Bill passes allowing darker tints on vehicles
'The legislature finds that darker tints on car windows have a measurable impact on reducing heat trapped in a car's interior, ' House Bill 226 says. It also finds 'the current light transmittance limit of 35 % for glazing on car windows is inadequate to address the increased temperatures caused by climate change.'
The bill awaits Gov. Josh Green's signature and, if signed into law, will bring equity to sedan owners who will be allowed to tint their car windows with the same degree of light transmission levels as other vehicles.
But the bill also ensures a measure of safety for law enforcement officers since it will require all drivers and passengers of vehicles with applied tinted windows to roll down their windows during traffic stops, with certain exceptions.
The bill also raises fines for violators of the law for both vehicle owners and installers of any tinting, which violates the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards 205.
It also adds new language to include any sun screening device 'with mirrored or high reflective finishes that produce red, yellow, amber, or blue appearance as viewed from the exterior of the motor vehicle.'
'For too long, sedans have been unfairly left out while trucks, vans, and SUVs benefit from factory tint exemptions, Rep. Darius Kila (D-Honokai Hale, Nanakuli, Maili ), who authored House Bill 226 CD1, said in a news release. 'This is about bringing our laws into the 21st century.'
Kila thanked the state Department of Transportation, county law enforcement agencies and local tinting professionals for 'their honest input and collaboration over the last three years. Together we crafted a comprehensive overhaul that's fairer, safer and more enforcable.'
T &T Tinting founder Tommy Silva, who has long advocated for fair tint laws, said : 'By removing outdated distinctions, this law ensures equal treatment for all drivers and better sun protection—something that's critical in our climate.'
Silva helped draft the 1983 law, said T &T Tinting CEO Kyle Horimoto, who was consulted in drafting HB 226.
Horimoto said the bill does not change the portion of the current law that keeps the front windshield of all vehicles at 70 % light transmission, virtually clear, and driver and front passenger windows at no less than 35 %, plus or minus 6 % (the lower the percentage, the darker ).
Under existing Hawaii law, darker tints are allowed as low as 5 % light transmission on rear windshields and rear passenger windows of trucks, SUVs and vans, and they can come from the manufacturer at 20 % light transmission, he said.
The new bill aligns with the laws in most sunbelt states, Horimoto said, adding many military member customers have had to remove the tinting on their cars when they move to Hawaii.
The tinting can reduce heat inside a vehicle by 15 % to 20 %, offers glare reduction, privacy and more security for items on rear seats, Horimoto said.
Although the darker tint may make it more difficult to see through the windows when reversing, most newer vehicles come equipped with safety features such as backup cameras, Horimoto said.
However, the new law will require that if rear windows are tinted darker, drivers and passengers will have to roll their windows down to allow officers to see inside the vehicles.
'It's a good compromise, ' Horimoto said of the bill.
Maj. James Slayter, Honolulu Police Department Traffic Division commander, said : 'We support the passage of HB 226, which strikes a balance between public safety and officer safety.
'This measure helps ensure that officers can better assess potential threats during traffic stops, while still preserving adequate visibility for drivers, ' he said.
The legislation will update penalties : 1 ) Drivers with illegal tint may face fines from $300 to $550, (up from $250 to $500 ); 2 ) Installers applying noncompliant tint may be fined from $700 to $1, 200, (up from $500 to $1, 000 ), and must replace the tint or reimburse the vehicle owner.
The bill requires tint installers to issue a compliance certificate at the time of installation, and drivers to keep the certificate in their vehicle as proof of legal tint.
Failure to produce this certificate may result in enforcement actions.
Kila said that for vehicles that have had tinting done previously, a safety check would serve as a compliance certificate, according to the DOT.
State DOT Director Ed Sniffen said the bill 'will ensure that vehicle window tint standards are applied and enforced fairly and consistently while increasing safety for our law enforcement officers during traffic stops.'
