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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Government/Legal , Green , Ford Click above for high-res image gallery of the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid Sure, the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid may have a base price that's more expensive than a Toyota Camry Hybrid ($27,270 vs. $26,150), but you get oh so much more. Aside from more interesting styling and a trick LCD display called SmartGauge, Ford Fusion Hybrid owners will be able to travel 41 miles in the city for every gallon of gas they use. So says the Environmental Protection Agency, which has finally released official fuel economy numbers for Ford's most miserly vehicle. The 2010 Fusion Hybrid's official rating of 41 mpg city and 36 mpg highway bests the Toyota Camry Hybrid by 8 mpg and 2 mpg, respectively. Ford points out that it even beats the smaller Honda Civic Hybrid by 1 mpg in the city. Credit goes to Ford and its engineers who developed the Fusion Hybrid's new hybrid drivetrain, which is based on the same one used...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green The night that Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech in Chicago's Grant Park, the cameras caught Oprah Winfrey pondering the historical significance of the moment while leaning on some guy's shoulder like she owned it. The man turned out to be Sam Perry, who later appeared on Oprah's TV show after the fact got out that she had no idea who he was at the time. The image above was the picture perfect Kodak moment of racism being fixed in this country that everyone wanted to believe. Turns out, it's also a great way to sell battery-powered sports cars! Sam Perry is reportedly a wealthy Silicon Valley consultant, which further explains his presence in the VIP section that next night to Oprah. Sam has bought the 100th Tesla Roadster to be sold, and the House that Musk built (along with Eberhard) isn't going to let the occasion go unnoticed. In fact, Tesla is currently making its case for a small slice of $25 billion...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Earnings/Financials Detroit isn't the only place in the U.S. where struggling automakers are looking for government handouts. Tesla Motors, Silicon Valley's one and only auto manufacturer, is looking for an initial injection from the government of $350 million, which is slated to fund the development and necessary manufacturing facilities for its upcoming Model S sedan with another $200 million to produce lithium-ion batteries plus $100 million to expand its growing drivetrain business. It's still early, but we're pretty sure that equals a cool $650 mil. Like the $15 billion that the Detroit 3 are still hoping to get within the next few days, Tesla's $650 million would come from the $25 billion investment in green technology that Congress has already approved for American automakers. Without this infusion of capital, Tesla Motors' CEO Elon Musk claims that its battery-powered sedan, which is expected to...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Plants/Manufacturing , UAW/Unions Detroit's Greater Grace Church took the unusual step this weekend of having a donated Ford Escape, Chevy Tahoe, and Chrysler Aspen (all hybrid models, of course) join the Rev. Charles Ellis on the altar. "This week, lives are hanging above an abyss of uncertainty as both houses of Congress decide whether to extend a helping hand," Ellis preached to the congregation. "We have never seen as midnight an hour as we face this week," he added. Members in attendance, including UAW Vice President General Holiefield, were asked to pray that Congress would bail out the struggling Detroit automakers. "We have done all we can do in this union, so I'm going to turn it over to the Lord," Holiefield told the congregation. Rev. Ellis isn't the first religious leader to call those employed by the auto industry to seek help from above. Other Detroit-area Christian, Muslim and...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Plants/Manufacturing , Chevrolet , GM , Earnings/Financials Click above for our high-res 2011 Chevrolet Volt gallery General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner will be taking advantage of the media circus surrounding his drive from Detroit to Washington D.C. tomorrow. As it seems every press outlet will be covering the roadtrip adventures of the three Detroit leaders as they travel via wheeled transportation to the capitol to beg for billions (remember, no corporate jets this time ), Wagoner has wisely dumped the ho-hum hybrid Chevrolet Malibu in favor of a Chevy Volt mule in a Chevy Cruze body during at least the last few highly-visible miles of his journey. Wagoner will still trek part of the route to Washington in the hybrid Malibu, but just not all the way. To take full advantage of the public display, GM will also bring a show version of the highly-anticipated 2011 Chevy Volt to the capitol and put it on display when Wagoner arrives at the...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Etc. , Government/Legal , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Chrysler, LLC. , Ford , GM Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Malibu Hybrid While it won't get him there as quickly (or as luxuriously) as a Gulfstream corporate jet, GM CEO Rick Wagoner will drive to Washington this week in a Chevrolet Malibu hybrid to ask for taxpayer-funded bridge loans. Last month, Wagoner, Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Chrysler LLC CEO Robert Nardelli, all received some serious flak from both lawmakers and the public when they arrived in Washington via three separate private jets while begging for $25 billion in federal money. All are expected to take alternate forms of transportation this time around, with Mulally already announcing plans to drive a Ford Escape Hybrid . Simple math says Wagoner's Malibu hybrid should only burn about 15 gallons of fuel during the 520-mile trek from Detroit to Capitol Hill, costing the automaker about $30 in gasoline...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Ford , Earnings/Financials In just a few short days, Ford and its two cross-town rivals will be required to lay down a plan before Congress that points a clear path towards profitability and global competitiveness. These days, any automaker's future will involve plenty of greenery, and as the first of the three automakers to submit its comprehensive business plan to the lawmakers in DC, Ford's plan includes electric vehicles slated for launch starting in 2010. First up will be a new electric van for commercial use, followed in 2011 by a new electric sedan. Other highlights include U.S. versions of the European-designed automobiles that are currently making their way across the pond, the sale of all its private jets, further plant closings and continued negotiations with the UAW. So, what kind of money are we talking? The Blue Oval's plan calls for a bridge loan of $9 million to be made available...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Chrysler, LLC. , Ford , GM Remember the growing movement to caravan a few hundred of Detroit's most fuel efficient vehicles to the automaker's next meeting with Congress? Not happening. Interestingly, it wasn't for lack of support. In fact, it was just the opposite. So many people had voiced their support and announced their intentions to join in that the event's organizers just weren't able to keep up. Talk about a logistical nightmare. Organizers have not given up on the idea completely, launching a new website called TheEngineofDemocracy.com that's supposed to drum up support for Detroit and fuel efficient cars in general. Along with an outpouring of support via the interwebs, a list of 51 people from various suppliers, dealership workers and Union officials will accompany the CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler to Washington - one from each state plus one from the capital itself - to prove that...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Celebrities Rocker Neil Young has managed to create his own electric car out of an old Lincoln convertible . That's awesome, and we congratulate Young on the amazing accomplishment. But as far as his ideas on how to fix Detroit, it seems that the singer's plan has a few loose screws. Mr. Young suggests that the Feds give Detroit the money it needs to survive on the condition that the three remaining automakers stop building cars with gas-powered engines... right now. This, as you would imagine, presents a problem, considering that cars aren't all that useful if they can't provide actual transportation. Young's got a solution to that problem too: each automaker must convert one plant to assemble "re-power kits" that would allow these cars to be retrofitted as "self charging electric vehicles." That sounds nice, doesn't it? The only problem is that "self charging" EVs don't...
