Featured Threads Archive
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eAssist - it's back
And in a truck.
Mated to the V8 with 8 speed transmission of the Silverado, the system brings the EPA ratings up to that of the V6 model. 2mpg city and 1mpg highway doesn't look like much on paper, but it could be worth it to someone that actually needs the V8.
A feature to feature comparison can't be done yet, but it appears the eAssist adds just $700 to the steep price of the ICE model. A basic start/stop system runs in the $300 to $500 range as an option. Though just getting the V6 will save a little over $1000 compared to the plain V8.
2016 Chevrolet Silverado Mild Hybrid? | CleanMPG
"GMs latest eAssist iteration is more modular than the previous system, meaning it could be more easily used in FWD or RWD configurations."
Which could mean potential savings for the system if it gets installed in more vehicles, but only 700 of these Chevy and GMC trucks will be made for California this year.
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Honda 2030 Goal; ⅔ Sales HEV & PHEV
CEO says Honda to focus on hybrids, electric cars - MarketWatch
Go Honda !!!
Additionally;
Honda CEO: Our Goal Is 2/3rds Of Total Sales To Be Electrified By 2030 (w/video)
Jeez . . . Here's to hoping Toyota will at least sell the gen II PIP nationwide - when it finally gets here.
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Cadillac CT6 RWD PHEV drivetrain detailed
From Green Car Congress
Looks like the battery pack will take away space from the trunk and possibly the rear seat area. 3 planetary gear sets, 5 clutches, and multiple cooling radiators will make it more complex than the Volt drivetrain.
Green Car Congress: GM’s new RWD PHEV system for Cadillac CT6 designed for fun-to-drive high performance as well as efficiency; Volt on steroids -
What Drives Us Podcast - #175 Haptic Butt Feedback - What Drives Us
Lot of news this week with Tony, Paul, Mark, Evan and Russell digging in. Paul my 2MT hack a leaf remotely http://jalopnik.com/how-the-nissan-leaf-can-be-hacked-via-web-browser-from-1761044716 Tony http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-24/another-oil-crash-is-coming-and-there-may-be-no-recovery Mark GM changes Power Train title to Propulsion Systems and states half its 8600 work force are now involved with alternate and EV propulsion. http://cleantechnica.com/2016/02/21/gm-stirs-fuel-cell-ev-pot-with-new-propulsion-systems-name/?utm_term=0_d002dfc067-ab4a17aab1-332052489&utm_content=buffer30eb4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Evan Tesla contacts Indiana owners to help fight GM anti-direct sales bill http://www.autoblog.com/2016/02/22/tesla-anti-store-gm-bill-indiana/ or http://electrek.co/2016/02/23/tesla-gm-direct-sales-indiana/ Russell Haptic gas pedal (thanks Patrick)... -
2015 Electric Drive Sales: USA & CA
Here's my 2015 data summary for hybrid/plug-in sales:
- Hybrids (eg; Prius) broke 30% of sales in CA for 2015 (wow)
- PHEV (eg; Volt) ran 64.5% of sales in CA for 2015 (wow - whadup widat?)
- BEV's (eg; Leaf) running 48.5% of sales in CA for 2015
- BEV/PHEV running about 47.5% in CA since 2011
http://www.cncda.org/CMS/Pubs/Cal%20Covering%204Q%2015.pdf -
Tesla Tops Luxury Sedan Sales
Source: AD #1803 – Model S Top Selling Luxury Sedan, Improve Fuel Economy w/ Exhaust Heat, Karma Automotive Turns to BMW – Autoline Daily
TESLA MODEL S TOP LUXURY SEDAN
Sales of full-size luxury sedans in the U.S. market dropped dramatically last year. We’re talking about cars that cost in the $100,000 range. Maybe many of those car buyers went for a luxury SUV instead of a passenger car… or maybe they went for a Tesla Model S. Amazingly, the S is now the best selling luxury sedan, by far. And its sales were up 51% while all the other cars in that segment were down. No wonder luxury makers are worried about Tesla. It’s stealing some of the best buyers away from the best known brands.
2015 Luxury Sedan Sales
model sales % 1 Tesla Model S 25202 +51.01% 2 Mercedes S-Class 21934 -13.22% 3 BMW 6 Series 8146 -5.79% 4 BMW 7 Series 9292 -4.64%
Of... -
What Drives Us Podcast - #174 Nevada Hates The Sun - What Drives Us
This week we speculate how the Nevada legislature can so stupid, visit the Chicago Auto Show *and* the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto and much more. Patrick Connor, Mark Coughlan, Paul Guzyk, Tony Schaefer and Russell Frost dive deep into world of crazy lawmakers and cars. And funny enough, as I was posting this show this morning, this tweet from actor, Mark Ruffalo showed up...
Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us -
RAV4 Seatbelt Recall
Includes the EVs, too.
Toyota recalls more than 1 million RAV4s in U.S. to fix seat belts -
Prius Hybrid Huggers Have Unexpected Hotbed
Prius hybrid-huggers have unexpected hotbed | The Seattle Times
It’s not surprising that the rate of hybrid ownership in the Seattle area is high. At 5 percent of all vehicles, it’s slightly more than double the national average, according to Nielsen Scarborough market research. -
Series of Articles About Hypermiling
A couple weeks ago, I started posting a series of articles about hypermiling at the What Drives Us site. These articles are not intended to be overly technical; quite the opposite. I want them to be accessible to anyone who has even a tertiary interest in boosting their overall fuel efficiency.
