Crash on Chesapeake Bay Bridge causes July 4 delays
The westbound portion of the bridge reopened fully around 2:20 p.m. after being closed for about two hours, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority.
The crash, which happened shortly before noon, involved a passenger vehicle and a tractor-trailer, officials said. A preliminary investigation suggests the passenger vehicle was traveling in the eastbound lane before it swerved into the westbound lanes and crashed into the tractor-trailer, authorities said.
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The Drive
27 minutes ago
- The Drive
Honda Is Selling More of GM's Electric SUVs Than General Motors
The latest car news, reviews, and features. While it's not something either company talks a lot about publicly, the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX are essentially midsize GM electric SUVs in elaborate trench coats. Underneath their badge-engineered elements, they're fundamentally the same vehicle as the Chevy Blazer EV and Cadillac Lyriq. But despite arriving later and being sold through a smaller network of dealers, Honda's versions are somehow still selling better than the cars they're based on. The Q2 numbers tell the whole story. Honda's dealers have managed to sell more than 16,000 Prologues so far this year. Meanwhile, Chevy has sold fewer than 13,000 Blazer EVs. Bear in mind, Chevrolet has close to 3,000 dealerships in the United States; Honda doesn't even top 1,100. That means, on average, each Chevy dealership has moved fewer than 4.5 Blazer EVs in 2025; meanwhile, each Honda dealership is averaging more than 15 Prologues. On the premium side, Acura has racked up 10,335 ZDX sales for the year, to Cadillac's 9,317 Lyriqs. While the ZDX was only the third-best-selling car in Acura's showrooms through Q2, it more than tripled the volume of the (soon to be discontinued) TLX sedan and doubled that of the Integra. We didn't run the numbers on the ratio of Acura dealerships to Cadillac dealerships, but you can probably guess how that shakes out. In GM's defense, the company is actually moving more Ultium-based models than the above numbers suggest. In addition to Blazer EV and Lyriq, there's also the Cadillac Escalade iQ (3,766), Optiq (4,940), and Vistiq (1,745); and the Chevy Equinox EV (27,749). And that's not even getting into the trucks (GMC Hummer EV, Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV). Point being, in terms of sheer Ultium EV sales, GM is moving a lot more metal than Honda, even if Honda is doing better in the segments where their offerings overlap. There's also plenty of good news on GM's side of this equation. While Blazer EV might be losing the race to Prologue, it's still pacing well ahead of its 2024 sales. In fact, out of GM's entire EV portfolio, only the Lyriq's sales are off compared to last year's. The Cadillac brand, in aggregate, has sold 50% more EVs so far in 2025. Got a tip? Send it to tips@
Motor Trend
27 minutes ago
- Motor Trend
Rivian's New "Kick Turn" Is the Original "Tank Turn" Kicked Up in Usefulness—Here's How It Works
Six years ago, Rivian blew up the internet with its preview of "Tank Turn." Everyone wanted the vehicle-spinning wonder feature, but Rivian would eventually declare it delayed without reason. Two years later, we brought you an exclusive deep dive on why Tank Turn, well, tanked. But now it's back, better than ever, and renamed "Kick Turn." Rivian's Tank Turn is now Kick Turn, a practical off-road tool that allows precise vehicle pivoting. Available on Gen 2 Quad Motor R1 vehicles via OTA update, it features safety measures and requires specific terrain. It's exclusive to Gen 2 vehicles due to advanced hardware and software. This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article Read Next What's Tank Turn? If you haven't seen the original video, watch it. Tank Turn took advantage of the then-standard quad drive motor setup (one per wheel) in the original Rivian R1S and R1T models to spin the wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle in opposite directions, forcing the Rivian to spin like a top in a muddy field. It's the same way a tracked vehicle like a tank turns, hence the name. After Rivian put the feature on ice over safety and environmental damage concerns, Mercedes-Benz engineers plowed ahead and brought the same basic idea to market as "G-Turn" on the new quad-motor G580 EV. GMC also promised to do a version of it called 'Hurricane Turn' but has yet to release the feature. Rivian kept quiet, and kept working, even as it lost its first-mover advantage. What's Kick Turn? The result, Kick Turn, is Tank Turn, but better. Tank Turn was, frankly, a gimmick and Rivian decided if the company were to expend engineering resources on making it safe, it also needed to be a useful tool, not just a toy. Rather than just spin like a top, Kick Turn is designed to help you pivot the vehicle around tight switchbacks on the trail rather than making a 17-point turn. By giving the driver control