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Tag: Cars

Gas Prices Suck

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Posted on May 18, 2013 READ MORE



crowt59 (CC BY 2.0)

Protecting Your Ride From the New Ethanol Blend

A new policy approved by the EPA will allow states to permit the sale of fuel that contains up to 15 percent ethanol, and the difference could damage your car.

Posted on Dec 26, 2012 READ MORE


No Denial: ‘Son of Detroit’ Profited From Bailout—and Jobs Shipped to China

The neglect of the Delphi story by mainstream and even progressive outlets such as MSNBC has been remarkable, particularly because neither Romney nor his campaign has denied it.

Posted on Oct 25, 2012 READ MORE



Photo by Martin Abegglen (CC-BY-SA)

Toyota Recalls 7.4 Million Vehicles Over Window Switches

Recently reclaiming its status as the world’s biggest automaker three years after a major recall that raised questions about its vehicles’ safety, Toyota is once again asking customers to bring their vehicles in for inspection.

Posted on Oct 10, 2012 READ MORE


Fool Efficiency

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Posted on Apr 10, 2012 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT


Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need New Roads

Instead of beefing up public transit, cities build neighborhood-destroying highways, cars fill up those highways, cities then build more highways to alleviate traffic, and then yet more cars flood the roads, creating even more traffic.

Posted on Apr 5, 2012 READ MORE  |  31 COMMENTS


‘Left, Right & Center’: Cars, Contraception and China

What is it about this particular election cycle that’s causing Republican candidates’ fortunes to rise and fall so rapidly the pundits are practically getting whiplash? And does our nation’s debt problem have more to do with defense spending or so-called entitlement programs?

Posted on Feb 17, 2012 READ MORE



Chevrolet

How the Stimulus Revived the Electric Car

Until the economic stimulus package was passed in 2009, the manufacture of electric cars and their batteries in the United States was nearly nonexistent.

Posted on Jan 31, 2012 READ MORE  |  10 COMMENTS


When Socialism Saves Capitalism

Have you noticed that one of the Obama administration’s most successful programs is also its most “socialist” initiative?

Posted on Sep 21, 2011 READ MORE  |  33 COMMENTS


The Power Behind a Clean Energy Future

This week on Truthdig Radio in collaboration with KPFK: Why a battery breakthrough is the key to clean energy; how boosting the minimum wage could lift the economy; we check in with immigration; and Robert Scheer talks about the sinful love between the tea party and Goldman Sachs. Also: On the ground in Gaza. Update: Full transcript.

Posted on Jul 6, 2011 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT



Photo illustration from an image by Colin Grey

The Power Behind a Clean Energy Future

This week on Truthdig Radio in collaboration with KPFK: Why a battery breakthrough is the key to our clean energy future; how boosting the minimum wage could lift the economy; we check in with immigration; and Robert Scheer talks about the sinful love between the tea party and Goldman Sachs. Also: On the ground in Gaza.

Posted on Jul 6, 2011 READ MORE


The Government: Credit Where Credit Is Due

Don’t expect to see a lot of newspapers and websites with this headline: “Big Government Bailout Worked.” But it would be entirely accurate.

Posted on May 8, 2011 READ MORE  |  16 COMMENTS


Pols Debate Chrysler Super Bowl Ad

Given the outsourcing, the massive bailout, the abandoned houses and the rest of the city’s emotional baggage, it was sort of inevitable that Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” ad, featuring Eminem and spanning roughly $12 million worth of airtime, would elicit cheers and jeers from Congress.

Posted on Feb 7, 2011 READ MORE  |  7 COMMENTS



Flickr / Swerz

Google Under Privacy Investigation Again

Google is back in the privacy hot seat, as Britain’s privacy commission says it will once again investigate the kind and amount of personal information that the Internet search giant gathered from private Wi-Fi networks as its Google Street View cars patrolled.

