(NEW YORK) — Tesla is raising the price of its “Full Self Driving” software to $15,000, Elon Musk said in a tweet on Sunday.
Tesla is facing scrutiny from federal and state officials over how it has advertised its self-driving technology, as well as concern over safety risks involved with the self-driving capability.
Customers who order the Full Self Driving, or FSD, software before Sept. 5 will receive the product under the current price, Musk, Tesla’s CEO, said in the tweet. The $3K price bump arrives as Tesla introduces FSD beta 10.69, a new iteration that boasts “improved overall driving smoothness” and “reduced false slowdowns near crosswalks,” according to the company.
The FSD software doesn’t make a car fully self-driving. Rather, users must remain focused on the road and keep their hands on the driving wheel. The Autopilot system, meanwhile, offers navigation to and from user-provided destinations, as well as suggestions for lane changes and other maneuvers to optimize a trip.
Tesla has come under sharp criticism over its marketing of the FSD software and Autopilot.
Earlier this month, the California Department of Motor Vehicles alleged that the company deceptively advertises the products as fully autonomous, according to two filings with California’s Office of Administrative Hearings. The filings were first reported by The Los Angeles Times.
Similarly, Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) last year called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Tesla’s advertising of the FSD software and Autopilot.
“Tesla’s marketing has repeatedly overstated the capabilities of its vehicles, and these statements increasingly pose a threat to motorists and other users of the road,” Markey and Blumenthal said in a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan.
In response to the letter, Tesla Senior Director of Public Policy Rohan Patel said in March: “Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD Capability features enhance the ability of our cusotmes [sic] to drive safer than the average driver in the U.S.” The response was first reported by Reuters.
Tesla vehicles operating under the Autopilot system were involved in 273 reported crashes over roughly a yearlong period ending in June, according to data released that month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Tesla vehicles comprised almost 70% of the crashes involving advanced driver-assisted systems over that period, the data showed.
(LONDON) — A new era is beginning for Prince William and his family.
Prince William and his wife, Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have chosen to move from Kensington Palace to Windsor, and their children will attend a new school nearby.
Kensington Palace announced Monday that the Cambridges’ three children, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte, will attend Lambrook School in Berkshire, starting in September.
The new school will be closer to the Cambridge family’s new home, Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom cottage on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
For the past several years, George, 9, and Charlotte, 7, have attended Thomas’s Battersea School in London, which was a short distance from the family’s home at Kensington Palace.
“Their Royal Highnesses are hugely grateful to Thomas’s Battersea where George and Charlotte have had a happy start to their education since 2017 and 2019 respectively and are pleased to have found a school for all three of their children which shares a similar ethos and values to Thomas’s,” the palace said in a statement.
Lambrook School is described as one of the country’s leading prep schools. According to its website, the school aims to have students leave “as confident, happy, engaging, mature, considerate and thoughtful young adults who are outward looking global citizens.”
“We are delighted that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will be joining us this coming September and very much look forward to welcoming the family, as well as all of our new pupils, to our school community,” Jonathan Perry, headmaster of Lambrook School, said in a statement shared by Kensington Palace.
This year marks the first year that Louis, 4, will attend the same school as his older siblings.
A senior royal source told ABC News the Cambridges’ move to the country was primarily driven by their choice of school, and a desire to give their children as “normal” an upbringing as possible.
The Duchess of Cambridge attended prep school in Berkshire and her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, still live in the county. The Middletons’ home in Bucklebury is about 45 minutes from Windsor, making visiting with grandparents that bit easier.
“This move puts them much closer to the Middletons and Kate is very close to her family,” said Victoria Murphy, ABC News royal contributor. “It also emulates in many ways the upbringing [Kate] had in rural Berkshire, which she has spoken fondly of and I think has always had a big influence over how the Cambridges have shaped their family life.”
The Cambridges have used Kensington Palace, where Prince William also grew up, as their official residence since they renovated an apartment there in 2013.
They have lived there as a family since 2017, when Prince George started school at St. Thomas’s Battersea.
“As the children get older and more independent you can see why they would feel they have more breathing space in Windsor,” said Murphy. “Kensington Palace and gardens is a major tourist attraction which you are right in the middle of as soon as you step out of the private areas.”
A royal source explained that the family will also use their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall, on the Queen’s Sandringham estate, whenever they can.
With their move to Adelaide Cottage, the Cambridges now have three homes: Kensington Palace, Anmer Hall and Adelaide Cottage.
