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A bogged Jeep Wrangler’s hot exhaust is being blamed for a wildfire that torched “more than 20 acres” of the Ocala National Forest in Florida this week. Looks like somebody driving a JK Wrangler Unlimited got stuck somewhere with a lot of tall, dry grass, which was ignited by the exhaust. As you can see from images shared by officials, the conflagration consumed the vehicle and a whole lot of vegetation. There’s no info available about who was driving, but no injuries were reported. Rubber ducky casualties are also unknown.

The Forest Service and Lake County Fire Rescue teams battled flames overnight on April 11. The incident, dubbed the Grassy Pond fire, reportedly took place off Paisley Road within the Ocala National Forest. The park does have OHV off-road trails, but I couldn’t immediately figure out if this Jeep was on a sanctioned route or not.

I wouldn’t necessarily expect dry grass to be a big issue somewhere as wet as Florida, but the catalytic converter on a 4×4 can get pretty darn hot. If that Jeep was running hard and slow, trying to use high engine speed to power through sticky mud, parts of that exhaust pipe could be over 1,500ºF, about twice the heat needed to light grass on fire.

It’s a very crappy situation that would have been tough to wriggle out of. Obviously, the Jeep driver should have picked their route more tactically. But once you’re stuck in high grass, fire could get beyond what’s manageable with an onboard extinguisher pretty quickly.

Hopefully, the destroyed flora and displaced fauna will be able to bounce back. It’s a little heartbreaking to see the aftermath image above.

If you find yourself mired like this, it’s definitely prudent to clear the brush out from under the vehicle as quickly as you can. Unless, of course, it’s already burning, in which case, get the heck out of there. But if it hasn’t caught—you’re gonna need something to do while you wait for somebody to come snatch you with a winch, anyway. And have a real ABC fire extinguisher at the ready!

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Nio is getting ready for a big party this week – on Thursday April 9, the company will host an event to show off its newest creation: the Nio ES9. This is a very large vehicle that Nio calls a “smart electric executive flagship.” That name might sound like a lot of marketing talk, but it basically means this is a giant, high-tech car built for people who want the best features available in electric cars. Nio shared new videos and photos to get people excited before the official reveal – and there is a lot to unpack.

The ES9 is definitely not your average family car. It will be the biggest pure electric SUV sold in China. According to official papers, it measures 211.2 inches in length. It is also 79.9 inches wide and 73.6 inches tall. With a wheelbase of 128 inches, the ES9 is as long as two newest Smart #2 EVs parked bumper to bumper. It is even larger than Nio’s current big SUV, the ES8. If you have a small garage, you might want to bring a tape measure before you order one.

The new Nio ES9 – source: Nio/Weibo

The front of the vehicle has a bold look that Nio calls the “Shark Nose” design. It gets very thin, sharp lights called “Ultra Pure Crystal Diamond” daytime running lights. These are helping the driver see at night, and they have a neat trick – they can actually project videos onto a wall about 10 meters in front of the car. If you ever feel like watching a movie on your neighbor’s fence while you are parked, this car can do it. These smart headlights can also cover six lanes of traffic to help you see pedestrians or obstacles more easily.

Some people worry that big EVs are hard to drive on narrow streets, but Nio claims it has solved this problem. The company released a video showing the ES9 driving through tight roads – it apparently turns as easily as a much smaller car. The car’s safety was tested by popping a tire at 93 mph and the SUV stayed steady even after the tire blew out.

Interior of the new Nio ES9 – source: Nio/Weibo

Inside the cabin, the ES9 looks more like a luxury lounge than a car. It has a six-seat layout with two seats in each of the three rows. The middle row has “zero-gravity” seats which can lean back very far to make you feel like you are floating. The seats also come with heaters, cooling fans, and massage tools. The windows use electrochromic glass, allowing you to turn them from clear to dark with the push of a button.