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21 hours ago
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Ford's 'Model T moment' leaves analysts wanting more, calling it a risk
When Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley took the stage at the company's Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky on Aug. 11, he referenced company founder Henry Ford and the Model-T car multiple times. After all, he had promised Wall Street analysts last month that the Aug. 11 announcement would be a "Model-T moment." Farley's big news was that Ford had innovated a new electric vehicle manufacturing process and a new EV platform, both of which will allow the automaker to more efficiently bring several lower-cost EVs to market. Farley said the first EV to come from these new innovations would be a midsize, four-door electric pickup that starts at $30,000 and is due to launch in 2027. Ford is investing $2 billion in the Louisville plant to retool it starting later this year to adopt the Ford Universal EV Production System to make the pickup, which Ford believes will be profitable within 12 months of its launch. It's what Ford needs given it loses about $1 billion a quarter on its EV sales now. That new process will transform the traditional assembly line into an 'assembly tree." So instead of one long conveyor, there will be three sub-assemblies that run down their own lines simultaneously and then join together. It's meant to reduce the use of parts, speed up assembly, add efficiency and be easier on workers' bodies — and Ford said it's never been done before. "We're taking a risk," Farley said, noting there are no guarantees that the new system will work out. Still, he said, 'we're taking the fight to the competition including the Chinese, with our teams across the United States: designers in California, engineers from Michigan, American workers right here in Louisville. For too long, legacy automakers played it safe." Wall Street shrugs Ford's innovation is noteworthy, analysts said, but it fell short of a Model-T comparison, many said. 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"Ford is not the first to adopt this type of overall vehicle architecture with large scale castings for the front and rear structures and a structural battery pack that forms the floor," Abuelsamid said, describing Ford's new Universal Production System and Universal EV platform. Abuelsamid, who is trained as a mechanical engineer, said those castings and battery pack flooring were first used by Tesla for Model Ys a few years ago with the 4680 battery pack, a lithium-ion battery developed by Tesla. It has since be adopted by numerous Chinese EV makers, including the Xpeng G6, Abuelsamid said. "Ford hasn't yet revealed many details of their specific assembly process or other aspects of the vehicle so we can't really judge how much more advanced they are, if at all," he said. Ford leaders told reporters that their focus is on efficiency and they will have better efficiency than anyone else out there using similar processes. Doug Field, Ford's chief EV, digital and design officer, drew on the Model-T comparison to tell reporters that the Universal Production and Platforms will deliver affordability and be sustainable similar to how the Model-T served Ford. To make these new processes work, Ford had to make a lot of new investments. For example, the unicasting process, which produces a giant piece of aluminum, came from new machines Ford purchased. But Field said by building a vehicle using the unicasting process, it reduces the need for parts. That means in the upcoming midsize electric pickup, Ford was able to remove 4,000 feet of electrical wiring from previous generation EVs using the new Universal Production process, Field said. "When we now build this in the tree, with the three pieces and bring them together, everything is going to change," Field told the plant assembly line workers in Louisville. "If we can pull this off, you'll never put an instrument panel or a seat through a door opening again. This way of building a vehicle, we're confident, is the first time anyone's done this anywhere in the world.' A return on investment is years out Morningstar autos analyst David Whiston said the proof remains to be seen as to whether this announcement really does equate to a Model-T moment. "If it ends up being a platform that restarts mass interest in EVs, then yes," Whiston told the Detroit Free Press. "Hard to get excited about a vehicle you can't see yet though. The manufacturing techniques suggest a way to be competitive with Chinese EV firms, which is critical to compete with them." Farley has long benchmarked the Chinese automakers, viewing them as offering top-notch technology at affordable prices that Ford will need to beat if it is to survive another 122 years. As the Free Press reported, Farley started taking his leadership team to Shanghai and other big markets in China a couple times a year starting about two years ago. 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Field said Ford took a new approach, starting small with a handpicked team of the best people inside and outside of Ford who were "dying for a chance to challenge convention." "We ran the team differently," Field said. "It had a fraction of the typical oversight and much lower numbers of people. We didn't allow people who needed to be managed on the program. We wanted leaders." Every member was expected to understand how their work affected the entire project and to prioritize the total cost and the way the EV would be built. "One of our mantras was: 'The best part is no part,' " Field said. "So we locked the doors, we kept the project secret to shield it from well-intended, but sometimes disruptive corporate oversight. Even Jim (Farley) would joke that he wasn't sure his badge worked on the building.' Field said the team had access to everything that Ford offers, and the team had permission to question everything. 