Proving that he is nothing if not predictable, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich blamed the United Auto Workers for the loss of American manufacturing jobs at a recent campaign appearance. Automotive News reports that Gingrich lauded the BMW factory in Spartanburg, SC, for being "vibrant" and mentioned Jeff Sabatini
While we shouldn't be shocked at anything Madison Avenue dishes out anymore, there's a part of me that's incensed to see Honda use the music of Judas Priest to advertise its new Odyssey. I mean, come on-the opening riff of the greatest album from these heavy metal gods deployed, not in the service of Satan, but to sell a minivan?
First there was Asimo, Honda's friendly and childlike humanoid robot, who dazzled the public by walking on two legs. Then came Toyota's whimsical Partner Robots, which could play musical instruments. Now we have Robonaut 2, a menacing machine GM helped develop in a partnership with NASA.
It's not often that documentaries breed sequels, but if ever a nonfiction film deserved to have a part two, this is it. "Revenge of the Electric Car" is the sequel to director Chris Paine's 2006 documentary, "Who Killed the Electric Car." We interviewed Paine in Translogic Episode 3.4, but he didn't give us much in the way of specifi
The EPA has finally weighed in with its (long awaited) fuel economy numbers for the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf. While the results are impressive – 93 and 99 miles per gallon equivalent for each of the two vehicles, respectively – the more important story is that consumers are likely to remain confused about just how fuel-efficient this new automotive technology is.
Consensus among car guys is that the first "concept car" was the 1938 Buick Y-Job, a legendary vehicle that charted a direction the entire auto industry would follow for nearly two decades. But another experimental vehicle that was developed during the Great Depression might have forged an even more radical path for Detroit.
All the controversy surrounding the Chevy Volt's unique drivetrain raises a bigger issue: Why would GM mislead the media for months about how it really works? Why does the company refuse to call the Volt a plug-in hybrid, the most obvious and accurate description of the car?
