Eric Tingwall Journalist Profile

Articles

How Scout Motors Plans to Deliver Both Modern Tech and Digital Detox-Simultaneously

Jan 14, 2025 | motortrend.com | Eric Tingwall

Can Scout Motors get right what so many experienced automakers keep getting wrong?The reborn American off-road brand thinks it can by taking a more balanced approach to touchscreens, connectivity, and in-vehicle technology in the Scout Terra pickup and the Scout Traveler SUV. At CES 2025, Dré Nitze-Nelson, director of UX and UI at Scout, gave MotorTrend a preview of the infotainment system called Community UX that will ultimately end up in the Terra and Traveler.
There’s Now an App Store for Automotive Software. Here’s Why That Matters.

Jan 10, 2025 | motortrend.com | Eric Tingwall

If you’re a procurement specialist looking for software to run a new car’s park assist, voice commands, or chassis controls, there’s now an app store for that. SDVerse, a vehicle software marketplace for automakers and suppliers, launched this past September and is already changing how the code in cars is sold and bought.
The Case of the Missing Gauges

Jan 9, 2025 | motortrend.com | Eric Tingwall

On Friday, October 11, Motortrend technical director Frank Markus started our long-term Kia EV9 and found himself facing a black screen. The Kia’s 12.3-inch infotainment screen booted normally, but the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster flanking it only showed the selected gear. He shut the car off, got out, locked the doors, then tried again. Still nothing. That meant no speedometer, no blind-spot cameras, no turn signal indicators, and no odometer, among other telltales and driving information.
MotorTrend Announces Winners of the 2025 Software-Defined Vehicle Innovator Awards

Jan 7, 2025 | motortrend.com | Eric Tingwall

While EVs and autonomous cars earn all the headlines, software-defined vehicles are quietly revolutionizing how we move around the world with relatively little fanfare. Cars with fewer but more powerful computers running cutting-edge software are changing every interaction we have with our vehicles—from unlocking and starting them to steering and braking them.
The Wild, Lamborghini-Shaped Honda 0 Saloon Is Coming to U.S. Roads

Jan 7, 2025 | motortrend.com | Eric Tingwall

When a Honda prototype shows up on a stage, you don’t even have to squint to see the production version that will soon reach dealers. The radical Honda 0 Saloon prototype pictured here and shown at CES 2025 will be mingling with Accords, Civics, and CR-Vs in less than 18 months looking pretty much exactly as you see it here.
The Honda 0 SUV Prototype Hits Reset on Honda’s Midsize EV for the Masses

Jan 7, 2025 | motortrend.com | Eric Tingwall

At last year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Honda showed off two futuristic concept cars, the wedge-tastic 0 Saloon and the Space Hub van with a lounge-like interior. While the radical Saloon morphs into a prototype and moves closer to production at CES 2025, the Space Hub has been kicked off stage to make room for the Honda 0 SUV prototype, a much more conventional EV aimed at the crossover-crazy masses.
Mercedes-Benz’ solar paint could make plugging in EVs a thing of the past

Dec 9, 2024 | tennessean.com | Eric Tingwall

Eric TingwallMotorTrendIt sounds like an idea straight out of a five-year-old’s imagination: A car covered in solar panels runs entirely on energy from the sun. As far-fetched as it seems, this isn’t pure fantasy. Mercedes-Benz says it’s developing a solar paint that would allow electric vehicle owners in places like Los Angeles to power their daily driving without ever plugging in.
Why did our first Kia EV9 service cost $322? Aren't EVs cheaper to maintain?

Dec 8, 2024 | tennessean.com | Eric Tingwall

Eric TingwallMotorTrendThe list of benefits to driving an EV is long. There’s the effortless torque, the smooth power delivery, the calm highway experience, the convenience of home charging, the reduced carbon emissions and the smug satisfaction that your pop-out door handles are so much cooler than those old-fashioned flappy things on most gas cars.
$100,000 Luxe Truck Duel

Dec 6, 2024 | motortrend.com | Eric Tingwall

Call us old-fashioned, but At MotorTrend we still believe a $100,000 vehicle should look and feel luxurious. It’s almost a radical idea in 2024, especially when it comes to electric pickups, where spending nearly six figures can buy what appears to be a $70,000 truck with $30,000 in batteries. The pickups in this comparison test are as close as it gets to a $100K truck that actually looks the part.
Why Did Our Kia EV9’s First Service Cost $322?

Dec 2, 2024 | motortrend.com | Eric Tingwall

The list of benefits to driving an EV is long. There’s the effortless torque, the smooth power delivery, the calm highway experience, the convenience of home charging, the reduced carbon emissions, and the smug satisfaction that your pop-out door handles are so much cooler than those old-fashioned flappy things on most gas cars.