Edmunds: The four tech features you need to get on your next vehicle

ENT

Edmunds: The four tech features you need to get on your next vehicle

2024-10-16 19:11 Last Updated At：19:21

Technology features in modern vehicles can make driving easier and more enjoyable. But when buying your next car, it can be hard to know which features are useful and which ones are more like gimmicks. And many times, these features are only available on certain trim levels. To help you out, Edmunds’ car experts have come up with a list of their top four features and offer insight on how to get them.

Most modern vehicles come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. These features allow you to display and use many of your smartphone’s apps and features on the vehicle’s touchscreen. Typically, you’ll need to connect your phone with a USB cord to make Apple CarPlay and Android Auto work. But some vehicles also support wireless connectivity. A wireless connection allows you to pair your phone and stop fussing around with a cord every time you get in to drive.

To make the most of it, buy a vehicle that also has a built-in wireless phone charger. Having a wireless charger fully cuts out the need for a cord. The charging pad also serves as a dedicated location for your phone, which isn’t a certainty in every car.

How to get it: Research if the vehicle you’re interested in supports wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Most vehicles either have it or they don’t, though a few do offer it as part of an upgraded infotainment system. A wireless smartphone charger is commonly an option or one of the extra features that come on a more expensive trim level.

A surround-view camera, also known as a 360-degree camera, uses an array of cameras placed in different locations on the vehicle to create a stitched-together image on the infotainment screen. The view, which looks like it’s made by a single camera hovering above the vehicle, is as amazing as it is helpful.

A surround-view camera system is helpful to have when you’re in a tight parking lot or when you’re parallel parking. The top-down view makes it a lot easier to park perfectly between the lines or be the right distance from the curb. The most helpful camera systems also come with parking sensors that provide auditory or visual feedback to indicate how far away you are from an obstacle.

How to get it: A surround-view camera system usually comes on a more expensive trim level or as part of an optional package.

If you frequently navigate stop-and-go traffic on the highway, adaptive cruise control can provide helpful relief from traffic fatigue. Like regular cruise control, it allows you to set a speed that the vehicle will maintain. In addition, adaptive cruise control can automatically slow your vehicle when it senses a slower vehicle ahead and then accelerate back up to your set speed when traffic is moving again. These systems allow you to set the following distance behind the vehicle in front as well.

Some versions of adaptive cruise can bring your vehicle to a complete stop, shrinking the following distance as speeds decrease. Adaptive cruise will then return your vehicle to a preset speed as traffic begins to move again. And it all happens without touching any pedals.

How to get it: Adaptive cruise is often standard equipment on many new vehicles, even inexpensive ones.

How many times have you backed out of a parking spot or driveway, unable to see if there’s a vehicle bearing down on you from the side? It’s a too common scenario that a rear cross-traffic warning system often solves brilliantly. Sensors at the back of the vehicle can sense what’s coming before you can and sound or display an alert warning that a vehicle is approaching.

These systems usually alert you soon enough that you’ll have time to press on the brake and stop. Some vehicles also can also automatically apply the brakes if the driver doesn’t react in time.

How to get it: Rear cross-traffic warning typically comes bundled with blind-spot warning because the two features rely on the same sensors and technology. The two features aren’t always standard equipment, however.

Edmunds editors find these features to be the most beneficial for adding a layer of protection without intruding obtrusively on the driving experience. It’s worth researching how to get these features on your next vehicle.

This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

Josh Jacquot is a contributor at Edmunds.

Zelenskyy's 'victory plan' includes a big hurdle for the West: NATO membership for Ukraine

2024-10-16 19:14 Last Updated At：19:20

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday his plan to win his country’s fight against Russia’s invasion could bring peace next year, but it contains a step that some crucial Western allies have so far refused to countenance: inviting Ukraine to join NATO before the war ends.

“If we start moving according to this victory plan now, it may be possible to end the war no later than next year,” Zelenskyy told his country’s Parliament.

He has recently been trying to win approval for the plan from Western partners, who so far have stopped short of publicly voicing their support for it.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was set to at least partially unveil a plan to win the war against Russia to his country's Parliament on Wednesday after weeks of dropping hints about the blueprint to lukewarm Western allies, including U.S. President Joe Biden.

The plan — comprising military, political, diplomatic and economic elements — is considered by many as Ukraine’s last resort to strengthen its hand in any future cease-fire negotiations with Russia. Thus far, however, no country has publicly endorsed it or commented on its feasibility.

Zelenskyy is keen to get the “victory plan” in place before a new U.S. president is sworn in next year, though Ukrainian officials say neither presidential candidate will necessarily improve Kyiv’s standing in the war.

Zelenskyy’s presentation to Parliament, announced on Monday by presidential adviser Serhii Leshchenko, comes during a bleak moment in Ukraine. The country’s military is suffering losses along the eastern front as Russian forces inch closer to a strategically significant victory near the crucial logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

At every turn, Kyiv is outnumbered by Moscow: The country is struggling to replenish ranks with an unpopular mobilization drive; its ammunition stocks are limited; and Russia’s superiority in the skies is wreaking havoc for Ukrainian defensive lines.

It’s not clear how much of his victory plan Zelenskyy will reveal on Wednesday; Leshchenko indicated that it would be fully unveiled, while other officials suggested that the president would not divulge its most sensitive elements to all lawmakers.

Either way, the plan essentially puts Kyiv’s future in the hands of its allies. Without it, any deal with Russia would almost certainly be unfavorable for Ukraine, which has lost a fifth of its territory and tens of thousands of lives in the conflict. Kyiv would be unlikely to ever recover occupied territory, or receive reparations for widespread destruction across the country.

Several elements of the plan have already come to light: making Ukraine a member of NATO; allowing the country to use Western long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia; providing resources to strengthen Ukraine's air and other defenses, and intensifying sanctions against Russia.

Ukraine's surprise military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August was also part of the plan, Zelenskyy told reporters. He said the 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of territory captured by Ukraine — along with other provisions of the plan — will likely serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Russia.

NATO’s Article 5 states that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all. Ukraine's inclusion in the alliance would deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading again, Ukrainian officials argue. Western leaders have so far been reluctant to guarantee an invitation, fearing escalation from Putin.

Ukrainian officials were expecting feedback from Western allies at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, during which defense leaders from 50-plus partner nations gather to coordinate weapons aid for the war. Scheduled for this past weekend, the summit was postponed after Biden canceled his attendance in response to Hurricane Milton in the U.S.

Zelenskyy has since toured Western capitals to present other key allies an outline of his vision. But none so far have given any indication they will support the plan. Some expressed concerns over the tight deadline set by Zelenskyy, who gave allies just three months to adopt the blueprint’s main tenets in late September.

Thus far, the U.S. has been Kyiv’s main backer during the two-and-a-half-year war. But Biden has balked at the request to use long-range weapons to strike specific targets inside Russia, fearing a possible escalation in the war. Meanwhile, an intensifying conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hezbollah that risks embroiling Iran has diverted Washington’s attention.

Many expect Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris to continue Biden’s policy and maintain the status quo. Under Biden, U.S. assistance to Kyiv, though substantial, has consistently arrived too late to make a significant difference for Ukrainian forces.

Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has only said that he’d end the war quickly, without saying how.

Meanwhile, Brazil and China have proposed alternate peace plans that Zelenskyy has rejected, saying they would merely pause the war and give Moscow time to consolidate its battered army and defense industry.

Follow AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine