GEM’s new app shows every road in a city where you can drive a low-speed vehicle
GEM, a low-speed vehicle (LSV) manufacturer in Anaheim, California, has just released a new app to make it even easier to use those small vehicles. The GEM Go app shows users a map of all roads in their area and highlights the streets with posted speed limits of 35 mph (56 km/h) or lower.
Low-speed vehicles (LSVs) are a federally regulated class of motor vehicles in the US. They often look like micro-cars or golf carts, but must meet a certain set of safety requirements that go above and beyond golf cart regulations.
LSVs that meet those requirements are allowed to travel at speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h) and are allowed to operate on roads with speed limits of 35 mph (56 km/h) or lower.
GEM’s new app is designed to make it even easier to plan trips and determine which roads are accessible by LSVs.
Some areas have a limited number of roads with speed limits of 35 mph or lower. In other areas, like apparently Venice in Los Angeles (as seen in the app example below), pretty much any asphalt you can find is fair game.
GEM Go is a free web-based, mobile-friendly, interactive mapping app available at go.GEMcar.com. It is designed to be easy to use anywhere, even on your phone when heading out for a trip.
It of course works for planning trips with any LSV, not just GEM’s vehicles, and cyclists may even find it handy in a pinch to help avoid faster roads that are less friendly to bikes.
Playing around with it myself, it’s apparent just how much of the US is accessible by low-speed vehicles. Every city I look at is covered by a sprawling network of blue lines, showing me everywhere I can legally drive an LSV.
In fact, more than half of the roadways in the US have speed limits below 35 mph, and that number is actually growing as cities make the responsible decision to reduce speed limits for the safety of all road users. Washington, D.C., for example, has a default speed limit of 20 mph (32 km/h). LSVs can thus reach any part of the city. Heck, they could get a speeding ticket if a cop is having a bad day.
The CEO of GEM’s parent company Waev, Keith Simon, explained that he hopes the availability of the app will help encourage more people to use LSVs around the country:
GEM has been leading the charge in LSVs for more than 25 years. We created the GEM Go mapping app to help current and future GEM owners understand the breadth of places LSVs can actually operate – it’s eye-opening and we expect it will drive even greater adoption of LSVs across the country.
The number of LSVs on US roads is growing, even if they remain a small minority of total motor vehicles in use. There’s been a push toward smaller vehicles in many cities, with golf carts getting their own boost. Unlike golf carts though, which aren’t street legal outside of a few specific cities that have passed golf cart ordinances, LSVs contain more federally regulated safety features and are street legal almost everywhere.
Their safety can’t be compared to that of typical passenger cars that are rated for highway use, but their intended use in lower speed environments around slower moving traffic means that they usually don’t face the same collision risks faced by larger cars.
Simon believes that LSV numbers will continue to grow in the US, explaining:
Although we have an extensive installed base with GEM, it represents a very small fraction of what LSVs can become in the market when you keep breaking down the barriers like the lack of understanding of where GEM vehicles can be driven. With our recent launch of the all new MY24 GEM and now GEM Go we are on the leading edge of driving the LSV category forward.
Electrek’s Take
Anyone who knows me will already know I’m one of the biggest proponents of LSVs out there. Heck, google “LSV” and you’ll probably find that half the bylines are mine.
And so I love the idea of this new app to make it even easier and safer to find LSV-appropriate roads. If it actually mapped a journey for you, that’d be even better. But knowledge is half the battle and so even just showing you all of the roads you can use is a great asset.
As someone who loves LSVs and advocates for them, I can already tell you that the biggest argument against these handy vehicles is the misconception that they aren’t safe. You’ll certainly find people in the comments section below this article saying that a 25 mph vehicle shouldn’t be on a 35 mph road (they inevitably didn’t read this far). And I understand that sentiment – trust me, I do. I use LSVs all the time and I get it.
When I’m doing 25 mph on a 35 mph road with other cars doing 45 mph around me, it’s…. less than ideal. So I don’t do it very often (crossing the Brooklyn Bridge above was a rare example for me). While LSVs can legally be on 35 mph roads, I like to stick to even slower roads when possible. But so many cities these days have safer, slower speed limits. Washington, DC, defaults to 20 mph. Boston, New York City, Seattle, and many other major cities default to 25 mph citywide speed limits. It’s easier than ever to get somewhere in an LSV, and that is only improving.
And if I may say so from my own experience, it’s also more fun to go somewhere in an LSV. It’s novel and creates a more engaging experience. It’s simply fun.
Sure, you’ve got some of the same downsides of cars, such as often being stuck in traffic and not getting the same kind of exercise I get on my e-bikes. But I can also travel with more people, carry more things, have lockable storage, and have a roof over my head keeping me dry (and use the air conditioning in some models). Plus, I’m arguably a bit safer than if I was hit by a car driver while riding my e-bikes. So even though it has some downsides, LSVs are just a lot of fun to use, cost less than “real” cars and take up less space in a city. So anything that makes them even easier to use is a good thing in my book.
Now just don’t ask me to talk about my opinion on increasing the federal speed limit for LSVs. That’s another article for another day.
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Those $30,000 EVs are “right around the corner,” Ford’s CEO Jim Farley promises. Ford is now testing vehicles with sourcing 95% complete.
When will Ford’s $30,000 EVs be available?
Although Farley warned that EV adoption will only be about 5% of the US market in the near term, Ford sees an opportunity with more affordable electric cars.
Ford is “well-positioned” to navigate the recent US policy changes, including the loss of the $7,500 EV tax credit, Farley explained during the company’s third-quarter earnings call.
The cornerstone of its growth plans is the new Ford Universal EV Platform, a low-cost, flexible architecture that will unlock a new family of electric cars priced around $30,000. Despite scaling back EV plans, including cancelling its three-row electric SUV, Ford is doubling down on affordable EVs.
