June 18, 2008
It has been an open secret for quite some time: with skyrocketing gas prices, small, fuel efficient cars – new and used – are all the rage.
And as for hybrids, forget about it. As my colleage Bruce Miranda found out in his search for a Toyota Prius, the few used ones entering the market are snapped up right away and buying a new one means a wait of two to three months.
So credit local auto dealer Ernie Boch for having the foresight to see where gas prices were going and the moxie to buy up some $2 million’s worth of small Hondas from dealers around the nation, according to Automotive News.
“We could see it coming,” he told the authoritive industry trade paper of the run on small, fuel efficient cars.
As a result, sales at Boch’s Honda dealership in Norwood, Mass., which is the top-selling Honda store in the nation, are “brisk” while many other dealerships are staring at clogged lots and little foot traffic.
“Civics are going like crazy,” Boch is quoted as saying below a front-page photo of him leaning out the front window of a Civic with a big grin and a thumbs up.
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 12:14 PM | Permalink
May 15, 2008
Hybrids may be mostly Plain Janes but any car that gets good gas mileage is selling right now. And that usually means small and not very stylish.
Indeed, many of them look like bars of soap on wheels.
But that is hardly the point. In these uncertain days of rocketing gas prices, a lot of people are looking for economy. To heck with styling.
And not only hybrids. As a front page story in today’s USA Today reveals, the second-hand market for the small econoboxes from the 1990s like the Ford Festiva, Hyundai Excel and Geo Metro is booming.
At the same time, the second-hand market for SUVs is dead in the water, with many owners getting a nasty shock when they trade them in and get offers way below published values. But dealers can’t move them for love or money so cannot be blamed for offering cents on the dollar.
In another sign of the times, thecarconnection.com’s new Website offers car reviews by the following styles: Sedan; 2-Door; SUV/Wagon; Van; Truck; and Green Car.
And the Detroit Free Press reports that the iconic Toyota Prius is the world’s first mass-produced gas-electric hybrid vehicle to hit the one million mark in sales.
High gas prices, an unpopular war and looming clouds over the economy are making us all more frugal.
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:16 AM | Permalink
May 7, 2008
ALBANY, N.Y. -- As other cars zipped by at 70 mph or more, Mike Papin and his wife, Joann, kept rolling along just below the 65 mph limit as they made their way from their winter home in Florida to a summer place in Vermont, according to the Associated Press.
They've typically done six or seven miles above the speed limit during the annual migration, but with gasoline prices roaring toward $4 a gallon nationally, Joann suggested they ease off the pedal during the 1,500-mile drive this year.
"I read somewhere that around 62 or 63 was the best speed to drive to make the most of your gas," she said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:39 AM | Permalink
April 4, 2008
The smallest, cheapest, cars are the biggest, brightest spot in the dreary auto market, reflecting continuing buyer flight to fuel economy and lower prices, according to USA Today.
Sales of all types of small cars in March were at year-ago levels, Autodata says — a big success in an industry that sold 12% fewer vehicles overall than in March 2007. The small-car segment was the only one not showing a loss.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:32 AM | Permalink
March 11, 2008
Sen. Paul W. Fogarty (D-Glocester, Burrillville and North Smithfield) has submitted legislation that would require auto dealers in Rhode Island to include the city and highway fuel economy ratings of new automobiles both on window stickers and in ads.
“Fuel economy is an important piece of information for the consumer. It’s just as important as the price the dealer is charging for the car, since it is going to determine how much the consumer is paying for gas for as long as he or she drives that car,” Fogarty said in a news statement.
“Fuel economy is basic information that the dealers have, and that consumers need when they’re making a decision. It should be plainly displayed on each car.”
Under the bill, dealers selling new motor vehicles would be required to disclose the city and highway fuel economy rating in all print and broadcast advertisements for the vehicle as well as on the window sticker.
“This is a consumer-protection bill,” he said. “People need to be aware of he efficiency of the car they’re considering buying. Over the years, they’ll pay thousands more if the car they buy doesn’t get the kind of mileage they were expecting.”
The bill has a hearing before the Senate Corporations Committee today at around 4:30 p.m. in Room 212 of the State House.
It is cosponsored by Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr. (D-Smithfield, North Smithfield), Sen. Daniel P. Connors (D-Cumberland, Lincoln), Sen. Hanna M. Gallo (D-Cranston) and Sen. Kevin A. Breene (R-West Greenwich, Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond).
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:19 AM | Permalink
February 5, 2008
TO finish first, race-team crew chiefs remind their impatient young drivers, you must first finish. This is another way of saying that a tortoise could have better odds against a hare than a bettor might otherwise presume, according to The New York Times' Jerry Garrett.
