Dean Patterson, a visiting professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, isn't waiting for the OEMs to make him a plug-in hybrid. Patterson and his team of researchers are building a range-extended electric car in the school lab. Patterson, who expects all cars made in 10 years to have electric drive, told a local TV news team from Sebastian Blanco
"It ain't that hard folks -- make better cars." That's the word aimed at Detroit from Jay Leno, the late-night television host and avid hands-on car nut. According to Leno, nobody builds trucks as well as Americans, as he cites the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado
Nissan isn't the only Japanese auto manufacturer with big plans for batteries. Toyota will open two new battery plants in Japan and expand a third for the production of nickel metal hydride and lithium ion batteries. All of Toyota's current hybrid vehicles use the older nickel-based battery chemistry. The lithium ion batteries produced at the new plant will likely be scheduled for
While there are a few winners (and many losers) as a result of geyser-like gas prices. One of the winners we suggest you may want to become acquainted with are the makers of locking gas caps, the largest of which is Stant. It's bad enough gas is almost as much as Kobe beef (mmm...Kobe beef) by weight, and you want to make sure that you are th
Click on the Laguna coupe for a high res gallery
Ford is providing Los Angeles County Ocean Lifeguards with 45 customized Escape Hybrids. The Escapes will be used to patrol 72 miles of Southern California coastline. According to Mike Frazer, chief of Lifeguard Services for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, "We wanted to be the first public safety agency in the country to go green." The Escape Hybrid qualifies for California's PZEV standard. The lifeguards are switching from pick-up trucks to the hybrid SUV after they verified its perform
Toyota is the most successful automaker on the planet, with monstrous profits and vehicle sales. A big reason for that success is the Japanese automaker's sterling quality image, and Toyota is boosting volunteer overtime pay at home to keep workers happy. The move to increase OT came in part because of mounting pressure over the Japanese culture of "service overtime", a practice which courts say led to the death of a 30 year old worker due to overwork. Toyota had been paying for only two hours o
The German arguments to European Commission rules aimed at lowering average vehicle CO2 emissions has been well covered. Because many of the major German brands make large, powerful vehicles, the German administration felt that they were being dealt with unfairly. France, for its part, has autom
