Mercedes-Benz isn’t having a great time in South Korea right now. A few weeks ago, a Mercedes-Benz EQE electric sedan caught fire in an underground parking garage, and the fallout has grown so catastrophic that the local Mercedes-Benz CEO has been putting in work on the ground. Considering this is just one EV fire, the response seems disproportionate, but a disproportionate response is usually worth studying.
Moving away from the doom and gloom of an EV fire, Land Rover is bringing back the Freelander in a rather interesting way. Yep, the Freelander. Bet you never expected to hear that name again. Oh, and Polestar 3 production has started in South Carolina. For the brand, it couldn’t have come soon enough.
Lastly, we need to chat about connectivity, because BMW and Mattel have announced a new feature, and man, this just doesn’t seem like it. All this on today’s edition of The Morning Dump.
One Mercedes-Benz EV Fire, One National Incident
When an incident involving a single vehicle happens, you don’t typically expect the CEO of the local branch of that automaker to get involved directly. However, a Mercedes-Benz EQE in South Korea ignited while parked, burned intensely enough to damage or destroy a reported 140 cars, and stoke international fears around electric vehicle fire safety in densely populated areas. Now Reuters reports that the CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea has met with residents of the affected apartment building, likely in an attempt to smooth things over.
Mathias Vaitl, the chief executive of Mercedes-Benz Korea, will hold a closed-door meeting with residents of the apartment in the city of Incheon to the west of Seoul, the company said, without providing more details.
That’s a pretty big step to take, but if you’ve been following the fire and its fallout, it does seem justified. In case you haven’t been aware of this thermal event, Reuters has a quick run-down on everything we know so far.
A fire on Aug. 1, which appeared to start spontaneously in a Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) using Farasis Energy’s (688567.SS) batteries parked in the city of Incheon, took more than eight hours to put out, destroying or damaging about 140 cars and forcing some residents in the apartments above to move to shelters.
By now, electric vehicle proponents are repeating the line that EVs suffer fewer fires than combustion-powered vehicles, and while that’s absolutely true, not all fires are created equally. In the event of a combustion-powered vehicle fire, smaller fires like spitting flames and lighting up the rear bumper or a having bit of oil ignite on the exhaust manifold can be put out quickly, and if put out quickly enough, damage to the car can be repaired. Larger fires typically require a fire engine, but once they’re out, they’re out. In contrast, a thermal runaway event in an electric vehicle requires vast quantities of water and often isn’t extinguished in one go. Battery electric vehicles that have experienced a thermal event can re-ignite hours, or even days after first being extinguished. It’s a more severe challenge, and people are totally justified in their wariness as the infrastructure to treat these thermal events isn’t ubiquitous.
However, these challenges aren’t insurmountable. Equipment and techniques can be developed to better fight EV fires in parking garages and other densely-packed low-ceiling spaces where fire engines just can’t get to. In fact, Reuters reports that the Korean government has held a series of meetings with the goal of preventing an incident like this from ever happening again. Until then, consumers still have choices, and risks can still be mitigated.
Land Rover’s Bringing Back The Freelander, Sort-Of
If you’re going to revive a nameplate, a model that had a reputation for popping head gaskets in its first generation probably isn’t the move. That is, it probably isn’t the move in the West, but in China, produced through a joint venture and running on a platform from a Chinese automaker? Fine, why not? IP is IP, so you might as well recycle it where you can. Yes, Automotive News reports that the Land Rover Freelander is coming back as a made-in-China EV.
So, a Land Rover-ish series of BEVs and EREVs sold through a completely different dealer network and developed by a completely different company? While not unusual, you’d be forgiven for wondering just what Jaguar Land Rover’s end goal is here. It’s simple: Licensing.
The new Freelanders are “mainstream” and will not come under JLR’s luxury-focused House of Brands marketing and sales strategy, JLR said.
Under the deal, Chery licenses the Freelander name in return for JLR getting half of any profits.