There are screens everywhere in this SUV. The driver gets a huge 15.6-inch screen in the middle of the dashboard. There is also a long display that stretches across the front for the passenger to use. People sitting in the back have two 14.5-inch screens to watch shows or play games. There is even a small 8-inch screen in the center of the back seats. To keep your snacks cold, Nio included a small refrigerator. The company used a lot of real wood and soft Nappa leather to make the interior feel upmarket.

Interior of the new Nio ES9 – source: Nio/Weibo

This car has plenty of power – it uses two electric motors to move its heavy body. The front motor provides 180 kW (241 hp), and the rear motor adds another 340 kW (456 hp). All that power comes from a 102 kWh battery pack. Depending on which version you buy, the car can travel between 360 miles and 385 miles on a full charge. It also uses a 900V system, so the battery should charge very quickly – we will have more details on that this Thursday.

The ES9 is also very smart. It uses two Shenji NX 9031 chips designed by Nio. To see the world around it, the SUV has a LiDAR sensor on the roof and more sensors on the sides. It also uses radar and cameras to watch for other cars. This is the same high-tech hardware found in Nio’s most expensive sedan, the ET9.

We do not know exactly how much the ES9 will cost yet. Nio says they will announce the pre-sale prices during the event on Thursday at 7 pm Beijing time. We can guess it will be expensive, though. Nio’s current top-of-the-line sedan starts at RMB 768,000, which is about £81,400. After the big reveal this week, the ES9 will go to the Beijing Auto Show on April 24, with deliveries expected to start on June 1.

Via

Tesla has been a pivotal part of changing the perception of EVs by getting millions of zero-emission vehicles on the roads. 

The Tesla Semi is one of these less-discussed vehicle programs from the brand, but it promises to do much the same in the world of transport logistics and long-distance trucking.

Now, footage of the new Tesla Semi being tested has been made public. The latest video was showcased by Jay Leno on his unique vehicle-focused YouTube channel, highlighting key upgraded features of the Semi that had previously been under wraps.

In the video, which is over 47 minutes long, Leno is shown the progress of the Semi program and how well Tesla’s electric trucks are performing.

Dan Priestley, Tesla’s Semi program lead, shared that the truck now uses a 48 V architecture and delivers a fully electric steering system. Previous versions of the Semi used a hydraulic system.

According to the company, the Semi is also much cheaper to run than equivalent Diesel trucks. Data shared shows that it is 50% cheaper to run in California than diesel semi trucks.

Leno also got behind the wheel of the truck and compared the key differences between normal diesel trucks and electric trucks. The Tesla Semi’s ride was smooth, efficient, and quite comfortable.

Tesla Semi first began deliveries as part of a trial with a large food and beverage company, PepsiCo, back in late 2022.

After taking delivery of the Tesla Semi, PepsiCo announced in 2024 that it had ordered additional units, doubling its fleet to 50 electric trucks operating out of its manufacturing and distribution facility in California.

In recent months, Tesla unveiled an updated design of the Semi with several key upgrades. This included improved range and charging specifications.

For charging, 1.2 MW ultra-fast charging will be available to logistics operators, and the Semi will be able to use Tesla’s supercharging hardware to achieve those speeds.

In recent months, there has been news of the first Megachargers coming online, paving the path for dozens of sites in the coming months.

The updated Semi also has improved aerodynamics for better efficiency and increased payload capacity, along with updates to its charging capabilities.

This has now allowed the truck to deliver over 800 km of range with an 800 kW drivetrain and energy consumption as low as 1.06 kWh/km.

Earlier this month, it was reported that mass production of the Tesla Semi at the company’s currently being constructed factory in Nevada was expected to begin soon.

With Tesla Semi’s production around the corner and diesel prices remaining high, many freight and logistics companies may consider adding electric trucks to their fleets. 

The new Semi appears to have made big upgrades, as seen in Jay Leno’s video, which would save fleet operators huge amounts of money during operations. That’s something many fleet operators would not argue with.