Posted on Oct 24, 2010 READ MORE


Driving Phone-Toxicated

I am, as of this writing, 144 days away from never again being able to sleep soundly. That is when my 15-year-old daughter, as she delights in constantly reminding me, will receive her learner’s permit.

Posted on Sep 16, 2010 READ MORE  |  14 COMMENTS



AP / Pat Sullivan

One Day, You’ll Have a Chip in Your Rear

Should your car help authorities track you? Should it be a traveling billboard? … Amid emerging technology, the role of the license plate is in flux and causing controversy.

Posted on Sep 12, 2010 READ MORE  |  15 COMMENTS



American Science & Engineering

Airport X-Ray Scanners Hit the Road

While debate continues in the United States over whole-body imagers, manufacturers of the technology are opening deeper opportunities for themselves elsewhere that could make the controversial machines an even bigger part of everyday life.

Posted on Sep 8, 2010 READ MORE  |  12 COMMENTS



wreckedexotics.com

Ferrari Joins the Not-So-Posh Recall Club

In these hard times one might be tempted to indulge in a bit of schadenfreude at the news that a $250,000 supercar for the superrich has a propensity to burst into flames, but we’ll just stick to the facts. Ferrari is recalling more than 1,200 of its 458 Italia model because of a design flaw that has bonfire potential.

Posted on Sep 1, 2010 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS


100-mph Car Crash Caught on Tape

Consider this a public service announcement: Stay safe out there. A 19-year-old Ohioan somehow survived this 100-mph crash that severed his airborne car into three pieces. Suddenly our slow-moving Prius is feeling awfully cozy.

Posted on Aug 24, 2010 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS



Flickr / Aapo Haapanen (CC-BY-SA)

China’s Great Wall of Traffic Back to Normal After 9 Days

Here in Los Angeles, we know gridlock and frankly we’re not impressed by what most people call “traffic,” but the Chinese are taking things to an extreme. China says a nine-day, 60-mile-long traffic jam is finally breaking up.

Posted on Aug 23, 2010 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS



Flickr / Brian Cantoni (CC-BY)

Ungrateful ‘Government Motors’ Ready to Go Public Again

GM’s outgoing CEO likes to complain about the government’s 61 percent stake in the reborn company, but thanks to all that Washington meddling, GM has gone from losing $88 billion over four years to making a couple of billion in six months.

Posted on Aug 18, 2010 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS


How Big Government Saved the Malibu

Who could have imagined that the bailout of the auto industry, one of the single most unpopular moves by the Obama administration, would become one of its best talking points?

Posted on Aug 1, 2010 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS



GM

GM’s Electric Wonder Will Cost You

Back when GM was going down the tubes, we heard an awful lot about a futuristic electric car that would save the company. The Chevy Volt finally has a price tag, and it’s set at a luxurious $41,000 (before a substantial tax rebate). (continued)

Posted on Jul 27, 2010 READ MORE  |  18 COMMENTS



Tesla Motors

How Clean Are Electric Cars? Depends on the State

With high-profile deals, expanding infrastructure and a growing list of models, the electric car is finally arriving, but, as they say, your mileage may vary. Charge that Tesla Roadster in Georgia, where they burn coal to power the grid, and you may as well be driving a Prius.

Posted on Jul 19, 2010 READ MORE  |  15 COMMENTS


Road Rule

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Posted on Jul 7, 2010 READ MORE



Flickr user Stefano A (CC-BY)

U.S. Slaps Toyota With Record Fine

U.S. auto regulators have decided to fine Toyota a maximum $16.375 million, having determined that the car company waited “at least four months” to recall its troubled vehicles. Toyota can contest the fine, which, although a record, amounts to a tiny fraction of the total financial impact of recalling some 8 million vehicles worldwide. (continued)

