Advertisement
The Baytown ExxonMobil refinery is located about 25 miles east of Houston. Built in 1920, it is the company’s largest oil refinery in the United States. According to the company’s website, it produces 584,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Advertisement
In 2019, another fire broke out at the facility. It injured 37 people.
The Sheriff’s office has asked residents to avoid the area around the facility, but no other evacuation or shelter-in-place orders have been issued.
In this case, the passenger wasn’t inebriated on to-go alcohol from an airport concession stand. At this time, the cause of the outburst is unknown. The flight diverted to Honolulu, where it landed safely. American Airlines says that it put passengers on other flights or put them in hotel rooms.
While the flight attendant is seen unraveling a large strip of duct tape in the video, American Airlines says that the teen was retrained with flexible handcuffs, not duct tape. But how do flight attendants get to the point where they need to tape or cuff a passenger down?
Some flight attendants spoke to Business Insider and indicated that the first step in calming a passenger is trying to talk it out:
Before using any physical restraints, flight attendants are trained to de-escalate situations by verbally calming down aggressive passengers, one Chicago-based flight attendant said. (Some flight attendants asked to keep their name and airline anonymous to speak freely. Insider confirmed the employment of each flight attendant prior to publishing.)
G/O Media may get a commission
If that passenger becomes a danger to the flight or other passengers and de-escalation tactics have failed, then the attendants may choose to restrain them for the remainder of the flight. But, as the Points Guy notes, it’s not as simple as grabbing some tape or zip ties:
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) explained to TPG that restraining a passenger is only ever used as a last resort, where all other methods of de-escalating a situation have failed.
“Before restraining a passenger, the cabin crew will always seek the permission of the Commander (Captain) who will give their authorization if they perceive a risk to the safety of the flight, the crew or other persons onboard.” Katherine Kaczynska, a spokesperson from IATA said.
Advertisement
Restraining a passenger also comes with a potential danger. The Federal Aviation Administration says that for an aircraft to be certified, it has to be able to be evacuated in an emergency within 90 seconds. A passenger duct taped or zip tied to a seat complicates that, as they now need to be unrestrained while everyone is dealing with an emergency.
As of August 8, the FAA has received 3,810 reports of unruly passengers and is conducting 655 investigations. The regulator says 112 of those investigations have resulted in fines.
One of the most important milestones in the shift to electrification is coming sooner than you think. Electric cars will cost less to make than internal combustion cars by the year 2027, according to a report from The Guardian.
Advertisement
And the lower cost of production will come even sooner than that in certain EV segments. For example, electric midsize sedans and SUVs will be cheaper to make than internal combustion midsize sedans and SUVs by 2026, per the report. Just one year after that, smaller cars will follow and it’s mostly thanks to cheaper batteries.
The research that The Guardian cites concludes that batteries will drive a big decrease in EV production costs in the near future. As EV batteries get cheaper, the production of electric cars gets cheaper, too, because batteries account for as much as a quarter of that overall cost.
The Guardian cites a new study, which suggests that the price of batteries will decrease by more than half of where it is now, in this decade:
The new study, commissioned by Transport & Environment, a Brussels-based non-profit organisation that campaigns for cleaner transport in Europe, predicts new battery prices will fall by 58% between 2020 and 2030 to $58 per kilowatt hour.
G/O Media may get a commission
This means that in as little as five years from today, electric cars will actually be the cheaper option for big auto and it’s very possible that, as The Guardian outlines, “tighter emissions regulations could put [EVs] in pole position to dominate all new car sales by the middle of the next decade…”
Advertisement
When you take the stricter emissions that the European Union is proposing, and you add that to the lower cost of batteries, you get a market where making and selling EVs is more lucrative for carmakers than ICE ever was.
The important question, then, is: Will cheaper to make translate to cheaper to buy? The report indicates that it is a possibility:
The current average pre-tax retail price of a medium-sized electric car is €33,300 [~$40,135], compared with €18,600 [~$22,615] for a petrol car, according to the research. In 2026, both are forecast to cost about €19,000 [~$23,101].
By 2030, the same electric car is forecast to cost €16,300 [~$19,818]before tax, while the petrol car would cost €19,900 [~24,196.]
Advertisement
Carmakers are beginning to like not operating on razor-thin margins. It’s possible that cheaper batteries will mean more profit for big auto, rather than EVs for the masses.
I can’t wait to see what carmakers are going to push in order to meet these upmarket margins as EV production costs go down. Really, I’m just stoked to see how they’ll swerve around the $25,000 electric car.
Advertisement
Credit Acceptance is one of America’s largest subprime car lenders, and it turned a massive profit in 2020 during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, several states are investigating the company for predatory auto loans that take advantage of its customers, many of whom are already suffering from tarnished credit.
Advertisement
This story comes from NBC News, which profiles a woman named Monique Williams, who took out a high-cost auto loan with Credit Acceptance back in 2016. As the pandemic swept through the country, Williams lost her job, and she and her husband were struggling to make ends meet. But Credit Acceptance wouldn’t allow her to defer her payments on a car that was no longer functioning. From the article:
While the company offered some Covid-19-related accommodations — halting late fees and repossessions — deferrals were not an option.
“I have been paying for this car for four years — over $12,000 — and I couldn’t even get a deferment,” Williams said. The car died in December 2019, she said, but about $2,000 on the loan remains outstanding.