'To ensure focus we also made sure the entire team was in one building in California. The designers, the aerodynamicists, the people doing the manufacturing work and decisions were made really quickly," Field said. "We wouldn't have gotten this far with this much innovation otherwise.' He said the efficiency they came up with in the new EV platform and process will allow Ford to get the same range on EVs, but with one-third less battery, which is "the kind of ingenuity that Ford needs to compete with the Chinese." 'Are we going to compete on labor to make batteries, no?" Field said. "But if we use our brains to have a third smaller battery, we can compete.' Ford will start making the batteries for this new EV at its BlueOval Battery Park in Marshall, Michigan, next year. More: Ford has spent 18 months trying to fix quality problem that's costing company billions Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford's 'Model T moment' leaves analysts wanting more, calling it a risk Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Ford hits the pedal on EV production with $2 billion overhaul of Kentucky plant
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ford Motor Co. will invest nearly $2 billion retooling a Kentucky factory to produce electric vehicles that it says will be more affordable, more profitable to build, and will outcompete rival models. The automaker's top executive unveiled the new EV strategy at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant which, after producing gas-powered vehicles for 70 years, will be converted to manufacture electric vehicles. 'In our careers, as automobile people we're lucky if we get to work on one, maybe two, projects that really change the face of our industry,' CEO Jim Farley told plant workers in Kentucky on Monday. 'And I believe today is going to light the match as one of those projects for all of us here.' The Big Detroit automakers have continued to transition from internal combustion engines to EV technology even as President Donald Trump's administration unwinds incentives for automakers to go electric. Trump's massive tax and spending law targets EV incentives, including the imminent removal of a credit that saves buyers up to $7,500 on a new electric car. Yet Farley and other top executives in the auto industry say that electric vehicles are the future and there is no going back. The first EV to roll off the revamped Louisville assembly line will be a midsize, four-door electric pickup truck in 2027 for domestic and international markets, the company said Monday. The new electric trucks will be powered by lower-cost batteries made at a Ford factory in Michigan. The Detroit automaker previously announced a $3 billion investment to build the battery factory. The automaker sees this as a 'Model T moment' for its EV business — a reference to revolutionary changes on the production line led by the company's founder, Henry Ford, when it began churning out vehicles from a factory more than a century ago. Farley said the changes will will upend how electric vehicles are made in the U.S. 'It represents the most radical change on how we design and how we build vehicles at Ford since the Model-T,' Farley said. The company said it will use a universal platform and production system for its EVs, essentially the underpinning of a vehicle that can be applied across a wide range of models. The Louisville factory — one of two Ford assembly plants in Kentucky's largest city — will be revamped to cut production costs and make assembly time faster as it's prepared to churn out electric vehicles. The result will be 'an affordable electric vehicle that we expect to be profitable,' Farley said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the announcement. 'This is an example of us rejuvenating our U.S. plants with the most modern manufacturing techniques.' The new platform enables a lineup of affordable vehicles to be produced at scale, Ford said. It will reduce parts by 20% versus a typical vehicle, with 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer workstations dock-to-dock in the plant and a 15% faster assembly time, Ford said. The traditional assembly line will be transformed into an 'assembly tree' at the Louisville plant, it said. Instead of one long conveyor, three sub-assembly lines will operate simultaneously and then join together, it said. Other specifications for the midsize electric truck – including its reveal date, starting price, EPA-estimated battery range, battery sizes and charge times — will be announced later, the company said. Ford revealed in its release that the truck will have a targeted starting price of about $30,000. Ford said its investment in the Louisville plant will secure 2,200 hourly jobs. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that the automaker's plans for the Louisville plant will strengthen a more than century-old partnership between Ford and the Bluegrass State. 'This announcement not only represents one of the largest investments on record in our state, it also boosts Kentucky's position at the center of EV-related innovation and solidifies Louisville Assembly Plant as an important part of Ford's future,' Beshear said. Ford said its combined investment of about $5 billion at the Kentucky assembly plant and Michigan battery plant is expected to create or secure nearly 4,000 direct jobs between the two plants while strengthening the domestic supply chain with dozens of new U.S.-based suppliers. Ford previously forecast weaker earnings growth for this year and further losses in its electric vehicles business as it works to control costs. Model e, Ford's electric vehicle business, posted a full-year loss of $5.08 billion for 2024 as revenue fell 35% to $3.9 billion. Ford's new EV strategy comes as Chinese automakers are quickly expanding across the globe, offering relatively affordable electric vehicles. 'We're not in a race to build the most electric cars,' Farley told the AP when asked about competition from China. 'We're in a race to have a sustainable electric business that's profitable, that customers love. 'And this new vehicle built in Louisville, Kentucky, is going to be a much better solution to anything that anyone can buy from China,' he added. Schreiner writes for the Associated Press.