over how quickly the vehicle spins and how much it rotates, they can turn it exactly enough to get the job done putting the least wear and tear on the trail. It was inspired by Rivian engineers' experience on the switchbacks of Black Bear Pass in Colorado during our Trans-America Trail off-road adventure, in which we drove coast-to-coast off-road in all-electric Rivians almost entirely off-pavement. Final tuning is still ongoing, so Kick Turn will be uploaded to Gen 2 Quad Motor R1 vehicles via an over-the-air (OTA) update in September. How Do You Use It? Using Kick Turn takes four steps: activate, confirm, select, and accelerate. Activation is done on the drive mode pop-out window on the central touchscreen. Select the off-road mode All Terrain or Rock Crawl, then press the new button in the bottom right corner of the window with a top-down view of the vehicle and arrows indicating a spinning action. Once activated, the pop-up window will be replaced with the confirmation window. Gear Guard, Rivian's Yeti mascot, appears in a fighting stance and will do a leaping spin kick if you tap on him (tap him four times and he'll get dizzy and sick). Use the slider at the bottom of the window to confirm you want to use Kick Turn (at which point he'll do a multi-spin kick causing his shoe to fly off). Now, switch your attention to the left side of the instrument cluster. A picture of the steering wheel will have appeared as a guide with blinking dots on the left-right rocker switches on the steering wheel spokes. Press and hold the two left buttons to spin left or the two right buttons to spin right. Kick Turn will only work as long as you press and hold both buttons, a safety feature meant to keep both of your hands on the wheel during the spin. To actually initiate a Kick Turn, slowly press the accelerator pedal down until the truck begins to spin. The amount of pedal you give it determines how quickly the truck will rotate. When you're ready to stop spinning, gently release the pedal for the smoothest stop. Releasing either button on the steering wheel will also cancel the spin immediately, which will throw you and your passengers around a bit. Kick Turn doesn't just work when you're at a stop, either. You can initiate it while rolling at up to 15 mph, though be aware that as soon as you've held down the buttons, any input on the accelerator will begin a Kick Turn so you want to coast until you're actually ready to turn. Not only does it work, but it's actually useful. Rivian had us drive up a narrow mountain trail with tight switchbacks which would normally require a multi-point turn to get around. Instead, we positioned ourselves, activated Kick Turn, and rotated until we were pointed around the corner, then continued on. We also used the feature to navigate a 90-degree turn around a tree which likewise would've taken a number of turns to get around normally. The hardest part about using Kick Turn is getting used to the controls. Anyone who's done a power slide before wants to turn the steering wheel, but turning it more 150 degrees cancels Kick Turn. Training yourself to keep the wheel straight and turn with the buttons and the accelerator pedal takes practice, especially when you're initiating it while moving. After that, it's learning to time your rolling Kick Turns so you don't initiate them too early, and also get yourself slowed down below the 15 mph limit in time. Then, it's ignoring your instinct to counter steer to end the turn. Of course, you can still use it as a party trick like the original Tank Turn. Hold down the buttons and the accelerator long enough and the vehicle will do a full 360—or more. Kick Turn is limited to 20 seconds, a failsafe in case the buttons or accelerator were to get stuck and also to keep people from wantonly destroying trails and parking lots. If you just want to spin around in a field, though, it'll let you. We strongly recommend you do it away from people and other vehicles, because it throws rocks a good distance. It'll also wear out your tires more quickly, though with so many variables at play, engineers couldn't offer an estimate. Rivian also ran us through a course where we drove around a box making perfect 90 degree turns, then ran through a slalom using only Kick Turn. Once you're comfortable with the controls, you can change spin directions as often as you like just by switching which buttons you're holding. So long as you're not holding the buttons, you can drive normally between Kick Turns without turning the system off. The Safeties There are other limitations to make Kick Turn safer, too. The motors are programmed to recognize how grippy a surface is and will refuse to do a Kick Turn if you're on asphalt. Even wet asphalt is out. You need to be on dirt, gravel, or snow. The ground also needs to be relatively flat. If the onboard pitch and roll sensors detect the truck is tilted more than 10 degrees in any direction, Kick Turn won't activate. There's also an unspecified yaw limit which keeps the vehicle from rotating