This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?
1st Gear: You Don't Want To Own A Car In Georgia
Shock! Where you live impacts how much it costs to keep your car. The AP builds a story today around a study by Bankrate.com about car ownership.
It turns out the average driver spend about $3,201 a year to keep a car or truck running. This includes taxes, auto repairs, insurance costs, fees, and gasoline.
Thanks to Atlanta, Georgia is the worst at $4,333. Oregon is the cheapest at $2,204. Here are the top and bottom five:
Most Expensive
- Georgia $4,233
- California $3,966
- Wyoming $3,938
- Rhode Island $3,913
- Nevada $3,886
Least Expensive
- Oregon $2,204
- Alaska $2,227
- South Dakota $2,343
- Montana $2,660
- Indiana $2,698
2nd Gear: The Eye, The Brain And The Auto Conference
There's a three-day gathering coming called "The Eye, The Brain, and The Auto" that will focus on driving and vision in Dearborn, reports the Detroit Free Press.
About 30 researchers will discuss topics ranging from distraction caused by phone calls and text messages to new designs for traffic lights and vehicle controls.
Obviously, autonomous vehicles will have a big impact on mobility for those with limited vision.
3rd Gear: This Is The Most Expensive Alfa Ever
This 1935 Ferrari-team Alfa Romeo driven by the great Tazio Nuvolari sold for a record $9.37 million, making it the most expensive Alfa in history.
“This is very special car,” Angela Cherrett, a U.K. author of books on classic Alfa Romeos, said before the sale. “I don’t think anyone else has got one with this history.”
They also add the Bonhams auction at the Goodwood Revival was the second biggest sale at auction in Europe.
4th Gear: Fiery Death Comes To India
Ford is going to recall 166,000+ Figo and Classic models produced between January 2011 and 2012 over various things including faulty twist beams and power-assisted steering hoses. If the hoses crack, reports The Wall Street Journal., in some extreme cases the fluid cause smoke and fire.
Assuming the person driving the car is the local fireworks distributor and is sleeping in the car this could lead to… fiery death. Thankfully, that hasn't happened yet.
5th Gear: Why Google Bought Uber
It's all about the driverless car, Matthew Yglasias points out in Financial Review, as a way to explain why Google dropped $258 million on Uber.
The real potential is for something quite different: ubiquitous taxis – summoned via smartphone or weird glasses – that are so cheap they make car ownership obsolete. That’s the kind of social and technological revolution that could justify the lofty valuation granted to Uber. It explains why the same company that’s invested in the technology to drive the cars is now investing in the technology to hail them. It’s a world in which algorithms for matching cabs with passengers and user interfaces for summoning taxis will become crucial elements of everyday transportation, the way gas stations and parking lots are today.
Reverse: GM Incorporated
On September 16, 1908, Buick Motor Company head William Crapo Durant spends $2,000 to incorporate General Motors in New Jersey. Durant, a high-school dropout, had made his fortune building horse-drawn carriages, and in fact he hated cars—he thought they were noisy, smelly, and dangerous. Nevertheless, the giant company he built would dominate the American auto industry for decades.
[HISTORY]
Neutral: Driverless Cabs? Would you let a robo taxi drive you around?
Photo Credit: Getty Images