“I think this move might attract some criticism as they are gaining an additional property,” said Murphy. “But this has been driven by what William and Kate want for their children and they have always been resolved to try and have a normal family life.”
Prince William will be joining a royal enclave with his family’s move to the grounds of Windsor Castle.
William’s brother, Prince Harry, who lives in California with his wife Meghan and their two kids, still calls Windsor’s Frogmore Cottage his home in the United Kingdom. And William’s uncle, Prince Andrew, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, live in Royal Lodge, not far from the Cambridges’ new home.
William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, also spends much of her time now at Windsor Castle.
The Cambridges’ new home, Adelaide Cottage, was built in 1831 as a retreat for William IV’s consort Queen Adelaide, according to ABC News royal contributor Robert Jobson, who described the home as, “relatively modest in royal terms, with just four bedrooms.”
As well as it being a sound move for his family, Jobson highlighted another reason why the move will be beneficial for Prince William,
“William wants to be in Windsor to be nearer the queen too, as Windsor Castle is the new royal hub as Buckingham Palace is still undergoing renovations,” said Jobson.
(NEW YORK) — Dr. Martha Gulati will never forget the first time she saw a young, healthy athlete die of heat stroke.
It was 1995 in Chicago, in the middle of a heat wave that would ultimately claim nearly 700 lives. In the decades that followed, Gulati watched in alarm as the climate warmed and heat catastrophes grew even more intense.
“The medical community was not prepared for what these temperatures would do to people; we were ultimately learning on the fly,” said Gulati, now associate director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and president of the American Society of Preventive Cardiology.
Since that heat wave in 1995, climate change has intensified globally with wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, heat waves and cold spells leading to famine and drought. As a result of these extreme changes, the medical community is noticing an increasing rate of heart disease.
“The world we live in right now is not a very hospitable environment for the heart,” Gulati said. “With heart disease prevention, we tend to focus on controlling blood pressure and lipids, but we should consider the other aspects of prevention, like our environment.”
Sixty-two percent of deaths attributed to climate change were from cardiovascular disease, according to a study published in Lancet in 2020.
“We know that air pollution is a cause of heart disease.” said Dr. Sadeer Al-Kindi, a cardiologist at University Hospitals in Ohio and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Evidence shows that air pollution increases heart disease, heart failure and insulin resistance.”
Particulate matter, tiny particles in the air invisible to the naked eye, are produced by greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions. These particles can enter your lungs and bloodstream, wreaking havoc on tissues that are vital to a healthy cardiovascular system. Over time, prolonged exposure to pollution can contribute to increased clotting, high blood pressure and sleep disturbances.
Dr. Kai Chen, assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health and director of research at the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, said that when inhaled, these pollutants cause stress and inflammation in the body that can result in cardiometabolic syndromes, such as hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Experts say it’s difficult to directly blame individual heart attacks on heat waves based on currently available data. However, there is research to suggest a close relationship, as regions with excessive heat or freezing temperature had alarmingly higher episodes of heart attack, according to a June study in Nature Reviews Cardiology.
It’s not clear exactly why temperature shifts are correlated with higher rates of heart attacks. Experts believe that temperature shifts affect the body’s ability to regulate normal body temperatures in response to the extreme temperatures.
Al-Kindi said that a concept called “climate penalty” could explain these patterns. Extreme weather conditions from climate change are able to increase and distribute those invisible molecules that are detrimental to our body, he said.
“Fires, winds, heat and cold driven by climate change increases the production and distribution of these pollutants,” Al-Kindi said. “[Climate change] both directly elevates the number of particles in the air that people breathe in, but also indirectly by causing droughts, famine, malnutrition and limiting accessibility to care.”
A study published earlier this month in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research found that even medications used to treat heart disease may work differently during heat waves.
Chen, who was the lead author in the study, found that patients who were taking two medications used to treat heart disease had higher rates of heart attacks on days with record heat waves.
Regardless of the age, people who were on beta blockers and antiplatelet medications had a number of heart attacks, explained Chen.
“What is interesting,” Chen said, “is that young people on the same medications, who we typically do not expect to have heart disease, also had higher episodes of heart attacks than those who were not taking these medications.”
Al-Kindi, who was not involved in the study, believes this paradox of medications treating heart disease causing more heart attacks on extremely hot days could be from blunting our nervous system that regulates our “fight or flight” response and regulates the way we respond to temperature.
While avoiding cigarettes, eating healthy, sleeping well and exercising are ways to prevent heart disease, doctors agree that protecting yourself from the impacts of climate change is essential to your heart health.