To paraphrase Lt. Aldo Raine, I don’t blame them, damn good deal. Look, it’s debatable whether or not bringing back the Freelander name in the West would be branding suicide, but if it doesn’t fit with where a brand’s moving, has some sort of recognition, and can be a profit centre, license that thing. Sure, this arrangement will still require some work, but 50 percent of any profits just by doing design and branding work sounds a hell of a lot easier than developing a new car all the way through.
Maybe Polestar Isn’t Completely Screwed
As the trade war with China rages on, one of the big losers in the whole situation certainly seemed to be Polestar. After all, the Polestar 2 and Polestar 4 are both built in China, so production of the Carolinian-made Polestar 3 electric crossover simply couldn’t come soon enough. Well, it’s now officially happening, as Polestar’s announced the first examples have already rolled off the production line. Here’s what Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said in a press release:
Manufacturing Polestar 3 in the USA is a crucial step for us. Now we offer customers in America an electric SUV that is built in America. Exporting the South Carolina produced Polestar 3 to Europe will strengthen our business on a broader scope.
Not only should building the Polestar 3 in America make it eligible for IRA tax credits, exporting U.S.-made vehicles may be a way to help offset tariffs on imported electric vehicles from China, extending a future for the Polestar 2 in America. Oh, and since the European Union now also has new tariffs on Chinese-built EVs, that line in South Carolina is even more critical. Add in plans to expand the Polestar retail network by 75 percent, and the brand’s future in America is looking brighter than it once did, although it’s not out of the woods yet.
Uno Comes To BMW, And It’s Just As Dumb As You’d Expect
With new technology comes new ways to fumble the bag. Look, I don’t want to say that BMW almost feels directionless as a brand, but with the current styling, um, experimentation, a desire to paywall all kinds of stuff from adaptive dampers (seriously) to driver assists, and in-car video games, we’ve strayed pretty far from the Ultimate Driving Machine mantra. The latest case? BMW is adding Uno, the card game, to its cars, but as a video game. It’ll be streamed to infotainment systems through the AirConsole app, and man, did anyone ask for this?
Mattel, AirConsole and BMW Group have transformed UNO into a playable connected game in a brand-new environment: the car. Whether a family is at rest during a road trip or a group of friends stop to figure out their next move, stationary drivers can use AirConsole’s unique game controller system to connect any passenger to the game using their personal devices. Up to four players can experience the game that brings people together through its simple, universal gameplay that transcends languages and cultures. Vehicles must be in park to enable gameplay.
Alright, so if you have a family of five or more, someone’s gonna have to sit this out, and you’ll only be able to play Uno while parked. Remind me how this is better than just throwing a deck in the center console storage compartment. Video games can be fun, especially while you’re parked and waiting for an EV to DC fast charge on a subpar charger. However, when the video game emulates a card game and requires all the safety lockouts of a video game, what’s the point?
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
It’s amazing how quickly an artist can go from a cool new artist to one of your favorite artists. I was hooked on Brevin Kim’s sound by the time the duo released “No Less Than Three” in 2020, but it’s been astonishing seeing how the brothers from Massachusetts have grown from hyperpop-esque roots to a wide range of sonic palettes. “Boys Night” feels more electronic than some of their prior releases, but it scratches a certain itch, with layered ambience, blade-sharp arpeggios, and the yearning for a night with the lads for both self-improvement and self-destruction. Sometimes, it’s just what we need.
The Big Question
What connectivity features do you actually want in a car? I reckon the bare minimum is having a way to play music from your phone, but what else could be actually helpful? Streaming services on rear seat entertainment screens for road trips with your children? What3words so you can always find where you parked? A cloud-connected dashcam? Only your imagination is the limit.
(Photo credits: Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Polestar, BMW)
Music and maps primarily. Calls secondary, but folks don’t normally call anymore, so that’s not really a thing. I like how one of mine will tell me I have texts, but doesn’t try to display the contents, just letting me know.
