Martin Eberhard's departure from active involvement in the operation of Tesla Motors came via a brief statement from the company late Friday evening after the Wall Street Journal broke the embargo on the story. When Martin was removed as CEO in…
Category: Autoblog
Audi shows off lightweight aluminum/carbon fiber A5 prototype
Audi Aluminum A5 Coupe Prototype – Click above for high-res image
As much as we like the Audi A5 with it's lovely lines and proportions and good driving dynamics, we have to admit that it's a bit porky. The lightest version currently available in the…
Rep. Pete Stark introduces Carbon Tax bill
California congressman Pete Stark has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives HR 2069 that would establish a carbon tax on fossil fuels. The Save Our Climate Act would add a tax of $10 per ton of carbon in the fuel at the time that is…
Ford adding a diesel to new super-size Expedition
After killing off the gargantuan Excursion last year, Ford introduced a stretched version of the new Expedition to compete with the Chevy Suburban. However, unlike the Suburban, Ford has never offered a diesel engine option in the Expedition. It now…
JCI-Saft to produce Li-Ion packs for Azure Dynamics hybrid vans
Azure Dynamics has been making hybrid-powered commercial vans for some time now using nickel metal hydride batteries. Johnson Controls – Saft has just won a deal to supply up to 20,000 lithium ion battery packs to Azure over the next five years so…
Bay area officials considering a regional gas tax increase
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the San Francisco Bay area is proposing a 10-cent-a-gallon regional gas tax. The tax would be applied in addition to existing state and federal gas taxes and state sales tax. The reason given for adding…
Recaro launches new ProSeries child safety seat line
Recaro ProSeries child safety seats – Click above for high-res image gallery
Typically, when we think of Recaro, heavily bolstered sport seats for high-performance vehicles come to mind. However, Recaro has also been offering child safety seats for…
Triumph comes to the SHO: Doing a heart transplant on a TR7
When I was a kid and British Leyland was still a somewhat going concern, the little UK automaker introduced a sports car called the Triumph TR7. The tag-line in its ad campaign was, “The shape of things to come.” As it turned out, the folks at BL…
BMW X6 Two-Mode hybrid coming in 2009
At the international media launch for BMW's new X6 “Sport Activity Coupe” in Spartanburg, South Carolina, company officials confirmed that the hybrid version is indeed coming next year. When it launches in 2009 it will be available only with the the…
Autocar: Next Subaru STI to go diesel, rival Mitsubishi Evo going hybrid
2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Special Edition – Click above for high-res image gallery
Rumblings about a diesel-powered Subaru WRX STI first surfaced more than two years ago, and now they're back. The realities of meeting CO2 emissions limits in Europe…