Automotive Industry
News covering the Automotive Industry at large.
503 articles in this category
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 14, 2012 A new study conducted by Maritz Research finds that 11.4% of new car buyers are skipping the test drive. The implication for skipping the test drive are due to more consumers doing their research on the internet (8 out of 10 consumers the study found) and the universal dislike of the car sales practice. "I just find it quite fascinating and a little baffling. As cliché as perhaps it sounds, there's that new-car smell that needs
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 10, 2012 Suzuki's presence in the U.S. is, um lackluster. However in other parts of the world, Suzuki is a major player. So whenever the company shows off a new vehicle or concept, that means its not for the U.S. However, a vehicle that will make its premiere at the Paris Motor Show could be arriving to the U.S. Suzuki has released two teaser images of the S-Cross concept, a small crossover. Suzuki says that the S-Cross has a "Emotion x
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 9, 2012 Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors have been making great strides in quality. J.D. Power and Associates' recent Vehicle Dependability Study saw Buick, Ford, and Lincoln above the industry average. Also, Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet, and Ram trucks all ranked above average in J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study. However, there is still many people who view these three as inferior vehicles. A new poll from Harris Interactive says that o
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 7, 2012 New legislation introduced into the House and Senate this week aims to end rental car companies renting or selling vehicles that are under recall. The legislation, co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) want to prohibit the rental of vehicles under a safety recall. The bill was introduced after two people were killed in 2004 when their unrepaired recalled Chrysler PT Cruiser,rented fro
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com August 6, 2012 If you're one of those people who wanted a H1, or the actual wartime vehicle that inspired it, have we got some news for you. After a twelve year break from the civilian market, AM General is reportedly set to offer a kit-car of the C-Series HMMWV, or Humvee. The kit will meet U.S. government regulations and has been made possible by a deal with GM. The kit will include a body with 2,800 installed rivets, chassis with springs
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 2, 2012 According to research firm Baum and Associates, American buyers are taking a liking to diesel vehicles. Through June of this year, 61,214 diesel-powered vehicles have been sold in the U.S., an increase of 27.5%. That number might not sound like a lot, but sales of diesel vehicles are steadily climbing. From April to June, Diesel vehicles saw increases in sales ranging from 14.4% to 28.2%. This news comes in the face of the high
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 26, 2012 This week, Tesla announced that it's considering boosting production of its Model S sedan to 30,000 units in response to a waiting list that stretches for 10-11 months. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a conference call with analysts that the company is expecting to sell 5,000 Model S sedans by the end of 2012, with 20,000 sales expected next year. That could increase to 30,000 with the addition of a second shift. Currently, Tesla has
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 19, 2012 With the advent of ever-tightening fuel economy and emission standards, no automaker is safe, not even boutique luxury automakers like Aston Martin. Consider this, besides the Aston Martin Cygnet which is a Scion iQ in drag, the rest of the Aston Martin lineup comes with either a V8 or V12 engines. Aston Martin has reduced the emissions of its engines by 25% over the past six years, but that might not be enough. Aston Martin head
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 17, 2012 The current Suzuki SX4 is going on six years and its beginning to show its age. Suzuki knows this and is working on the next generation SX4. Some new spy shots show how much progress Suzuki has made on the next SX4. The next SX4 appears to be much larger than the current model, thanks to larger greenhouse. Other design changes include a new grille and headlamps. There also appears to be a large intercooler that is hiding behind t
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersansGears.com July 12, 2012 From the we're a bit skeptical on this file; Autocar had the chance to talk with Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen. von Holzhausen told the magazine that work on a new model has begun and will be an entry level model. “The third model will continue to drive down the price point as fast as possible,” said von Holzhausen. von Holzhausen goes onto say the new model will have more distinctive styling than recently released
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 10, 2012 In 1939, Oldsmobile introduced the first automatic transmission dubbed Hydra-Matic. Hydra-Matic came four forward gears and a reverse gear. Fast forward 73 years and we have vehicles with six, seven, and even eight-speed automatics. And then there is the talk about vehicles getting nine and even ten speed transmission. This of course has the peanut gallery making comments of when we're going to see an eighteen-speed transmission.