Posted on Apr 5, 2010 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT



Wikimedia Commons / IFCAR

Chevy Volt Goes for a Spin

A few years ago GM’s electric car seemed like the vehicle we’d all be driving in the brave new world of hybrids, a Prius killer that could save the troubled company if GM could just hang on long enough. GM is only now starting to let civilians drive the thing and some of them are wondering whether the Volt hasn’t lost its spark. (continued)

Posted on Mar 30, 2010 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS


Problems With the Electronics

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Posted on Mar 22, 2010 READ MORE



Flickr / Beadmobile

Honda Recalls 410,000 Cars

It’s not quite the 8 million vehicles that Toyota has had to swallow, but the next-biggest Japanese automaker announced a recall of its own. Honda is calling 410,000 Odyssey and Element vehicles sold in the U.S. back to the farm to address brake issues.

Posted on Mar 16, 2010 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT



Flickr / It's Our City

What Do Toyota and Big Tobacco Have in Common?

Fed up with a certain automotive academic who has been challenging Toyota’s claims about its car troubles, the automaker demonstrated similar problems in its competitors’ vehicles and fielded a team of experts to argue counterpoint. One of those experts runs a consulting firm for hire that once found no link between secondhand smoke and cancer. (continued)

Posted on Mar 9, 2010 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS


GOP Lawmaker Demands Recall of Car That Drove Him to Gay Club

The senator said not only did the car drive him to the gay nightclub, but it forced him to enter the club and party there for hours, resulting in his later arrest for DUI. (Editor’s note: Although Roy Ashburn is a real state senator who really was arrested on a DUI charge after allegedly being at a gay club, in this column Borowitz takes the liberty of manufacturing a set of quotations for satire’s sake.)

Posted on Mar 7, 2010 READ MORE  |  8 COMMENTS



porsche.com

How the Other Half Hybrids

Quick, name a supercar that has 500 horsepower and gets 78 mpg. Unfortunately there isn’t one—yet. Until Porsche puts its 918 Spyder up for sale, this environmentally friendly beast, which will take you from a standstill to a suspended license in about three seconds, is confined to auto shows. (pictures after the jump)

Posted on Mar 2, 2010 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS


Toyota Chief Overshoots Congressional Hearings by 150 Miles

Toyota President Akio Toyoda said he was having difficulties with the brakes on his 2010 Toyota Prius, which finally came to rest after crashing into a blacksmith’s shop in Colonial Williamsburg.

Posted on Feb 28, 2010 READ MORE  |  11 COMMENTS


Not as Dumb as He Looks

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Posted on Feb 25, 2010 READ MORE



Flickr / Steve.Maw

So Much for Plan B

Car buyers troubled by Toyota’s recalls may have considered turning their attention to Honda, another Japanese automaker with a sterling reputation for reliability. Unfortunately, the second-biggest Japanese automaker just announced an expanded recall of its own.

Posted on Feb 9, 2010 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS



Flickr / lucamascaro

Stealing Fire From the Gods

A friend of mine once had a Toyota that wouldn’t die. The odometer had only a dim recollection of passing 100,000 miles, the body was dinged and the paint was faded and the interior was worn, but the thing just kept running. He finally parked it at the airport, removed the plates and walked away.

Posted on Feb 5, 2010 READ MORE  |  54 COMMENTS



Flickr / Jyle Dupuis

Make It Three: Prius Brakes Could Spark Another Toyota Recall

The brakes on the 2010 Toyota Prius have prompted a U.S. government investigation and a possible third recall for the troubled automaker, if a report in Japan’s biggest business newspaper is to be believed. (continued)

Posted on Feb 4, 2010 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS


Moving Forward

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Posted on Feb 4, 2010 READ MORE


Good News for Bad Cars

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Posted on Feb 4, 2010 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT



Flickr / DetroitDereck Photography

A Green Checkered Flag for Ford

Ford Motor Co. has seemingly shifted out of crisis mode and is now reporting a profit of $2.7 billion for 2009, a considerable success given the state of the U.S. auto industry and the sluggish economy.