Experts advise changes should be made as a community by reducing plastic waste, using public transport, recycling, avoiding red meat and advocating for policies to help prevent worsening climate change.
On an individual level, Al-Kindi said people should stay inside on extremely hot and cold days, avoid pollutants by wearing a mask, move away from fossil fuels and move toward clean energy.
“The impact of climate change is not a question of whether it’s happening — it is happening and we are seeing evidence of it every day,” said Gulati. “If we don’t act now, we won’t save lives and our job as physicians is to save lives.”
Lily Nedda Dastmalchi, D.O., M.A., is a cardiology fellow at Temple University Hospital and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — The New York State Department of Health reported its first known case of monkeypox in a child in New York.
According to the new data, one child under the age of 18 has tested positive for monkeypox. The age of the child or the county where the case was reported was not specified in the report. The case was not reported in New York City.
According to the latest data reported by the NYC Department of Health on Thursday, no cases of monkeypox in children have been found in the city.
There are a total of 2,798 confirmed monkeypox cases in New York as of Friday, according to the NYSDOH. Of those, 2,596 are in New York City.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other health officials declared monekypox to be the “epicenter of the outbreak” in July. Hochul declared a State Disaster Emergency executive order in response to the growing outbreak.
“My team and I are working around the clock to secure more vaccines, expand testing capacity and responsibly educate the public on how to stay safe during this outbreak,” Hochul said in a statement.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and children’s book author Kateryna Yehorushkina decided that she would write a book to help the country’s children cope with the trauma of the war that will hit its six-month mark on Wednesday.
“I feel that it’s very important to talk about this war,” she told ABC News reporter Britt Clennett. “I feel like I’m doing my part.”
The goal of this book is to tell a story about the Russian war in Ukraine for children in a way that is “not traumatic for them,” she said.
Yehorushkina is the author of 15 other children’s books including a book called “The Chest,” about the 1932-22 famine in Ukraine imposed by the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. She is also trained in philology and psychology.
“I felt I could join and mix this knowledge to help kids to overcome this trauma,” she said. “To know [about the war], to have memories, but not to be traumatized a lot.”
The war has dramatically impacted more than 5 million Ukrainian children, with UNICEF estimating that more than 3 million children living inside the country and more than 2 million living as refugees need humanitarian assistance.
The story is told through the perspective of 10-year-old Vera, who lives in an unidentified part of Ukraine near Kyiv that has just been invaded by the Russian army. Vera is keeping a diary to describe how her family is responding to the invasion.
Yehorushkina placed events in her book that will be recognizable for children who have gone through the experience of invasion and occupation, such as putting tape over windows, which is said to protect a window from shattering during a blast, putting pillows in the bathroom, to hold over their heads in the case of bombardment, and eventually taking refuge in a basement.
Vera and her family live in the basement of their home for two weeks and Vera’s father works as a volunteer, delivering supplies such as groceries and pet food across the city.
Yehorushkina has also placed objects like a doll of the Disney character Elsa from the film “Frozen” in her illustrations, she said, so that children can see themselves in the narrative.
The illustrations purposefully have no dark colors and have been kept very light and bright, she said.
The process of writing the book is “not easy,” she said, adding that she has to be in a “very calm psychological state” while writing.
Yehorushkina lives in Vyshhorod, Ukraine, and is currently separated from her two young children, who helped provide some of the inspiration for writing this book. Her daughter and her friends would recreate their homes and cities using the video game Minecraft, she said, which inspired a scene in this book.
Yehorushkina is also a licensed art therapist, working with Ukrainian children in different settings. One of the activities she does with children is to draw angels, which they imagine are defending their cities and loved ones.
“Their mental health is a very high priority for me,” she said.
As a mother of two children, she has seen first-hand the devastating psychological impacts of living through a war.
“I said to [my daughter], ‘all your emotions are normal,'” she recounted. “It’s very important to say what we feel.”
(ATLANTA) — A federal appeals court on Sunday temporarily halted a lower court’s ruling mandating that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., testify before a grand jury in Georgia that is investigating pro-Trump efforts to sway the state’s 2020 presidential election results.
In a brief order, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the ruling back down to the district court, instructing the judge there to weigh any potential changes to Fulton County’s grand jury subpoena to Graham in alignment with the Constitution’s speech and debate clause.
The clause, which offers lawmakers certain legal protections when they are acting in their official capacities, is at the heart of Graham’s challenge to the subpoena for his testimony.