Recently, I pitted the most fuel-efficient new compact car sold in the United States against one of the thirstiest gas guzzlers on American roads. I wanted to see just how much difference there really was — not in the mileage, which anyone can learn by simply reading the window sticker — but in dollars and cents under typical driving conditions.
My decidedly unscientific test consisted of taking a Honda Civic Hybrid on a 300-mile trek, followed by a drive over the same route in a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, an Italian exotic with three fewer seats but nearly five times the horsepower.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:42 AM | Permalink
January 17, 2008
DETROIT — Looking to cut gasoline consumption by up to 20%, automakers aren't just rolling out pricey diesel-powered models or gas-electric hybrids, according to USA Today.
General Motors, Ford and others are launching big initiatives to get more mileage out of what they sell now: tweaking internal-combustion engines with turbochargers and a technology called gasoline direct injection. The goal is to make fuel-stingy small engines perform like big ones.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:50 AM | Permalink
December 20, 2007
President Bush signed into law Wednesday legislation that will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles into auto showrooms and require wider use of ethanol, calling it "a major step" toward energy independence and easing global warming, according to USA Today.
The wide-ranging energy bill, passed by the House on Tuesday and the Senate last week, also addresses energy standards for light bulbs and appliances.
"We make a major step ... toward reducing our dependence on oil, fighting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations ... a nation that is stronger cleaner and more secure," Bush said at a ceremony at the Energy Department.
"If you drive a car or if you use a toaster or heat your home, this bill is going to save you money," says Brendan Bell, Washington representative of the Union of Concerned Scientists. The environmental lobbying group estimates the vehicle fuel economy changes will save consumers $22 billion a year starting in 2020. In the home, the energy efficiency provisions could save $400 billion in electricity and gas bills by 2030, the group says.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:15 AM | Permalink
December 19, 2007
President Bush's signature on the new energy legislation raising the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mileage standard won't end the industry's fuel-economy torment, according to thecarconnection.com
Tom Stephens,, the executive in charge of General Motors' powertrain group, said this week the real challenge for the auto industry is the new legislation calling for limits on greenhouse gas, which is pending in California and 20 other states.
The California greenhouse gas proposal amounts to a 43-mile per gallon fuel economy standard, one senior GM executive told TheCarConnection.com.
So far, the industry's efforts to block the California proposals in court have been frustrated. Only last week, the industry lost a key fight in a Fresno courtroom when a federal district judge ruled that California had the right to apply its own fuel-economy rules under federal law.
The continuing court battles and new rulings by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, giving states more latitude to limit emissions of carbon dioxide, will have a huge impact on the industry, Stephens said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:30 AM | Permalink
December 18, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Congress by a wide margin approved the first increase in automobile fuel economy in 32 years Tuesday, and President Bush has signaled he will accept the mandates on the auto industry, according to the Associated Press.
The energy bill, boosting mileage by 40 percent to 35 miles per gallon, passed the House 314-100 and now goes to the White House, following the Senate's approved last week.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:50 PM | Permalink
December 14, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Three decades of fighting over fuel economy ended Thursday, as the U.S. Senate approved a 40% increase in mileage standards for cars and trucks, giving a green light to rules that will force Detroit automakers to spend billions of dollars upgrading their models, according to the Detroit Free Press.
By agreeing to a stripped-down energy bill in an 86-8 vote, the Senate cleared a path for the fuel economy hike to pass the House next week. The White House said President George W. Bush would sign the bill, after Democrats failed by one vote to save a $21.8-billion tax plan from a Republican filibuster.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:04 AM | Permalink
December 12, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats said Tuesday they planned to revive their energy bill with a 40% increase in fuel economy standards on Thursday thanks to changes in a controversial tax plan, but Republicans said the bill still fell short of having enough votes and faced a certain veto by President Bush, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The bill passed the House last week, but fell seven votes short of the 60 needed in the Senate to block a Republican filibuster. Opponents, including a couple of Democrats, objected to a $21-billion tax provision and requirements on electric utilities to generate up to 15% of their energy from renewable sources.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 4:38 PM | Permalink
SACRAMENTO — Handing a major defeat to the auto industry, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that California can regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, according to USA Today.
The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Ishii in Fresno clears one of the hurdles in California's effort to regulate tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks and sports utility vehicles.
Automakers sued the state over the tailpipe standards it approved in 2004, which would force automakers to build cars and light trucks that produce about 30% fewer greenhouse gases by 2016.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 4:33 PM | Permalink
December 10, 2007
Fancy fuel-economy gauges are so popular in gas-electric hybrid vehicles that Toyota is studying whether they might provide a cheap way for drivers of its conventional cars to save gas as well, according to USA Today.
