John Lauckner, one of the masterminds behind General Motors' breakthrough Chevrolet Volt EREV, has a full bag of big responsibilities these days that he calls the "technology trifecta." First, he is GM's chief technology officer. Second, he's R&D vice president. Third, as if those two jobs were not enough, he's president of GM Ventures, the company's venture capital subsidiary. "Ba
Automotive journalists have been hearing a consistent message from Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia: their attributes top the competition. Over the last few years, they have claimed superiority for most of their products in nearly every measure that matters, from power and torque to interior and cargo capacity to, most importantly, fuel economy.
It was lucky for me that GM's recent media forum on its electrification efforts was in San Francisco, since I would already be there for the press launch for the Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid. And GM promised a session with its new global product guru, Mary Barra, and a brief drive of a prototype 2014 Chevy Spark EV.
I finally got to drive a Fisker Karma (great model name!), and found it better than expected. The occasion was the annual Motor Press Guild (MPG) "Track Days" at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA, where four Karmas were lined up to be driven by attending media. Not on the track of course, but on the straight, smooth public roads around it.
An affordable, semi-practical, entry-level EV
"Come on, Gary. You talked to GM and never asked my question? ...Won't you please ask [automakers] why they don't have a significantly improved, simple, gas-powered 58-mpg runabout for the early 21st century American market (considering they've had 22 years, technology has advanced, etc.)?" – TxPatriot.
There were lots of comments on my last two columns (speaking with Ford and Chrysler execs about CAFE regulations), and some were very savvy on EVs and hybrids. But most seem to have little knowledge of what really goes into designing, developing, validating and successfully marketing a desirable, reliable, long-term durable, incredibly complex, affordable and federally legal modern automobile – let alone maki
As regular readers know, I set out this year to interview as many Detroit automaker executives as I could at the Detroit and Chicago auto shows to get their takes on meeting future fuel economy standards. And these reports are generating a lot of comments.
In response to my last column on this subject – Future Fuel Economy Mandates, Part I: 54.5 mpg is going to be hard to reach – commenter TxPatriot wondered why (non-hybrid) modern cars can't deliver the 53-58-mpg fuel economy he says his 1989 Geo Metro does. "I've yet to receive a satisfactory answer to this question," he wrote.
Is 54.5 mpg achievable... and what will it cost?
Mazda is a small Japanese car company – fifth in Japanese-brand U.S. sales behind the "Big Three" of Toyota, Honda and Nissan and just behind distant-fourth Subaru – that prides itself on being different, more youthful and more fun to drive. Hence its "Zoom-Zoom" marketing theme and t
I wrote last time that I had done two recent stories for popularmechanics.com having to do with the Chevrolet Volt. The first was on Volt (and Nissan Leaf) sales – both still limited by supply, not demand, as production and distribution ramps up. For the second, I was asked to clean my crystal ba
There's no end to people's emotions surrounding GM's Chevy Volt. Those with hate-GM and/or hate-Obama agendas are duty-bound to rage against it because they resent the bailout and see the Volt as a direct result of that money (even though it's not). Those who can love only "pure" battery electric vehicles must disapprove because it burns some fossil fuel on days when it runs out of battery juice.
2011 Chevy Volt - Click above for high-res image gallery
I recently visited "Maximum Bob" Lutz at his home to interview him for the summer issue of the quarterly Motor Trend Classic and found the 79-year-old energetic and outspoken as ever six months beyond retirement from General Motors. We talked mostly product stories from his long auto career, which began at GM Overseas Operations in 1963 and progressed through ever-higher responsibilities at BMW