Graham had been scheduled to testify Tuesday.
The appellate circuit ruled that the district court should “determine whether [Graham] is entitled to a partial quashal [rejection] or modification of the subpoena to appear before the special purpose grand jury based on any protections afforded by the Speech or Debate Clause of the United States Constitution.”
“Following resolution of the partial-quashal issue on limited remand, the matter will be returned to this Court for further consideration,” the appellate judges wrote.
The ruling is the latest development in Fulton County’s investigation of efforts to overturn the 2020 race — a probe that turned into a pitched legal battle with Graham after Georgia prosecutors sought his testimony earlier this year.
District Court Judge Leigh Martin May had ruled on Friday that “further delay of … Graham’s testimony would greatly compound the overall delay in carrying out the grand jury’s investigation” and “thus poses a significant risk of overall hindrance to the grand jury’s investigation.”
“The Court therefore finds that granting a stay would almost certainly result in material injury to the grand jury and its investigation,” May wrote.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat leading the investigation, first sought Graham’s testimony in July.
The South Carolina legislator, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, became embroiled in the case over two calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger shortly after the last presidential race.
Graham has since insisted that he was inquiring over how signatures on Georgia mail-in ballots were verified and was not pushing for any votes to be tossed in support of Trump. Graham’s legal team says his calls should be protected under the speech and debate clause, arguing they were related to legislative work under his role as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time.
The Georgia grand jury probe was launched after Raffensperger, a Republican and the state’s top elections overseer, was lobbied by Trump to “find 11,780 votes” — the number the then-president needed to win the state over Joe Biden, who won Georgia (which was later re-confirmed by a full manual recount).
In seeking a grand jury earlier this year, Willis wrote to the court that she had reason to believe there was “a reasonable probability that the State of Georgia’s administration of elections in 2020 … was subject to possible criminal disruptions.”
The Fulton County grand jury can make recommendations but does not have the power to indict, which would be up to another grand jury to weigh after the investigation.
Trump has insisted his pressure campaign in Georgia was appropriate and he did nothing wrong, claiming Willis is politically persecuting him.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin and Will Steakin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 22, 6:16 AM EDT
Explosive under Putin ally’s car was remotely triggered, investigators say
An explosive device planted on the underside of Putin ally Alexander Dugin’s vehicle was remotely triggered, Russian investigators said.
Dugin’s daughter, Daria Dugina, was killed in a blast near Moscow on Saturday.
“A presumed explosive device planted on a Toyota Land Cruiser went off when the car was moving at full speed past Bolshiye Vyazemy in the Odintsovo urban district at about 9 p.m. on August 20, and the car caught fire,” the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement posted to Telegram. “The woman driving the car died instantly. The victim was identified as journalist, political analyst Daria Dugina.”
Alexander and Daria attended a traditional patriotic festival on Saturday afternoon, according to the Odinstovo administration. They’d planned to leave together in the same vehicle, but Daria instead drove alone.
The Russian Investigative Committee’s press service told Interfax that Daria was assassinated.
Detectives established that the bomb was planted on the underside of the driver’s side of the vehicle, the committee said. Russian media outlets had reported that the SUV belonged to Dugin.
“Detectives and specialists from the Main Forensic Department of the Russian Investigative Committee are continuing to examine the incident scene. In particular, a forensic technician examined the charred vehicle before it was taken to a special parking lot,” the Committee said.
Biological, genetic, physical, chemical and explosive examinations have been scheduled, the committee said.
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva
Aug 21, 3:12 PM EDT
Daughter of Putin ally killed in car bomb; Schiff hopes it wasn’t ‘from Ukraine’
U.S. officials do not know who to blame for the car bomb that killed the daughter of political theorist Alexander Dugin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said during an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Daria Dugina, a 29-year-old TV commentator, was killed on the Mozhaisk Highway in the outskirts of Moscow on Saturday night by an explosive that had been planted in the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving, Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported.
Alexander Dugin, often referred to as “Putin’s brain,” had just attended “Tradition” cultural festival with his daughter, according to TASS. Russian media outlets reported that the SUV belonged to Dugin.
The Russian Investigative Committee press office told TASS Dugina’s killing was planned and contracted.
Schiff said Sunday that he had not yet been briefed on the killing and that he “couldn’t say” who is behind it, adding that he hoped it was an “internal Russian affair” rather than something “emanating from Ukraine.”
