Would you like a little enjoyable news for driving this fall? Gas prices have fallen 15 cents per gallon in the last five weeks, and prices should continue to drop more. According to AAA, the cost of gas should fall because of lower crude costs, a slowdown in demand and a transition to cheaper cooler-weather gas blends. Let’s look at what to expect from the upcoming Fall 2019 gas prices.

What’s to Come?

According to the association, the average across the country should fall to $2.40. It currently is at about $2.60. Some states, especially in the South, may have prices dip below $2.00 a gallon.

Gas prices go up in the summer for several reasons.

The most common reason for gas prices to increase in the summer is that more people are traveling and taking vacations. This leads to increased demand, which will translate to higher per-gallon prices of gasoline. In recent years, travelers have learned to space out their vacations more, which helps to reduce the demand.

Gas prices go up during the summer months because of environmental regulations. In 1990, the U.S. government passed the Clean Air Act. The Environmental Protection Agency mandates specific gasoline blends during the summer. From April through September, only reformulated gasoline blends are allowed. These fuels are more expensive to produce. The cost is passed on to the customer, and gas prices go up.

This unique blend of fuel also results in lower mileage than winter blends. As a result, drivers buy more gas during the summer, increasing price.

Fall 2019 Gas Prices

After Labor Day, drivers can expect to see relief at the pump. The summer boost in gas prices will back down. More efficient winter blends will be available. All of this should lead to dropping gas prices in the fall of 2019. If you were going to rush out and buy a 2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid, you might not need to.

Volkswagen is finally changing its logo. This is the first major logo redesign for the car manufacturer since 2000. Let’s take a closer look at the new VW logo.

New VW Logo

The VW logo that has been in effect since 2000 is a blue, bulbous sign. Its new one will be a flat simplified black and white logo. The logo will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It has already debuted on a small scale and placed on prototype cars already. You can also see it in the VW Hello Light advertising campaign.

VW’s Hello Light campaign features a flat, matte finish. Still, the logos that are physically put on the cars are different. The black background has a glassy, almost mirror-like finish while the older logo has a three-dimensional surface. It also appears brighter on the top left portion of the sign.

The new logo that is coming out is two-dimensional. Its flat appearance seems to mimic technology companies’ logos, such as Apple. It also contains a thicker outer ring.

Logo Differences

You will notice some other differences among the VW logos. For example, the dealership logos will vary from those placed on the actual vehicles. Many dealerships continue to present the three-dimensional VW logo. However, the vehicles have the new black and white logo.

The first Volkswagen vehicle to fully roll out with the updated logo will be the upcoming VW MKVIII Golf.

Other automotive brands are redesigning their logos at the same time. The most noticeable company changing its logo, during the same time frame, is Lotus. They have a new flat design on theirs, as well.

Are you excited about all the new changes coming from Volkswagen? We particularly like their first convertible crossover, even though we won’t see it in the States.

Honda revealed that it has some new airbag technology coming down the pipeline. The Japanese automaker plans to protect vehicle occupants better in the 2020 Honda lineup. These baseball mitt airbags aim to reduce road fatalities. Let’s get a closer look at what the company plans to introduce.

What are Baseball Mitt Airbags?

In all fairness, the airbags aren’t actually called baseball mitts, that’s just what they look like. The Honda engineers worked on creating new safety technology to protect more lives. By minimizing the lateral force applied to a person’s head upon impact, this airbag provides more cushioning, especially if the head starts to rotate or slide off the protective pillow.

With a conventional airbag design, there is one inflatable section. In the newer version, four major parts make up the product. There are three inflated areas and one central chamber that has two side pockets. There’s also a sail panel, which stretches between the side compartments. This is the part that operates like a baseball mitt.

During a collision, the devices literally catch the head of a driver or passenger. It offers superior protection from the three sides and prevents sharp rotations. Otherwise, the person risks breaking their neck. For the most part, this new system should keep the head in place.

You can see this airbag in action with the following YouTube video.

What Do You Think about New Safety Tech?

We’ve seen a lot of innovations come and go, without preventing many injuries. Just look at the knee airbags! While this design seems like a great option, it’s going to require some time to be sure. In conjunction with some driver assistance systems, it appears that Honda is taking great strides to create safer vehicles. What are your thoughts? Would you pay more for safety equipment like these new airbags?

Are you a fan of the Lincoln Continental? If so, we have some news that might disappoint. It turns out that this long-standing model might be discontinued.

Death of the Lincoln Continental

It’s been a long time coming, especially with the poor full-size luxury sedan’s sales numbers. Still, we don’t have solid proof – yet.

Some Ford sources say the automaker plans to create a pair of battery-powered crossovers at the Flat Rock, Michigan facility. While this might not seem like a big deal, it is if you consider that’s where Ford now builds the Continental.

While this model sold more in December when the 80th Anniversary Edition with suicide doors were released, the sales continue to trail off.

What we think is going to happen is that Ford’s production will end in late 2021. Then, Flat Rock will be revamped to accommodate electric vehicles.

Future Ford Electric Vehicles

So, what about those electric models? They should be Ford and Lincoln crossovers, currently featuring the names CDX746 and CDX747. While Ford initially planned to build them in Mexico, they changed the destination to Flat Rock instead.

We expect that these vehicles will closely resemble the Lincoln Nautilus and Ford Edge. At first, the automaker plans to produce 65,000 a year.

Surprisingly, the Continental should continue to survive in China. While they could import them to America, we don’t think the sales volume or the trade war will make that possible.

So, who will take over in the luxury large car department? There are still plenty of contenders. According to U.S. News & World Report, five other cars currently rank higher than the Lincoln model. These include the Audi A7, Genesis G90, Kia K900, BMW 6-Series and the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class.

Does this news surprise you or were you expecting to hear this long-time model would eventually fall away?

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has awarded the 2019 Audi E-Tron as a Top Safety Pick+. The E-Tron is Audi’s first all-electric vehicle and it is the first electric vehicle to have won the IIHS honor.

2019 Audi E-Tron Crushes the Competition

We’ve told you about the 2019 E-Tron in our 2019 EV Lineup post. Some other cars from our listing have attempted to earn this prestigious honor and failed. Some of its competitors included the Tesla Model S and the Chevrolet Bolt.

The IIHS also rated the Audi E-Tron very high in the category of crashworthiness. This model comes standard with the unique E-Tron Pre-Sense Front automatic emergency braking system. This system avoided crashing at 25 mph and slowed down to just one mile an hour before crashing in the 12-mph test.

The E-Tron had somewhat of a rough start. The launch date occurred later than planned because of legal problems with Audi’s CEO. Then, a battery shortage pushed the launch date back even further. After the E-Tron was finally rolled out, there was a recall on many of the vehicles. This was caused by a risk of the vehicle catching on fire.

The Audi E-Tron is a luxury electric vehicle and only competes with a few other models in the space. Its main competitor is the Jaguar I-PACE. More competition is on the way in the near future, though. Both the Porsche Taycan and the Mercedes-Benz EQC electric SUV are two major rivals arriving soon.

What Do You Think?

This shows how important the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety results can be. The Audi E-Tron is number one in the category and stands alone at the top. Time will tell how the new competitors perform in the IIHS tests.

With these new results, would you be more apt to invest in the luxury electric Audi? This Audi starts at a price of $75,000 and features a range of almost 205 miles on a single charge.