Torrance, CA is going to the front of the line. has delivered its first EV to the city government Friday as part of an EV demonstration program that will include an unspecified number of the little electric vehicles in tests before the consumer launch in limited markets (read: California and Oregon) happens this summer. Torrance will also get a Honda plug-inhybrid in the future.
From the sound of Honda’s language, it appears that Torrance – as well as Google Inc. and Stanford University, the other test partners – will only get one Fit EV. Honda’s press release (available after the jump) says:
Each program participant will provide Honda with real-world feedback on the Fit EV. Individually, each participant will use the Fit EV to further initiatives such as research into human behavior and various usages like personal, fleet and car-sharing.
However many Fits are tested, what’s more important is how real-world drivers will be able to make use of this car when it becomes available. With an expected lease price of $399 and a range of 123 miles in the city (76 miles city/highway combined) from a 20-kWh lithium-ion battery, the Fit does offer up some good numbers. Throw in a three-hour recharge time (from a 240V, Level 2 charger) and you’ve got a potential winner. In limited markets, anyway. Get more details on the Fit EV .
We’re almost ready to record Episode #266 of the Autoblog Podcast. Check out the topics below and you can join us live via , as well, and we’ve embedded our UStream player Thanks for listening!
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #266
Flip through the pages of CAR, EVO or Top Gear, and it’s obvious the British motoring press has an unhealthy obsession with getting sideways. Not that we can blame them. We enjoy a healthy dab of oppo as much as the next guy, but when the about opposite lock shenanigans, you know it’s getting out of hand.
Despite this, AutoCar has started up its own version of Blendtec’s puerile “Does it Blend?” series with Will it Drift?
After putting the latest to the test, next up is Mugen’s interpretation of the Ariel Atom. But will its 270 horsepower four-pot be enough to overcome the R-compound rubber? And if it does, is the wheelbase too short to keep the slide going? to find out.
The two documentarians who made the Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, have turned their cameras on Detroit, feeling it “may well be a harbinger of things to come for the rest of the country.” In an excerpt of their new documentary, called Dismantling Detroit, Ewing and Grady look at a group of men who use American metal, in the form of vans and pickup trucks, to dismantle American metal, in the form of Detroit buildings.
The point is to get to scrap metal, and scavenging trade that has led to issues like power outages when thieves cut telephone lines to get to the copper. The men in Dismantling are likewise said to be engaged in illegal activity, but the results of their activity seem to be no more than one less abandoned building on the block.
Head to the The New York Times or to watch the clip and listen to a few other Detroiters’ takes on what might be happening, and why. Fair warning, the video contains some explicit, Not Safe For Work language.
The documentary will premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
It isn’t every day that offers an electric vehicle, but the ActiveE is just that. The German luxury car maker is now accepting applications for 700 ActiveE “Electronauts” in the test markets of Boston, Hartford, New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco.
The hand-raisers will need to complete a charging station consultation with BMW Partner AeroVironment to make sure the house of the perspective lessee can handle a charger. The meeting will also serve as a teaching session to make sure the user understands the charging and maintenance of an electric vehicle.
Once the perspective lessee meets those criteria, they will be given the opportunity to lease the
4,000-pound, electrified 1 Series Coupe for 24 months at $499 per month, plus $2,250 down. to look over the BMW press release, and head over to if you’re interested in learning more about the ActiveE.
The stands as an enduring icon in the hot hatch genre. But as the gets bigger, so does the GTI, and when it comes to hot hatches, bigger is not always better. That’s where the Polo GTI comes in, but if even that’s too big for minimalists, Volkswagen is reportedly set on putting the Up! GT into production.
Unveiled as a show car alongside the production Up! at the last year, the pictured above incorporated 17-inch alloys to fill those little wheel wells, a new front end with wider grille, bigger brake ducts and integrated LED accents, as well as a diffuser, spoiler and twin exhaust pipes installed around back.
According to PistonHeads, the production Up! GT is tipped to get a three-cylinder turbo driving around 110 horsepower through a six-speed gearbox to the front wheels. That may be less than the 133 hp packaged by the , but could prove a feisty pocket rocket in its own right.
Last we heard, was planning to bring its new A-Class to North America, a market where the current model has never been sold. But whether it makes the trek or not, there’s little question that the new premium hatchback will be a vital product for Daimler.
While the current A-Class hasn’t been a smashing success, the segment has grown into an important one for luxury automakers like with its and with its . The new model, however, aims to take a slice of that particular pie once it debuts as anticipated in production form at the upcoming in a couple of months from now.
We’ve already , and even in . Now Mercedes has released a video clip showing a prototype strutting its stuff on the open road, but instead of the usual body-cladding or shape-disguising camouflage, the German automaker has covered the mule in QR codes to enable the legions of smartphone-toting fans the opportunity to peer into the future of the premium hatchback. Check out the video clip for a closer look.
Law enforcement agencies are now required to obtain a warrant before attaching a GPS device to a vehicle. The Detroit News reports the Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that the Justice Department was wrong when it argued that its agents didn’t need permission to track private citizens without their knowledge.
