The L.A. Auto Show is about to kick off and will put the latest car technologies front and center. Cheddar got an early look at Lincoln's brand new 2019 Lincoln Nautilus. Our own Alyssa Julya Smith was with Robert Parker, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Lincoln Motor Company, to chat about some of the innovation behind the new SUV.
Parker says SUVs are one of the hottest segments. He gives us a first-hand look at some of the new features. The car has wireless charging, and says goodbye to the traditional gear stick.
The Lincoln director also fills us in on the technologies that add an extra layer of safety, such as lane centering. The radar-based cruise control will monitor where you are on the highway, and pre-condition the brakes if it senses the driver is getting off-track. The car even has a feature called evasive steering, which pre-conditions steering away from danger if the driver does not take control.
Over the past year, the new love for gaming has created a huge demand for the consumption of content on streaming platforms. All this has caused a rise in gaming influencers all over the world. Founder of Viral Nation Joe Gagliese and Digital Video Executive Andrew Wall, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Nikola announced that it delivered its first electric semi trucks last week, sending the embattled EV company's stock soaring. There is a lot of competition in this space, though, said Lauren Fix, an automotive analyst with Car Coach Reports. While every country has companies racing to dominate the electric trucking industry, she explained, a shortage of graphite, used in batteries, and a dearth of convenient charging stations will still keep growth slow in 2022. "You really have to be very careful when you're investing in this marketplace," Fix said. "That's great that [Nikola was] able to deliver one, but can they deliver more?"
Carlo and Baker kick off the weirdest week of the year with all the news you missed over the holiday weekend, including calls for the CDC to shorten its isolation window as Omicron sweeps through the country.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a formal investigation into Tesla. The agency is looking into about 580,000 Tesla vehicles, and a feature called 'Passenger Play' which allows drivers to play video games on the center touch screen. The feature previously only worked when a vehicle was in park; but, the NHTSA says it has confirmed that the feature has been available while vehicles are in motion since December of 2020. iSeeCars.com executive analyst Karl Brauer joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