Honestly, I want my phone connected, for music, calls, basic messages, and maps.
I very much like being able to remote start the car and set the aircon going in summer, but I’ll live without it. I also like being able to check if I’ve actually locked it.
I would like a TV in the back for the kid when he’s old enough for long road trips, but I want control so I can cull it easy from the front if needed if he’s being a dick.
Otherwise, probably pretty good.
The only connectivity I use in my car is bluetoothing my phone for music, and I’d go back to a cable if the alternative was allowing all the data siphoning that goes on.
I’d take none for the win please. Not even a radio.
I put a double DIN deck off of Scamazon into my ’99 Prizm. It has CarPlay and other fun things and I have to be honest that it’s way more user friendly than I expected it to be. Map display, messages read, BT control of apps, it’s pretty slick for this old car. I don’t think I’d need anything more than that, honestly.
‘Save your parking’ in Google Maps is free and always gets you back to your car, whether in a massive parking lot or while hiking remote trails.
I usually just take a pic and then I can look up the GPS coordinates and open it in maps. So maybe my way is a bit more difficult but it works!
There’s a new parking structure at my local Kaiser, not only could you not get a fire truck in the building, there’s a 6000lb vehicle weight limit too. So no Tesla Model X / CT or Hummer EV
BMW X5? No can’t park here, Audi Q7? No can’t park here. Honda Odyssey? No can’t park here… It’s quite the list
https://www.taxfyle.com/blog/list-of-vehicles-over-6000-lbs
Keep in mind that the GVW is the vehicle weight plus the maximum cargo capacity and full passenger load. The 2024 Audi Q7 for example has a maximum curb weight just a hair under 5,000 pounds but a maximum cargo capacity of almost 1,400 pounds. So unless they’re cruising around with a lot of stuff in the back and all 7 seats filled with an adult, they’re not actually over that limit. Only the Hummer and Cybertruck are actually over that weight limit in normal circumstances. (by a lot in the Hummer’s case with a curb weight of 9,063 pounds)
New vehicles are certainly porky, but that list gives a pretty misleading impression.
That’s good information and does change my perspective. Thank you for educating me, now I’ll know for next time.
Is it actually being enforced or is it the usual robot lot.
There’s nobody standing at the entrances saying “sorry mate you can’t come in”.
also during the construction there was plenty of work truck and vans that would be over that weight, at least I think they’d be overweight, although I’m less sure now based on Tangent’s comment above.
Phone projection is a must, I’m honestly shocked by the number of comments here saying they don’t use it. Waze is a lifesaver when commuting – it’s up pretty much every time I’m in the car.
VHS took off becasue of porn.
DVDs took off becasue of porn.
Porn was instrumental in creating a use case for the internet.
I’m mystified as to why these ‘automakers’ who want to be tech and content delivery platforms have not embraced porn in a big way already. Just do it. 😉
You do realize nobody has their hands on the wheel or eyes on the road anyway?
Embrace Elon’s autonomous feature. Maybe add a lithium sampler from Toyota.
None. Cars are “durable goods” and they are more durable than telecom standards. Phone integration is fine. I have little faith that even the phone integration will continue to work for the vehicle’s entire service life, but there’s a way better chance of it, and I have slightly more confidence that unnecessary info is not being harvested by the phone than by the infotainment system.
I’m serious. Unplug the damn telematics module.
I’m old enough to remember when “telecom standards” meant five nines up time/reliability. :Belly Laugh: :Cry:
Actual question – does any normie care about the “Freelander” nameplate? I’m on this website, I pay attention to cars, I’ve never heard of it. The average Joe/Josephine isn’t going to know that a Land Rover last sold 10 years ago had engine troubles.
