 The Autoweek Dispatch: We Finally Meet the New Ford F-150, USGP Planning and BMW's Autonomous Future Ford's new F-150 dominates the news this week, but we also have updates from Bobby Epstein, Circuit of the Americas CEO, on USGP chances. BY WES RAYNAL Semi-lockdown, week six: A ton going on this week. Let's get right to it:
QUOTE OF THE WEEK "We actually don't have a perfectly clear picture right now. I think that what they learned in Europe was that they could kind of wait until the last possible minute to make a decision, and we're not at the last possible minute yet for deciding about what it's going to be here. We don't have a firm 'it's going to be with fans,' 'it's going to be without' or whether it even makes sense to come over to the U.S. But right now, we're planning on (F1) coming." —Bobby Epstein, Circuit of the Americas CEO, giving Autoweek the latest update on whether we'll see a United States Grand Prix this year.
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK I'm torn on autonomous vehicles. I love driving, of course, but I admit sometimes, say, after flying in from Tokyo, I wouldn't mind being whisked home from the airport while catching a catnap. I also admit I'm amused at a company like Uber that thought it would waltz in and dominate autonomous cars. Not only has it not done that, but Uber can't even make its ride-hailing business model make financial sense. Automakers have gone more evolutionary, and a system like Cadillac Super Cruise works great, operating the pedals and steering but requiring humans to pay attention and remain ready to take control at a moment's notice. Next year, though, BMW is taking the next big step, letting humans stop worrying about the road and giving the robot a firmer grip on the wheel. BMW sent a report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saying it plans to introduce what could become the first Level 3 system on U.S. roads—Level 3, in SAE speak, being an automated driving feature rather than a driver support feature. BMW's system is coming on the new iNext EV. The robot only works on limited-access highways, in good weather, at less than 85 mph. BMW's report doesn't cover the matter of the handoff—when the computer needs the human to retake control. BMW says a camera watches the driver to make sure they stay awake, and the report says the system uses changing lights in the steering wheel as well as audio alerts and seat vibrations to tell a driver they need to take over. But Bryan Reimer, an MIT researcher focusing on human-machine interaction, tells our Alex Davies that's not good enough. Reimer tells Autoweek simply telling a driver something might not be good enough. Getting someone to jump back into driving at highway speeds after spending hours reading, texting or doing whatever, requires complex cognitive and design work. "Nobody knows how to do that," he tells us. Davies' report on BMW's autonomous work is a fascinating read. Meanwhile, my old Alfa Spider needs some exercise.
RACING LINES In the fifth installment of our In The Car With series, former LA Lakers equipment manager turned Autoweek West Coast Editor Mark Vaughn interviews motorcycle racer Ken Roczen, who talked to us from his motorcycle man cave at his house in Florida where he keeps a lot of his dirt bikes, including the Honda CRF450R he rides in the Monster Energy Supercross series. Vaughn was in a Porsche 718 Spyder, appropriate since Roczen is from Germany. Roczen started riding bikes when he was 2 (!) and won his first world title at 17. Remember, watch for new In The Car With episodes every Wednesday on autoweek.com or head over to our YouTube page and subscribe so you never miss out! One of racing's good guys and coolest dudes, Alex Zanardi, lost control of his hand-powered paracycle during a relay rally in the middle of nowhere in central Italy. As of this writing Zanardi is in the intensive care unit in a coma after neurological surgery requiring doctors to rebuild his skullcap. Not surprising, Zanardi was participating in a charitable event. He and some 50 paralympic athletes were rallying to raise awareness of paracycling and help others get involved through Obiettivo3, the organization Zanardi founded to help other athletes. After a weird, emotional few days at Talladega, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Attorney's Office said Tuesday no federal hate crimes were committed with the noose found in the garage stall housing Richard Petty's No. 43 Camaro that Bubba Wallace drives. The FBI said the noose found in the garage was "in that garage as early as October 2019. Although the noose is now known to have been in garage No. 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage No. 4 last week," the Bureau said, adding no federal charges would be pursued. Regardless, the support NASCAR and the teams showed Wallace was heartwarming and hopefully signals a positive turning point for the sport. With the Ford GT gone and Porsche announcing it is leaving, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series' GT Le Mans class has only four full-time cars left: two Corvettes and two BMWs. And that's assuming BMW stays in. There has been no indication one way or the other, but one source inside the company said it was likely that BMW will stay the course. Read all about Porsche's future plans.
