An driverless Audi SQ5 is about to embark on a cross country drive, from San Francisco to New York.

Earlier this year, an autonomous Audi A7 Sportback drove from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. That trip covered 550 miles and arrived just in time for a big media welcome. The upcoming journey will cover seven times that distance, 3,500 miles in all, and arrive in time for the New York Auto Show.

The brains behind this project is not Audi, but automotive supplier Delphi. According to an article in Wired, Delphi simply chose the Audi “because it’s cool.” Fitted with a camera, LIDaR, as well as mid-range radar at each corner and along its bilateral axis, the team will collect terabytes of data in hopes of quickening driverless cars’ arrival on the market.

Leaving March 22, the trip will take eight days, broken up into 8-hour stints. Unlike Google, Delphi does not plan to exceed the speed limit. However, it should be noted that a human being will take control of the car when it’s not on the highway. The New York Auto Show begins April 1.

Uber, the mobile app-based car-for-hire service, has agreed to purchase a small fleet of electric cars from Chinese automaker BYD.

With an initial fleet of 25 cars in the Chicago area, the pilot program hopes to test viability of the BYD e6 wagon before expanding to other cities. Uber’s plan is to help aspiring drivers easily buy or lease cars as they work for the company. According to the report in Reuters, Uber spokesperson Lauren Altmin says, “We’ve seen interest in the program already from current and potential Chicago [drivers].”

The BYD e6 cars themselves are sold through Green Wheels USA, a Chicago-area EV dealership. With a range of 186 miles, the e6 is already in use in London by a local chauffeur service. London has one of the steepest congestion charges in the world, but electric vehicles are not subject to the fee.

BYD is one of China’s largest automakers and is noted for having Warren Buffet as an investor. It hopes that the deal will help its cars make inroads into the US market. The e6 is its only model for sale in the US.

For its part, Uber hopes to expand the program to “a couple hundred” cars by the end of the year.

Mitsubishi has published a dark teaser image that previews the facelifted 2016 Outlander. The crossover is scheduled to make its public debut at next month’s New York Motor Show.
The teaser image reveals precious little but earlier spy shots show that the Outlander’s rear end benefits from bigger tail lamps connected by an elegant strip of chrome trim and a new bumper with faux brushed aluminum trim and nearly vertical fog lights.

Although the front end is a lot less visible it appears to gain more angular headlights, a new radiator grille and chrome accents that bring it in line with the XR-PHEV II concept that was presented in Geneva earlier this month. The usual assortment of new alloy wheel designs and paint colors rounds out the updates.

Mitsubishi is keeping technical details about the 2016 Outlander under wraps so we’ll have to wait to see if there are any mechanical updates to complement the new look. Currently, the Outlander is available with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine rated at 166 horsepower and 162 lb-ft. of torque and a 3.0-liter V6 that generates 224 ponies and 215 lb-ft. of twist.

Rumors indicate the 2016 Outlander will finally get the fuel-sipping plug-in hybrid drivetrain that is available in Japan and across Europe, but nothing is official at this point.

Mitsubishi will introduce the 2016 Outlander online in the coming weeks.

Hyundai’s Indian arm has introduced a more rugged-looking version of the i20 hatchback called Active.
Visually, the Active stands out from the standard i20 hatchback thanks to faux brushed aluminum trim on both bumpers, plastic cladding over the wheel arches and at the bottom of the doors as well as silver roof rails. A slightly raised ground clearance adds a finishing touch to the trail-ready look.

Inside, the Active is nearly identical to the standard i20 but it packs a long list of standard features including automatic A/C, aluminum pedals, an eight-speaker sound system and keyless entry. Buyers can choose whether they want Tangerine Orange or Aqua Blue accents on the dashboard, the center console and the seats.

Like the standard i20, the Active can be ordered with a number of gasoline- and diesel-burning four-cylinder engines sourced from the Hyundai parts bin. All engines send power to the front wheels and Hyundai is not planning on offering all-wheel drive, making the Active a soft-roader in spirit only.

The Hyundai i20 Active will go on sale across India in the coming weeks, but the automaker has not revealed how much of a premium it wil carry over the standard i20. Similarly, whether or not the Active will be sold in Europe is up in the air.