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 5, 2012 The Highway Loss Data Institute, part of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), released a study this week looking into crash avoidance technology. The results are a bit surprising. The study looked property damage liability (PDL) claims, meaning drivers who had a accident with another vehicle. The study also limited the number of manufacturers in the study to four; Buick, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo. Unsurprisingl
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If you happen to be visiting Saudi Arabia, don't drift your rental car, you could lose your head. A popular amateur sport in the kingdom, drivers push their cars into skids at high speeds through traffic while spectators gather on the side of the road to watch and cheer, sometimes with disastrous results. Scores and scores of videos of the practice, called “Hadwalah”, are available on Youtube. In the video below, a Honda Accord is seen speeding down a highway with guns blazing out of the window
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 29, 2012 Today, BMW and Toyota unveiled more of their plans from their partnership announced last December. The plans include development of a hydrogen fuel-cell system, collaboration on electric powertrains, work on lightweight technologies, and development of a new sports car. "Toyota and the BMW Group share the same strategic vision of sustainable individual future mobility. Together we have a great opportunity to continue leading our i
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 28, 2012 The average age of a vehicle in the U.S. has hit a record high. According to Experian Automotive, the average age of the 245 million vehicles registered in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2012 was 11 years. That's an increase of just over 2 months when compared to last year. Experian Automotive goes onto say that more than 52 million cars and trucks in the U.S. are 16 years or older. Experian Automotive's analysis also found
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 21, 2012 The EPA gave its ratings for the Tesla Model S are they are very good. The EPA rates the new Model S at 88 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) in the City, 90 MPGe on the Highway, and 89 MPGe combined. Range is estimated to be 265 Miles, a 12% decrease from Tesla’s original estimate. (Note, these EPA ratings are for the the top of the line Model S. We’ll learn what the ratings for the other Model Ss in time.) So where does the M
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 21, 2012 Despite an early showing yesterday, Aston Martin has officially revealed the new Vanquish. The Vanquish will take the place of the DBS when it goes on sale in 2013. The Vanquish’s exterior design is a blend of the current DBS and Aston’s One-77 super car. Underneath the sleek design, the Vanquish’s body is comprised mostly of carbon fiber. As we reported on Tuesday, the new Vanquish will ride on Aston Martin’s venerable VH plat
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com June 19, 2012 The internet is a wonderful place for things to leak out before their official debut. The latest leak comes from Aston Martin as their new flagship, the Vanquish was revealed before its official debut. From the few pictures that were leaked, the Vanquish appears to be mix of the current DB9 and some new designs. Under the body lies a heavily revised version of Aston Martin’s VH platform. Power will come from a revised 6.0L V12 en
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com June 11, 2012 Apple's 2012 Worldwide Developer's Conference keynote is coming to a close as you're reading this, and among the announcements of iOS6 and new laptops, Apple is making their way into the vehicle once again via a button. Called Eyes Free, its a button on the steering wheel that will activate Siri on your iPhone or iPad in the vehicle. Most likely paired with Bluetooth, Eyes Free will let you talk to Siri through the car, giving
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com June 8, 2012 Transportation secretary Ray LaHood has made it his mission to end distracted driving, calling it an “epidemic.” To help end it, LaHood and Department of Transportation has unveiled their Blueprint for Ending Distracted Driving. The blueprint calls for: Get the last eleven holdout states to pass laws banning distracted driving. Challenge the auto industry to not provide vehicle content that the government considers distracti
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com June 7, 2012 Tesla's sales and financials have been taking a plunge since the company pulled the plug on their only model, the Roadster last year. However, the company has great hopes for improvement when the new Model S is launched. Tesla CEO Elon Musk told shareholders yesterday that he is “highly confident” that the company will achieve sales of 20,000 vehicles in 2013. The Model S, which will start at $57,400 (before a $7,500 federal ta
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com June 3, 2012 With gas prices going up and up, automakers are offering fuel-efficient versions of their compact cars to help stretch a gallon of gas farther. Consumer Reports wanted to see if these fuel-efficient compact models are worth the extra $500 - $800 from their non fuel-efficient models. They picked up a Chevrolet Cruze Eco, Ford Focus SFE, and Honda Civic HF to test the claim. Each of the vehicles were equipped with an automatic tra
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 31, 2012 Despite the fullsize car getting a kick in the pants with vehicles like the Chevrolet Impala, Toyota Avalon, and Ford Taurus, the fullsize car is becoming an endangered species. R.L. Polk & Co reports that the fullsize sedan market has seen its relevance halved. Fullsize sedans have seen their market share drop from slightly above 5% of all vehicles sold in 2006 to just 2.3% in the first three months of this year. Also, the
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 29, 2012 Last fall, the Department of Transportation and eight automakers began a study to assess drivers' acceptance of accident-avoidance technologies. The study, called the Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot Program put people on closed roads in cars that were equipped with the technologies and asked what did they think about it. Out of the 688 participants in the study, 92% wanted the technology in their vehicles and more than 90% believ