I love having Spotify, Youtube Music and Google Maps embedded into my car, that way I put my phone away and I dont have to see notifications and random stuff showing on my screen, that way I can focus on the driving experience. The only thing I would not like is paying for internet after the 3 years lol
I am quite curious about the BMW UNO thing. Not using it or having it but rather if this is something that anyone wants.
I’ve worked in corporate America for a while now and have seen a trend; the leaders in these companies are willing to spend real money, many dollars on these “experiments.” It gives them great talking points at the shareholder meetings where they tell dumb investors how much they are preparing their company for “The Future®.”
They think it shows that they are forward thinking and encourage people to think like this because (I guess?) they figure that if 10,000 of their people come up with gigantic failures but one of them hits it big with something it will all be worth it.
The problem from my POV is, that way of thinking seems to remove critical thought from the evaluation process. Really dumb ideas get green lighted for these experiments. Believe it or not, there are a lot that do not get approved where card games on a screen, in a car that cannot use the game unless motionless get approved. Two questions for BMW: What? Why?
My hypothesis is that this will be used by no one except the small convergence of UNO enthusiasts and BMW leasers and purchasers on a rather strange version of Venn Diagram. No one else will even hear about it or know about it.
I get that you might need something to do in remote areas while charging an EV. So maybe I’m wrong about this. Most every use case is that you do not sit in your car playing games or watching movies when you’ve reached a destination. Why do the auto manufacturers think we’re all going to sit around in the car? We don’t even have but a few drive in movie theaters any more because, as it happens, sitting in the car is an inferior experience than most any other option except driving.
They just don’t seem to accept that we don’t want them to control the user experience because they tend to come up with dumb shit like this on a regular basis. You need to try and adapt the in-car experience to those in the outside world and stop trying to make us pay extra for the same stuff inside the car that we have outside the car. You’re too late with that crap, give it up.
Ok, end rant. Sorry.
Being on the supplier side of the auto industry, I can provide some additional rambling as to why this slop gets shoved into vehicles. There’s probably other contributing factors but one is simply fewer people buying new cars. Globally speaking the peak for new car sales was around ’16-17 (based on publicly available data) and we haven’t hit that pre-Covid peak (and probably won’t). So with less new car sales comes stuffing more tech into vehicles to compensate, which is in my opinion a bandaid fix for the larger problem.
But anywho: the executives and beancounters need more stuff to sell to the OEMs to meet those ever growing profit expectations which can lead to greenlighting nonsense that often makes one go “this is a solution looking for a problem”.
because they long ago ran out of ideas and are now just trying to cash in on whatever is the newest/latest thing in the zeitgeist. its absolutely stupid.
The above comment plus how many ways can MS rearrange the menus and icons on windowz or the office suite and charge you for testing the damn things is where it comes from.
Having Android Auto is pretty sweet. I really only “need” Bluetooth to play music off my phone, but having a larger nav screen is nice. I also added a wireless dongle so my phone can be in my pocket, or fast charging in the console
I don’t really get why the car has anything to do with this Uno game, couldn’t everyone just play a regular multiplayer Uno app?
Bluetooth is all I really “need” but I do want CarPlay. I don’t need it bad enough for the wireless version however and wouldn’t pay a subscription for it. I’ll sometimes use it for routes I know well just to get the most efficient route or with less traffic. For most daily driving needs though, the standard infotainment works well in my car and it doesn’t have 100 different menus for little things. Even the non-CarPlay screen did so as well in my last car, but I know these aren’t the case for every system. I’m still scarred from early ~2010 non-screen Bluetooth connectivity setups (see: Toyota) so I think screens were an improvement there, but not like the massive screens that are out there now.
I get that there’s phone mounts, but see them generally as a compromise in some way, sticking something to the dash or obstructing an air vent. I actually have a magnetic mount that came with my phone case which I never did attach anywhere.
