made vehicle. cnevpost.com

Rise Of The Machines

Humanoid robots, so hot right now. wsj.com

Vegas now has humanoid robot greeters at casinos. foxnews.com

A new food processing robot uses custom end-of-arm tooling and AI to fillet fish. therobotreport.com

Boston Dynamics taught robot dog ‘Spot’ some new tricks. techcrunch.com

Energy

Saskatchewan wants to go toe-to-toe with China on rare earth minerals. canada.autonews.com, finance.yahoo.com, mining.com

Northvolt announces 1,600 layoffs in Sweden but is still adamant that their Quebec battery plant project won't be affected. cbc.ca, techcrunch.com

A 17-turbine wind farm in Nova Scotia gets a $118-million low-interest loan from the Canadian federal government. theglobeandmail.com

First Solar opened its 3.5 GW vertically integrated thin-film solar factory in Lawrence County, Alabama. msn.com

Funky and ingenious “camp stove that charges your phone” maker BioLite has a new home battery backup system you can install yourself. electrek.co

“SAIC-GM and CATL launched a new lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery cell with a 6C multiplier, enabling recharge rates of up to 200km in just five minutes, making it the fastest charging battery cell in China.” electrek.co

California pays to get wired. electrek.co

But Wait, There’s More

Cadillac, like a bunch of other luxury brands, is obsessed with the letter “Q”. autoblog.com

GM keeps killing it with EV sales. cnbc.com

MKBHD reviews the Silverado EV. youtube.com

Ford updated BlueCruise. theverge.com

Stellantis is on the hunt for a new CEO. finance.yahoo.com, cbc.ca

Shawn Fain wants Stellantis workers to strike. reuters.com

Volvo explained why they pushed out their internal EV targets. theverge.com

Kia will be the next OEM to gain access to Tesla’s Supercharger network. theverge.com

Kia opens its first EV-only plant. electrek.co

Kia could have had a really bad day if hackers found the flaw in their web portal. arstechnica.com

Volkswagen has a door handle problem. arstechnica.com

Mercedes has an engine problem. reuters.com

Toyota (and Mazda) have a brake problem. reuters.com, canada.autonews.com

No one has told BMW (or Toyota) that hydrogen stations don’t exist. techcrunch.com

Sony and Honda will support NACS. electrek.co

EV startup Canoo is being sued, has lost another founder, and is also moving to Texas. techcrunch.com, electrive.com

Rivian released a Knight Rider-inspired front lighting theme just in time for Halloween. electrek.co

ICYMI

Jonathan Elfalan explained what it is really like to charge your Rivian at a Tesla Supercharger. edmunds.com

A truck full of batteries is burning in Los Angeles, shutting down ports and a bridge. theverge.com

WIRED reports that the auto industry finally has a plan to deal with battery fires. wired.com

The Atlantic did an interesting piece on the death of the minivan. theatlantic.com

Kick Out The Jams

Stevie Nicks’ new song ‘The Lighthouse’ is fucking fantastic. youtube.com

Raven Numan, daughter of Gary Numan, wishes she was someone else. youtube.com

Lady Gaga dropped a new Joker sequel-inspired album. youtube.com

Lights swears it isn’t her; it’s the damage talking. youtube.com

Amethyst Michelle thinks they’re getting there. youtube.com

Tess Parks says California dreaming is a lie. youtube.com

Sunflower Bean feels so lucky they could die. youtube.com

Tee Grizzley and J Cole say if this shit go left, they pullin' bread out the floor. youtube.com

Jane’s Addition is basking in the glory of true love. youtube.com

Robert Smith and The Cure are alone. youtube.com

Primal Scream is ready to go home. youtube.com 

Not surprisingly, Marilyn Manson is sacrilegious. youtube.com 

Linkin Park’s new track ‘Heavy Is the Crown’ is the official anthem and music video for League of Legends Worlds 2024. youtube.com