The centered around Antoine Jones, a Washington, D.C. nightclub owner and suspected drug dealer. Police installed a GPS device on Jones’ wife’s , which eventually led them to a substantial amount of cocaine. Jones was then sentenced to life in prison.
But Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that installing the device constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. Specifically, Justice Scalia said, “The government physically occupied private property for the purpose of obtaining information.”
In the Jones case, law enforcement agents had obtained the proper warrants to attach the device, but didn’t manage to attach it within the 10 days specified in the warrant. The FBI accumulated 2,000 pages of data over four weeks by tracking the vehicle.
We record Episode #266 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and you can drop us your questions via our Q&A module below. Check out our discussion topics or chime in to help determine what else the crew chats about this evening. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast if you haven’t already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #266
Barrett-Jackson 2012
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The (we’ll spare you the Elton John lyrics) was one of our favorite concepts from the . Sure, the name is silly, but this pint-sized concept showed what could be in store for an even more mini . A smarter , if you will. However, a new report from CAR states that the entry-level Mini project has allegedly been canned. The Rocketman as we know it has been grounded.
The reason? CAR reports that it would be a costly endeavor to develop the Rocketman to meet street-legal specifications; specifically, handling, stability and crash standards. The concept only measures in at 134.6 inches long – a full 12 inches shorter than a standard hatchback, and while Mini insiders said that a production version could come as early as 2016, there are now no plans to offer a vehicle smaller than the current Cooper.
It’s common knowledge that buses fight dirty. Enter into fisticuffs with public transportation and you’re likely to find yourself on the raw end of a well-aimed 2×4 plank. Just ask the pedestrian in the video . We’re short on context with this one, but from the looks of things, the bus attempts to come to a stop for a traffic checkpoint or tollbooth, only to slide on black ice and bowl straight through the traffic control arm.
It all sounds innocuous enough, but click to check out the unintended result for yourself.
It’s a story, we know, but this is – in all likelihood – the end of the road for Sweden’s “other” automaker. Sure, there are still talks of one foreign entity or another picking up where and Swedish Automobile (Swan)/ left off, but even if they do, they’ll have a heck of a lot of work on their hands. And that includes rebuilding its presence in North America.
With the parent company having already filed for bankruptcy in Sweden, the next step is for Saab Cars North America to follow suit, and that’s precisely what’s happening.
The operation based in Royal Oak, Michigan, ceased operating last month when its parent company did, but resumed distributing parts just this past Thursday. That does not mean, however, that the American business will remain afloat. With no money to keep it going, Saab Cars North America is being liquidated. Sources estimate the company’s liquidated assets at around $100 million (give or take $25m), offset by a relatively minor $10.5 million in liabilities.
As for the dealers, they’ll have to choose to declare bankruptcy individually or let the administrator dealing with SCNA’s liquidation tend to theirs as well.
Long before the first U.S. soldier laid a boot on Iraq soil in the first Gulf War, General Motors planned to build a manufacturing facility in the country. According to The Detroit News, the years since haven’t been entirely kind to the automaker’s sales efforts in Iraq. That’s no shock given America’s reputation in the Middle East nation, but its prospects are beginning to look up. Whereas GM once trailed even Renault in sales, the company managed to move 35,000 vehicles last year. Not bad considering the entire new vehicle market in Iraq totaled just 115,000 in 2011.
GM’s sales largely consisted of SUVs and pickup trucks (like the locally available version of the Colorado seen above), though The Detroit News notes that some and sedans have sold as well, too. That’s particularly impressive given that Iraqi drivers aren’t required to have insurance and kidnappers in the country have been known to favor those who drive high-dollar luxury vehicles.
has unveiled the new production model five-door Up! after of the vehicle made their way to the web. The newest member to the Volkswagen small-car line is expected to land on dealer lots in Germany by early March, with availability opening up to the rest of Europe by summer. The vehicle will launch with the exact same engines and external dimensions as its three-door brethren. That means buyers will be able to opt for either a 60-horsepower, 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine or a 75 horsepower version of the same powerplant. Even so, Volkswagen anticipates roughly half of Up! buyers will opt for the new five-door bodystyle.
The five-door Up! does serve up a few stylistic changes over its three-door counterpart beyond the addition of two extra doors. For starters, the rear hatch is solid glass and the hatchback’s side profile line is now basically straight from front to rear. In the three-door version, that line kicks up slightly as it heads toward the rear of the vehicle. Buyers can expect to pay $13,295 (including Europe’s notorious taxes) at current conversion rates, which is a little over $600 more than the three-door hatch. for the full press release.
General Motors is having a hard time with the . First, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into the vehicle over the possibility of , and now some of its dealers are refusing to take their allocations of the extended-range plug-inhybrid. For example, according to Automotive News, GM set aside 104 Volt models for 14 dealerships across the greater New York City market. Of those vehicles, dealers took just 31. The problem isn’t just out East, either. The report claims one California dealer turned down all six Volt models allocated to him despite the fact that his franchise sold 10 of the vehicles last year.