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Filed under: Maintenance , Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Mercedes-Benz Click above for a high-res gallery of the MB GL320 BlueTEC Owners of the new crop of clean diesels will have another maintenance item to concern themselves with if their new cars are equipped with urea injection. The EPA requires that all diesels meet strict new emissions standards, which almost always requires the use of either a NOx trap or urea injection. To ensure that the system is working, a sensor checks both the level and the quality of the urea solution and will keep the car from starting if the tank is empty. The new VW Jetta TDI doesn't use urea, but the new Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC vehicles do. According to Mercedes, a counter will appear on the dash when there are twenty starts remaining. If the driver ignores the message, the car will not operate until at least two gallons of urea solution is added to the tamper-proof tank that resides in the spare tire well. Engineers have designed...
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Filed under: Maintenance , Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Mercedes-Benz Click above for a high-res gallery of the MB GL320 BlueTEC Owners of the new crop of clean diesels will have another maintenance item to concern themselves with if their new cars are equipped with urea injection. The EPA requires that all diesels meet strict new emissions standards, which almost always requires the use of either a NOx trap or urea injection. To ensure that the system is working, a sensor checks both the level and the quality of the urea solution and will keep the car from starting if the tank is empty. The new VW Jetta TDI doesn't use urea, but the new Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC vehicles do. According to Mercedes, a counter will appear on the dash when there are twenty starts remaining. If the driver ignores the message, the car will not operate until at least two gallons of urea solution is added to the tamper-proof tank that resides in the spare tire well. Engineers have designed...
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Filed under: Maintenance , Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Mercedes-Benz Click above for a high-res gallery of the MB GL320 BlueTEC Owners of the new crop of clean diesels will have another maintenance item to concern themselves with if their new cars are equipped with urea injection. The EPA requires that all diesels meet strict new emissions standards, which almost always requires the use of either a NOx trap or urea injection. To ensure that the system is working, a sensor checks both the level and the quality of the urea solution and will keep the car from starting if the tank is empty. The new VW Jetta TDI doesn't use urea, but the new Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC vehicles do. According to Mercedes, a counter will appear on the dash when there are twenty starts remaining. If the driver ignores the message, the car will not operate until at least two gallons of urea solution is added to the tamper-proof tank that resides in the spare tire well. Engineers have designed...
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Filed under: Maintenance , Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Mercedes-Benz Click above for a high-res gallery of the MB GL320 BlueTEC Owners of the new crop of clean diesels will have another maintenance item to concern themselves with if their new cars are equipped with urea injection. The EPA requires that all diesels meet strict new emissions standards, which almost always requires the use of either a NOx trap or urea injection. To ensure that the system is working, a sensor checks both the level and the quality of the urea solution and will keep the car from starting if the tank is empty. The new VW Jetta TDI doesn't use urea, but the new Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC vehicles do. According to Mercedes, a counter will appear on the dash when there are twenty starts remaining. If the driver ignores the message, the car will not operate until at least two gallons of urea solution is added to the tamper-proof tank that resides in the spare tire well. Engineers have designed...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Police/Emergency Law enforcement officers have more reasons to be excited with Carbon Motors ' release of a few more images and a video of its purpose-built Police car. The E7, as it is currently known, looks to be much more capable than the thousands of Crown Vics, Impalas and Chargers currently roaming our streets due to its rather amazing list of specifications and gadgetry. Included are a diesel engine capable of accelerating to 65 in under 7-seconds, composite body panels attached to an aluminum structure, 360-degree built-in police-duty LED lights, suicide rear doors with hose-out passenger compartment and a separate front compartment with plenty of techno-goodies. Radar, LoJack, an automatic license plate recognition system, radiation and biological threat detectors and Carbon's exclusive On-board Rapid Command Architecture (ORCA) which features a large touch-screen display plus keyboard (see above), are all included...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Videos , Police/Emergency Click above for more shots of the Carbon Motors E7 We haven't heard a peep from Carbon Motors in a very long time , but that doesn't mean the company hasn't been hard at work on its purpose-built E7 police car concept. To prove that it's moving forward, the automaker-to-be has just released two shots of a real E7. What's more, the company will show the car to prospective clients - police officers - at the upcoming 115th Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference and Exposition . Unlike curent cop cars driven by these officers, usually police-spec Crown Vic Interceptors, the E7 was specifically designed just to do police duty. Instead of a 4.6-liter Ford V8 engine underhood, the E7 will feature a clean-diesel engine capable of running on biodiesel. With a cockpit derived from jet-fighter technology that includes built-in radar, radiation and biological threat...
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