WHAT WE'RE DRIVING Out on the West Coast Mark Vaughn is tooling around in the 2020 Lotus Evora GT, a $104,000 car he calls more than a mere sports car, less than a supercar. The Lotus costs about the same as a Porsche Cayman GT4 and has for power a 3.5-liter Toyota V6 that Lotus tuned to produce 416 hp and dropped it in a chassis Vaughn says exhibits "divine tossability." We look forward to getting one in Detroit. CAR NEWS AND NOTES Ford's new F-150 dominates the news this week. Without giving away the whole story here, let me just say the 14th generation's looks are revolutionary while the tech turns things up a few notches. Yes, the F-150 will join the ranks of the modern age with a 3.5-liter V6 hybrid it calls PowerBoost. We don't have power or fuel economy numbers yet, but Ford is targeting at least 12,000 pounds of towing, 700 miles on a tank of gas and promises the most torque and horsepower of any light-duty full-size pickup. Inside, there's a new 12-inch center screen, but the interior also keeps many physical buttons. A 12-inch digital cluster is also available with bright lighting and high-quality graphics. We can't wait to see it all in person. After all, this is the truck that has been the bestseller for 43 years from the company that sells 2,486 F-150s per day, every day. And let this sink in: Ford has sold 1.7 trucks per minute, every minute of the day, for the past three years. I'd say this is a fairly important launch. As the official launch of Lamborghini's latest, naturally aspirated V12 monster soon approaches, more images and details have emerged for us to salivate over. The carbon chassis, midengine V12-equipped track-only hypercar now has a name: SCV12. The SC stands for Squadra Corse, the Sant'Agata Bolognese company's in-house motorsports arm. The V12 part is self-evident. Lamborghini also said the SCV12 develops more downforce than a GT3 car. Track-only indeed. In addition to the F-150, Ford's Mustang Mach-E also made news this week when its alleged price list leaked. D'oh! The car starts at $44,995 and you can run it all the way up to $60,400. Power ranges from 255 hp to 459 hp, and we expect to see it on sale in any kind of significant numbers early next year.
MOSTLY ODDS, SOME ENDS Who hasn't spent more than a few minutes (hours, days?) ogling the classics for sale on Bring a Trailer. Don't deny it! Even if we're not in the market, bringatrailer.com is an early and often bookmarked stop on the World Wide Web. It's kept Autoweek editors enthralled for more than a decade. And now we can announce we're welcoming them to the Hearst Autos family. BaT co-founder and nice guy Randy Nonnenberg and his team will continue running the site. It's only going to get bigger and better, and we can't wait. Speaking of classics, if you're looking for a great read with some excellent photography check out Graham Kozak's words and Andrew Trahan's shots involving a vintage Beetle. You'll recall Kozak left us a couple weeks ago for a post at RM Sotheby's, but his terrific words live on!
LISTEN UP This week on the "Autoweek Podcast," Episode 115: Wes Raynal and Jake Lingeman break down details on the new F-150 and Jeep's Design-Your-Own-Easter egg contest. Later in the show NHRA legend Tony Schumacher talks with Mike Pryson and Wesley Wren about returning to the seat of a Top Fuel Dragster. Schumacher talks about his career, his life and the upcoming race in Indy. Tune in here, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever podcasts are played. WHAT'S AHEAD As always we're around this weekend monitoring and reporting on automakers' and sanctioning bodies' efforts to maneuver these crazy times as best they can. We'll be continually updating the site all weekend. You'll know what's new when we do. Check back often! Thanks for reading Autoweek and please stay safe.
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