“There are so many factions and internecine warfare within Russian society, within the Russian government,” Schiff said. “Anything is possible.”
Adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office Mikhail Podolyak denied Kyiv was involved in the explosion that killed Dugina during a televised interview on Sunday.
“I emphasize that Ukraine certainly has nothing to do with this, because we are not a criminal state like the Russian Federation, and even less a terrorist state,” Podolyak said.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Patrick Reevell
Aug 20, 2:10 PM EDT
Videos circulating online show smoke over Sevastopol
Videos circulating online show smoke rising over Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea.
The city’s Russian-appointed governor said a drone was struck down and fell through the roof of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet Headquarters. Ukraine has not commented on the strike.
-ABC News’ Layla Ferris
Aug 19, 3:31 PM EDT
US to offer new $775M aid package to Ukraine
The U.S. has authorized a new $775 million military aid package for Ukraine, the Department of Defense announced on Friday.
The package will include more High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) ammunition and howitzers, as well as some firsts, including ScanEagle reconnaissance drones and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.
The 15 ScanEagle drones are intended to help Ukraine identify targets and put the HIMARS and howitzers to better use, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
The 40 MRAP vehicles and other mine-clearing equipment will help Ukrainian troops cross dangerous terrain, according to the official.
“We know that Russia has heavily mined areas in parts of southern and eastern Ukraine. We know there’s a significant amount of unexploded ordinance,” the official said.
The new aid package follows a $1 billion package announced on Aug. 8.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 22, 9:13 AM EDT
Air raid sirens sound across Ukraine
Air raid sirens are sounding across Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Russia could launch a “particularly ugly” provocation this week as Ukraine approaches its Independence Day on Wednesday.
In Kyiv, all public events are canceled and government employees have been told to work from home through the week.
In Kramatorsk, public events have been canceled for Tuesday through Thursday and public transportation has been stopped.
Aug 22, 6:16 AM EDT
Explosive under Putin ally’s car was remotely triggered, investigators say
An explosive device planted on the underside of Putin ally Alexander Dugin’s vehicle was remotely triggered, Russian investigators said.
Dugin’s daughter, Daria Dugina, was killed in a blast near Moscow on Saturday.
“A presumed explosive device planted on a Toyota Land Cruiser went off when the car was moving at full speed past Bolshiye Vyazemy in the Odintsovo urban district at about 9 p.m. on August 20, and the car caught fire,” the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement posted to Telegram. “The woman driving the car died instantly. The victim was identified as journalist, political analyst Daria Dugina.”
Alexander and Daria attended a traditional patriotic festival on Saturday afternoon, according to the Odinstovo administration. They’d planned to leave together in the same vehicle, but Daria instead drove alone.
The Russian Investigative Committee’s press service told Interfax that Daria was assassinated.
Detectives established that the bomb was planted on the underside of the driver’s side of the vehicle, the committee said. Russian media outlets had reported that the SUV belonged to Dugin.
“Detectives and specialists from the Main Forensic Department of the Russian Investigative Committee are continuing to examine the incident scene. In particular, a forensic technician examined the charred vehicle before it was taken to a special parking lot,” the Committee said.
Biological, genetic, physical, chemical and explosive examinations have been scheduled, the committee said.
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva
Aug 21, 3:12 PM EDT
Daughter of Putin ally killed in car bomb; Schiff hopes it wasn’t ‘from Ukraine’
U.S. officials do not know who to blame for the car bomb that killed the daughter of political theorist Alexander Dugin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said during an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Daria Dugina, a 29-year-old TV commentator, was killed on the Mozhaisk Highway in the outskirts of Moscow on Saturday night by an explosive that had been planted in the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving, Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported.
Alexander Dugin, often referred to as “Putin’s brain,” had just attended “Tradition” cultural festival with his daughter, according to TASS. Russian media outlets reported that the SUV belonged to Dugin.
The Russian Investigative Committee press office told TASS Dugina’s killing was planned and contracted.
Schiff said Sunday that he had not yet been briefed on the killing and that he “couldn’t say” who is behind it, adding that he hoped it was an “internal Russian affair” rather than something “emanating from Ukraine.”
“There are so many factions and internecine warfare within Russian society, within the Russian government,” Schiff said. “Anything is possible.”
Adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office Mikhail Podolyak denied Kyiv was involved in the explosion that killed Dugina during a televised interview on Sunday.
