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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Contests , Government/Legal , Green , Chevrolet , GM Click above to view high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt Now that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has an agreement with General Motors regarding how to measure the fuel mileage of the 2011 Chevy Volt , our attention turns to the EPA, which now has to decide what official mileage rating will appear on the new car's window sticker and how to determine what that number will be. The first recommendation comes from the Automotive X-Prize, the foundation of which will award $10 million from Progressive Insurance to the winner of its competition to design a production-viable car that people would want to drive that gets 100 MPGe or more. What's with that little 'e' after the familiar miles per gallon? Basically, the X-Prize crew wants to convert all units of energy to a figure that's equivalent to the power from a gallon of gas. That way, a car's powerplant - regardless...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Chevrolet , GM , Toyota Click above for high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt Automotive News reports that Toyota is preparing a statement for a congressional hearing on the progress of EVs, the results of which could influence legislation that gives a big $7,500 tax credit to any hybrid with a battery pack rated at 6 kilowatt-hours of electricity or more. Toyota argues that the legislation is too restrictive and redefines what a hybrid is since the only vehicle eligible (that we know about) would be the 2011 Chevy Volt with its 16 killowatt-hour battery pack, though Toyota never calls out the series hybrid by name. For reference, the current Toyota Prius uses a battery pack that generates 1.3 killowatt-hour, and judging by the Japanese automaker's reaction to this legislation, we doubt that its plug-in hybrid electric Prius currently under development uses a battery pack powerful enough, either. Nevertheless, there could...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Trucks/Pickups , Government/Legal , Chevrolet , Ford , Toyota , Humor We try to stay out of politics here at Autoblog, but sometimes, events obligate us to jump into the fray. The latest event is a Harvard Business School professor's comparison of the two leading presidential candidates to automobiles. John Quelch said in an interview with Newsweek that he thinks of Barrack Obama as a new Prius and John McCain as an "old Ford F-150." Politically, those two products carry some weighty social symbolism that, as car guys, we're not all that concerned with. But we do wonder what Mr. Quelch's comments mean to us. The Prius is generally seen as a visually boring, fiscally-conservative choice with little to no fun factor. On the other hand, an old Ford pickup truck isn't exactly exciting to look at and drinks a lot of gas, but it'll carry a lot more furniture on moving day and is way more fun in the mud than the Toyota. Then, in an interview...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Podcasts , Coupes , Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Chevrolet , GM , Honda , Chery It's late, we know, but we're not a host short like last week! Chris, Sam, and Dan kick it about what's in the Autoblog Garage, the 2010 Camaro unveiling and other stuff that the Camaro overshadowed. What could possibly hold a candle to the Camaro officially rolling into that garage bay? Not much, but we touched on Honda's Prius clone fighter, as well as Malcolm Bricklin's legal action against Chery Motors after the breakup, but really, we spent a lot of time kicking the Camaro ball around, as it did happen to be the most excitement you could find without going racing. Hit us up at podcast at autoblog dot com with any questions/comments/suggestions, and thanks for listening! SUBSCRIBE to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes ADD the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator DOWNLOAD the show now Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Etc. , Government/Legal , Chevrolet Click above for gallery of Stadnyk receiving his custom car var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/World_s_tallest_man_presented_keys_to_custom_built_car'; Leonid Stadnyk towers 2.58 meters (8' 5") above the earth's surface, making him the world's tallest man. He was officially crowned in 2007 by the Guinness Book of World Records, taking the title away from a Chinese man who is just 7' 9" tall. As you might imagine, many things we take for granted are difficult for this 37-year-old from the Ukraine. Fortunately, ever since becoming the center of attention for his lofty height, good-natured people have provided him with things like custom-fitted clothing, electricity for his home, a giant bicycle, satellite TV and a home computer. Yesterday, however, the Ukrainian government went one step further and gave him keys to his own custom-built Chevy Tacuma van. The car was presented to Stadnyk yesterday by Ukrainian...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Government/Legal , Chevrolet Back in October, we told you about Kentucky State Representative C.B. Embry and his bill to name the Chevrolet Corvette the Official Sports Car of Kentucky. The bill is a costless measure intended for honoring General Motors because their Corvette plant is a vital feature of the Bluegrass State's economy. Such a measure would normally speed through, ideally only taking up a few minutes of the legislative process, but it seems to have encountered a snag. There are simply too many more pressing issues at hand. For that reason the chairman of the House Committee on State Government has placed the Corvette bill at the end of the line. The backend of that queue also consists of a few other "feel good" pieces. They address such matters as naming cornhole (think bean bag toss) the official state game, burgoo the official state dish and KFC the official state picnic food. [Source: Detroit News ] Read | Permalink | Email this ...
