Nissan was one of the three recipients in the first round of low interest loans through the U.S. Department of Energy's ATVM program along with Ford and Tesla. Nissan will be getting $1.6 billion from the program that will be used to re-tool part of…
Category: Autoblog
Ballard gets contract to supply fuel cells for British Columbia bus fleet
A couple of months ago we reported on plans to have a fleet of fuel cell buses in British Columbia including twenty of them in the ski town of Whistler. The buses will be in operation by 2009 in advance of the 2010 Winter Olympics which are being…
Toyota's Irv Miller talks hybrid battery supplies
Over at the Toyota Open Road blog, Toyota's American Communications boss Irv Miller has a new post talking about hybrid battery supplies. As we reported yesterday, May sales of the Prius were down 40 percent compared to the previous May. It's not…
Corvettes back in ALMS in 2009 with GT1 and GT2 programs
Click the Corvette for a high res gallery from the Detroit Sports Car Challenge
As the 2008 American Le Mans Series season winds down with only two races left, teams are starting to make announcements about the 2009 season. One of the question marks…
Smart officially unviels the new FourTwo
DaimlerChrysler finally unveiled the “all-new” 2008 Smart ForTwo to the international media in Stuttgart yesterday. As seen in other photos that snuck onto the web the day before, the new car looks much like the original. Unlike the original this one…
AM General to upfit Transit Connect electric drive for Ford/Azure in Michigan
Ford Transit Connect Electric – Click above for high-res image gallery
When Ford and Azure Dynamics unveiled the Transit Connect Electric van earlier this year, Azure announced that the electric drive systems would be installed at a facility in…
Shanghai Motor Show: Chinese domestics jumping on hybrid bandwagon
At the Shanghai Motor Show at least two Chinese manufacturers are reportedly showing “homegrown” cars with hybrid drivetrains. Shanghai Automotive is again showing a hybrid version of the Roewe 750 which is derived from the Rover 75 design they…
BP prepares output of new biofuels – algae diesel and butanol – starting in 2010
BP could become the first major energy company to start commercial scale production of cellulosic ethanol in 2010 if all goes according to plan. BP has been partnering with Verenium Corporation to commercialize the latter company's process for…
Detroit Auto Show: Live reveal of the Chevy Volt Concept
Click on the image for the full story and a high-resolution photo gallery including the first interior shots
General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner and Vice Chairman Robert Lutz revealed the Chevy Volt Concept at the Detroit Auto Show this afternoon.…
Deep-Dive: Behind the scenes at Toyota's R&D center, Part Two
Behind the Scenes at Toyota's R&D Center – Click above for high-res image gallery
It's impossible to overlook the negative impact the recalls have had on Toyota's reputation for safety and reliability. Seemingly overnight, the automaker that could do…