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What Drives Us Podcast - #173 Do NOT Burn VW Dealerships - What Drives Us
This week, Mark, Tony and Russell wrestle to the ground... Volt powertrain uber alles http://www.autoevolution.com/news/gm-considers-selling-the-volt-s-powertrain-to-other-brands-104479.html Bye bye ELR http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102254_cadillac-elr-is-walking-dead-but-may-be-great-rare-used-car VW plays the villain card http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102114_vw-bites-back-doubts-diesel-whistleblower-says-defeat-software-legal-in-europe?fbfanpage Maybe an electric Bentley http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/bentleys-electric-car-plans-revealed-20160207-gmnzhd.html Prius Superb Owl Commercials http://www.priusownersgroup.com/2016/02/where-i-show-you-what-twenty-million.html Autonomous driving gets better http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/uoc--nai020516.php
Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us -
New Bill Seeks $5,000 Fine for Rolling Coal
Source: New Bill Seeks $5,000 Fine for Rolling Coal » AutoGuide.com News
If passed, a new bill will see drivers who are “rolling coal” fined up to $5,000.
Rolling coal, or rollin’ coal, is the act of modifying a diesel vehicle, usually a pickup truck, to spew black smoke and soot. The trend hit the mainstream in the summer of 2014 with numerous viral videos of truck drivers dumping large plumes of black soot on passers by.
While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) already has laws that apply to tampering with a vehicle’s emission controls, Rep. Will Guzzardi from the Illinois General Assembly is proposing a new bill that would directly target coal rollers.
Works for me,
Bob Wilson -
Sham: The Government is Trying to Ruin Racing
Source: The Government is Trying to Ruin Racing » AutoGuide.com News
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed new regulations that will prohibit road-going vehicles from being converted into race cars.
Currently, there are exceptions in the Clean Air Act that relate directly to cars converted into race cars, allowing the removal of certain emissions devices like a catalytic converter. This new set of rules would make it illegal to remove these emissions devices from all passenger cars, including those being converted to race cars.
The regulations would also make the sale of certain products that modify emissions illegal, which has caught the attention of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA).
IMHO, this is a tempest,... -
Exxon Report on Future World Energy Demands
Key findings of the report include:
- In 2040, oil and natural gas are expected to make up nearly 60 percent of global supplies, while nuclear and renewables will be approaching 25 percent. Oil will provide one third of the world’s energy in 2040, remaining the No. 1 source of fuel, and natural gas will move into second place.
- North America, which for decades had been an oil importer, is on pace to become a net exporter around 2020.
- India will surpass China as the world’s most populous nation, with 1.6 billion people. The two countries are expected to account for almost half of the growth in global energy demand.
- Global demand for electricity is expected to increase by 65 percent, and 85 percent of the increase is in non-OECD nations.
- The share of the world’s electricity generated by coal is expected to fall to about 30 percent in 2040 from approximately 40 percent in 2014.
- Global energy demand from transportation is projected to rise by about 30 percent,...
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2016 Prius Super Bowl Commercial: "The Longest Chase" Prius4
Very entertaining and well-done commercial by Toyota's @Prius Team that aired during the Super Bowl tonight. Great to finally see a Prius ad capture the positive aspects of the car while mixing humor and entertainment.
Toyota later at the conclusion of the game posted a follow-up commercial, with the police unveiling their secret weapon to stop the Prius:
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BORON as alternative fuel for cars
The book “Prescription For The Planet” by Thomas Blees proposes using boron as a fuel for cars. (Chapter 5) After the boron is burned, the resulting boron oxide or rust would be taken to a recycle plant to be reformed into fuel usable boron again. The recycle plants would be powered by Integrated Fast Reactors (IFRs) which are advanced nuclear reactors that, as explained in the book, are much safer than existing nuclear reactors and inexpensive to operate as they use for fuel the spent fuel from existing reactors and excess depleted uranium which our military has a lot of. For boron to burn it needs pure oxygen, so miniaturizing oxygen extractors for cars would be necessary.