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 21, 2012 The annual "Car Wars" report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch states that Ford, General Motors and Toyota will gain back share and that Hyundai and Kia will lose share by 2016. The report is based on the rate at which automakers launch new products. Ford has the highest rate with 26% of the lineup being replaced by 2016. GM follows next with 25% and Toyota is next with 24%. The report says with these replacement rates, Ford sho
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 17, 2012 Fisker has a lot of problems: money, delays, and an investigation into a Karma fire are just some of them. And it doesn't look like the problems are going to end soon. Inside EVs got their hands on some leaked documents that were dated "a few weeks ago" dealing with the new Atlantic sedan. First the bad news. Originally, Fisker said that production would begin in late 2012 before hitting the market in early 2013. The leaked docu
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 15, 2012 Tesla announced this week they will begin to pay back their loans from the U.S. Government later this year. Tesla chief financial officer Deepak Ahuja told Bloomberg this week, "We are delivering on the milestones, what we're committed to...once we are delivering customer cars, that signifies completion of the project". This suggests once Tesla begins delivering the new Model S sedan out to customers, they will begin paying bac
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 15, 2012 Its been working its way through the halls of congress, but according to Car and Driver, the "black box" mandate for cars could be in the books. The Senate has already voted to adopt a transportation bill that has a provision mandating event data recorders to be equipped into new vehicles starting in 2015. The House of Representatives is considering a version with slightly different language. The current state of the bills are "
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 11, 2012 Automotive legend Caroll Shelby passed away last night at the age of 89 after a lengthy illness at the Baylor Hospital in Dallas, TX. Shelby's shadow extended nearly across automotive world. In the fifties, Shelby was a highly accomplished racer. He would win three U.S. sports-car championships, the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans, and set land speed records at Bonneville. However, a heart condition in 1960 would cause him to stop raci
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 11, 2012 According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic deaths are at their lowest levels since 1949. NHTSA's preliminary numbers show an estimated 32,310 people died in traffic accidents last year, a 1.7% drop from 2010 where 32,885 people died. Deaths in traffic accidents has been decreasing by 26% since 2005. New England and the Great Lakes region saw the biggest decrease in car accident deaths in 2011, with
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 8, 2012 More bad news for the Fisker Karma. A fire which engulfed a Fisker Karma and caused damage to house in Sugar Land, Texas is now be pointed at as the cause. Chief fire investigator for Fort Bend County, Texas, Robert Baker told Autoweek that he belives the Fisker Karma started the fire. “Yes, the Karma was the origin of the fire, but what exactly caused that we don't know at this time,” Barker said. Barker says the owner pulled
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 8, 2012 Almost a year after the state of Nevada approved legislation to allow tests of self-driving vehicles on public roads, the state has issued its first license for a self-driving vehicle. The vehicle in question is Google's autonomous Toyota Prius, which has currently logged 140,000 miles and one accident. The accident was caused when a car driven by a person bumped into the back of Google's autonomous car. Google hopes with these t
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com May 1, 2012 From the Twilight Zone file: USA Today reports that 6.5% of new vehicles sold in the first quarter were equipped with a manual transmission, which is more than double of vehicles sold with them in 2007. It's also the highest amount since 2006 when 7.2% vehicles were sold with manual transmission. The take rate is more impressive when you take into account that 19% of the 2,360 different models on sale offer a manual. The increas
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 29, 2012 This past week at the SAE World Congress in Detroit, Google says that self-driving cars can be on U.S. roads within the next few years. We don't know what it's going to take to show its safer than a driver. It's much sooner than the next decade," said Google project manager Anthony Levandowski. Levandowski revealed that Google is in talks with auto makers and suppliers about working with them on the technology. "All options
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 22, 2012 Ex-Saab CEO Victor Muller on-again, off-again affair with the sports car company he started, Spyker appears to be back on. During Muller’s tenure at Saab, Spyker was put up for sale to the highest bidder. A few companies were interested, but none bit, which has become a blessing in a disguise. Since Saab has bid adieu, Swedish Automotive has changed its name to back to Spyker. Now, Muller has some big plans in store. De Tel
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 20, 2012 The bad news is solidering on at Fisker Automotive. A few weeks after showing the new Atlantic concept, the company let go twelve people at their Delaware plant. This is second time this year that Fisker has laid off people at the plant. Back in February, Fisker laid off twenty-six employees due to the company not meeting the Department of Energy’s contractual milestones for their loans. Today, Fisker employs only a small main