"A group of engineers is looking at whether it makes sense to adopt to other cars," says Paul Williamsen, national manager of the product training facility for Toyota's Lexus division.
The gauge would show motorists when they are driving most efficiently, discouraging wasteful moves such as jackrabbit starts.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:26 AM | Permalink
December 6, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democratic leaders pushed back a vote on an energy bill with a historic increase in fuel economy standards until today, in the face of growing opposition from Senate Republicans, President George W. Bush and even some Democrats, according to the Detroit Free Press.
As outlined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the bill would include new requirements for renewable fuels, the elimination of $21 billion tax breaks to oil companies and other sources of revenue, and require electric utilities to generate 15% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:41 PM | Permalink
December 5, 2007
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepared Tuesday to bring a massive energy bill, with several provisions that the White House has warned could draw a veto from President George W. Bush, to the House floor as early as today, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Pelosi's office said Tuesday that the bill would include $21 billion in repeals of tax breaks for oil and gas companies, as well as standards requiring public power utilities to generate 15% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. Republicans and several business groups oppose both clauses and could block the bill in the Senate. Democrats are expected to pass the bill in the House, thanks to the deal on fuel economy standards setting a new target of 35 m.p.g. by 2020.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:05 AM | Permalink
December 3, 2007
This year's battle over tougher fuel economy standards has featured environmentalists demanding unbreakable guarantees for more-efficient cars and trucks, while automakers defended flexibility to meet an uncertain future.
Friday's compromise represented a split decision, according to the Detroit Free Press's Justin Hyde.
The deal negotiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Dingell, a Dearborn Democrat, will force U.S. automakers to make a 40% improvement in their vehicles' mileage to 35 miles per gallon by 2020.
The proposal sets those targets, which the industry loudly opposed for much of this year, as the floor for federal regulators: They cannot set lower standards, but could impose a higher goal if they see fit.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:47 AM | Permalink
November 29, 2007
Congressional staffers have hammered out the outlines of an agreement for increasing U.S. fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, and a deal could be announced as soon as today if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers approve, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The proposal must be vetted by House and Senate leaders, including Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., and any snags with it or other portions of a broader energy bill could push back a Democratic plan to have a vote next Wednesday or Thursday. But people familiar with the talks said the deal as drafted would satisfy backers of tougher standards while giving automakers some flexibility in how they meet the targets.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:02 AM | Permalink
November 20, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has sharply rejected the Bush administration's new pollution standards for most sport-utility vehicles, pickups and vans and ordered regulators to draft a new plan that's tougher on auto emissions, according to USA Today.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed to address why the so-called light trucks are allowed to pollute more than passenger cars and didn't properly assess greenhouse gas emissions when it set new minimum miles-per-gallon requirements for models in 2008 to 2011.
The court also said the administration failed to include in the new rules heavier trucks driven as commuter vehicles, among several other deficiencies found.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:07 AM | Permalink
November 16, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15 — A federal appeals court here rejected the Bush administration’s year-old fuel-economy standards for light trucks and sport utility vehicles on Thursday, saying that they were not tough enough because regulators had failed to thoroughly assess the economic impact of tailpipe emissions that contribute to climate change, according to the New York Times.
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in San Francisco, voided the new regulations for 2008-2011 model year vehicles and told the Transportation Department to produce new rules taking into account the value of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The court, siding with 4 environmental groups and 13 states and cities, also asked the government to explain why it still treated light trucks — which include pickups, sport utility vehicles and minivans — more mildly than passenger cars.
Under the rejected rule, the average fuel economy of light trucks was to rise to 23.5 miles a gallon in 2010, up from the current standard of 22.5 m.p.g., but still well below the current standard for passenger cars of 27.5 m.p.g.
The ruling, which is likely to be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, represents a major setback for both the auto industry and the White House at a time of growing public concern over the rising price of gasoline and the issue of climate change.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 1:24 PM | Permalink
October 26, 2007
If you want more evidence of the increasing sophistication of Europe's new generation of diesel engines, check out Matt Rigby's review of the BMW 123d M Sport Coupe on autocar.co.uk.
He calls it a "hugely significant car" because of t"he 123d or, more specifically, the 201bhp twin-turbo turbodiesel under the bonnet."
"If that sounds like so much hyperbole, then consider a few key facts," he writes. "This is the most powerful four-pot turbodiesel you can buy, as well as being the only one equipped with twin turbos.
