Nissan is reportedly considering building a sports car based on the electric drive hardware from its new Leaf EV. From a business perspective, it would likely make sense for Nissan to follow the same path set forth by Toyota/ Lexus with premium…
Category: Autoblog
Toyota to sell diesel hybrid in 2010
After hooking up with Isuzu a couple of weeks ago, Toyota is now going to start taking advantage of Isuzu's diesel expertise. For the first time Toyota is going to combine their Synergy hybrid drive system with diesel engines. A diesel hybrid system…
Zap counters hype machine story with yet more press releases
In typical fashion, Zap has responded to the critical exposé that was published Wired recently with, you guessed it, more press releases. The releases, of course, do nothing at all to address any of the issues raised in the article about the…
Toyota and Severinsky settle hybrid patent dispute ahead of ITC hearing; Ford also settles
Just moments after we published our earlier report about today's scheduled hearing between Toyota and Alex Severinsky at the International Trade Commission, we got word that the parties have settled. The parties haven't released any details and they…
Automakers get to sue to stop state CO2 regulation
Regarding the lawsuit by car makers to try and stop states from individually regulating carbon dioxide emissions, U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions has ruled that a trial can start next Tuesday to stop the CO2 regulations that have been…
GM introduces its first-ever purpose-built NASCAR engine
click the photo for a high-res gallery of the new R07 NASCAR engine
It should come as a surprise to no one that for the past two decades there has been essentially nothing stock about NASCAR stock car racing. After all, when was the last time that…
Portland Oregon water bureau trucks running on B99
The water bureau in Portland, OR has been running their fleet of diesel-powered trucks on B20 biodiesel since August 2004. After doing more analysis and testing they began running their entire fleet on B99 on September 26. The water bureau uses about…
Minnesota passes law that will require B20 by 2015
By 2015, everyone using diesel fuel in Minnesota will have a blend consisting of at least 20 percent biofuel thanks to a new law that was just passed. Governor Tim Pawlenty signed a bill this week that will increase the current 2 percent bio blend…
Is China the only answer to affordable electric vehicles?
Everyone wants plug-in electric vehicles. More importantly, everyone wants full-featured mainstream EVs that are affordable. Therein lies the rub. Batteries are expensive and heavy and, unfortunately, they are likely to remain so for quite a few more…
Detroit says Nissan wins from new fuel economy legislation
In the eyes of the Detroit carmakers, the big winner from the energy bill passed in the Senate this week is Nissan. One of the oddball quirks of the original CAFE regulations was a separation of domestic and import vehicle fleets for purposes of…