Soon, a lot more electric vehicles will be on Florida roads. Jeff Brandes wants the state to get ready. At least seven electric cars are coming to market by 2020, according to Business Insider, with several considered to be relatively affordable. That will make a total of 39 different models of plug-in electric hybrid vehicles and 44 models of EV’s operating in North America.
Sen. Jeff Brandes said he plans to continue his push for criminal justice reform, advancing a multi-year process to take a closer look at the state’s criminal justice system. Brandes, who has made criminal justice reform a top priority, was in Washington, D.C. last week for the Right on Crime annual summit. The conservative-leaning organization has been working on criminal justice issues in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Brandes said the key takeaway from the summit was that “many states are…
The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) proudly unveiled its sleek new Tesla Model X SUV’s at a news conference last week at the University of South Florida. While the futuristic-styled vehicles were a hit with many, the design led one Tampa City Council member to wonder: “What happens when it rains?” The cars, equipped with articulating rear doors, have become a central part of HART’s HyperLINK first-mile, last-mile service now available in the University area. One of its vehicles’ more original…
Tesla engineers told members of a Senate committee they are looking into the role cameras and radar played in the fatal crash of a Model S using self-driving mode, according to two people familiar with a meeting held Thursday. The engineers have two main theories, the people said. Either the car’s cameras and radar failed to spot a crossing tractor-trailer. Or the cameras didn’t see the rig and the car’s computer thought the radar signal was false, possibly from an…
Transportation is undergoing a “profound change” with an uncertain future that requires officials to be open to as many options as possible, state Sen. Jeff Brandes told a Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority Committee on Monday. “This is as profound as it was a hundred years ago when we were transitioning from horse and buggy to the Model T,” Brandes said. “The best thing we can do is open ourselves to as many options as we can … [to] maximizing our…
A day after state Sen. Jeff Brandes chaired a committee that spent half its time receiving a presentation on the laurels of electric cars, the St. Petersburg Republican took six groups of reporters and legislators for a demonstration spin around the Capitol in a brand new Tesla on Thursday. The Transportation Committee chairman led an exposition sponsored by Drive Electric Florida, a consortium of environmental, energy and automotive interests looking to expand the role of electric vehicles in the state’s transportation. “It’s…
The office has all the trappings of a high-tech startup. There’s a giant beanbag in the foyer and erasable, white board walls for brainstorming. Someone’s pet dog lounges happily on the sunny balcony. Welcome to the Palo Alto home of the Ford Motor Co., six miles from the headquarters of Google. Meanwhile, in a squat, industrial building in suburban Detroit, a short drive from Ford’s headquarters, workers are busy building a small fleet of driverless cars. The company behind them?…