I do have a dash cam but don’t want it built in to the car. All the other smart stuff I don’t generally care about, but maybe I’m just not as techy as some of my peers. I don’t envision pairing everything in my home to be smart either, I only have one such speaker because it was free. So the Nissan commercial where she tells the car’s Alexa to feed the dog offers me no benefit.
Same with ordering things from the car, I definitely don’t have a need for – I guess if you have a regular, consistent order at a place it might be handy, but I don’t. The buying things from CarPlay/Android Auto just seems like it’s touted like Alexa was, “ask the speaker to buy whatever!” but turns out few people use it that way so it’s just a glorified search engine and music speaker.
I used to work at a big beverage manufacturer on their eCommerce team. Alexa had everyone so nervous. “Voice search and purchase is going to be the future and people won’t know what brand they’re buying, how do we optimize for Alexa voice search?!?”
It was panic, pure and stupid.
Fast forward about 2-3 years and we got some data. Roughly 3-4% of anyone that ever bought an Alexa speaker ever used it to buy anything. Of those 3-4%, less than 1% ever tried a second time.
Amazon is great at making their platform convenient for buying something. But they have a horrible track record with anything that happens off the website.
A cigarette lighter to plug a phone into, and either an aux port or a cassette deck, so I can play a Bluetooth adapter through the radio. That’s it
CD player please.
Do they make CD-to-Bluetooth adapters? That may change my answer, would be more usable than for that one thing
I don’t know, and I’m too old to investigate 😉 Having said that, my partner and I spent the last three multi-thousand mile trips just talking to each other, so I think that’s a better solution.
I wouldn’t mind having a CD player again, they work when you lose cell signal and let you listen to new music right away if you happen to follow smaller bands that still release primarily on physical media.
But, a simple Bluetooth adapter plugged into the radio aux port seems to handle everything I want, can play satellite radio through that off the phone app, and do Google Maps directions. Any car with either an aux port or cassette deck can also have GPS navigation and Sirius XM for the price of a cheap adapter off Amazon
I have a ’15, ’16, and ’19, and all three have one USB port in which you can plug a USB stick loaded with 128GB+ of your favorite music. And unless you are riding in a Lexus with the Mark Levinson audio system, you probably won’t notice the difference in sound quality between MP3s and CD tracks.
Yes, but that requires ripping the tracks to your laptop, then copying them over to the USB, whereas a CD can be inserted and played right away with no extra steps. A lot of smaller bands still just sell CDs, at least in certain genres. It’s a nice to have convenience feature in a car, not essential anymore, but if I had the choice, sure
Counterpoint, no CD collection = more shelf space for tequila.
Seriously though, it doesn’t take that long to rip a CD and you can do it while reading The Autopian. Then you can copy the music to any modern device you want and take it everywhere.
Obviously, but typically not until I get home, would be nice to be able to throw the disc in right after purchase and listen to it on the way, is all
One thing I really miss in my new car is the combination of a CD player and a 200 GB hard drive. All my favorite music; each album cover displayed on the screen. You could even shuffle through the album covers like a deck of cards, or do a voice search or a spelled search.
Now, no CD player and no hard drive. The car came with a Spotify subscription, and I also have Amazon and Apple Music….
but it ain’t the same.
You have to think, “who do I want to hear?” and remember the album name and dig around till you find it, or listen to what
Big Musical Brotherthinks you should. No just flipping through the covers and going, “Oh, yeah!”I want to play music and take phone calls. I guess I occasionally have my truck read texts to me, but I don’t consider that mandatory. Otherwise I use no other connectivity features and don’t want to.
I’d just like if aftermarket radios were still a thing, I like offline navigation and bluetooth for hands free calls, that’s about it and that’s what I have in my truck.
Carplay is ok, but if I have the offline options that’s easier, no worry about cellular connection if you’re in the middle of nowhere, which is when you probably need that offline map option more.
You can go into google maps on your phone and download offline maps.
That expire in 15 days or less, again just rather have the built in one and not think about it except to update them every few years.