"But the killer point is that all this comes coupled with serious green credentials. So you get 295lb ft, 0-62mph in 7.0sec and a 148mph top speed at the same time as 54.7mpg and 138g/km of CO2."
By the by, I'll bet that g/km of CO2, or grams of CO2 emissions per kilometer, is a measure of pollution unknown to most of us in America.
But 138 g/km of CO2 is below the target level that the European motor industry reached with the European government in the mid-1990s to reduce average emissions from new cars.
Under that voluntary agreement, average emissions should fall to 140 g/km CO2 by 2008.
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:29 AM | Permalink
October 9, 2007
Automakers are putting cars on a diet in a bid for better gas mileage, according to USA Today.
They are finding ways to shave pounds from car bodies — from the hood to the back bumper — often by substituting plastic, composites and aluminum for steel.
When they use steel, it is often a higher-quality grade that delivers more strength and less weight.
Every 120-pound reduction can yield a 1% gain in gas mileage, says Bill Grabowski, director of body core engineering for Chrysler. Best of all, if engineers can make the body lighter, other components, such as brakes, suspension and the engine, can be lighter, too. And the vehicle won't need as much gas-guzzling horsepower to push it around.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:24 AM | Permalink
September 17, 2007
SOME Americans are skeptical of almost anything the government says. But even the most cynical citizens find it hard to dispute a much-repeated statement from one federal agency: Your actual mileage may vary, according to the New York Times.
But starting with the 2008 models, shoppers can have more faith in the window stickers that they study in dealership showrooms; for the first time since 1984, the E.P.A. is revising its method for calculating fuel economy to better reflect realities of the road.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:35 AM | Permalink
September 13, 2007
FRANKFURT, Germany -- Saturn will put General Motors Corp.'s first plug-in hybrid -- a Vue compact SUV that can run up to 10 miles solely on electricity and switch to an engine for longer trips -- on the road "very quickly," brand general manager Jill Lajdziak said Wednesday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
"In 2009-ish," Lajdziak said.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:06 AM | Permalink
September 12, 2007
European automakers, stung by criticisms from environmentalists and government regulators that they are late to the green party, will be using the 2007 Frankfurt motor show to showcase everything in their alternative fuel and powertrain arsenals, according to the New York Times.
The biennial show, the 62nd Internationalen Automobil-Ausstellungen Cars, will be held at the mammoth CongressCenter Messe Frankfurt convention center from Thursday through Sept. 23.
Press preview days began Monday night and continue through Wednesday. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, will open the show to the public on Thursday.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:13 AM | Permalink
September 10, 2007
WASHINGTON -- A Washington auto advocacy group claimed Thursday that Vice President Dick Cheney and the Bush administration devised a 2006 change in fuel economy standards for trucks that eases requirements on automakers, with limited input from federal auto industry regulators, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Public Citizen, which has sued to block the standards, says it based its claims on data gathered through a Freedom of Information Act request showing Cheney's staffers attending at least 45 meetings on fuel economy standards between 2001 and 2003.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 10:35 AM | Permalink
August 24, 2007
General Motors is showing off a new engine technology that could cut fuel consumption by up to 15%, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The savings are the product of an engine-transmission system known as homogeneous charge compression ignition, or HCCI, that marries the high fuel economy of a diesel engine with the relatively low emissions of gasoline engines.
With the potential to deliver better fuel efficiency than even some of its gas-electric hybrids, GM calls HCCI "the most awaited advanced combustion technology of the past 30 years." Mercedes-Benz soon will show its own version of the technology, though neither automaker has said when it will make them in production vehicles.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:44 AM | Permalink
Ford gave the first hint of its future small-car design vision in the new Ford Verve concept, photos of which were released Thursday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The bullet-shape concept is bold, sporty and in a design style that Ford calls kinetic, for the visual effect that makes the vehicle look like it's in motion even when standing still.
The Verve, which will debut next month at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, is the first of three subcompact concept vehicles that will debut in the key regions of Europe, Asia and North America.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 9:37 AM | Permalink
August 22, 2007
FROM the outside, the dark blue Saturn Aura accelerating to a steady 50 miles an hour on the high-bank oval here at General Motors’ proving grounds looked altogether unremarkable, according to the New York Times.
From the driving position it’s another story. A laptop computer placed between me and a G.M. engineer, Jun Mo Kang, displays a graph that plots the car’s changing engine speed against the load on the engine, just colorful enough to draw my attention away from future cars and trucks in full disguises zipping by in the faster lanes of the track.