“I emphasize that Ukraine certainly has nothing to do with this, because we are not a criminal state like the Russian Federation, and even less a terrorist state,” Podolyak said.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Patrick Reevell
Aug 20, 2:10 PM EDT
Videos circulating online show smoke over Sevastopol
Videos circulating online show smoke rising over Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea.
The city’s Russian-appointed governor said a drone was struck down and fell through the roof of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet Headquarters. Ukraine has not commented on the strike.
-ABC News’ Layla Ferris
Aug 19, 3:31 PM EDT
US to offer new $775M aid package to Ukraine
The U.S. has authorized a new $775 million military aid package for Ukraine, the Department of Defense announced on Friday.
The package will include more High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) ammunition and howitzers, as well as some firsts, including ScanEagle reconnaissance drones and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.
The 15 ScanEagle drones are intended to help Ukraine identify targets and put the HIMARS and howitzers to better use, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
The 40 MRAP vehicles and other mine-clearing equipment will help Ukrainian troops cross dangerous terrain, according to the official.
“We know that Russia has heavily mined areas in parts of southern and eastern Ukraine. We know there’s a significant amount of unexploded ordinance,” the official said.
The new aid package follows a $1 billion package announced on Aug. 8.
(MOAB, Utah) — Monsoon rains are causing a flash flooding threat to linger over a large swath of the Western U.S. following several flooding events overnight.
Flash flood events were reported over the desert Southwest Saturday night into Sunday morning, with Moab, Utah, experiencing flooding that spilled from streets to businesses and mud piling up on storefronts.
In New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park, more than 100 people were evacuated after being stuck for hours due to impassable roadways.
More than 12 million people from Arizona to Louisiana were under flood alerts on Sunday morning.
Drought conditions in the region are causing the sudden burst of rain to mix with the parched soil as if it were concrete, leading to flash flooding.
The megadrought combined with record heat is also increasing fire threats farther west.
Dry conditions and hot temperatures are continuing in the Pacific Northwest. Fire weather watches have been ordered for northeastern Oregon and southern Washington due to the potential for abundant lightning, and a fast-growing wildfire has sparked in the Klamath National Forest in Northern California.
Farther south, record highs were tied in Redding and Sacramento, California, on Saturday at 110 degrees and 106 degrees, respectively.
Hot temperatures are expected to continue in the region on Sunday.
(NEW YORK) — Buying an electric vehicle for the first time may be harder than ever these days.
The choices are no longer Tesla, Tesla, Tesla. There are pickup trucks, SUVs, crossovers, sedans, sports cars and hatches available from nearly every automaker. Seventy-two models (battery, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell) are currently on the market with more launching later this year and next.
Washington lawmakers threw another wrench into the EV equation with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. Consumers are now wondering if that EV they’ve been eyeing still qualifies for the $7,500 federal tax credit. The Department of Transportation on Tuesday launched a site to help confused consumers navigate the new restrictions on EV tax credits.
Plus, with national fuel prices below $4 a gallon, limited inventory at dealerships and a public charging network that has been derided, what will drivers decide?
“There is a growing interest and awareness of EVs,” Ed Kim, president of consulting firm AutoPacific, told ABC News. “The biggest reason people buy an EV is because they want the coolest new tech. Tesla still has a stronghold on the market — 80% of EV sales last year were Teslas — but that will be changing in the coming years.”
According to a recent survey commissioned by Polestar, the Swedish electric performance brand, 55% of U.S. drivers purchase electric vehicles for reasons other than environmental benefits.
“In-vehicle technology, seamless connectivity and infotainment system offerings have been named as the most important decisions for consumers switching to an electric car from an internal-combustion vehicle,” the company said.
Industry watchers agree that affordable, mass-market EVs will accelerate sales and help meet President Joe Biden’s electrification goals. How has the EV game changed and which models are quickly becoming popular with drivers?
Inflation Reduction Act
The act, which is now law, changes the categories and requirements for EV tax credits. The longtime automaker sales cap of 200,000 units has been lifted; that means Tesla, General Motors and Toyota can again offer the $7,500 federal credit to motorists (the credit ends by December 2032). Used EVs are now eligible for up to a $4,000 tax credit — a first. EVs that exceed $55,000 in MSRP for sedans and $80,000 for trucks, vans and SUVs are excluded from the credit; the government also added credit caps on a buyer’s income.
The law also puts strict preconditions on where an EV is assembled and the sourcing of cobalt, nickel and lithium ion — key components of an EV’s battery that are mined in various parts of the world. Few automakers, if any, can meet these demands, according to industry watchers.
