Items by Chuck Squatriglia
Wired: Top Stories
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We Drive Nissan's Electric Car, and It's Sweet
Posted: April 2nd, 2009, 6:52pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Nissan's poised to spring an electric car on us by the end of next year, and it might just propel the Japanese automaker to the head of the EV pack. -
Feds Say the Volt Can't Save GM
Posted: March 30th, 2009, 7:01pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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General Motors is betting everything on the range-extended EV. The White House says it's too little, too late and too expensive. -
We'll See a Chevy Volt by June
Posted: March 27th, 2009, 4:00am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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General Motors gears up to build the first cars that look and drive just like the range-extended EV we'll see in showrooms next year. -
First Look: Tesla's Model S Is Stunning
Posted: March 26th, 2009, 7:20pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Tesla's Model S is stunning, sophisticated and silent. It proves an electric car can be sexy and practical. -
Tesla's Roadster Is Sex on Wheels
Posted: March 5th, 2009, 12:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comThe Tesla Roadster is a technological marvel and a damn sexy car that's quicker than a General Motors exec scrambling for a bailout. We finally got a chance to take one for a spin, and although the Roadster isn't perfect, it's fast, nimble and a lot of fun. Check out our impressions over at Autopia and enjoy a little EV motoporn.
Left: Although based on the Lotus Elise, the two cars share fewer than 7 percent of their parts, and most of those are in the dashboard. Everything else was redesigned to accommodate the electric drivetrain. As sexy as the car is in pictures, it's even better in person. Like all proper sports cars, it looks best in red.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comThe engine and battery are in the middle of the car, leaving just enough room in the trunk for a set of golf clubs — but not a spare tire. Don't worry, though. The $109,000 price tag includes the can of Fix-a-Flat you see tucked into the left underside of hood.
With 276 foot-pounds of torque pushing the car from zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds, the license plate is all most people will see when you stomp on the accelerator.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comThe interior is all business, with few amenities beyond A/C, a stereo/navi system and power windows — but, oddly, no power mirrors. Electronic nannies include anti-lock brakes and traction control.
There's no power steering, so turning the tiny Momo wheel is a bear until you're up to speed. The heated leather seats are supportive and reasonably comfortable, but getting over those wi-i-i-i-ide doorsills requires the grace of an Olympic gymnast.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comCarbon-fiber bodywork makes the Roadster exceptionally light with a curb weight of 2,723 pounds. Impressive, considering the Elise weights 1,984 pounds, and the Roadster is burdened with 6,831 lithium-ion cells in a battery pack that weighs 992 pounds. To give you an idea how light the carbon is, the hood of the Roadster weighs 8½ pounds.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comYes, that's a radiator. The Roadster doesn't have an engine, but anyone with a laptop computer knows lithium-ion batteries get mighty hot. A cooling system ensures the 53-kilowatt-hour battery will stay cooler than James Dean and Steve McQueen combined.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comThe Roadster comes with a 120-volt, 15-amp charger that recharges the 53-kWh battery in — get this — 37 hours. An optional 240-volt, 70-amp "high power" charger cuts that to about three hours, but it costs $3,000.
Still, Tesla says the regular charger is sufficient because the battery rarely gets drained. "With an EV, you're constantly topping it off," says spokeswoman Rachel Konrad. "You aren't charging it up from empty."
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comThere's just enough room under the front bonnet for, well, nothing, really. Every inch is packed with the radiator that keeps the liquid-cooled battery from overheating, various brake system components, and a power controller that reduces the battery's 700-volt output to a more system-friendly 12 volts.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comThe air ducts on the side aren't there for show — although they look pretty freakin' sweet. They help cool the power-electronics module, the massive computer that controls the car.
The PEM translates commands like acceleration and braking into precisely timed voltages that regulate the speed and direction of the electric motor. It also controls motor torque and regenerative braking, and it keeps tabs on the battery voltage. Think of it as the car's frontal cortex. Tesla says the PEM controls more than 200 kW of electric power under peak acceleration. That’s enough power to illuminate 2,000 100-watt light bulbs.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comThe Roadster draws more stares than Bar Refaeli at a nude beach, something we found almost as appealing as the car's impressive acceleration.