My time behind the wheel last month was the first test drive G.M. has given to a journalist of its prototype homogeneous-charge compression-ignition engine. An H.C.C.I. engine runs on a combustion process that researchers say holds the potential for significant gains in overall engine efficiency. G.M is one of several automakers developing H.C.C.I. technology.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:08 AM | Permalink
August 16, 2007
It could be the future of cruising, a muscle car for the 21st Century: A Chevrolet Camaro that could approach 40 m.p.g. on the highway and 30 m.p.g. in the city, according to the Detroit Free Press's Mark Phelan.
It might glide silently through future Woodward Dream Cruises, running on battery power up to 25 m.p.h. but with a beefy V8 engine poised to leap to life for a 0-60 sprint.
This Camaro, wedding Chevrolet's legendary small-block V8 engine to General Motors' advanced new hybrid system, isn't on the drawing board yet, but it is feasible, a knowledgeable GM source told the Free Press. GM has the parts on the shelf to get this dream car cruising. It would combine production-ready hybrid technology that hits the road this fall in some GM vehicles with the celebrated new Camaro that is to go on sale in early 2009.
"The Camaro is Chevrolet and GM's halo car," said Joe Phillippi, principal of AutoTrends Consulting, in Short Hills, N.J. "It projects an image that reflects on the whole corporation. To offer all the performance aspects of a classic Camaro and still be environmentally friendly ... that's a real plus from an image point of view.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:00 AM | Permalink
August 7, 2007
Hybrid vehicles are on track to reach record sales this year, an auto information company said Thursday, according to USA Today.
An estimated 187,000 hybrids were sold in the first six months of 2007, accounting for 2.3% of all new vehicle sales, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Although a sales slowdown is expected in the second half of the year, J.D. Power is forecasting total sales of 345,000 hybrids for the year, a 35% increase from 2006 when the current record of 256,000 hybrids were sold.
The Toyota (TM) Prius continues to be the best-selling hybrid model, accounting for just more than half of all hybrids sold. J.D. Power said Prius sales also got a boost this year from incentives of up to $2,000 per vehicle, which helped offset a decrease in federal tax breaks for hybrids.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth at 11:54 AM | Permalink
July 27, 2007
The tyres are made of potatoes and the brake pads from ground cashew shells. The body was created from hemp and rapeseed oil, and it runs on fuel made from fermented wheat and sugar beet.
Yet despite the greenest of credentials, this mean machine is capable of a highly-impressive 150mph.
The one-seater racing car - called Eco One - has been built by experts from Warwick University to dispel the perception that 'green' motoring means dull little electric runarounds or filling your fuel tank with chip fat, according to the Daily Mail of Britain.
Posted by at 2:02 PM | Permalink
July 25, 2007
Toyota already dominates the hybrid market with more than a million of the vehicles sold over the past decade.
Now, it has developed a new type of hybrid that plugs into a home electrical socket for a longer ride as an electric car, raising the stakes in the race to develop more energy efficient, according to USA Today.
Posted by at 12:45 PM | Permalink
General Motors says it now expects 40% better fuel economy in city driving from the gasoline-electric hybrid versions of its full-size SUVs than their gasoline-only counterparts, giving the hybrid Chevrolet Tahoes and GMC Yukons 19 or 20 miles a gallon in stop-and-go driving, according to USA Today.
That's up from earlier forecasts of a 25% improvement and would give the big SUVs better mileage than some mid- and full-size, gasoline-power family sedans. It also would be better than so-called crossover SUVs that are stealing sales from truck-based SUVs such as Tahoe because crossovers typically use less fuel.
Posted by at 12:41 PM | Permalink
July 19, 2007
Here’s your chance to check out the smart car which is in town as part of smart USA’s “street smart” road show, a national tour to introduce the iconic two-seater to U.S. consumers.
Mercedes-Benz’s smart car, which has sold 750,000 models in 36 countries since it was launched in Europe in 1998, is stopping in Warwick today and near Waterplace Park in Providence tomorrow and Saturday.
I took a short test drive in one this morning with smart rep Kia Goddard and found the car fun to drive and comfortable, even on the highway where it more than held its own. It did not feel unsafe – it has a host of safety features – and, Boy, does it attract a crowd.
Top speed is about 90 mph, while fuel consumption is more than 40 miles per gallon. And it is so short - just over 8-3/4 feet long by about 5 feet wide - that it can be parked perpendicular to the sidewalk!
The road show features 4 smart fortwo cars for test-drives on a closed course, a mobile smart exhibit with interactive displays and virtual safety demonstrations and a safety display – safety is the number one question this side of the Atlantic, according to smart reps – featuring the “Tridion cell” (reinforced steel cage), dual and side airbags, electronic stability program and anti-lock brakes.