According to the book, the best cars would be boron/electric hybrids. With the purchase of the car would come about $200 of boron, which would be recycled over the life of the car costing the equivalent of about twenty five cents per gallon of gas. As explained in the book, this method would create zero... -
What Drives Us Podcast - #172 Amputations - Prius Family Future
Listen to What Drives Us online
Prius: "Well kids, your mother and I need to talk to you…"
Toyota's fuel-thrifty Prius family may decrease as the automaker ponders strategy
Toyota axes Scion
Toyota Gives Scion Brand the Axe
2MTs:
France to pave 1000km of roads with solar panels : TreeHugger
After Years Of Passive Aggressive Contempt, German Companies Now Trying To Take Credit For Tesla's Success −... -
January 2016 Dashboard - summary to follow
The January Dashboard is available: January 2016 Dashboard
But due to an unfortunate hardware failure (cooling fan wore out,) the summaries will take a couple of days. It also gives me time to rework the spreadsheet:
Model 16_01 15_12 15_11 15_10 1 Prius Liftback 6333 10153 8287 9611 2 Ram Pickup Diesel 3193 4531 3848 4283 3 RAV4 1973 1430 64 4 Prius c 1763 2861 2601 3373 5 Fusion Hybrid 1373 1960 1388 2050 6 Model S 1300 3100 2100 7 Camry Hybrid 1256 1861 1964 2545 8 Prius v (lowercase v) 1205 2040 1643 2128 9 Volt 996 2114 1980 2035 10 Sonata 964 1138 931 1342 11 RX 400 / 450 h 790 1493 958 514 12 Leaf 755 1347 1054 1238 13 C-Max Hybrid 637 837 815 912 14 CT200h 622 1464 984 1077 15 ES Hybrid 622 1443 833 895 16 Avalon Hybrid 583 933 798 993 17 Fusion Energi 581 1058 944 849 18 MKZ 491 867 676 646 19 Optima Hybrid 469 870 844 1262 20 Model X 400 177 15 10 21 Highlander Hybrid 375 516 318 375 22 Range Rover 366 387 283 23 C-Max Energi 350 579 639 695... -
OH No! Toyota Might Ditch the Prius c, v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) and Plug-In Hybrid
**Mod Note - 3 threads about this all merged into this one, the first one posted **
Should I sell my c now? -
Kia's Telluride
Source: Kia's Telluride Concept Merges Great Looks With New-Age Horseshit
If you’re a fan of Kia’s recent design direction (which I am) then I’d suggest just looking at the pictures here. Kia’s new Telluride full-size SUV concept looks great, and is a refreshing departure from what we’re used to seeing. Just don’t read the press release. Especially if you’ve just eaten.
Jason Torchinsky is rapidly becoming my favorite auto-reporter. He had the good sense to record on cell-phone video, a maximum acceleration test of the 2016 Prius at the November 8 event. A brilliant hack, it remains one of the earliest, 3d party, hard data points we've gotten about the 2016 Prius.
Bob Wilson -
Hybrid police cars replacing Crown Vics
Pretty interesting, and not surprising to most folks on this site that hybrids will save on gas and need less repairs than most gas only cars.
Now I wonder if they'll also use plug-in hybrids to lower costs even further.
Hybrid Police Cars Replacing Crown Vics: No Longer An Anomaly -
What Drives Us Podcast - #171 Heated Debate - What Drives Us
On this week's show:
- Douchebag is douchey
First used Tesla Model X offered with an $80k markup - This just reeks of pump and dump to me
EV automaker Mullen Tech makes 2 new hires | Autoremarketing
and their main site:
Mullen Technologies, Inc. - Why does every FCV cost $500 a month?
Honda Clarity proves hydrogen future always costs $500/month - Trouble in Apple car paradise
Apple car 'Project Titan' faces team hiring freeze - Chief of Titan leaving Apple
Charged EVs | Apple...
- Douchebag is douchey
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Autoline After Hours #316 - Chevy Bolt: The EV for the Rest of Us
Part of Ward's Automotive, these folks in the past tried to push "clean diesels" over hybrids and plug-ins. But VW shut that down. Now these hybrid skeptics seem to have 'gotten religion' which is why this podcast / video is important:
Sorry, no transcript. It starts out slow but as they talk, you can see the cogs in their minds turning to a new paradyne. For example, the 'no car days' because of NOx finally made them realize there is a harm to not only diesel but conventional cars too. Towards the end, they also realized the importance of the Pacifica, the first North American, hybrid miniVan.
Bob Wilson -
Self-heating battery article
In the news, regarding lithium-ion battery performance in the cold, quickly heating them:
Battery for electric cars self-heats when it's freezing - Futurity -
What Drives Us Podcast - #170 We Answer The Unanswerable - What Drives Us
The VW saga continues… California rejects proposed “solution” http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101854_california-rejects-vw-diesel-fix-plan-gaps-lacks-detail?fbfanpage Honda and GM to fuel cell plants http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101933_honda-gm-to-build-factory-for-fuel-cell-production-by-2025 An unanswerable but very important question, why is oil so cheap? http://ourfiniteworld.com/2016/01/19/why-oil-under-30-per-barrel-is-a-major-problem/
Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us
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