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 19, 2012 The diesel car, once considered the dirtiest and worst powertrain in America, is making a large comeback. According to statistics gathered by the Diesel Technology Forum, diesel vehicles sales are up 35% in the first quarter of 2012. A trend since diesel sales were up 27% the year before. By comparison, the overall U.S. auto market is up 13.% in the same time, and hybrid sales increased 37.2%. In the big picture, diesels capt
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 18, 2012 New analysis from TrueCar, an online research firm, shows the average transaction price of new cars are on the rise. TrueCar looked at sales data from last month and found that the average price was 30,748, a rise 6.9% over the previous year. So why the increase in average price? The answer lies in the options list. Consumers are ticking more boxes on the list like never before, with the average new car being very close to “f
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 18, 2012 Shelby has been synonymous with the Mustang since the late sixties with the GT350 and GT500. Since the two got back together in 2007 with GT500, Shelby has been reestablishing itself as the halo car producer for Ford. But Shelby is looking to expand. Autoblog talked with Shelby president John Luft about what the future holds for the company. Luft said the company is looking at whether to branch out to other vehicles in the For
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 16, 2012 To say Suzuki is hurting would be a large understatement. The brand is showing many signs of trouble which include, Suzuki's first quarter sales totaled 6,561 vehicles, a drop of 2% over last year. Meanwhile, in the same quarter, the market rose 13%. Suzuki skipped the Los Angeles and Detroit Auto Show Suspended their social media activity (i.e. Facebook & Twitter) two months ago Steve Younan, the top U.S. produc
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 12, 2012 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced has announced plans to update the agency's current vehicle safety standards to include a mandatory brake-throttle override system. The system would ensure that the brake will overpower the gas pedal when the two are applied at the same time and bring the car to a stop. The hope is to curb the amount of unattended acceleration cases. The new standards will apply o
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 10, 2012 The self-driving car; a dream that has talked about and tested for many years. But the dream could be a reality by 2020 according to a former GM R&D Chief. Larry Burns, former head of GM’s r&d division spoke yesterday at University of Michigan Robotics Day said predicted that self driving vehicles will be on U.S. roads by the year 2020. Burns goes even farther, saying the tech needed for self-driving will be available
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 9, 2012 A new study published by R.L. Polk said only a third of hybrid owners bought another in 2011. The study showed that only 35% of hybrid owners bought another. Take out the most popular hybrid, the Toyota Prius and the number falls to 22%. Brad Smith, director of Polk's loyalty management practice told Automotive News the biggest problem for hybrid vehicles is the advancements made with conventional gas engines. "The premium pr
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The Fisker Atlantic, which debuted this week at the New York Auto Show, could built somewhere else besides their facility in Wilmington, Delaware. "The whole plan has changed," said Fisker CEO Tom LaSorda to Automotive News. "Wilmington is our primary site…but there are other options. We have to look at what's best for the company and the shareholders." LaSorda went onto say that a decision on where the Atlantic will be built will be made by the end of summer. This would cause another delay on
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com April 2, 2012 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened investigations into the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and the 2010 Jeep Wrangler for engine fires. The government agency received two complaints about fires on the Cruze and eight for the Wrangler, with some owners reporting their vehicles were completely destroyed. In the two complaints for the Chevrolet Cruze, both reported the fires began while the vehicle was in motion.
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 16, 2012 This week, Senators on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee criticized the Energy Department on their handling of the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing initiative. Created in 2007, the Energy Department has only given out less than half of the funds during the four years of existence. Only four companies have gotten their loans; Ford, Nissan, Fisker Automotive, and Tesla. The Energy Department hasn’t
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 15, 2012 The hopes and dreams of having a small diesel Indian pickup in the U.S. are now put to rest. A British arbitration panel ruled in favor of Mahindra, the pickup truck maker in question in a lawsuit with their U.S. distributor, Global Vehicles. The panel said in their verdict the contract between the two companies had expired and that Mahindra had not violated the terms of the contract or any U.S. laws. This verdict ends a six y
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 14, 2012 Back in 2008, then Presidential candidate Barack Obama made a pledge to have a million electric vehicles on the nation’s roadways by 2015. Obama reiterated that pledge during his 2011 State of Union address. But a new report from the White House called the “One Year Progress Report” of the President’s “Blueprint For A Secure Energy Agenda” shows the goal won't be reached. President Obama stated last year that “with more resea
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 13, 2012 Even after its release, Fisker has been having their share of problems with the new Karma; battery defects, software problems, and Consumer Reports having their Karma die during their testing. A former Fisker employee isn't surprised. The employee told GigaOM that Fisker pushed the Karma before it was production ready to try and meet its milestones from the Department of Energy for its $529 million loan. Unfortunately, the re
