Okay, I confess, for as much as I lust over a Smart car, I also nurse an ill-concealed desire for a Segway. When I actually saw one on the streets of Fort Worth, I almost drove off the road rubber necking. Now, General Motors has announced a partnership with Segway to produce a two-passenger, two-wheeled [...]
The week got off to a roller coaster start with President Obama politely showing GM’s Rick Wagoner the gate and giving the once great automaker 60 days to get its ducks in a row. Chrysler has just as a month to line up a merger with Fiat or cease to exist. Finding good automotive news [...]
Toyota has the third-generation Prius coming up soon, a long-awaited update to its six-year old dominant hybrid offering. The expected base price has been set at $22,000. But here’s the rub. Honda just introduced a hybrid Insight going for $20,000. Yes, the race for hybrid king of the heap is still on.
Toyota has already come [...]
Ann Arbor could be the future home of Mercedes-Benz Hybrid LLC’s planned 65,000 square foot center for hybrid electric vehicle and advanced propulsion research and development. (One would hope they have a catchier name in mind for the building.) If Mercedes-Benz goes with Ann Arbor they’ll be bringing 223 jobs to the area.
As an inducement, [...]
Tech innovations are starting to suffer as carmakers are cutting costs just to survive. General Motors as been forced to delay work on one of its most innovative engines ever, a 4.5 liter diesel intended for use in light-duty trucks.
Production on the engine was to have started this coming fall at the plant in Tonawanda, [...]
One of the more interesting tidbits to come out of the Geneva Auto Show is the news that Ford’s iosis Max concept could actually be headed for our fair shores and I must say, it’s a tasty intro to the carmaker’s new global design.
Make no mistake, the isosis is futuristic but functional with a low, [...]
Last night as I was listening to President Obama’s speech, I groaned when he said America invented the automobile. Once upon a time I was a college history professor and I seriously considered having a stamp made up that read, “Henry Ford did not invent the automobile. He invented the moving assembly line that made [...]
When I read on Engadget that Tesla has a prototype of its Model S sedan set to debut March 26th, I flipped back through our previous updates on the green sports car. Let’s look at some highlights:
- December 2007: Tesla battles transmission issues, mainly finding something strong enough to handle gear shifting at full torque.
- [...]
According to a post over at Engadget, Nissan is working on a system to keep drivers from going the wrong way. Using a cellular-connected GPS, the unit would warn the driver if they head off in the wrong direction as well as tell them as they’re approaching an area “prone to congestion.” Well, unless, the [...]
Almost since the creation of affordable automobiles for the general public, cars have been immortalized in art. Sometimes the art is the design itself – blueprints, models, and even specifically chosen lines, curves, and proportion. Other times the art has been in the form of hand-painted advertising posters, often created by well-known artists, in much [...]