too quickly, so it's ok if you floor it during a Kick Turn, it won't spin dangerously fast. Kick Turn also works with stability control fully on, reduced, or turned all the way off. What Took So Long? Rivian engineers tell us it wasn't as simple as making time to work on Kick Turn. The new hardware in the Gen 2 R1T and R1S was key to making the whole thing work safely and smoothly. On Gen 1 vehicles with their original electrical architecture and Bosch-supplied motors, there was too much latency (we're talking hundredths of a second) between driver commands and motor response. It could do Tank Turns, but more precise Kick Turns were almost impossible. The new zonal architecture, new inverters, and in-house motors on the Gen 2 vehicles respond far more quickly to commands, allowing much finer control over the spin. In order to take advantage of this, the software created for Tank Turn had to be completely rewritten for Kick Turn. This, unfortunately, means Gen 1 trucks are unlikely to ever get Kick Turn uploaded to them retroactively. A Rivian representative confirmed to us it is exclusive to Gen 2 vehicles. As of right now, the software requires a quad-motor powertrain in order to work. Both front and rear wheels need to drive forwards or backwards on each side of the vehicle in order to do a proper Kick Turn. This means tri-motor and dual-motor powertrains won't be getting it, either, which means the R2 and R3 won't get it as neither is slated to offer quad motors. That doesn't mean those other powertrains will never get some kind of Kick Turn, though. Engineers told us their looking into ways to offer a similar function with fewer motors, perhaps using individual brakes to at offer a feature like Toyota, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz have developed to force the vehicle to turn tighter, but not do an actual Kick Turn. And the new name? Partly intended to communicate it's different and better than Tank Turn, and partly to sound less militaristic. Kick-ass, we say.
TechCrunch
an hour ago
- TechCrunch
The tech behind Rivian's 2026 Quad-Motor truck and SUV — and that kick turn
As Rivian starts accepting orders for its 2026 Quad-Motor pickup truck and SUV, customers may initially be enticed by the power and tricks the four motors in these rebooted EVs can unleash. After all, four motors delivering a combined 1,025 horsepower and 1,198 pound-feet of torque — and the ability to accelerate from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in less than 2.5 seconds — is hard to ignore. But they should also pay attention to the software. 'The quad is really the pinnacle of everything that Rivian has done so far,' Wassym Bensaid, the company's head of software, told TechCrunch, quickly providing a punch list on acceleration, speed, torque, and an estimated 374-mile range. 'Now that we have full in-house motors, we have full control on the stack, hardware and software.' That control has allowed Rivian to introduce several new features, which will roll out via software updates in the quad-motor this September. (Customers can order the quad-motor trim starting today with deliveries beginning as early as this week, according to the company.) The feature that will likely inspire the most TikTok videos and Instagram reels is 'kick turn,' a feature that adjusts the power to the inside wheels and lets the vehicle spin about its center — even as it's moving. Kick turn, which TechCrunch tested during a press drive in June, allows a vehicle traveling under 20 mph on dirt to kick out its back end and swing it to the right or left without moving the steering wheel. The idea is to give off-roaders the ability to make tight turns on trails by pushing a button and without going through the tedious task of a 3-point turn. Rivian fans and followers might recall a promoted, but never released, feature called 'tank turn.' Kick turn, which controls power and tire grip, is the real-world and toned down version of tank turn. Rivian told TechCrunch tank turn was never released because its founder and CEO RJ Scaringe and others worried that tank turn would ruin trails. Not the best look for a company that has made outdoor activities and preserving the environment a big part of its brand. Techcrunch event Save up to $475 on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $450 on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW Kick turn could still be abused if the driver stayed in the same spot and continued to spin the vehicle in a circle. However, Rivian has placed some software-powered guardrails on the feature, including limiting the speed and only allowing it to spin in dirt. Second-generation overhaul Image Credits:Kirsten Korosec Rivian first revealed its second-generation quad-motor configuration during a May 2024 press drive in Washington, in a bid to showcase the overhaul of its flagship R1 line. That reboot touched every inch of its insides from the battery pack and suspension system to the electrical architecture, interior seats, sensor stack, and