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G.Noble Editor/Reporter CheersandGears.com March 10, 2012 Life hasn’t exactly been easy for the Chevrolet Volt. Although it was just recently named 2012 European Car of the Year in Opel Ampera guise, GM announced previous to the awarding they were suspending production for little over a month because of slow sales and dealers rejecting further allotments. On top of that, the Volt has had some image issues stemming from the NHTSA’s disclosure late last year about how an example they t-boned c
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 8, 2012 Carbon Motors, the company behind the purpose-built E7 police vehicle will not be getting any of the $310 million in U.S. Department of Energy loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program that it applied for almost three years ago. Carbon Motors CEO William Santana Li says the company is a victim of politics. “We are outraged by the actions of the DOE and it is clear that this was a political decisio
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 8, 2012 Yesterday, President Barack Obama announced a new proposal that would make alternative-energy cars and trucks more attractive to buyers. Part of his proposal calls on Congress to change the current tax credit for plug-in vehicles into a point-of-sale rebate. Also he is calling for an increase in the maximum credit from $7,500 to $10,000. But plug-ins won't be the only vehicles getting a tax credit. Obama said he would like to
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com March 1, 2012 The Fisker Karma sports some sleek lines and daring proportions for an plug-in hybrid vehicle. The one it doesn’t sport is space. One only needs to see the Karma’s trunk to realize how much of a priority the design took over the space. However, at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, Fisker showed off the Surf concept. The Surf takes a regular Karma and extends its roofline with a hatchback/wagon/shooting brake body style to give
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 28, 2012 To say Fisker Automotive has been living in interesting times could be an understatement. Their first vehicle, the Karma only starting arriving back in December, when it was actually due out months earlier. Then in February, the company halted work on the Nina family sedan at their Wilmington, Del plant. That was due to them and Department of Energy hashing out new terms of a $529 million loan. Now, Fisker has announced tha
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 17, 2012 Distracted Driving is a topic that’s on everybody's minds, and with good reason. Newer vehicles are packed with more technology; ranging from touchscreen infotainment systems options to voice-controlled applications to smartphone integration. It comes as no surprise that the U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, the man who is leading the Distracted Driving cause has announced a new set of proposed guidelines for automakers to lim
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 16, 2012 President Obama has a goal of getting a million plug-in vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015. Last year during his State of the Union address, Obama talked about changing the current $7,500 tax credit into a point-of-purchase rebate. That hasn’t happen at the moment, but in the President's proposed budget that was released this week, Obama is trying another way to reach his goal; raising the tax credit to $10,000. To go along wit
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February 14th, 2012 - Drew Dowdell - CheersandGears.com Michiganers will soon be able to get around a little faster without risking a speeding ticket. The US Department of Transportation has approved Amtrak to run 80 miles of the 97 mile section between Kalamazoo, MI and Porter, IN at 110mph, the first such service outside of Amtrak's North East Corridor. This move comes after the successful implementation of Incremental Train Control System (ITCS) along this section of the route. The two route
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 14, 2012 Tesla’s first car, the Roadster had to bow out last year due to Lotus choosing to end production of its own Elise and Exige sports cars, which the Roadster was based on. Since then, Tesla has promised a sequel to the Roadster, but it might be a long wait. Inside Line spoke with Tesla Chairman and CEO Elon Musk about the next Roadster. Musk said he's decided to hold up on a replacement roadster for now. The reason isn’t tech
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 11, 2012 Former President George W. Bush spoke this week to a gathering of auto dealers. During his speech, Bush defended his decision on bailing out Chrysler and General Motors. "I'd do it again. I didn't want there to be 21 percent unemployment," Bush told dealers. Bush told dealers he believed in the free market and in normal conditions, automakers and other businesses should have been allowed to fail. "If you make a bad decisi
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G. Noble Editor/Reporter CheersandGears.com Friday, 10th February, 2012 If you're waiting for the sting of high gas prices to go away soon, you may be in for one hell of a long wait. Gas prices are back at a national average of $3.48 a gallon -- a whole 36 cents more than the average during February of last year -- and are set to climb an entire 60 cents or more by May. Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information service expects prices to top out at $4.05 a gallon, although some markets could se
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 10, 2012 Earlier this week, Fisker announced they had temporarily halted work on Nina family sedan at the Fisker Automotive plant in Wilmington, Del. The temporary halt is due to Fisker and the federal government hashing out new terms of the company’s $529 million Department of Energy loan. The halt has caused Fisker to layoff 26 people at its Delaware plant and a number of contract engineers at Fisker's Anaheim, Calif., headquarters
