This Week in Transportation News: 12 Stories You Need to See

A roundup of the week's most newsworthy auto and transport industry press releases from PR Newswire, including the rising cost of car insurance and the arrival of the VinFast VF 8 in the U.S.

NEW YORK, May 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the auto and transportation industries stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

1. The Apocalypse Super Truck Rescues The Boring Exotic Sportscar Market
   "With the Super Truck, we wanted to combine medieval, barbaric design, that is impossible to ignore, with the ferocity of the Hemi Hellcat engine," said Joseph Ghattas, owner, engineer and head designer of Apocalypse Manufacturing.
2. 40% of Insured Drivers in the U.S. Are Stressed About Affording Their Car Insurance "Our survey found that people are changing their behaviors, and sometimes even going so far as to take a major financial risk by driving completely uninsured," Andrew Hurst, licensed property and casualty insurance expert at Policygenius, said. "Car insurance is getting expensive for most people, but there are ways you can make your insurance more affordable."
3. VinFast VF 8 Vehicles Arrive in the U.S. - With Battery Ranges of Up To 264/243 Miles (Eco/Plus Trim)
   VinFast expects to begin deliveries of these VF 8 vehicles to U.S. customers in June of 2023. The VF 8 Eco and Plus model pricing will start at $46,000 and $51,800 respectively (battery inclusive), and have both lease and loan options.
4. Toyota Research Institute Invests Over $100M in Collaborative Research Program with U.S. Universities
   The program expanded during 2022 to include 21 university partners and 61 projects focused on energy and materials, human-centered artificial intelligence, human interactive driving, machine learning, and robotics.
5. Hyundai Motor and Sony Pictures Team Up for the Third Time with 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'
   The new animated movie will feature a flying version of Hyundai Motor's Prophecy concept EV, predecessor of the all-electric IONIQ 6 model, along with examples of the company's future mobility vision.
6. Boeing Publicly Launches "Cascade" to Support Aviation's Net Zero Goal
   Cascade examines the full life cycle of alternate energy sources for aviation – from production through distribution and use – and quantifies the ability to cut aviation's carbon emissions. Data modeling also measures airplane fleet renewal, operational efficiency, renewable energy sources, future aircraft and market-based measures as pathways to decarbonization.
7. World's Largest Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Completes Successful Year of Trials
   The proof-of-concept mining truck is a critical technology in heavy industry's efforts to reduce its reliance on diesel and other fossil fuels.
8. Edmunds Report Reveals Shrinking Selection, Fewer Affordable Options for Shoppers in the Used Vehicle Market
   "The good news is that used prices have softened enough in Q1 to offer some relief for consumers getting pushed out of the new market. The not-so-good news is that the used vehicle market continues to be challenging for car shoppers since there are fewer vehicles available and demand is keeping prices historically high," said Ivan Drury, Edmunds' director of insights.
9. More Power To You: PG&E and BMW of North America Start V2X Testing in California
   Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and BMW of North America (BMW) are collaborating to test how vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can serve as a solution to offset growing demand on the power grid, improve reliability for electric customers, and maximize the usage of renewable energy. In addition, V2X technology could eventually enable customers to use their vehicles as backup home generation when needed.
10. Ram Truck Introduces 2023 Ram 1500 Rebel Havoc Edition Available in extremely limited quantities, the 2023 Ram 1500 Havoc Edition offers a unique Baja Yellow exterior color, with black exterior accents and off-road focused interior content.
11. Lured by Lower Gas Prices, Americans Want to Travel This Summer, but Remain Cautious After a grueling summer at the pump last year, it's clear that Americans are tempted to get back out on the road. In fact, less than half of survey respondents (45%) said high gas prices were affecting their road trip plans this year – in 2022, that number was 70%.
12. Pratt & Whitney GTF™ Engines Power Breeze Airways' Longest Airbus A220 Flight
    Pratt & Whitney joined Breeze Airways in announcing the launch of the airline's longest nonstop route, a more than 2,250 nautical-mile, Airbus A220 flight powered by GTF engines between Rhode Island's T.F. Green International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

Read more of the latest auto- and transportation-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNtrnsp on Twitter.

Can't-Miss Earnings

In addition to these popular releases, several must-read earnings reports crossed the wire this week, including the quarterly results for Canoo Inc. and Innoviz Technologies.

Catch up on all the latest earnings reports here.

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