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Driven (Finally): Tesla Roadster
Posted: March 5th, 2009, 12:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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At long last, we get behind the wheel of Tesla's electric sports car. -
MIT Unveils 90 MPH Solar Race Car
Posted: February 27th, 2009, 7:45pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Solar cars like MIT's "Eleanor" may seem silly, but they shape the technology we'll find in the hybrids and EVs of tomorrow. We've already seen it with the Chevrolet Volt. -
Don't Miss: Supercool Video Explains New F1 Rules
Posted: February 14th, 2009, 12:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing runs through the rules in a video worth checking out — even if you're not a Formula 1 fan. -
High-Tech Shocks Turn Bumps Into Power
Posted: February 12th, 2009, 7:05pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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MIT students develop a regenerative shock absorber that uses bumps in the road to generate electricity, a development they say increases fuel economy as much as 10 percent. -
Tesla's Plan For an EV Factory in San Jose Fizzles
Posted: January 30th, 2009, 12:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Tesla Motors' plan of building an automobile assembly plant in San Jose appears doomed, done in by a faltering economy and little chance of federal funding for the project. -
World's Fastest Car Goes Electric
Posted: January 23rd, 2009, 5:30pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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How does 1,000 horsepower, 208 mph and a 10-minute recharge time sound? Yeah, we're skeptical too, but we're clearing space in the fantasy garage just the same.
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Detroit Auto Show a Leaner, Greener Affair
Posted: January 9th, 2009, 2:25pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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With the auto industry in turmoil, the economy in recession and vehicle sales tanking, the North American International Auto Show is a low-key affair with just one goal: to get people back in the showrooms. Automakers are rolling out some sweet cars that might do the trick.
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Lotus Targets Tesla With EV of Its Own
Posted: January 5th, 2009, 4:45pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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The company that helped Tesla Motors and Chrysler build their electric cars is working on a battery-electric that will work just like the Chevrolet Volt but be a whole lot sportier.
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Toyota Goes Electric With a Hush-Hush Concept
Posted: December 23rd, 2008, 1:56pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Toyota will quietly unveil an electric concept car alongside the next-gen Prius at the Detroit auto show.
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Driving Christmas Home — 10 Outrageous Gifts for Gearheads
Posted: December 23rd, 2008, 12:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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: Is the household gearhead driving (pun intended) you nuts incessantly blathering about the latest supercar? Try putting one of these sweet auto-related gifts under the tree to shut him up for 10 minutes.
Left: If you've already got a $1.5 million Reventon in the driveway, a $350 Lamborghini hoodie on your back and the $60 Lamborghini baseball cap on your head, the only thing you need to complete your collection are these $120 signature Christmas ornaments. Buy them and you'll truly be the man who has everything.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
: It won't make your cigars smell any better or taste any finer, but they'll look smokin' in this carbon-fiber–wrapped humidor from Ferrari. At a cool $1,000, just make sure you put something nicer than Swisher Sweets in it.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
: Nothing would look more debonair on a hot day than your crisply pressed shirt sleeve hangin' from your XKE with a pair of Leaping Jaguar cufflinks. They'll leap onto your wrist for less than a C-note.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
: You want to tear up the twisties in your 911 Cabriolet, but your wife says it's too cold to put the top down? No problem. Hand her this $900 Porsche leather jacket. It hugs curves better than your 911.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
: Make an Audi addict out of your kid with this 1936 Auto Union Type C replica. This pint-sized pedal-powered racer has seven speeds and disc brakes just like your S3. And at 10 grand, it will introduce Junior to the high cost of German engineering.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
: If you can afford $350,000 for the Bentley Azure T, you've probably already got a pretty nice watch. But if you've got butter-soft leather under your butt and a jeweled gearshift in your hand, you might as well cough up the cost of a used Honda to put the Bentley watch on your wrist.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
: Michael Jordan wouldn't play ball in loafers, and Tiger Woods wouldn't tee off in Topsiders, so why are you wearing those stupid Crocs? For less than the cost of an oil change at the dealer, you can dance on the pedals in a pair of Piloti's Prototipo driving shoes. If they're good enough for the guys racing at Le Mans, they're good enough for you.