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 10, 2012 Last night, Tesla introduced their next vehicle, the Model X. Based on on an extended platform of the 5+2 passenger sedan, the Model S, the Model X is a seven passenger crossover EV. Design of the Model X takes a Model S, enlarges it, and adds the back end of the BMW X6. The signature design feature of the Model X is what Tesla is calling falcon-wing doors, a two-piece articulated gullwing door. The trick with the falcon-wi
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 10, 2012 The House Science Committee approved a bill on Tuesday that bars the EPA from going forward with E15 till further studies are done. The bill sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), was passed by a 19-7 vote as members voted along party lines. Automakers and and corn growers have clashed over E15, which is made from 15 percent corn-based ethanol biofuel since 2010. The EPA has allowed E15 use in 2001 and newer vehicle
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 6, 2012 Do you want a billion dollars? Well, all you need to do is build 60,000 cars that get 100 MPG and the U.S. government will send a check your way if a new bill is passed. Representative Dan Lungren ® of California's 3rd Congressional District has introduced a bill into Congress called the Excellence in Energy Efficiency Act of 2012. If the bill is passed, the legislation would have the Secretary of Energy "establish a program
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com February 1, 2012 2011 was a good year for the domestics. Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors saw their market share grow. But, a new report from Bloomberg says the Big Three could see a drop in 2012. Sales for 2012 are expected to grow from 12.8 million vehicles last year to 13.6 million, but competition from the Koreans and a recovery of the Japanese automakers mean those sales sales aren't likely headed to the Big Three. Bloomberg asked fi
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 30, 2012 The U.S. Treasury Department revealed in a new report to Congress that it will lose more money than expected on the 2009 bailout loans given to Chrysler and General Motors. The Treasury now expects to lose $23.77 billion on the $85 billion bailouts, up from the $23.6 billion losses estimated last fall. Most of the increase in the projected loss is due to GM's stock price declining over the past six months. GM's stock price a
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 30, 2012 Just as we got to the point of everyone agreeing that 54.5 MPG was an attainable goal for 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has decided to change things up. CARB has ruled to enforce the 54.5 MPG rule and to will also require at least 15.4% of all cars sold by any major automaker in the state to either be fully electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen fuel cell by 2025. Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air R
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 26, 2012 Volvo is searching for a new partner to develop new small cars. CEO Stefan Jacoby told the Financial Times the company is open to any partners to help in development of compact models in an effort to drive down production costs. "We are open for partners. We are open for collaboration in a win-win situation for sharing platforms, for sharing engines, and for a general higher scale of economics," Jacoby said. Jacoby added th
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Drew Dowdell - January 19, 2012 - CheersandGears.com One of the limitations of current wind turbine technology is the limited amount of power generated per turbine. Large scale installations are required to match the power output of just the smaller coal buring powerplant. The largest wind turbines in the world produce about 5mw of power while the average coal fired power station produces around 500mw. Simple math can tell you that 100 of the largest wind turbines we have would need to be buil
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 19, 2012 Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that a prototype of the all-electric Model X crossover will be revealed on February 9 at Tesla’s design studio in California. Originally to be shown at NAIAS, the Model X will use the Model S sedan’s aluminum-intensive platform. Power is expected to go to all four wheels possibly by utilizing the Model S’s electric drivetrain at the rear wheels while adding one to two electric motors up fron
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 18, 2012 According to a report from research firm R.L. Polk & Co, the average of age of a vehicle on the road stands at 10.8 years last July. The report says the average age of passenger vehicles stands at 11.1 years, while for light trucks, it’s 10.4 years. Polk says the median age of cars has been on the rise for the past 16 years because people are keeping their cars longer due to various reasons. Most recently, the economic d
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 17, 2012 If you’re one of people who wants an electric car, but have the fear of not having enough power to make it through your daily drive, you might want to hear this story. A new study released by Columbia University says that 95% of daily trips could be made with an electric vehicles. The study done by two doctoral students used data from the Department of Transport’s 2009 National Household Travel Survey. The data showed 95% of
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 16, 2012 A few years ago, a man by the name Scott Devin decided to build an American supercar to compete with the world’s best. So he called on a Swedish designer, Daniel Paulin to design his car. Now, being a new start-up car company, Devon couldn’t develop his own platform or an engine due to not having enough money. So, he went the donor car route for his new car and picked the Dodge Viper. Now, before you start thinking all Devo
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 16, 2012 Automakers have been pushing Hybrid vehicles for the past few years as a way for owners to save gas and the environment. However, according to LMC Automotive, hybrid sales in the United States have slowed last year to 2.2% compared to 2.4% in 2010. Mike Jackson, chief executive of auto retail chain AutoNation Inc., says that while 75% of customers that walked into his showrooms wanted to talk about hybrids, they only make 2.