[…]
Early in the pandemic, many lenders filled the gap left by the government, offering deferments and halting late fees; as a result, auto loan defaults last year fell to their lowest rate in 15 years, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive, a company that provides services to the car industry.
Credit Acceptance, however, did not offer such deferrals. The company says it froze reporting on borrowers’ credit reports and suspended late fees and collection activities, such as phone calls and repossessions, for 90 days for customers hurt by Covid-19. After that, however, borrowers must make their monthly payments; if they don’t, the lender’s website says, the company may resume repossessions and late charges.
In this day and age, cars are an essential for many folks, especially those that were working essential jobs during the pandemic or who were attempting to find a job anywhere. With no federal aid or mandates regarding auto loans, however, many folks were left to struggle with payments.
And while many people are still struggling to get back on their feet, subprime auto lenders are ceasing any accommodations they were previously providing at the country begins opening back up. The world may not be back to ‘normal,’ but the expectation is that you will begin paying again or suffer a repossession. Now, Credit Acceptance is under legal scrutiny in 44 states.
G/O Media may get a commission
One of those states, Massachusetts, settled out of court. From the NBC article:
Last summer, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey sued Credit Acceptance, saying its lending and collection practices were predatory and illegal in the state. The company announced Thursday that it had agreed to settle with Healey, paying $27.2 million.
“Credit acceptance made high-interest loans to borrowers that the company knew they couldn’t repay,” Healey told NBC News before the settlement was announced. “What I consider predatory about these practices is that they’re specifically targeting vulnerable people, people who may not be able to qualify for normal loans, normal finance arrangements.”
Advertisement
Credit Acceptance did not respond when contacted for comment.
Ferrari has read the room. The Italian carmaker is finally admitting that electrification is where cars are heading — in its case, more like being dragged kicking and screaming. Nonetheless, Ferrari is now pushing its battery electric car release up by five years, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Advertisement
That means the Prancing Horse will adorn a fully electrified car by 2025, rather than 2030. This is a significant course correction for Ferrari who had been dismissive of EVs in the past. The Bloomberg report calls it reluctance.
I think that assessment is a little generous when you consider the remarks from Ferrari’s previous leadership. The carmaker’s last chief executive officer, Louis Camilleri, all but claimed that its customers didn’t want a fully electric Ferrari. I think that attitude had very much to do with not going against the image Ferrari wanted to project, which under Camilleri was all about a certain lifestyle.
The problem is that attitude relegated EVs to something less urgent and necessary than they really are. It reinforced the notion that the wealthy are above any crises we collectively face. As if the electrification of the auto industry is beneath supercar buyers.
G/O Media may get a commission
It’s quite a pretentious notion and I’m happy that Ferrari’s current chairman, John Elkann, has addressed the importance of getting an all-electric Ferrari on the road sooner. Elkann spoke to Ferrari’s EV plans on an investor call during Ferrari’s annual general meeting, from the Bloomberg report.
Advertisement
Besides sharing the new projections for the electric Ferrari, Elkann also elaborated on why the company is embracing EVs:
We are continuing to execute our electrification strategy in a highly disciplined way.
…
Our interpretation and application of these technologies both in motorsport and in road cars is a huge opportunity to bring the uniqueness and passion of Ferrari to new generations.
Advertisement
That’s a more sensible approach, and possibly a more lucrative one, too. New generations being the giveaway. The Camilleri approach feels silly because it tethers the company to an aging demographic.
Just think of storied companies and their reluctance to change for the sake of what, brand integrity? OK, Camilleri. Go ahead and ask Harley-Davidson what brand integrity is worth. Even Harley has had to course correct, and it put itself on the path to electrification with the LiveWire.
Advertisement
And it’s not like Ferrari hasn’t done anything at all in this arena. Though, the effort Ferrari has put into electrification has yielded only the SF90 Stradale so far, which feels like a tepid entry into the EV segment with it’s whopping eight mile electric range. But it is a Ferrari, for what that’s worth.
Advertisement
So, let’s see more, Ferrari, but stick to red and yellow; I actually do mean that one. Whatever BEV Ferrari debuts in 2025, I hope it puts zero EV accents on the car.
I love a good, silly world record involving cars. Whether it’s hurdling as many cars as you can in an hour or squishing as many people as possible into a Smart car, trying to set a record gives you the okay to do some wild shit. And Geely just set the record for largest car mosaic.
The Chinese car company gathered 1,339 cars together on December 31, 2020 in anticipation of the Chinese New Year on February 12. The company organized the cars into the shape of an ox with the words “2021 Chinese ox” spelled out as well.
Advertisement
There are some pretty serious stipulations required for a car mosaic to qualify for the record. The mosaic has to be made up of cars in such a way that it forms a recognizable pattern if you view it from above. Cars have to be spaced no more than 7.87 inches apart, and the whole mosaic has to cover 3,588 square yards.
The display, organized by Geely Emgrand Official Clubs, clocked in at around 8455.96 square yards. It apparently took more than 30 hours to assemble the whole thing. And, since masks aren’t required in China now, the adjudicator got to present the award in person.
G/O Media may get a commission
According to Guinness World Records, the Chinese character for ox (牛) can also be used to represent ‘awesome,’ which is exactly what Geely did with its car display.
