Tesla's plans to eventually build a pair of new factories for the Model S and powertrain components in San Jose, CA have run into a ditch. The move was announced last September, just before the (official) collapse of the world's financial markets.…
Category: Autoblog
Chrysler lays off 250 workers at Detroit engine plant
The slow sales of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep trucks and SUVs in second half of 2006 are about to be felt at the Mack Avenue engine plant in Detroit. The plant builds the 4.7L V-8 engines used in Durangos, Dakotas, Rams, Grand Cherokees and others. At…
Ford CEO Mullaly expects many Fords to be electric in a decade
Click above for high-res gallery of the Ford Focus EV “mule”
Ford may have been relatively quiet on the electric vehicle front while General Motors got all the attention for its Chevy Volt series hybrid, but the Blue Oval has come roaring back in…
A123 to sell plug-in hybrid conversion kits next year
Not content to be a potential supplier of lithium ion batteries for GM's plug-in hybrid programs, A123 Systems will start selling battery packs that conversion companies can use to transform current hybrid vehicles to plug-in capability. The company…
BREAKING: HUMMER may die, 4 GM plants to close, Volt approved for production
Gas prices in excess of $4 a gallon and a collapsing market for new home construction is triggering General Motors to undertake yet another round of restructuring and plant closings. The latest victim of the rapidly changing American automotive…
UK ethanol market needs tax breaks to survive
One of the big reasons that diesel engines are so popular in Europe is tax policies that result in very high fuel costs. Those high prices mean that the improved efficiency of diesels makes it easier to recover the higher up-front cost. Sweden has…
Detroit Auto Show: Live Reveal of the Chevy Volt EV
GM product chief Robert Lutz unveils the Chevy Volt EV concept. Click on the image for a gallery of high-res shots including the interior
GM Chairman Rick Wagoner and Vice-Chairman Robert Lutz just unveiled Chevy Volt Concept to the mass of press…
EPA says no to California greenhouse gas rules waiver
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson today announced the agency was rejecting California's application for a waiver that would allow the state to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. California and seventeen other states had…
Air Products buys Harvest Energy Technology
Air Products is already one of the biggest producers and distributors of hydrogen. Most of what the company produces currently is distributed by tanker trucks. More recently the company has been collaborating with Harvest Energy Technology, Inc to…
Chevrolet adds North American Aveo production in Mexico
Up until now all examples of Chevrolet's smallest car, the Aveo have come from GM's South Korean affiliate, Daewoo. With high gas prices causing buyers to snap up Aveos at a similar rapid rate to all other small cars, GM is now adding more production…