Automotive News Canada - September 2020 - 27

FINAL ASSEMBLY

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* S E P T E M B E R 2020

09.20

LETTING LOOSE A BIT ON THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF AUTOMOTIVE

Kia has it covered
Face shields for
health workers
in Canada, that is

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
isn't in Kia Canada's rearview
mirror, yet.
On Aug. 25, the automaker

pledged 60,000 medical-grade
face shields to the Public
Health Agency of Canada.
While they will be produced
in a retooled section of Kia
Motors' manufacturing plant
in West Point, Ga., the face
shields will be allocated to
Canadian health care workers and dispersed equitably to

provinces and territories by
the government agency, the
automaker said.
The donation is an extension of Kia Canada's "Power To
Give" COVID-19 relief efforts.
"We are committed to giving
back to the communities that
we're so proud to call home,
and we're grateful to the Kia
family that we're able to provide support with these protective face shields," Kia Canada
COO Elias El-Achhab said in a
statement. - ANC

Kia has pledged to donate 60,000 face shields for the Public
Health Agency of Canada. They will come from a retooled
section of a plant in Georgia. P H O T O : K I A

Duck redux
for Cadillac

An electric Nissan Micra
is sniffing the air in the
Toronto area.
PHOTO: SCENTROID

When an Ontario food bank needed
transportation for donations, a Honda
Civic delivered ... and it delivered.

Quack is back, found on
the side of the Lyriq EV's
instrument panel

P H O T O : N O R T H B AY F O O D B A N K

Doing their
Civic duty

The car was intended to
help out with deliveries,
but then the pandemic hit
A HONDA CIVIC DONATED TO
the North Bay Food Bank in North
Bay, Ont., found itself pulling more
than its weight during the height of
COVID-19.
The original purpose of the car, a
gift from Northern Honda in North
Bay, was to make scheduled deliveries and pickups within the community.
But when the pandemic struck, the car
became a critical tool.
"When we were getting a lot more
donations that could be picked up, it
helped," Debbie Marson, executive
director of the North Bay Food Bank,
told BayToday.com. "It was also great
for the home deliveries we were doing
along with the [City of North Bay], so
people would be able to stay home and
stay safe."
Said Northern Honda Dealer
Principal David Barber: "We're so
happy that our donated Civic made
a difference, especially during the
height of the COVID situation. We
already know it saved the food bank
money, since they didn't have to
reimburse staff or volunteers for
vehicle usage anymore.
"But to hear that it made a difference in people's lives when the COVID
situation was at its worst - that makes
us truly happy and humble." - ANC

UNDER THE MICRA-SCOPE
Nissan EV scans
the skies for pollution

AN ELECTRIC NISSAN MICRA IS
being used to help monitor air quality
in the Toronto area.
Scentroid, an Ontario-based manufacturer of air-quality and odour-monitoring equipment, has begun selling a
scanner that measures pollution.
The device, called the Urban
Scanner, was developed in partnership with the University of Toronto
department of civil and mineral
research. It provides detailed information within urban landscapes by using
data such as air-pollution concentration, a 3D map of the city, traffic conditions and micro weather patterns.
The data is collected using a weatherproof device installed on the roof of
the Micra.
Scentroid, a division of IDES
Canada Inc., contacted Marianne

SAY WHAT?

'I don't chase mice when
I'm hunting elephants.'
In a story in automotivenews.ca, Unifor
President Jerry Dias responds to
members petitioning the union to make
tentative agreements public before a
ratification vote.

Hatzopoulou, an associate professor
in the U of T's department of civil and
mineral research, to develop the product. Hatzopoulou's research expertise
is mobile sensing.
Scentroid was building air-pollution sensors and that led to the design
of the prototype that became the
Urban Scanner.
In late August, Hatzopoulou and
her team began doing more comprehensive research in Toronto with a
bulkier version of the scanner. The
device is mounted on a Micra, which
her department purchased because
Hatzopoulou wanted to use an electric-powered vehicle to minimize
pollution. The back seats have been
removed to incorporate a large computer used in data collection, along
with a secondary battery to power the
system without draining the car battery.
Parallel testing is also being done
in Montreal by McGill University.
- ANC

GENERAL MOTORS' LUXURY
brand is getting its ducks in a row
as it prepares to create a fully electric lineup within the next decade.
The Lyriq, a midsize crossover unveiled in August, features
a return of the ducks, which the
brand dropped from its logo 20
years ago.
The birds - officially, they're
merlettes - appear on the sides of
the Lyriq's instrument panel, visible when either of the front doors
is open.
For decades, two trios of merlettes swam in the golden stripes
of the Cadillac crest. They're
knightly symbols of the Crusades
and stemmed from the family crest of Antoine de la Mothe
Cadillac.
The Cadillac brand dropped the
merlettes from the badges in 2000.
A recent modification retired the
wreath surrounding the crest.
The Lyriq, which will be
Cadillac's first EV when production begins in 2022, doesn't bring
the merlettes back as part of the
crest. In a video shown during the
Lyriq reveal, three of them can
be briefly seen inside a series of
rectangles next to a glowing crest.
Although they're hidden in a
spot that many owners might not
notice, the birds are an homage to
the brand's past. - ANC

If it looks like a duck - a
merlette, actually - then it's
likely a Cadillac Lyriq.
PHOTO: CADILLAC

THIS NUMBER

$116,240

The starting price of the 2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat, which
delivers 710 horsepower and has a top speed of 290 km/h.

http://www.BayToday.com http://www.automotivenews.ca

Automotive News Canada - September 2020

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