“The industry is trying to figure this all out,” John Loehr, a managing director in the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners, told ABC News. “The requirements on extraction in minerals will be most challenging part for automakers to accommodate.”
The law states that the mining of minerals has to take place domestically or in a country where the U.S. has a free trade agreement. Right now these minerals are largely extracted outside North America, Loehr said. There are multiple lithium deposits in California and a nickel reserve in Minnesota but “it takes time to develop mines,” he said. “There are lots of local and environmental regulations.”
Before the bill was signed by Biden, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry trade group, said the bill would “immediately reduce (by a lot) the number of qualifying electric vehicles available to consumers for purchase with the tax credit.”
“Seventy percent of those EVs would immediately become ineligible when the bill passes and none would qualify for the full credit when additional sourcing requirements go into effect. Zero,” according to John Bozzella, the alliance’s president and CEO.
Kim agreed that “virtually none” of the EVs sold now will qualify for the full tax credit and he expects rapid growth of battery pack manufacturing in the U.S.
John Voelcker, contributing editor at Car and Driver, sees the upside to sourcing critical minerals and components here in the U.S. though he acknowledged that mining “is not consequence free.”
“China has every intent to dominate that supply chain,” he told ABC News. “If you’re an automaker, do you want to rely on China for 30%-40% of your new vehicle’s value?”
As for the tax credit, it only matters to a very small percentage of EV owners, Voelcker argued. Teslas continue to be in high demand even though the automaker reached the 200,000 sales cap in July of 2018.
“Tesla still sells the bulk of EVs because it has a rock solid, very reliable, nationwide DC Fast charging network that always works. No one else has that,” he said, adding, “The credit is not a deciding factor — especially for people who can buy a [Porsche] Taycan.”
Added Loehr: “Automakers will invest over half a trillion dollars over the next five years on vehicle electrification. There is lots of excitement around these high-end EVs. The question is: Can they take off in the mass market?”
The EVs making waves with consumers:
Ford F-150 Lightning
Ford Motor’s F-150 Lightning pickup truck will likely be a blockbuster for the Dearborn automaker. One of the first EV trucks to hit the market, Ford has sold more than 4,400 Lightnings in the first six months of 2022 and has 200,000 reservations from interested buyers. Ford said its share of the U.S. EV market hit a record 10.9% in July (Ford also sells the Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit van).
“The Lightning rides and handles so much better than the regular F-150,” said Kim. “The power and torque are stupendous … it has a low center of gravity and feels more planted to the ground and stable when driving it.”
He went on, “This a well thought-out product and a reflection of the fact that Ford understands the truck customer better than anyone else.”
The EV truck market has only begun to heat up; General Motors has shown a prototype of its all-electric Silverado truck and GM’s Hummer EV has been a sales success, with reservations sold out until 2024. There is also the Rivian R1T and Ram 1500 EV that’s supposedly coming in 2024.
Kim said pickup owners tend to be affluent and are not price sensitive, which is good news for Ford. The Lightning will now cost between $6,000 to $8,500 more depending on battery size and trim, bringing the MSRP to $96,874 for a Platinum version with an extended-range battery pack. Ford blamed rising materials costs for the price hike, effective on 2023 orders.
Base price: $39,947, 230 miles of range.
Kia EV6
It’s very likely you’ve seen a Kia EV6 or two or three on your local streets this summer. The new electric car has been an instant hit with drivers since its launch this spring.
“We have a group of buyers who love the design, the tech, the way it charges and all the cool features,” Steve Kosowski, manager of long range planning at Kia, told ABC News.
“And it’s not a Tesla,” he added.
Kia has sold EVs before (the Soul, Nero) but the seductive EV6 was engineered to be solely an EV, meaning the hatchback will not be available with an internal combustion engine.
“The EV6 marks a pivotal moment for Kia from an engineering and an aesthetics standpoint,” said Kosowski. “This car makes a statement for the brand.”
More than 10,000 EV6s have been sold this year in the U.S., with California topping the list. Kosowski, however, said there has been interest from all pockets of the country. The car’s 800-volt architecture also makes it easy to charge; the battery goes from 10%-80% (up to 217 miles range) in under 18 minutes when hooked to a DC Fast charger.
The EV6, along with its automotive cousin, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, could be the EVs that get more mainstream consumers behind electrification.
“They’re great vehicles and the praise is well deserved,” said Kim. “They get good range, good performance and have an eye-catching styling … and no one at their price point offers that ultra fast charging capability.”