software user interface. The effort, which has led the company to build more of its major components in-house, is aimed at reducing the cost of manufacturing and improving the performance and appeal of its EVs. Deliveries of the new dual-motor and performance dual-motor trims began almost immediately, with the tri-motor configuration following by August 2024. The quad-motor, which is its most expensive and powerful trim, took another year to develop and refine the software features and embedded systems, and how they worked alongside the motors, suspension, and thermal management, according to the company. Image Credits:Kirsten Korosec And the stakes are high that Rivian gets the quad-motor right. Rivian's highly-anticipated and cheaper R2 vehicles aren't expected to go into production until the first half of 2026. Rivian is hoping the new quad-motor, which starts between $125,990 and $115,990 depending on the vehicle trim, will give sales a boost. And the software is a critical piece of its bid. If the four motors (one located at each wheel) are the heart of the second-generation quad-motor, the software is the brain making it all work together. Bensaid pointed to the development of advanced torque vectoring and balancing algorithms that have been introduced in the second-generation quad-motor. 'Think about it as super complex mathematical processing behind the scenes to allow real-time usage and decisions based on information from the four wheels and then the four motors, while obviously keeping safety guards in place,' he said. What this means in practice is numerous sensors on the quad-motor R1S SUV and R1T truck provide information on yaw rate, steering angles, and other inputs, which are then fed into software models to control torque. In other words, Rivian's in-house hardware and software work together in real-time to distribute power at each wheel electronically. Software meets hardware Image Credits:Kirsten Korosec That has allowed the EV maker to introduce kick turn as well as other software-meets-hardware features to the quad-motor, including its 'RAD Tuner,' which lets users change the vehicle's driving dynamics via the central touchscreen. The RAD Tuner was developed by a team of engineers, software developers, and designers nicknamed the 'Rivian Adventure Department.' The origin story began several years ago, according to Bensaid. 'Every time we would go and test and qualify version of the software or the car, we have an engineering screen which is hidden with the secret code,' he said. It was here that early Rivian employee and R2 chief engineer Max Koff and R1 chief engineer Luke Lynch would configure the car as they wished — an exercise that often pushed the vehicles to new limits. 'And that evolved into this idea of making this tuner available to customers.' With RAD Tuner, drivers can create their own customized driving mode from scratch or build upon presets like 'Rally' or 'Sport.' 'We really give users full control through software so that they can figure their unique personality of the car,' Bensaid said, adding this particular feature is really meant for expert drivers. Bensaid emphasized this is more than a simple change to the user interface that lets drivers tinker around with balance, stability, and ride height. 'I think what's really important is the technology behind it,' he said. 'For example, this torque balance, the fact that we're able to configure this with a very simple slider — this is years of engineering development to have a very sophisticated torque vectoring algorithm with really a high-precision control that allows us to change values while we're driving. It's technically extremely, extremely difficult to do this type of changes.' The company is also rolling out a launch cam feature, which uses an exterior camera recording to automatically capture so-called 'Launch Mode,' which that can catapult the new R1T quad-motor from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in less than 2.5 heart-pumping seconds. Users can replay the videos, view real-time stats like speed and distance overlays calculated by in-house controls software. Users can also export videos to a mobile device via USB port to save and share. NACS charging and more Image Credits:Kirsten Korosec The 2026 R1T and R1S vehicles, including the quad-motor, also come built in with the North American Charging Standard, which was originally developed and popularized by Tesla. This gives owners of the 2026 models access to Tesla's vast network of fast chargers, known as Superchargers. Rivian is also supplying quad-motor customers with a complimentary CCS DC adapter, which was the long-standing EV charging standard until recently, allowing them to plug into other networks. As part of this hardware upgrade, the company has also updated its software, specifically the EV charging trip planner feature. Now, when a customer opens the trip planner and selects a NACS station, the information is updated in the trip planner to reflect that they don't need an adapter.