GM, meanwhile, admits that ordering on the vehicle is down. The automaker attributes the slump to the fact that most dealers were awaiting resolution on the NHTSA investigation (the Volt has since been given a clean bill of health), though GM has announced a to prevent the fires in the future. Even so, public opinion on the vehicle has taken a ding, and many dealers may simply be waiting for the dust to settle before recommitting to the model.
Racing Dreams is an award-winning documentary that follows the racing exploits of three go-kart racing youths chasing an entry into the world of NASCAR. As we reported before, when Racing Dreams , Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson got behind this project as executive producer, and now this documentary is making its broadcast premiere on Thursday, February 23 at 9 PM on Public Television. The will also stream the movie on its website for a month following the debut.
The idea of a karting documentary may not sound immediately captivating to anyone but the most hardcore of racing fans, but the story of Annabeth Barnes, Josh Hobson and Brandon Warren (11, 12, and 13 years old, respectively), has a track record of surprising viewers. It’s more than just the story of how entry into professional auto racing of any sort increasingly starts even before adolescence, it talks about how the experience of fierce on-track competition colors the already-bewildering arrival of adolescence. Indeed, racing isn’t the kind of subject matter you’d expect to find on PBS, but director and producer Marshall Curry has woven a story that’s been rewarded with honors at many film festivals around the United States. Racing Dreams is a story about life that happens to have racing figure into the plot. Check your local listings to catch the documentary on your PBS station, and after checking out our gallery, you can watch the trailer and read the official press release, both posted .
How The World’s Most Powerful Sport Utility Vehicle Fails At Being Absurd
Twenty years ago, sport utility vehicles were trucks. They had big, heavy frames, solid axles and low-range four-wheel drive. At best, they would accelerate to 60 miles per hour in under nine seconds and top out just over 100 mph. “Handling” simply meant that they could keep all four wheels firmly planted while circling an onramp.
Twenty years ago, only exotic sports cars boasted more than 500 horsepower. They accelerated to 60 mph in less than five seconds and could hit 150 mph if allowed enough space. Tuned suspensions, oversized brakes and exhaust systems that roared were expected, but supple rides were not.
Now, take a look at that brand-new silver sport utility vehicle in the image above. Beneath its leather-lined and sound-insulated cabin is a 550-horsepower twin-turbocharged V8, electronically controlled suspension, six-piston brakes and permanent all-wheel drive – it’s the most powerful SUV on the market.
The tall four-door will sprint more quickly than (and outrun) a 360 Modena Spider F1, plow through foot-deep snow drifts and take a family of five, with a ski boat in tow, to a lakeside Fourth of July picnic.
This electric DeLorean is just a prototype, but our sister publication, got to take it for a spin and found that a 260-horsepower electric motor finally makes the DMC-12 the sports car everyone has always wanted it to be. While we get to see plenty of footage of , this episode also includes an interview with DeLorean Motor Company CEO Stephen Wynne.
While we don’t want to give too much away, Wynne discusses future plans for the Texas-based DeLorean restorer and remanufacturer, which include . Wynne tells Translogic that the car is expected to sell for between $95,000-$100,000. The car is said to have a 100-mile range, which would make it roughly equivalent to the , but with far more performance - not to mention its iconic time machine looks.
With all the as of late, we wonder if perhaps this is the car to change their minds about EVs? See Translogic’s full experience with the electric DeLorean in the video .
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has big plans for the Jacob K. Javits Center. The politician recently announced plans to tear down the convention hall to make way for housing, hotels and museums. The remainder of the land would then be leased to developers as an additional source of income for the state. That comes as a shock to architect Bruce S. Fowle, who has been renovating the structure for the past six years, working to turn the 25-year-old structure into a brighter space with a smaller environmental footprint.
While the proposed demolition is still years away if it occurs at all, the plan brings into question the future of the New York Auto Show. Cuomo says the conventions like the auto show that are currently hosted by the Jacob K. Javits Center will be relocated to a new $4 billion center at the Aqueduct racetrack in Jamaica, Queens. The funds will reportedly come from Genting, a Malaysian gambling company, according to The New York Times.
Last Summer showed off its technology created in partnership with the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. It turned a rear window into an augmented-reality screen that would keep kids interested in something other than asking “Are we there yet?” Now has showed off a similar bit of kit called Windows of Opportunity, developed with the Bezalel School of Art and Design in Israel.
GM’s Windows concept is aimed just as much at kids as adults. The team came up with four different apps that provided interactivity ranging from a virtual take on drawing on foggy windows to checking what was on other augmented windows on cars around the world. We’re probably a long way from seeing something like this in production, but you know you can look forward to the day when your kid monitors your driving style from his child seat. for the full press release and a short video on GM’s new tech.
![e5b40 racing dreams poster 628 Confirmed: <i>Racing Dreams</i> documentary premiering on PBS in February [w/video]](http://theautoblog.ru/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/e5b40_racing-dreams-poster-628.jpg "Confirmed: <i>Racing Dreams</i> documentary premiering on PBS in February [w/video]")