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Filed under: Time Warp , Convertibles , Auction Action , Government/Legal , Chevrolet , Celebrities Click to view more images of Rudy's Corvair Want to get in on the action of the 2008 presidential race? How about owning a candidate's ride? Up for auction on eBay is a 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Convertible, previously owned by former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The classic American drop-top has its original aqua paint job with matching interior and contrasting white convertible top. Although listed "as is", the Corvair is claimed to be in proper working condition with all the original equipment. Giuliani bought the car from Cooper Classic Cars in New York and sold it back to the dealership with 73,650 miles on the odometer in 1996, back when he still had his comb-over, which might explain why he gave it up. (Either that or the ordeal of owning a classic convertible in Manhattan.) The car has been in storage ever since, and at the time of writing has eleven bids standing at just...
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Filed under: Coupes , Sedans/Saloons , Sports/GTs , Government/Legal , Chevrolet , GM The Impala isn't the only RWD car stuck in limbo while GM waits for the fog of new CAFE standards to lift: Motor Trend reports that now the C7 Corvette program has been put on hold, as well. We reported yesterday that the next generation C7 Corvette will bow out of the horsepower brinkmanship game and instead shed weight, engine displacement and ponies. The interim issue is that GM doesn't know what its EPA gas mileage targets are during the run-up to the 35 mpg fleet average in 2020, and those won't be sorted out until 2009. Until they are, GM is content to wait to sort out the next 'Vette, including whether or not it will retain its traditional layout, switch to a mid-engine layout or be offered as both. As a Vette owner and fan, this blogger is not against high-horse performance, but the idea of a light(er) C7 that focuses on power-to-weight and is "more fuel efficient [and] even...
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show , Sedans/Saloons , Government/Legal , Green , Chevrolet , GMC , Pontiac , Holden It's finally (semi) official: RWD cars like a new Pontiac GTO (and Holden Monaro) and Impala are "gone for now." Bob Lutz has been making noises about it for a while, and every announcement gets more and more certain that the front wheels will be pulling more GM cars. Just a month ago, Lutz told Forbes "That's where the internal debate [on the Impala] is now -- no firm decision at this point, but my guess is that we will come down on the side of the front-drive car." By the time of last week's Detroit Auto Show, Lutz was telling GoAuto "I think the (Monaro/Pontiac GTO) is gone for now.... [T]hat's not the end of the market where we want to stimulate demand. We have to find ways to stimulate demand and desirability in cars that will get us closer to the 35 MPG average." How will that be done? Perhaps by using the Alpha midsize platform...
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Filed under: Trucks/Pickups , Government/Legal , Green , Chevrolet , Dodge , Ford , Toyota The federal government has gotten more interested in greenhouse gases, and as a result there has been a lot of tough talk concerning raised CAFE numbers. Much less time has been devoted to reducing CO2, which is the single largest contributor to global warming. Now that the spotlight is shining squarely on emissions, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel has thrown out the 2008-2011 CAFE rating for light trucks. The 2008-2011 changes represented the largest jump in fuel economy in the history of CAFE, with MPG going from 22.2 to 24, but with the growing problem of greenhouse gases, that obviously didn't go far enough for the courts. While better fuel economy and less harmful emissions coming from light trucks would be a welcome sight to all, changing the rules after 2008 trucks are already on the streets sounds a bit ridiculous. It isn't like automakers can easily change course for 2011...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Government/Legal , Chevrolet , Ford , GM click image above for high-res gallery In a sign of the impending apocalypse, Michigan police departments are steadily switching from the stalwart Ford Crown Victoria to less expensive...
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