Last spring, when General Motors starting track testing its first E-Flex powertrain “mule” prototypes, the cars were based on previous-generation Chevrolet Malibu body shells, the Mali-Volts. The engineering team has now moved on to the next…
Category: Autoblog
MINI explains the drop in estimated range for MINI E
Those paying close attention might have noticed that as MINI USA has been delivering battery-powered MINI Es in recent weeks, the range estimate is being quoted as 100 miles. Last November, when we first saw and drove the MINI E, the range was…
New York 2008: G8 Sport Truck Unveil
Click above for a high-res live gallery of the 2010 Pontiac Sport Truck
Again with musical accompaniment from the Young Lords, Maximum Bob Lutz heralded the return of the El Camino Pontiac G8 Sport Truck to the U.S. market for the first time in over…
GM tells NHTSA not to include plug-ins in setting CAFE standards
When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published an initial draft of the new fuel economy rules this spring, they gave automakers and other interested parties until July 1 to comment before finalizing the rules. That comment period…
BMW Z4 moving back to Germany
Since their introduction in the mid-nineties the BMW Z3 and its Z4 successor, along with their M and coupe derivatives, have always been built at BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina manufacturing facility. That all looks set to change with the…
Dartmouth researchers create new ethanol-producing bacteria
Mascoma Corp is one of the two cellulosic ethanol companies that General Motors invested in earlier this year. Dr. Lee Lynd is one of Mascoma's co-founders and he and his collaborators at Dartmouth College have published a paper that gives some more…
Nissan ready to make 500,000 batteries a year when demand is there
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn with Leaf EV – Click above for high-res image gallery
You certainly can't argue with Carlos Ghosn's commitment to battery-powered vehicles. No one else in the auto industry has placed such a huge bet on plug-in vehicles.…
Lutz calls for crash test break so small cars can be brought to U.S.
With this year's rise in gas prices, sales of small fuel efficient cars have gone through the roof and companies like Ford and Honda are selling every single Civic, Fit and Focus they can produce. Over in other parts of the world, automakers have…
VIDEO: While Top Gear waits, Fifth Gear runs Tesla at Goodwood
A couple of weeks ago we told you that Tesla was talking to the producers of Top Gear about having Jeremy Clarkson try out the Roadster. At the time Darryl Siry told us nothing had been finalized yet and we don't know if that has changed. What we do…
General Motors joins Toyota and jumps into the Friedman fray
In the past New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has made his disdain for the US Domestic auto industry clearly known and the other day the pro-globalization writer fired off a salvo at Toyota for their current stance on new fuel economy…