The display is open today at the Mercedes-Benz dealership at Inskip in Warwick and at 5 Moshassuck Street near Stillman Street and Exchange Street tomorrow, 12 to 8 p.m., and Saturday, 12 to 5 p.m.
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by at 11:03 AM | Permalink
July 16, 2007
When Christopher Paine, the director of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” filmed the General Motors EV1, he had to search for a flattering perspective, according to the New York Times.
“When we filmed the car on the road, its best angle was the low front shot from the side,” he said. “It was gorgeous. The back of the car was more challenging. The car’s style did not appeal to certain design sensibilities
Posted by at 10:43 AM | Permalink
July 13, 2007
Sen. Barack Obama got new wheels since he last visited the Motor City, but still rides between a rock and a hard place, according to the Detroit Free Press.
He lectured Detroit automakers about their having failed to anticipate the effect rising oil prices would have on consumer buying habits in a May 7 speech to the Detroit Economic Club. Then, after he got an earful in return when it was revealed his car was a Hemi-powered Chrysler 300 that got 25 m.p.g. on a good day -- the senator from Illinois went green, switching to a hybrid.
In fact, he got a Ford Escape hybrid SUV, according to campaign officials. That was before Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. blasted Obama in early June on Mackinac Island. There have been no reports that Ford's criticism has prompted Obama to turn it in.
Posted by at 11:54 AM | Permalink
A debate over the survival of Detroit's automakers broke out during a congressional hearing Thursday on the future of plug-in hybrid vehicles, as advocates pressed for more action and a Detroit defender warned the industry was on the brink of collapse, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The hearing was a mix of sympathy, castigation and bluster that has become typical of any debate about the auto industry on Capitol Hill. While General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler are building prototype plug-in hybrid vehicles, none was invited to the hearing of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
Posted by at 11:51 AM | Permalink
July 11, 2007
The relatively quick-and-easy answer to foreign oil dependence and automotive greenhouse gas emissions is circling the grounds every day at Orlando International Airport in Florida, according to a top Ford official, USA Today reports.
It's a utilitarian 12-passenger parking lot shuttle bus powered by a 6.8-liter internal combustion hydrogen engine, which Ford officials said is their hydrogen technology closest to mass production.
Posted by at 3:29 PM | Permalink
July 5, 2007
A riddle: Why has the Toyota Prius enjoyed such success, with sales of more than 400,000 in the United States, when most other hybrid models struggle to find buyers?
One answer may be that buyers of the Prius want everyone to know they are driving a hybrid, according to the New York Times
The Prius, after all, was built from the ground up as a hybrid, and is sold only as a hybrid. By contrast, the main way to tell that a Honda Civic, Ford Escape or Saturn Vue is a hybrid version is a small badge on the trunk or side panel.
Posted by at 2:46 PM | Permalink
June 25, 2007
A promising, if so far underwhelming, fuel-economy technology is gaining momentum as automakers, squeezed by social and political pressure, look under every rock to gain even a few tenths of a mile per gallon, according to USA Today.
The technology goes by various names but by any name does the same thing: shuts off fuel to some of an engine's cylinders when the vehicle needs only partial power.
Chrysler just said that a new line of V-6 engines will have cylinder deactivation, starting in 2010. Honda says it will have an enhanced version of what it calls Variable Cylinder Management on V-6 engines in the redesigned 2008 Accord coming this fall. And General Motors says it will use the feature on a 2008 Buick LaCrosse V-8 and '08 hybrid versions of full-size Chevrolet and GMC SUVs.
Posted by at 11:37 AM | Permalink
Democrats celebrated a step toward reducing U.S. dependence on oil as the Senate approved a bill calling for more ethanol and the first boost in gas mileage in decades.
Now the House plans to follow suit, perhaps as early as next week, USA Today reports.
The Senate late Thursday voted 65-27 to pass the first energy bill since Democrats took control of Congress in January. But it was far from a complete victory.
Posted by at 11:09 AM | Permalink
June 22, 2007
The Senate passed a broad energy bill late Thursday that would, among other things, require the first big increase in fuel mileage requirements for passenger cars in more than two decades, according to the New York Times.
The vote, 65 to 27, was a major defeat for car manufacturers, which had fought for a much smaller increase in fuel economy standards and is expected to keep fighting as the House takes up the issue.
But Senate Democrats also fell short of their own goals. In a victory for the oil industry, Republican lawmakers successfully blocked a crucial component of the Democratic plan that would have raised taxes on oil companies by about $32 billion and used the money on tax breaks for wind power, solar power, ethanol and other renewable fuels.