2 days ago
Ford hits the pedal on EV production with $2 billion overhaul of Kentucky plant
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Ford Motor Co. will invest nearly $2 billion retooling a Kentucky factory to produce electric vehicles that it says will be more affordable, more profitable to build, and will outcompete rival models. The automaker's top executive unveiled the new EV strategy at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant which, after producing gas-powered vehicles for 70 years, will be converted to manufacture electric vehicles. 'In our careers, as automobile people we're lucky if we get to work on one, maybe two, projects that really change the face of our industry,' CEO Jim Farley told plant workers in Kentucky on Monday. 'And I believe today is going to light the match as one of those projects for all of us here.' The Big Detroit automakers have continued to transition from internal combustion engines to EV technology even as President Donald Trump's administration unwinds incentives for automakers to go electric. Trump's massive tax and spending law targets EV incentives, including the imminent removal of a credit that saves buyers up to $7,500 on a new electric car. Yet Farley and other top executives in the auto industry say that electric vehicles are the future and there is no going back. The first EV to roll off the revamped Louisville assembly line will be a midsize, four-door electric pickup truck in 2027 for domestic and international markets, the company said Monday. The new electric trucks will be powered by lower-cost batteries made at a Ford factory in Michigan. The Detroit automaker previously announced a $3 billion investment to build the battery factory. The automaker sees this as a 'Model T moment' for its EV business — a reference to revolutionary changes on the production line led by the company's founder, Henry Ford, when it began churning out vehicles from a factory more than a century ago. Farley said the changes will will upend how electric vehicles are made in the U.S. 'It represents the most radical change on how we design and how we build vehicles at Ford since the Model-T,' Farley said. The company said it will use a universal platform and production system for its EVs, essentially the underpinning of a vehicle that can be applied across a wide range of models. The Louisville factory — one of two Ford assembly plants in Kentucky's largest city — will be revamped to cut production costs and make assembly time faster as it's prepared to churn out electric vehicles. The result will be 'an affordable electric vehicle that we expect to be profitable,' Farley said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the announcement. 'This is an example of us rejuvenating our U.S. plants with the most modern manufacturing techniques.' The new platform enables a lineup of affordable vehicles to be produced at scale, Ford said. It will reduce parts by 20% versus a typical vehicle, with 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer workstations dock-to-dock in the plant and a 15% faster assembly time, Ford said. The traditional assembly line will be transformed into an 'assembly tree' at the Louisville plant, it said. Instead of one long conveyor, three sub-assembly lines will operate simultaneously and then join together, it said. Other specifications for the midsize electric truck – including its reveal date, starting price, EPA-estimated battery range, battery sizes and charge times — will be announced later, the company said. Ford revealed in its release that the truck will have a targeted starting price of about $30,000. Ford said its investment in the Louisville plant will secure 2,200 hourly jobs. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that the automaker's plans for the Louisville plant will strengthen a more than century-old partnership between Ford and the Bluegrass State. 'This announcement not only represents one of the largest investments on record in our state, it also boosts Kentucky's position at the center of EV-related innovation and solidifies Louisville Assembly Plant as an important part of Ford's future,' Beshear said. Ford said its combined investment of about $5 billion at the Kentucky assembly plant and Michigan battery plant is expected to create or secure nearly 4,000 direct jobs between the two plants while strengthening the domestic supply chain with dozens of new U.S.-based suppliers. Ford previously forecast weaker earnings growth for this year and further losses in its electric vehicles business as it works to control costs. Model e, Ford's electric vehicle business, posted a full-year loss of $5.08 billion for 2024 as revenue fell 35% to $3.9 billion. Ford's new EV strategy comes as Chinese automakers are quickly expanding across the globe, offering relatively affordable electric vehicles. 'We're not in a race to build the most electric cars,' Farley told the AP when asked about competition from China. 'We're in a race to have a sustainable electric business that's profitable, that customers love. 'And this new vehicle built in Louisville, Kentucky, is going to be a much better solution to anything that anyone can buy from China,' he added.