“What connectivity features do you actually want in a car?”
I want a cell phone holder built into the dash with a USB port for charging and syncing with the sat-nav system. Oh and having an air vent that blows cool air onto it to keep it from getting hot would be nice too.
That’s exactly what I have. My cell phone holder sits in the cupholder to the left of my steering wheel in front of the A/C vent and I run a cord to the AUX to keep it charged on long trips. Perfect. (2015 Fit EX.) And I can wedge a water bottle back there to chill it if it’s gotten warm.
Yeah I had the same/similar setup on my old Fit. But I have a 2017 C-Max now. And I’m a bit annoyed that Ford designed a vehicle during a time when cell phones had become common with NO provision for a proper cell phone holder.
They seem to think that a suitable place would be in a deep bin that is between the seats… No Ford, that is NOT where I want to put my cell phone.
I do worry about what might happen if the side airbag went off though.
Meh… at worst, you’ll have a cellphone-shaped dent on your forehead… just a flesh wound!!!
Might be an improvement.
At least the ’17 has CarPlay? (cries in ’14). We bought a model-specific dash clip that fits between the dashboard gap and the silly lower vents under the hazard lights and above the hvac controls, and it works amazingly well.
To be completely fair the ’17 C-Max shares the majority of its dashboard design cues with the ’12 Focus and I’m guessing interior designs were frozen before the iPhone 4 went mainstream.
Yeah in researching vehicles, I restricted myself to 2016+ model years for the C-Max due to the sat-nav improvements as well as a transmission defect in the earlier years.
I may look into getting that cell phone holder you speak of. The current holder I have is one of those suction cup ones attached to that little window between the front door and the windshield. The location is good however my phone gets hot in that location… especially on a sunny day.
Lol, you’re learning the same lessons I learned: that location heats up and i still have a charge cord routed up there even though I’ve relocated the mount already.
(did get a free rebuilt transmission out of the sketchy HF35 though, lol)
I can PM you the SKU for the mount if you can’t find it.
I just need a charging port for my iPhone. I use it basically for navigation only in my car. I’m old school and the short amount of time in the car, I just listen to regular radio. If I know I’m going to do a long distance trip, I get sirus and cancel it after the trip is completed
You must have better luck with Sirius than me. Every time I’m in a vehicle that has it, I can NEVER find something that I want to listen to. :\
Sirius and I don’t get along. Came free for 3 years but I live in a major metro area and if I want music with ads, I already have that. I never found a station I liked better than my own mixes either. Then when I turned in my lease car, they wanted to keep billing me, even though I didn’t have the car any more. It was a hassle to straighten out. My new lease has Sirius but I have never even activated it…just to be sure that whole billing fiasco doesn’t happen again.
I can check the route before i depart, leave the phone in my pocket, people can leave a message, I can watch the traffic for people playing on their devices and with their cars and hopefully arrive safe and undamaged.
For me in the pilot seat, music/podcasts, and nav. I’ve also found the text-to-voice and voice-to-text tech is actually really good these days.
Backseat? Hookups for game consoles and good screens. But I’m a millennial that just longs for the days of my youth.
A VCR in the back of a GMC conversion van?
A DVD in the back of a minivan?
Millenials: 1981 – 1996
I wanted my parents to buy one of those conversion vans so bad. Instead we just had a Grand Caravan with no TV in the back.
As most my dailies are older (newest is my 2013 fj) I really don’t require much in cars besides tech wise. Just Bluetooth to connect my phone for music and GPS (I rather just use my phone for gps over built in crap on a car). Although this week I have been driving my fiances tourx and having adaptive cruise control is so nice to have on the way to work on my early morning drive on rural roads. Also back up cameras seem to be a must on a lot of newer cars since it is harder to see out of newer cars vs old. Driving things like my 89 bird, 92 Cummins or my dad’s 57 bel air vs things like the Tourx or FJ is night and day for visibility.