Posted by at 10:28 AM | Permalink
June 21, 2007
With higher government fuel economy requirements looming and gasoline prices around $3 a gallon, Chrysler Group on Thursday announced several measures to boost the fuel mileage of its cars and trucks, according to USA Today.
During an event to showcase its 2008 models, the company said its new family of V-6 engines will have the ability to drop to three cylinders when less power is needed, raising V-6 fuel economy 6% to 8%.
The company also plans to place its new two-mode hybrid powertrain in more vehicles, put a clean diesel engine in the 2009 Jeep Cherokee sport-utility vehicle, and upgrade its 5.7-liter Hemi and 4.7-liter V-8 engines to get better gas mileage.
Posted by at 12:13 PM | Permalink
June 20, 2007
Since it came on the scene five years ago, Scion has made a point of doing things differently. Toyota’s youth brand can brag of having the lowest average age, about 30, among its owners and of strong customer loyalty.
However, the Scion xB is now arriving at dealers and suggests Scion is growing up, according to the New York Times. The original xB was a small boxy car with attitude. The new one is bigger — a full foot longer than the last xB, 3 inches wider, about 35 percent roomier, 600 pounds heavier, 55 horsepower stronger and about 10 percent more expensive.
It is also less fuel efficient. Fuel economy has declined to 22 city and 28 highway, from 26 city and 30 highway.
Posted by at 11:16 AM | Permalink
June 19, 2007
Internet search giant Google hopes to speed the development of plug-in hybrid cars by giving away millions of dollars to people and companies that have what appear to be practical ways to get plug-ins to market faster, according to USA Today.
But the money, announced Monday afternoon at Google headquarters in Mountain Valley, Calif., totals just $1 million so far with another $10 million pledged, which might not be enough to move the needle.
Auto development is crushingly expensive, especially when it involves the kind of advanced battery and powertrain technology used in plug-in hybrids.
Though automakers are tight-lipped about what they spend, bringing a plug-in hybrid to market could cost
Posted by at 2:33 PM | Permalink
June 13, 2007
It's the end of the driving world as you know it, some of the automotive industry's top engineers and executives said Tuesday during a University of Michigan forum on alternative-fuel vehicles, according to the Detroit Free Press.
More than 700 people filled the Power Center in Ann Arbor to hear hybrid and advanced technology directors from General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co. discuss what their companies are doing to address increasing consumer demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Posted by at 9:55 AM | Permalink
Detroit's auto industry was cast as an environmental villain Tuesday in an unusual blast of criticism by backers of tougher fuel-economy standards who contend the Senate must force the industry to build more efficient vehicles, according to the Detroit Free Press.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., blistered Detroit automakers, saying the industry had "buffaloed" Congress with false claims of financial and technological hurdles to meeting a proposed standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.
Posted by at 9:49 AM | Permalink
As motorists face near record gasoline prices, the Senate took up an energy bill Tuesday that would raise auto fuel economy standards for the first time in nearly 20 years and make oil industry price gouging a federal crime, according to USA Today.
Democratic leaders in both the Senate and House said they want broad energy legislation passed before the Fourth of July congressional recess, hoping to dampen growing voter anger over paying well above $3 a gallon at gasoline pumps across the country.
The Senate bill urges automakers to boost their fuel economy to a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, about a 40% increase over what new cars and the less fuel efficient SUVs and pickups are required to attain today. The auto standard of 27.5 mpg was last increased 18 years ago. SUVS and small trucks must achieve a fleet average of 22.2 mpg.
Posted by at 9:46 AM | Permalink
June 12, 2007
After taking a decade to sell its first 1 million gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles worldwide, Toyota now says it plans to sell 1 million a year within a few years, according to USA Today.
At the same time, the big automaker appears to be backing away from a pledge made a few years ago that hybrid powertrains would be available as options on nearly every one of its U.S. vehicles by 2010.
Posted by at 10:30 AM | Permalink
June 8, 2007
Lawmakers and regulators should mandate higher mileage without worrying that they are compromising safety by encouraging small vehicles, according to the report by the International Council on Clean Transportation, the USA Today.
The report says its recommendations could boost the average fuel economy of new vehicles 50% in 10 years. That would make it roughly 33 mpg in 2017.
Even in cases where bigger vehicles are safer for their occupants, they ought to be discouraged by regulators as threats to people in smaller vehicles, ICCT says.
Posted by at 12:55 PM | Permalink
A decade after the first Prius went on sale, Toyota's global sales of hybrid vehicles have hit 1 million, underlining the Japanese automaker's lead in "green" technology, according to USA Today.
Toyota says it has sold 577,311 gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in the USA from mid-2000, when it launched the Prius here, through May.