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January 16th, 2012 - Drew Dowdell - CheersandGears.com In a statement released on Friday the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), a political action committee formed by General Motors, Chrysler Group, and Ford Motor Company, announced opposition to Japan joining the currently running Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade negotiations. The original members of the TPP formed in 2006 are Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. From 2008 to 2010, five additional countries, Australia,
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 13, 2012 2011 was a good year for diesel vehicles. A report done by the from the Diesel Technology Forum says sales of diesel vehicles in 2011 rose 27.4%. The report states the overall growth of diesel vehicles in 2011 was at 10.2%, putting the increase ahead of the curve. Interestingly enough, the group says sales of hybrid vehicles were down 2.2%. The report also states sales of diesel vehicles grow to over 6% of the U.S. market b
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 6, 2012 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today released their numbers of recalls done by automakers in 2011. The total for 2011 stands at 15.5 million vehicles and 593 recall campaigns. The numbers are less than 2010 totals of 20.1 million vehicles and 648 campaigns. Honda was the top automaker in recalls with 3.9 million vehicles recalled during 2011. Honda initially disputed the number put out by NHTSA, but later
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 5, 2012 A study done by consulting firm KPMG found out two-thirds of auto execs that combined hybrid and EV sales will account for as little as 6% of the market in the United States and Western Europe as late as 2025. However, the execs say they will still invest in the technology. "They are hedging their bets. They are saying that we don't know yet what the winning vehicle technology will be for the future, and so they are going to
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 4, 2012 It's not any news that cars are getting heavier by the moment due to new safety reguations and luxuries like power windows and sound proofing. A new report shows how both have been detrimental to fuel economy gains. Christopher Knittel, a professor of applied economics at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management published a paper in the American Economic Review stating that if weight, horsepower, and torque were held to levels i
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 4, 2012 At next week's Detroit Auto Show, Volvo will show of a XC60 Plug-In Hybrid Concept. The XC60 Plug-In Hybrid Concept will sport a brand new 2.0L turbo-four producing 280 HP. The gas engine is mated to a 70 HP electric motor giving a combined power output of 350 HP. 0-60 takes around 5.8 seconds and can get 50 MPG. Drivers can choose from three different modes how much of the available power from the gas and electric motor are
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 30, 2011 The UAW isn't giving up on their effort to organize plants in the south, rather they're changing their main focus. Originally, the UAW was going to target Japanese automakers. However, the UAW is now going after the German automakers. Reuters report that the UAW believes given Germany’s history of dealing with its strong IG Metall union, executives at the German automakers would be more to let UAW reps to talk workers. Gi
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 29, 2011 2012 is bring forth some significant changes for automakers that were planning to invest in China. The National Development and Reform Commission (NRDC) and the Ministry of Commerce announced that January 30, 2012, the country will stop encouraging foreign investment in the auto industry. The NRDC states the decision was made to help nurture their domestic brands. Jenny Gu, a senior market analyst at LMC Automotive in Shang
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 28, 2011 For the past decade, the best selling luxury brand has been Lexus. However, 2011 has been a fall of grace for Lexus and caused them to relinquish their top selling crowd. Now, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are fighting to see who becomes the top seller. At last tally, BMW holds a slight edge of Mercedes, selling 1,582 more vehicles than Mercedes in November. Now, entering the final month of 2012, both are going all out on incentive
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Drew Dowdell - CheersandGears.com After 30 years, the ever increasing subsidy for ethanol produced from corn has expired. When Congress adjourned for the year last week, they did not renew the ethanol subsidy that has cost taxpayers some $45 billion during its lifetime. Every gallon of ethanol pumped provided corn growers with a 45 cent subsidy. Most of the savings from ending the subsidy to go towards reducing the US's budget deficit. At the same time, a 54 cent per gallon tariff on ethanol i
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The US government is pulling back on some of their financial support for electric vehicles. Coming this Saturday, a tax credit which allows taxpayers to deduct 30% of the cost an electric vehicle charger (good for up to $30,000 in commercial cases) will be discontinued. If you're thinking the 30% deduction is a bit high, last year the deduction was set at 50%. "The timing of this couldn't be more unfortunate," coming just as more electric cars are on the way." said Genevieve Cullen, vice pres
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 27, 2011 Mahindra, the company who promised to bring small diesel powered pickups to the US has been having their share of problems. Fallout between them and their importer, Global Vehicles USA and lawsuits from dealers have delayed the introduction. A couple of weeks ago, Mahindra Planet, "The Unofficial Mahindra U.S. News Source," reported that Mahindra and Navistar, the international truck and bus builder had worked out a deal to
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 22, 2011 When the US Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood thinks the NTSB’s recommendation of banning mobile electronics is a bad idea, you know it’s a bad idea. Speaking with the Detroit News, LaHood states he doesn’t supports the NTSB’s recommendation. "The problem is not hands-free. That is not the big problem in America." LaHood has been banging the drum on distracted driving in the U.S. for awhile, with him prodding states to