Posted on Jan 28, 2010 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS



Flickr / diongillard

Toyota Moving Forward With Recall, Sales Freeze, Factory Timeout

The world’s biggest automaker is in even bigger trouble. Following an earlier recall of 4.2 million vehicles and a second recall of 2.3 million, Toyota is suspending sales of eight models and halting production at five plants in North America. (continued)

Posted on Jan 26, 2010 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS



Flickr / Marcy Reiford

Study Blames American Smog on Asia

Residents of Southern California are no strangers to smog, but new research suggests that South and East Asia could be to blame for increased levels of the brown stuff floating over the Western United States. Ozone and possibly other pollutants are apparently blowing over the ocean, causing all sorts of problems and reminding us that exporting our pollution to the developing world isn’t exactly working out.

Posted on Jan 20, 2010 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS



AP

China Roars Past U.S. to Become No. 1 Auto Market

With the U.S. economic slump and the seemingly never-ending boom in Chinese manufacturing, it comes as no surprise that China has become the world’s biggest car market, with 13.5 million vehicles sold in 2009—or 2.1 million more than the U.S.

Posted on Jan 8, 2010 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS



Flickr / AYC107

Chavez’s Muffler Rattling

Hugo Chavez muffler-rattled against the likes of Toyota, Ford, General Motors and Fiat in a speech to the country Thursday, attacking those companies for not sharing technology with local industry and threatening to kick them out of business if they did not comply.

Posted on Dec 24, 2009 READ MORE  |  24 COMMENTS


Re-Volt-ing Dance Could Make You Go Blind

GM’s new Volt may be able to drive for 40 miles without a drop of gas, but, based on the singing and dancing in this video, it’s clear that the brains that bankrupted this company are still very much in charge.

Posted on Dec 14, 2009 READ MORE  |  17 COMMENTS



toyota.com

Toyota Recalls 3.8 Million Cars

Toyota has announced a recall of eight U.S. models, including the 2004-2009 Prius. A problem with floor mats has reportedly caused the deaths of five people so far. The BBC calculates the cost of the recall at two years’ worth of U.S. sales for the automaker.

Posted on Sep 29, 2009 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS


auto industry
fordnewsblog.wordpress.com

‘Cash for Clunkers’ Gives Auto Industry a Lift

Those dangerous socialists in our federal government have really done it this time. Why, they’ve ... engineered a way to give the American auto industry a much-needed boost with their successful “Cash for Clunkers” program.

Posted on Sep 1, 2009 READ MORE  |  10 COMMENTS



Flickr / nikoretro

How About ‘Cash for My Crap Mortgage’?

Forget about replicating the success of the surge in Iraq: Whoever came up with “cash for clunkers” should be put in charge of everything. The clunkers program ended Monday—under budget—after moving almost 700,000 new fuel-efficient cars through an auto industry in the grip of rigor mortis. To put things in perspective, the whole program cost less than 2 percent of AIG’s bailout.

Posted on Aug 26, 2009 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS



autoblog.com

GM Claims Volt Gets 230 MPG

GM claims its new wonder car, the Volt, gets mileage that makes the Prius look as if it belongs in the cash-for-clunkers program—230 MPG in the city. Pick up your jaw, the rating is based on a new EPA methodology and hasn’t been confirmed by the agency. The car may also be delayed indefinitely in reaching the market.

Posted on Aug 11, 2009 READ MORE  |  9 COMMENTS



Flickr / ThreadedThoughts

Hold On to Your Clunkers, the Cash Is Coming

The Senate is finally getting around to approving more money for the wildly successful “cash for clunkers” program, which seems to have saved the auto industry from the forces of recession and bankruptcy. With an additional $2 billion on the way, the administration hopes to transform 500,000 more clunkers into cleaner, smaller, more efficient vehicles.

Posted on Aug 5, 2009 READ MORE  |  9 COMMENTS


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