Starting this month Robert Bosch GmbH will begin supplying a new start-stop system to BMW for installation on the updated 1-series. BMW will be selling a variety of efficiency enhancing technologies under the brand EfficientDynamics, that will be…
Category: Autoblog
European auto CEOs jointly support reductions in CO2 emissions
While they were all in town for the Frankfurt Motor Show, the CEOs of most the big European car-makers had a talk about carbon dioxide emissions. They all agreed that reductions are definitely needed and they are working on implementing technology to…
BMW expands landfill-methane electrical generation at Spartanburg plant
Since 2002, BMW's assembly plant in Spartanburg, SC has been using methane captured from a nearby landfill site to fuel electrical generators. As part of the current expansion of the plant to support the addition of X3 production, BMW has invested…
Honda tops 2009 corporate fuel economy charts, Chrysler trails
2010 Honda Insight – Click above for high-res image gallery
The Environmental Protection Agency is currently in the process of compiling the the fleet average fuel economy numbers for model year 2009, which recently concluded, and it looks like Honda…
British filling stations may have to start shifting more pumps from gas to diesel
The combination of rising fuel prices in Britain (and elsewhere) and emissions-based congestion charges have driven a significant shift from gasoline- to diesel-fueled vehicles in the UK. In 2007, sales of diesel fuel overtook gasoline for the first…
eBay Find of the day: 1971 Honda N600 EV conversion
S o far, Honda has been one of the few automakers that has remained steadfast in not pursuing plug-in electric or hybrid vehicles, at least publicly. That, of course, doesn't preclude anyone else from going down that path. In fact, the idea of a…
Retooled Ford Wayne assembly plant to be company's most flexible
Workers building pre-production 2012 Ford Focus – Click above for high-res image gallery
Ford is crowing that its freshly retooled Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, MI is now the most flexible final assembly factory in its global network. The Wayne…
Rumormill: Next Focus RS to get all-wheel drive with electric motors
Despite driving only the front wheels, reviewers have heaped praise on the current Ford Focus RS's handling and its ability to put 300 horsepower to the road thanks to some nifty suspension and driveline tricks. However, when the next-generation RS…
Beijing 2010: The Stig's Chinese cousin comes out to tour the show
To our delight and dismay, there were fewer blatant vehicle clones from China's automakers littering the floor of the Beijing Motor Show this year. That's not to say we didn't encounter a slew of knock-offs, but it seems that the Chinese are finally…
Mercedes to add C and E class hybrids by 2011 in U.S.; 12,000 smart EVs in four years
Next year's arrival of the S400 BlueHybrid appears to be just the first stage of a massive move to hybridazition of the brand's lineup. The ML450 is scheduled to get a Two-Mode hybrid late next year, pending resolution of issues with battery supplier…