Base price: $41,400, 310 miles of range.
Volvo C40 and XC40 Recharge
Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo is one of a handful of automakers transitioning to an all-electric model lineup. By 2030, all Volvos will come sans engine. For now, U.S. consumers have two EV choices: the C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge, both of which have received top marks for their driving capabilities.
“The regenerative braking system is very advanced … the vehicles have a very refined drivetrain,” Jim Nichols, head of product and technology at Volvo USA, told ABC News. “We’ve been [offering] plug-in hybrids for several years now and have been able to smooth out the braking and the packaging of the batteries.”
He added, “There are no deviations in the C40 or XC40 from our standard vehicles. There are no compromises with interior or exterior styling.”
The two crossovers are built in Belgium. Volvo’s upcoming all-electric SUV that can seat seven will be manufactured at the company’s plant in Charlestown, South Carolina.
“We’re looking at the [IRA] legislation very closely … it remains to be seen what impact a credit is going to have on EV adoption for Volvo,” Nichols said.
Volvo also announced a pilot program with Starbucks and ChargePoint to add DC Fast chargers at various Starbucks locations. The 1,350-mile route spans from Denver, Colorado, to Seattle, Washington, and charging will be free for Volvo owners.
“That route is underserved at that moment [for EV owners],” Alex Trippi, head of electrification for Volvo USA, told ABC News. “We want charging your car to be as easy as getting a cup of coffee.”
The first charging station will be “powered up soon,” he added, noting that the program may be expanded nationally.
C40 Recharge base price: $55,300, 226 miles of range. XC40 Recharge base price: $53,500, 223 miles of range.
BMW iX and i4
BMW’s latest electric models — the iX SUV and i4 sedan — are a far departure from the i3, the automaker’s divisive, pint-size hatch that was officially retired in 2021 after a nine-year run. The athletic iX and comely i4 grand coupe come with the vertical “nostrils” found on almost every new BMW and fans of the brand will be familiar with iDrive, the company’s infotainment system. Owners of an i4 or iX receive three years of free 30-minute charging sessions at any Electrify America location, according to a BMW spokesperson. The deal sweetens for owners of the upcoming i7 sedan, who will receive unlimited charging sessions for three years.
BMW packed the iX and i4 with insane power and luxury amenities (all-wheel drive is available too). The iX can travel from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds and the electric motors produce 516 horsepower (that number jumps to over 600 hp in the iX M60 model, hang on tight passengers!). The i4, like the traditional 4 Series Grand Coupe, offers a refined, civilized experience though the fun factor gets going with the i4 M50, which can reach 60 mph in 3.3 seconds, making it a touch faster than an M3 Competition.
Half of BMW’s sales will be electric by 2030, according to company executives. The German automaker may also start manufacturing EVs at its Spartanburg, South Carolina, facility, BMW’s largest manufacturing plant in the world, the spokesperson noted.
“It would be safe to assume that EV production will come to the U.S. at some point,” the spokesperson said.
BMW has also been at the forefront of ethical raw materials sourcing, aiming to achieve “complete transparency in the origin and mining methods of the material.”
“The company purchases lithium and cobalt directly and makes it available to battery cell manufacturers,” the spokesperson said.
iX base price: $84,100, 324 miles of range. i4 base price: $55,900, 301 miles of range.
Mercedes-Benz EQS
The first EV from the German luxury brand, the handsome EQS sedan quickly got recognized for its Hyperscreen — a curved, digital screen that stretches 56 inches from left to right A-Pillars. Mercedes packed the sleek EQS with Artificial intelligence (AI) and learn-capable software that makes personalized suggestions for a variety of functions to the driver. The large sedan’s steering angle at the rear axle is up to 10 degrees, allowing it to maneuver like a compact car. Like Tesla, Mercedes added a “Power Nap” mode, so a driver can get shut-eye as the EQS charges. According to Mercedes, the program has three phases — falling asleep, sleeping and waking up — which can increase the driver’s performance post-vehicle charge.
Voelcker said the EQS cabin was “wonderful” though the vehicle swiftly burned through range in upstate New York, where he test drove the vehicle last winter. The EQS has an EPA-estimated 340-350 miles of range, depending on the trim.
The U.S. is the No. 1 market worldwide for the EQS since its launch in late 2021, Mercedes said. The company’s next EV is the EQS SUV, which will be built at the company’s plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A spokesperson for the brand said Mercedes is actively reviewing the Inflation Reduction Act and is fully committed to an “electric future.”