Farley confirmed during the call that EVs starting at around $30,000 are “not a distant plan,” adding that they are “right around the corner” at Ford.
The company is now testing vehicles, and sourcing is 95% complete. By the end of this year, Ford will begin installing equipment at its Louisville Assembly plant, where the new vehicles will be assembled. It’s also on track to start producing LFP battery cells in Michigan, which will be key to lowering costs.
Farley’s comments come as Ford’s EV sales plummeted in October following the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit.
Ford sold just over 4,700 electric vehicles in the US in October, 25% fewer than a year ago. Meanwhile, Ford halted production of the F-150 Lightning at its Rouge EV Center to focus on gas and hybrid models.
After reporting Q3 earnings last week, Ford said, “F-150 Lightning assembly at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center will remain paused.” The move comes after a fire at a supplier plant in New York disrupted aluminum supply, which Ford relies on for its F-Series pickups.
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A major Tesla shareholder announced that they are voting against Elon Musk’s CEO compensation package, but the odds are still in his favor.
As we have been extensively reporting over the last few weeks, Tesla shareholders are set to vote on a new compensation package for Elon Musk worth up to $1 trillion.
The package is highly controversial. On one hand, the board, Musk, and his fans are presenting it as an “all or nothing” situation on which the “future of Tesla”, or even “the world” (actual quote from Musk) hangs in the balance.
The CEO has threatened to quit if he doesn’t get the package, which he claims is mainly about increasing his stake and control over Tesla as the automaker continues to develop AI technology, which he claims to fear in the wrong hands.
On the other hand, critics point to Musk getting more stock options than all other Tesla employees combined, despite being a part-time CEO for the better part of the last 3 years.
Furthermore, there are issues with the way the package is structured, which could lead to Musk banking tens of billions of dollars worth of options without delivering any major advancements at Tesla.
Now, Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway’s massive sovereign-wealth fund, has pronounced itself on the compensation package as a shareholder.
They are firmly against it:
“While we appreciate the significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary role, we are concerned about the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk — consistent with our views on executive compensation.”
As of the last disclosure, the fund owns over 1% of Tesla’s stock, making it one of the most significant shareholders.
California Public Employees’ Retirement System, branded as CalPERS, also announced that it is voting against Musk’s pay package, citing reasons very similar to Norges’. The fund holds approximately 5 million shares of Tesla stock.
On the other hand, Baron Capital Management also pronounced itself on the pay package at the same time as the Norwegian fund. Unsurprisingly, given Ron Baron’s long-time support for Musk, Baron sided with Musk.
But his fund is much smaller and reportedly holds approximately 0.4% of Tesla.
The vote will be final at Tesla’s annual shareholders meeting on November 6th.
Prediction market Polymarket currently puts the odds of the package passing at 93% with $66,000 in trading volume:
Electrek’s Take
Institutional shareholders are going to make or break the vote for Musk. We know insiders and retail investors are going to vote for the package, since if you fall within either of those categories at this point, you are probably a fan.
But the institutional shareholders have other people to answer to, and they need to justify their votes.
“I like Elon and I believe in his ridiculous predictions about AI and robots” is just not enough. The proxy firms that advise those institutional shareholders have already pronounced themselves against, but the question remains: how many of them will follow the advice?
For now, it looks quite split, which would point to a yes passing as long as there’s a strong 90% yes turnout from retail shareholders, which appears to be the case.
After November 6th, Elon Musk will own Tesla forever. For better or worse.
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Environment
Kia’s gearing up for a big year with new electric and hybrid vehicles: Here’s what’s coming
Kia is set to launch a slate of new electric and hybrid vehicles over the next year as it looks to boost its presence in the US, European, and other global markets.
Kia preps for new electric and hybrid vehicles
Get ready to see more Kia models on the road over the next few years. The South Korean automaker plans to introduce five new or refreshed flagship models in 2026.
For the first time since it hit the market in 2019, the Seltos, one of Kia’s most popular vehicles, is getting a complete redesign.
The new Kia Seltos will be offered as a hybrid for the first time. It will launch in Korea first in 2026 alongside a partially refreshed Niro, before rolling out globally.
In the US, Kia plans to navigate the new tariffs and policy changes by boosting local production of its most popular SUVs. The Telluride, Kia’s largest SUV, is getting an overhaul, which will also include a hybrid version for the first time.
Kia America’s vice president, Eric Watson, confirmed the second-gen Telluride debut at the LA Auto Show later this month.
Although like nearly all automakers, Kia’s EV sales plummeted in October after the federal tax credit expired. Kia sold just 666 units of its three-row EV9 SUV and 508 EV6 models in the US last month.
Despite this, Watson said that “Kia’s future remains very bright, and the brand will continue to grow” as it enters the holiday sales season and into 2026. Even with slower EV sales, Kia is still on track for its third straight record sales year in the US.
While Kia focuses on SUVs and hybrids, it’s delaying the EV4 electric sedan “until further notice.” Kia said the change is because “market conditions for EVs have changed.”
Kia has even bigger plans in Europe. Early next year, Kia is launching its new entry-level electric car, the EV2. The Kia EV2 is expected to be a cornerstone of Kia’s growth plans, priced under €30,000 ($35,000).
It will sit below the EV3, which is already the most popular retail EV in the UK and among the best-sellers in Europe.
Kia also plans to launch an electric version of the Siros SUV in India as it aims to play a bigger role in the global auto market.
And these are just the new vehicles Kia is launching in 2026. The Korean automaker has already introduced a wave of new models this year across key markets, such as the EV5, a midsize EV SUV, and the PV5, its first electric van.
Source: Newsis, Kia
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