Though I can't stop anyone from posting comments here, it would make more sense if comments were posted at the source.
[Edit] Generic comments about the entire series or hypermiling in general should be posted here. It's any feedback about specific articles that should be posted with the article.
Start with the first article here: Hypermiling Cardinal Rules » What Drives Us -
T1 Revival
Source: It's Hard To Argue With This Volkswagen T1 Revival Concept
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.kinja-img.com%2Fgawker-media%2Fimage%2Fupload%2Fs--lRNAJ5wi--%2Fc_scale%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_80%2Cw_800%2Fbutfoftukvkhi3ea9we2.jpg&hash=803b3b07dfdc529dd0a3d7bcfcfd141a)
This is the only thing more attractive than the Pacifica. My first car was a 1966 VW MicroBus and inspite of the 1500 cc engine, marginal steering, lack of heat, it was a great ride. It had a tremendous amount of interior space and got 28 MPG . . . until it needed 'curb side' service. Typically adjusting the valve backlash or swapping the plugs with the ones I'd previously cleaned with a grit-box.
It was big enough to have a single, frame bed, with 18" of space below for stuff. This included a box of spare parts, tool box, and a fold-flat, cardboard box. So when the engine made a 'pling' sound or the recorded MPG was less than 28 MPG, I'd park with the wheels on the curb and let it... -
What Drives Us Podcast - #173 Do NOT Burn VW Dealerships - What Drives Us
This week, Mark, Tony and Russell wrestle to the ground... Volt powertrain uber alles http://www.autoevolution.com/news/gm-considers-selling-the-volt-s-powertrain-to-other-brands-104479.html Bye bye ELR http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102254_cadillac-elr-is-walking-dead-but-may-be-great-rare-used-car VW plays the villain card http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102114_vw-bites-back-doubts-diesel-whistleblower-says-defeat-software-legal-in-europe?fbfanpage Maybe an electric Bentley http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/bentleys-electric-car-plans-revealed-20160207-gmnzhd.html Prius Superb Owl Commercials http://www.priusownersgroup.com/2016/02/where-i-show-you-what-twenty-million.html Autonomous driving gets better http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/uoc--nai020516.php
Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us -
New Bill Seeks $5,000 Fine for Rolling Coal
Source: New Bill Seeks $5,000 Fine for Rolling Coal » AutoGuide.com News
If passed, a new bill will see drivers who are “rolling coal” fined up to $5,000.
Rolling coal, or rollin’ coal, is the act of modifying a diesel vehicle, usually a pickup truck, to spew black smoke and soot. The trend hit the mainstream in the summer of 2014 with numerous viral videos of truck drivers dumping large plumes of black soot on passers by.
While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) already has laws that apply to tampering with a vehicle’s emission controls, Rep. Will Guzzardi from the Illinois General Assembly is proposing a new bill that would directly target coal rollers.
Works for me,
Bob Wilson -
Sham: The Government is Trying to Ruin Racing
Source: The Government is Trying to Ruin Racing » AutoGuide.com News
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed new regulations that will prohibit road-going vehicles from being converted into race cars.
Currently, there are exceptions in the Clean Air Act that relate directly to cars converted into race cars, allowing the removal of certain emissions devices like a catalytic converter. This new set of rules would make it illegal to remove these emissions devices from all passenger cars, including those being converted to race cars.
The regulations would also make the sale of certain products that modify emissions illegal, which has caught the attention of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA).
IMHO, this is a tempest,... -
Exxon Report on Future World Energy Demands
Key findings of the report include:
- In 2040, oil and natural gas are expected to make up nearly 60 percent of global supplies, while nuclear and renewables will be approaching 25 percent. Oil will provide one third of the world’s energy in 2040, remaining the No. 1 source of fuel, and natural gas will move into second place.
- North America, which for decades had been an oil importer, is on pace to become a net exporter around 2020.
- India will surpass China as the world’s most populous nation, with 1.6 billion people. The two countries are expected to account for almost half of the growth in global energy demand.
- Global demand for electricity is expected to increase by 65 percent, and 85 percent of the increase is in non-OECD nations.
- The share of the world’s electricity generated by coal is expected to fall to about 30 percent in 2040 from approximately 40 percent in 2014.
- Global energy demand from transportation is projected to rise by about 30 percent,...
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2016 Prius Super Bowl Commercial: "The Longest Chase" Prius4
Very entertaining and well-done commercial by Toyota's @Prius Team that aired during the Super Bowl tonight. Great to finally see a Prius ad capture the positive aspects of the car while mixing humor and entertainment.
Toyota later at the conclusion of the game posted a follow-up commercial, with the police unveiling their secret weapon to stop the Prius:
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BORON as alternative fuel for cars
The book “Prescription For The Planet” by Thomas Blees proposes using boron as a fuel for cars. (Chapter 5) After the boron is burned, the resulting boron oxide or rust would be taken to a recycle plant to be reformed into fuel usable boron again. The recycle plants would be powered by Integrated Fast Reactors (IFRs) which are advanced nuclear reactors that, as explained in the book, are much safer than existing nuclear reactors and inexpensive to operate as they use for fuel the spent fuel from existing reactors and excess depleted uranium which our military has a lot of. For boron to burn it needs pure oxygen, so miniaturizing oxygen extractors for cars would be necessary.
According to the book, the best cars would be boron/electric hybrids. With the purchase of the car would come about $200 of boron, which would be recycled over the life of the car costing the equivalent of about twenty five cents per gallon of gas. As explained in the book, this method would create zero...
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