To many Americans, India is just another one of those countries with LOTS of people in the general vicinity of China where they sometimes get routed when they call customer support with questions about why the new HP they just bought won’t turn on.
And that’s a shame, really, because India has so much to offer. From excellent food to the funky movie scene, India has some pretty great stuff. And now we can add another bean to India’s basket — the country has been stealthily gaining a reputation with auto manufacturers as the place to build fuel-efficient, small cars for export to the rest of the world.
Total US hybrid sales jumped 48.6% in August from last August, buoyed up by Cash for Clunkers.
We Americans did the right patriotic thing with our clunker money last month, it turns out. We bought more American. And we bought more hybrid cars. Ford was the big winner, making a big dent in Toyota’s hybrid sales.
Jalopnik has issued a call to arms to its fans: Won’t someone please save our quirky classic cars. Ford Explorers - - fine, that’s one thing….but…
…this is the very last straw: “A classic example of vangenieering, is being sacrificed at Galpin Ford in Los Angeles. Forwhat?A Ford Focus? We must let people know of the horrors. If you see a great vehicle being sacrificed take a picture and post it here. We must bear witness to the atrocity.”
Jalopnik is a site for the auto-world equivalent of Fashionistas, and the CARS Carpocalypse is hitting them hard. For the most part its devoted readers are putting a very brave face on it. But the agony:
“I saw a mid 80’s El Camino get traded in. I… I didn’t cry. I know it wouldn’t want to be looked at with misty eyes of mourning.”
You can’t turn on the TV and avoid the ads for the dealers promoting the Cash for Clunkers program. Experts predicted that the money would last at least two to three weeks, but alas, it is not so. The LA Times is reporting that in less than one week, the $1 billion dollars for the program is already gone and the government is scrambling to find more money to keep the program going. Worst case, I suppose they can just write “IOUs” like the state of California is doing and according to Governor Schwarzenegger, may be bailing out the federal government some day.
“We are working tonight to asses the situation facing what is obviously an incredibly popular program,” the White House told the LA Times. “Auto dealers and consumers should have confidence that all valid CARS transactions that have taken place to date will be honored.”
Oregon State University Researcher Kaichang Li is already well-known in the research world for developing a non-toxic, soy-based adhesive to make greener plywood for cabinets, so it’s almost no surprise that his next research discovery is along the same lines.
The Tata Nano has been making a splash recently as one of the world’s cheapest and most fuel efficient cars marketed towards developing economies where cars are generally considered a luxury. Now Fiat and Tata have announced plans to market the car in South America.
Behind Italy, Brazil is already Fiat’s second largest market so it only makes sense that Fiat would want to grab more market share in the ultra low-end category.
UK luxury car-manufacturer Aston Martin has teamed up with Toyota in a trail-blazing deal to make a ‘cheap’ version of the Toyota iQ for £20,000 ($32,000), making it the world’s smallest luxury supermini.
The new model, called the Aston Martin Cygnet, will be offered to the company’s existing customers (and those with vehicles on order) by the end of the year and will go on general sale following an introductory period.
The Senate passed the Cash for Clunkers Program today, which gives consumers with cars that get less than 18 miles per gallon the ability to turn them in for a $3,500 or $4,500 cash voucher. The bill was nearly defeated by Republicans, but Democratic support saved the day in part due to Obama’s lobbying of the program. The President still needs to sign the bill into law.
Although many people believe that the program is designed to reduce global warming emissions through the eradication of gas guzzling cars, its true purpose is to help out struggling automakers and car dealers with new car sales. A person who receives a credit as part of the program cannot buy a used car with the monies. Car sales in 2009 are predicted to be nearly half of what they were in 2008.
I was in Miami recently and had the opportunity to rent a Toyota Prius. I’ve never driven a Prius before and once I actualy figured out how to drive it, it was quite fun. But as gas prices continue to climb in the wake of Memorial Day, I was most impressed with the gas mileage. So when I saw the new Jetta TDI commerical this weekend where the car is compared to a Prius I found it quite amusing.
The Jetta TDI claims that it gets 58 miles per gallon (mpg), breaking the record for all current “gasoline” fueled cars, even beating the Toyota Prius - a hybrid. I might have grown skeptical in my old age, but I’m having a hard time swallowing this claim to fuel economy. What, were they driving 20 mph on the highway and never stopping? Read the rest of this entry »
While this is true, two comments made by Harvard University Professor, Robert Stavins, during that segment struck me as weird and based in something less than reality — a kind of academic fantasy if you will. At the time, I was driving and the comments slid out of my mind. But last night an old friend from college brought it up again in a Facebook thread and it got me thinking more in depth about it.
President Barack Obama has his own idea of how to fix the auto industry, and part of that plan is to increase the federal fleet fuel consumption average to 35.5 MPG by 2016. The plan calls for incremental increases of 5% per year from 2012 to 2016, and the standard is nationalized, putting an end to the costly legal battle that California and several other states have been waging to use their own stricter MPG requirements. The plan will supposedly reduce domestic oil consumption by some 1.8 billion barrels, and for the first time the EPA will be required to measure the contaminants coming from a cars exhaust pipe. Read the rest of this entry »
It has long been said that its not what you drive that determines your gas mileage, but how you drive. Stomping the gas pedal at every stop light, even in the most frugal fuel sippers, will suck up more gas than slow and even acceleration. Drivers have been applying hypermilling techniques to get the most out of their mpgs, and in an effort to promote their new Fusion Hybrid, Ford launched its mid-size family sedan on a 1,000 mile journey with just a single tank of gas.
That was on Saturday, April 25th. Yesterday, the 28th, the Fusion finally ran out of dinosaur juice after a staggering 1,445.7 miles on a single tank of gas over the course of three days. This publicity stunt not only showcased the Fusion Hybrid’s ability to get an average gas mileage of 81.5 mpg, but also raised more than $8,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Read the rest of this entry »
The Tata Nano, keenly anticipated across India since its unveiling early last year, is capable of an incredible 23.6km/litre (55.5 mpg) and ultra-low carbon emissions of 101 g/km, one of the lowest in India. Oh, and with prices starting at about 100,000 rupees ($2,050), it’s also the cheapest car in the world (more pics after the jump).
Faulty fuel tank support straps in new H3T latest setback for GM
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for General Motors, they did. The financially beleaguered automaker announced a recall of 1,738 of its new Hummer H3Ts on Friday, after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said a weak support strap could cause the H3T’s gas tank to fall off, “Increasing the risk of crash.” Read the rest of this entry »
Gas 2.0 digs into the viscous world of biofuels and the fast-paced transit arena, exploring the technologies and substances that are the future of transportation.