Toyota's worldwide sales of gas-and-electric-powered vehicles totaled 1.047 million as of the end of May. Nearly 345,000 of those were sold in Japan.
Posted by at 12:53 PM | Permalink
June 6, 2007
General Motors has awarded two contracts to companies that will help speed up development of its plug-in hybrid car called the Chevrolet Volt, GM Chairman Rick Wagoner said Tuesday, according to USA Today.
Wagoner, speaking at the company's annual shareholders meeting, also said GM would introduce four new hybrid models this year.
Posted by at 9:48 AM | Permalink
June 5, 2007
After more than 30 years of staunch opposition to federal oversight, the U.S. auto industry appears ready to argue for higher fuel economy standards to block tougher proposals that several automakers worry could cripple their finances, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The latest sign came in a quiet posting of a draft bill from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the industry's top champion on Capitol Hill.
The draft proposes the industry meet mileage standards of at least 36 miles per gallon for cars after 2021 and 30 m.p.g. for trucks after 2024, or roughly 32.5 m.p.g. overall.
Posted by at 9:36 AM | Permalink
Honda says it will discontinue the hybrid version of its Accord sedans, according to USA Today.
Honda will continue to make gas-and-electric models of its Civic sedan, but stop offering the hybrid Accord with the new model expected to go on sale later this year, company spokesman Yoshiyuki Kuroda said in Tokyo.
The Accord hybrid, sold only in North America, was a dud, selling just 25,000 since going on sale in 2004. It sold just 6,100 last year.
Posted by at 9:20 AM | Permalink
May 31, 2007
With gas prices well over $3 a gallon nationwide, many drivers are lining up to buy small cars, but hundreds of thousands of consumers aren’t giving up anything to downsize, according to The New York Times. Instead, they are simply adding pint-size transportation to their driveways, parked alongside their S.U.V. or pickup.
Posted by at 11:02 AM | Permalink
May 23, 2007
California officials pushed federal environmental regulators on Tuesday to approve the state's plan for a 30% cut in greenhouse gases from cars and trucks, saying automakers had overplayed their challenges to meeting the targets, according to the Detroit Free Press.
If successful, California's plan would set up strict new fuel economy goals of about 43 miles per gallon by 2016 that automakers might be forced to follow nationwide.
Posted by at 12:14 PM | Permalink
May 22, 2007
The average American motorist is driving substantially fewer miles for the first time in 26 years because of high gas prices and demographic shifts, according to a USA Today analysis of federal highway data.
The growth in miles driven has leveled off dramatically in the past 18 months after 25 years of steady climbs despite the addition of more than 1 million drivers to the nation's streets and highways since 2005, USA Today reports.
Miles driven in February declined 1.9% from February 2006 before rebounding slightly for a 0.3% year-over-year gain in March, data from the Federal Highway Administration show. That's in sharp contrast to the average annual growth rate of 2.7% recorded from 1980 through 2005, the paper says.
Posted by at 10:57 AM | Permalink
May 21, 2007
Speaking at a taping of “Wait Wait ...Don’t Tell Me!” the quiz program on National Public Radio, Robert A. Lutz, vice chairman at General Motors, declared Thursday night that the Chevrolet Volt, the hybrid-electric concept car that G.M. unveiled at this year’s Detroit auto show, may be among the most important vehicles that G.M. has ever developed, The New York Times reports.
Lutz has long been considered one of Detroit’s ultimate “car guys,” for whom no vehicle could be big enough, powerful enough or fast enough. He is the father of the V-10 Dodge Viper and has championed automobiles like the 1,000-horsepower Cadillac Sixteen.
Lutz said he was more excited about the Volt that he was about the Dodge Viper. “I think this can bring about the revolution and really make us independent of foreign oil and solve all the other problems," he said.
Posted by at 10:03 AM | Permalink
May 16, 2007
General Motors claims to have the first electrically driven fuel-cell vehicle capable of going 300 miles on a single tank of hydrogen - on public roads, according to thecarconnection.com.
Sequel's 300-mile route acrossNew York State began at GM's Fuel Cell Activity Center in Honeoye Falls, near Rochester, and finished in Tarrytown, just north of New York City, where a GM assembly facility was closed more than a decade ago.
Posted by at 10:35 AM | Permalink
May 9, 2007
A proposal raising fuel-efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 was approved by a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, according to thecarconnection.com. The measure, which included the biggest change to federal fuel economy standards in more than 30 years, would increase the nationwide fleet fuel economy average by about 40 percent from current levels of 25 mpg for cars and trucks.
Posted by at 10:29 AM | Permalink