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 20, 2011 Tesla has released pricing and specifications of their upcoming Model S and it looks pretty good if the company can meet them. The Model S' pricing is broken down by battery capacity and the range, with the 40-kWh battery pack model starting at $57,400, the 60-kWh battery pack model starting at $67,400, and the 85-kWh battery pack model starting at $77,400. There will also be a performance model which will use the 85-kWh ba
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 19, 2011 A new study from the University of Michigan says the proposed CAFE standards could actually make new cars larger, not smaller. The study used simulations of 473 different vehicles to figure how automakers could modify vehicle dimensions, implement fuel-saving technology features and trade off performance and fuel economy. Pricing was also taken into account. Their results showed that automakers would increase the size of ve
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 18, 2011 Carbon Motors, the company behind the purpose-built E7 police vehicle sent a letter to President Obama's cabinet on Friday urging them to approve the company's Department of Energy Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan. Carbon Motors applied for ATVM loan program two years ago, but hasn't seen a cent of it. The letter goes on a point by point basis on why they deserve the loan, ranging from the environmental impac
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 17, 2011 Steven Rattner, the former car czar that oversaw the federal bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, said on Thursday to the Detroit Economic Club that the Obama administration's Auto Task Force should have forced all the stakeholders, including the United Auto Workers, to make more sacrifices. "We asked all the stakeholders to make very significant sacrifices. We should have asked the UAW to do a bit more. We did not ask
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 15, 2011 Yesterday, the Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill that would overhaul the nation's auto safety laws. The bill includes measures to raise the maximum fine for automakers that delay recalls from $17.35 million to $250 milllion. The bill also includes measures that would give states grants for banning texting while driving or the use of cell phones by teen drivers, increase funding for research, improve the vehicle reca
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Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended a nationwide ban on using any personal electronic devices while driving. The recommendation was made to all US states. So what kind of personal electronic devices are we talking about? The NTSB’s director was specific about wanting to ban phone calls, texting, updating your status on facebook, etc. However, the director was less specific on possible provisions that would allow specific driving related uses like GPS. NTSB cited stu
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If you were thinking about purchasing a new Fisker Karma, you might want to hear this. Fisker has announced they will be increasing prices on the Karma Plug-In hybrid sedan by 6%. That means the base Karma EcoStandard model will now have a sticker price of $102,000; an increase of $6,150. The high-end EcoChic model will see a $10,000 increase to $116,000. However, if you have put down a $5,000 deposit on the Karma, you're in luck. Fisker says for those who put a deposit down can purchase the K
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 9, 2011 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed today a new rule that would make all keyless ignition systems operate in the same manner. The proposed rule would require the system be able to turn off the engine regardless of the position the gear selector is in. The rule would also reduce the number of seconds someone has to hold the button to turn the engine and have an audible warning if the driver tries to sh
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The UAW has dropped their plans to organize a foreign automaker plant. Previously, the UAW vowed to organize one foreign auto manufacturer on U.S. soil by year’s end. "We're shifting our strategy a little bit. We are not going to announce a target at all. We are not going to create a fight," said UAW President Bob King. King's announcement comes a few days after UAW spokeswoman Michele Martin said the union wouldn't meet it's goal to unionize a foreign plant by year’s end. Organizing one fore
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In the Math solving all of our problems file; the LA Times is reporting that MIT has developed an an algorithm that can determine whether a driver will run a red light within milliseconds.Their research is being published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. The group did tests at an intersection in Christianburg, VA with 15,000 vehicles passing through. Their results with the algorithm was correct 85% of the time, which is reportedly the most accurate that ha
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com December 6, 2011 Earlier today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee it plans to hold a hearing in late January on the Volt battery issue. "It gives us great concern that recent reports indicate important safety information may have been omitted in testimony before our committee just a few weeks ago. This is a serious situation that our committee will look further into," said Jeff Solsby, a spokesman for the committee. The he
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Saab seems to be the cat of the automotive industry with the number of lives it has. Last we heard from the Swedish company, the company was waiting on approval on a deal with Pang Da and Youngman. However, General Motors was concerned with the deal due to technologies used in Saab vehicles ending up in competitor hands. Now, a new deal to save Saab is in the works. Saab's parent company, Swedish Automotive is in talks with Youngman and a bank in China (possibly Bank of China). The plan accor
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Aptera Motors, the company behind the odd looking, three wheel electric vehicle called the 2e has announced today they're closing up shop. In a letter written by Aptera Motors President and CEO, Paul Wilbur, Aptera was unable to raise enough money from investors to keep it going until it received a $150 million loan from the Department of Energy's Advance Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. "This is a difficult time for everyone connected with our company because we have never been clo
