Automotive News (Page 1249)

"A conservative estimate is that we have an amount of electricity unused at night that’s equal to the output of 65 to 70 nuclear power plants between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.," Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) stated before the Senate Energy and National Resources Committee. “I suspect that’s probably our greatest unused resource in the United States. If we were to use that to plug in cars and trucks at night, we could electrify 43 percent of our cars and trucks without building one new power plant.”

Ford, in collaboration with its Chinese partners, is building its first transmission plant in China in support of the company's aggressive growth plan in the world's largest auto market. Ford's passenger vehicle joint venture in China, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Ltd. (CFMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the transmission plant project today with the Municipal Government of Chongqing.

Electric carmaker Tesla Motors has announced a partnership with UK hotels and tourist sites to install High Power Charging (HPC) stations, comprised of ten EV power outlets throughout Great Britain. A Tesla Roadster will be the first modern electric vehicle to cross Great Britain in a historic road trip May 21.

In the automotive equivalent of electricity coming to Arkansas, the first stand-alone Fiat retail point in Michigan has opened its doors. The much-heralded return of the iconic Italian brand to America has taken over a former Saturn dealership owned by the Galeana Automotive Group, now to be known as Fiat of Lakeside.

Hansjorg von Gemmingen, who bought the 83rd Tesla Roadster sold in Europe, has crossed the 100,000-kilometer, zero-emissions threshold - the greatest distance traveled by any Tesla vehicle to date. Von Gemmingen drives it daily, charging nightly with just a standard household outlet, proving the electric Roadster functions as a daily commuter while not looking like an ordinary car at all.

Although LinkedIn's initial public offering price was raised from the initial $32 to $35 range to $45 a share, the stock ticker LNKD soared above that on the open at $83.00 on the New York Stock Exchange. [Market Close Update: LNKD hit a high of $122.69, corrected and closed at $93.86]

GM announced today that its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, 4 miles north of its headquarters, would close four weeks this June for upgrades, including new tooling, conveyers and other equipment, in preparation for an increase in production of the increasingly popular Chevy Volt by 33 percent over original plans.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood toured the construction site where Nissan is building an advanced lithium-ion battery plant yesterday. The facility, the largest in the country making lithium-ion batteries for automotive use, will fabricate battery packs for the Nissan LEAF, notably the world's first mass-market, all-electric vehicle.

When completed during 2013, the General Motors electric motor plant near Baltimore will be the first facility of a major U.S. automaker focused on making the critical components for electric vehicles. Further a solar array will provide up to nine percent of the power needed for the existing two-mode hybrid and heavy-duty transmission building.

The world tour which started in Copenhagen June 25, 2010, was completed on May 7, 2011 when Nina Rasmussen and Hjalte Tin returned to Copenhagen and became the first to drive a full-size, production electric car round the world.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) today announced that the BMW Group has selected it as the preferred provider of electric vehicle charging equipment, accessories and installation services supporting the introduction of the all-electric BMW ActiveE.

Reading between the lines of the recent survey by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, entitled "The New Retirement: Working", how will auto workers who perform physical labor and the auto companies who provide the jobs meet the challenge of a higher retirement age when the auto industry does not support working longer?

For the second time in less than three months, Toyota has issued a recall for tire press monitor system problems and like the one we brought you in March, this new Toyota recall pertains to select Tundra pickups.

Cybus is a shuttle bus. It will operate without a driver on the streets. Here is how the French town La Rochelle going to do that safely.

We can’t recall ever bursting into song at the sight of the ubiquitous Honda Civic, but that’s what the manufacturer is looking for as they launch the ninth generation of the urban runabout with a songwriting competition on Facebook. Those inspired by the Honda car for the common man have until June 5 to submit their compositions.

Chrysler’s Mopar division unveiled their factory-modified Mopar ’11 Dodge Charger and now they have introduced a Mopar-modified version of their Dodge Caliber hatchback – but it doesn’t look like it will be available to those Dodge lovers in the US as the special edition Caliber has been launched for the South African market.

In events that didn’t even exist before 2009, the results of electric motorcycle racing are rapidly catching up to their combustion-based counterparts. The kickoff to the 2011 TTXGP North American Championship Series May 15 was won by a Brammo Empulse RR setting the fastest lap speed ever for an electric motorcycle at Infineon Raceway.

Today at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the 24th annual Dana Mecum Original Spring Classic Auction kicked off – offering buyers and tire-kickers a chance to look at the world’s largest collector car auction with some of the most amazing modern and vintage vehicles that you will ever see in one place.

Car companies do a fairly good job in marketing their automobiles via Facebook. In fact KIA Soul has a very engaging Facebook page. This is probably why one KIA fan from UK envies the U.S. version of the Soul fan page.

Honda Motor Company Ltd (NYSE: HMC) stock has suffered the effects of the earthquake, the tsunami and the resultant nuclear hazards, but is still trading just above its 200-day moving average. Question is, how long with this hold in light of the conditions? UPDATE: HMC closed today at 38.36.

When the 2012Chevrolet Impala hits the market later this year, it will be powered by the 3.6L V6 originally found in the Chevrolet Camaro – packing 302 horsepower and 252lb-ft of torque.

Lamborghini has just introduced the new Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 and already a major tuning company has put together their own higher-performance version of the sexy new raging bull – the Oakley Design Aventador LP760-2.

For 2012, the Chevrolet Camaro's V-6 will not have--times two--a cast iron exhaust manifold, six bolts, a gasket and a heat shield and three more bolts and as a result will be lighter, make more horsepower and have reduced emissions. It's largely due to combining the exhaust manifold with the cylinder head into a single aluminum casting.

Toyota Motor Corp. originally requested that lawsuits against them for economic loss stemming from their unintended acceleration issues be thrown out since plaintiffs may not be able to prove that loss but a US district judge has ruled that the courts will allow the economic loss suits.

The financial problems appear to have lightened a little for Saab and Spyker as Chinese automotive giant Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swedish automaker that should help keep the company’s short and mid-term cash flow issues.

Today BMW announces the availability of the new Series 1 M Coupé – a high performance, lightweight sports car destined to extend the reach and market penetration of the BMW M model experience – not to mention stirring the hearts and souls of drivers and young enthusiasts the world over.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into reports that certain Ford Freestyle crossovers are ‘lunging’ without input of the driver – slightly reminiscent of the acceleration problems plaguing Toyota but with far less severe results.

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) announced today that it has been selected by TXU Energy to deploy electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to support a public charging network in the Dallas Metro-plex area beginning with a historic installation in the City of McKinney.

Li-ion Motors, winner of the 2010 X-Prize for their innovative zero emissions vehicle, will use the 2011 Global Retail Real Estate Convention in Las Vegas to debut their new Inizio – an all-electric supercar.

The Aston Martin Cygnet was designed to give the Aston Martin owner a chance to enjoy the luxury of the brand in a compact city car and as the high-luxury rebadged Toyota iQ has begun hitting the market, the configurator for the Cygnet has gone live.