Autoblog

Some cars to be as clean as electric train travel by 2020

Jonathon Ramsey — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:02:00 EST

Ex-Ford engineer Richard Parry-Jones is now chairman-designate of the UK's Network Rail. Having looked into the futures of both car and train development, he believes that by the end of this decade the most Earth-friendly internal-combustion engine cars will be about as polluting, on a per-passenger basis, as high-speed electric trains.

Parry-Jones says carmakers are targeting 40g/km of CO2 tailpipe emissions by 2020. If the "average" occupancy of 1.6 people-per-vehicle stays the same in eight years, that would equal 25 gm per person per kilometer and put such cars in the same environmental category as the cleanest mass transit.

Since the emissions of electric cars and trains is usually given as zero, we're assuming he means diesel-electric high-speed trains; life-cycle emissions wouldn't be a valid comparison since those aren't factored into a car's tailpipe number. According to The Guardian's table of emission numbers by transport, right now you'd have to load four folks in a small diesel topped up with ultra-low sulphur fuel to get down to 42 grams per passenger per kilometer (gpkm), which would put you right with one of Virgin's Voyager class diesel-electric trains at 75-percent capacity. If you want to go all the way low, though, you'll need a 50cc two-stroke and a passenger: at that point you're rocking just 19.5 gpkm. Slowly.

Some cars to be as clean as electric train travel by 2020 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vehicle hauler shortage to threaten new car sales?

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:58:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Etc., Videos

New car sales have endured all manner of impediments since The Great Recession began in 2008, and for various reasons including everything from restricted lending by banks to strikes and Acts of God. Next up among the bugbears could be a shortage of car haulers, which were pulled from active duty when there simply weren't cars to haul.

However, with 2012 sales riding a projected wave of 15 million in sales for the year, the opposite has happened: too many new vehicles to be shipped paired with a paucity of tractor-trailers and trains to do the shipping. Estimates put the disparity between demand and supply at 1.7 million vehicles - the kind of number that could make a dent that won't buff out.

On the other hand, shipping companies are buying all the haulers they can, it's only March, and no one knows how long the superheated sales will continue. Yet even if the hauler shortage is remedied, there could be a shortage of drivers. According to Heavy Duty Trucking magazine, finding truckers to fill the drivers' seats will become more difficult since pay hasn't kept up with the economy.

Follow the jump to see the Autoline Daily report (skip to 1:18 for the car hauler story).

Continue reading Vehicle hauler shortage to threaten new car sales?

Vehicle hauler shortage to threaten new car sales? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW DesignworksUSA previews updated San Francisco subway

Noah Joseph — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:01:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Videos, BMW, Design/Style

BMW's product portfolio has expanded far beyond the sports sedans and cabriolets of old to include all manner of vehicles. But a subway train? You betcha.

As we initially reported a couple of weeks ago, San Francisco's transit authority has commissioned the BMW Group's DesignworksUSA studio to revamp the Bay Area Rapid Transit system - the city's subterranean railway, also known as BART for short. The project entails facelifting both the interior and exterior of the existing trains, as well as sprucing up the 44 stations that they service.

It's not the first time the automaker's design consultancy has been brought on board on a subway project, having performed a similar task in Warsaw, Poland, but we've now got our first glimpse at what those Bangle disciples have got in store for the bayside public transit system. Follow the jump to watch the video.

Continue reading BMW DesignworksUSA previews updated San Francisco subway

BMW DesignworksUSA previews updated San Francisco subway originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW DesignworksUSA gets on track with San Francisco BART contract

Noah Joseph — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:03:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, BMW, Design/Style

BMW: Bus, Metro, Walk. That was the tongue-in-cheek acronym we used to refer to public transport back in Montreal where this blogger grew up, but it's San Francisco that's about to have its underground mass transit system overhauled by BMW.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) is the fifth-largest urban train system in the country, but its fleet is the oldest. That's why, according to reports, the transit commission has turned to BMW DesignworksUSA to give it a full overhaul.

The contract reportedly includes redoing the exterior and interior of the rail cars, as well as the operator's controls and the PA system at each of BART's 44 stations. This won't be the first time that BMW's design consulting subsidiary has taken on such a project, having recently undertaken a similar overhaul together with Siemens on the metro system in Warsaw, Poland, pictured above.

BMW DesignworksUSA gets on track with San Francisco BART contract originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Standing water + train = car wash!

Alex Nunez — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Videos, Humor, South America

Luckily, no one on the overpass appears to be driving a convertible - Click above to watch the video after the jump

What happens when you combine a flooded underpass, a traffic-jammed overpass, and a passenger train in Buenos Aires, Argentina? You get a real-life Six Flags water attraction. Those people standing near the train tracks? They need towels. Hope everyone up on the road above had their windows closed. Follow the jump to watch.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Standing water + train = car wash!

Video: Standing water + train = car wash! originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pininfarina contracted to overhaul Eurostar chunnel train

Noah Joseph — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:01:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Europe

Unless you've got access to a continent-gobbling exotic GT and an immunity to speeding tickets, everyone who's ever traveled Europe knows that the preferred way of getting around the Old World is via train. (Heck, even us car-crazed nuts here at Autoblog take the train for European auto shows.) But for one high-speed train service, the experience is about to get a little bit more... automotive.

Pininfarina, the same Italian design house responsible for dozens of Ferraris and countless other automotive designs throughout the decades, has been awarded the contract to refurbish the train cars for the Eurostar line. Running between Britain, France and Belgium through the English channel, the Eurostar train travels at speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph), making it from London to Paris in two hours and fifteen minutes. However, the high-class, high-speed trains haven't been redone since going into operation some 15 years ago. While Ferrari's Luca di Montezemolo gets behind the project to build a high-speed train system in Italy, the first of Pininfarina's refurbished Eurostar trains is expected to hit the rails in 2012.

[Source: Autocar]

Pininfarina contracted to overhaul Eurostar chunnel train originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIDEO: Turkish man miraculously survives train-truck-pedestrian collision

Noah Joseph — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:31:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Videos

Click above to view the video after the jump

Every once in a while there comes along a story that's so incredible you really have to see it to believe it. Fortunately, the magic of the intertubes and some newfangled site called YouTube makes that possible with news of a potentially horrifying crash in Turkey.

Local trucker Cem Tokac was standing in the truck yard when a tractor-trailer passed beside him, evidently oblivious to the train about to T-bone the double truck right into the blindsided bystander. The train strikes the truck, the truck strikes Tokac and he looks like he's down for the count, but amazingly escapes with only relatively minor cuts and bruises from what could easily have been a fatal incident. The event was caught on two closed-circuit television cameras on site, so follow the jump to watch the video and see for yourself.

[Source: Inquisitr via Jalopnik]

Continue reading VIDEO: Turkish man miraculously survives train-truck-pedestrian collision

VIDEO: Turkish man miraculously survives train-truck-pedestrian collision originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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