What We’re Reading

• Carmakers Failing Privacy Test. Owners Have Little or No Control over Data Collected (Claims Journal, September 7, 2023)

  As cars become more and more connected, it is no secret that car manufacturers and service providers like OnStar are gathering troves of data—it also is no secret that they are looking for ways to profit from that data. According to a new survey from the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, drivers should be concerned. Not only are drivers “given little or no control over the personal data their vehicles collect,” OEMs are vague on both their security standards and the market for the data they collect. In fact, “[c]ars scored worst for privacy among more than a dozen product categories—including fitness trackers, reproductive-health apps, smart speakers and other connected home appliances—that Mozilla has studied since 2017.”

  Mozilla reviewed privacy notices from 25 popular car brands and found that none met minimum privacy standards. Nineteen of the notices include sale disclosures, while half disclose that data may be shared with government agencies or law enforcement without a court order. Nissan was particularly notable to researchers in disclosing that it may collect personal information as varied as drivers’ license numbers to health diagnoses to genetic characteristics. Tesla also “scored high on Mozilla’s ‘creepiness’ index.”

  Privacy rights advocates also are sounding alarms. For example, Albert Fox Cahn of Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy says “[t]here is something uniquely invasive about transforming the privacy of one’s car into a corporate surveillance space.” On the other hand, in a letter sent just last week to Congressional leaders, the Alliance of Automotive Innovation indicated its constituents’ support for privacy protections, and advocated for federal privacy laws to bring consistency to the current “patchwork of state privacy laws” that “creates confusion among consumers ... and makes compliance unnecessarily difficult.”

• Mercedes-Benz to launch BYD-powered EVs to keep pace with Tesla, Chinese automakers (Electrek, September 8, 2023)

  Mercedes-Benz is looking to compete with Tesla on a new level with the introduction of an entry-level EV, the CLA electric sedan concept, as well as a “mini G-Wagon” EV. The German automaker plans to begin production of the CLA EV in 2025 and the mini G-Wagon in 2026 using a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) blade battery manufactured by China’s BYD.

  “Like many luxury automakers, Mercedes uses ternary (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) batteries for its current EV lineup. However, LFP batteries are gaining popularity due to the cheaper costs. LFP batteries require less precious metals like Cobalt, enabling them to be produced for cheaper.”

  Other automakers turning to LFP batteries include Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia.

• How electrified roads could help fix America’s electric vehicle charging problem (CNBC, September 11, 2023)

  Although the number of EV converts continues to grow year over year, many consumers are still opting for ICE powered transportation, citing a lack of charging options and high costs as the main barriers to going electric. One possible solution to these hurdles—electrified roads that wirelessly charge EVs as they drive—is becoming more popular as a potential supplement to static charging. 

  “This is really an approach that can charge vehicles in any type of shape, meaning vehicles that are both buses or vans or passenger cars or trucks—but it can also charge a vehicle while either driving or while standing still,” Stefan Tongur, VP of U.S. business development at Electreon, told CNBC. Israel-based Electreon, a leading provider of wireless charging solutions for EVs, currently has numerous pilot projects and case studies in operation in Sweden, Norway, and Italy, as well as the first electric road project in the U.S. in Detroit, which is expected to be completed and in service sometime next year.

  “We don’t view 100% of roads being electrified, but we definitely see this technology being viable... financially and also essential in rural areas where we might not have a lot of charging stations or we have what we call charging deserts,” Nadia Gkritza, professor of civil and biological engineering at Purdue University, said.

  A video of the full story can be viewed here.