Photo courtesy Piloti
: The last thing you want to do when signing the deal for your Ducati Desmosedici is break out a Bic. Reach for this finely tuned writing instrument from Tibaldi. Yes, $850 is a lot for a pen, but if you're spending $72,000 for a motorcycle, you probably don't care.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
: Now that you've bought your Lamborghini ornaments, Ferrari humidor, Ducati pen and other trinkets, you want something cooler than a shopping bag to carry them in. Check out this $350 Team Lotus leather duffel from Caracalla Bagaglio. It won't make you as fast as Jim Clark, but then he probably carried his driving shoes in a canvas bag.
Photo courtesy Lotus
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10 Cool Cars We Want Now
Posted: December 22nd, 2008, 5:00pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Automakers are notorious for showing off amazing concept cars then hemming and hawing about building them. We're sick of being teased and want these cars now.
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Danish Supercar Sports 1,104 Horsepower
Posted: December 18th, 2008, 4:00pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Danish boutique automaker Zenvo's new ST1 redefines "excessive." The turbocharged supercar accelerates superfast (over 60 mph in three seconds) and the company claims it'll go into production next year.
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GM Puts the Volt's Engine Factory on Hold
Posted: December 17th, 2008, 5:45pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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General Motors says its finances are so bleak it has no choice, but it says the Volt's development continues as planned.
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3 Drivetrains, 1 Car, Zero Emissions
Posted: December 15th, 2008, 4:25pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Concept BlueZero uses a common architecture that allows Mercedes-Benz to easily offer a gas-electric, battery electric or hydrogen fuel-cell drivetrain in the same car.
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British Steam-Car Team Sets Sights on 170 MPH
Posted: December 11th, 2008, 4:16pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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A British team hopes to break a record that's stood for more than a century by rocketing across the desert in a steam-powered car.
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Next-Gen Dashboards Teach Leadfoots How to Hypermile
Posted: December 9th, 2008, 8:01pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Ford, Honda and Nissan are leading the way, but experts say it won't be long before everyone's offering high-res dashboard displays that will make us more efficient drivers.
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Japan Moves to Become Electric Vehicle Testing Ground
Posted: December 9th, 2008, 12:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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It's latest country to embrace a California company's plan to bring EVs to the masses with battery-switching stations. Japan enlists help from Japanese automakers, as well.
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Commute-Friendly Electric Cycle Does 0 to 30 in 3.8 Seconds
Posted: December 4th, 2008, 12:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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The Brammo Enertia electric motorcycle is so light that even readily available batteries can make one commute-worthy. And the 13-kW packs quite the punch for such a feathery ride.
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Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing — Fisker Reveals the Production Karma
Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 6:35pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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We didn't think it was possible, but the production version is even sexier than the prototype. And it produces a mind-boggling 959 foot-pounds of torque.
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Cars and Guitars — Autopia's 10 Best Songs About Cars
Posted: November 25th, 2008, 4:24pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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We're putting together a playlist for the long drive to grandma's house. Tell us what to put on it.
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Porsche Dilutes the Brand Yet Again
Posted: November 25th, 2008, 4:14pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Porsche shows off the Panamera, which looks like a lowered and lengthened Cayenne with a 911 front end. At least it'll be available with a gas-electric hybrid drivetrain. Maybe.
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Fisker Raids GM to Build His Hybrid
Posted: November 25th, 2008, 5:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Fisker Automotive's $80,000 Karma plug-in hybrid will have a GM engine under its sexy hood. Assuming, of course, GM sticks around long enough for Henrik Fisker to build the car.
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The iMiEV Is a Sweet EV With a Lousy Name
Posted: November 24th, 2008, 5:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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The electric city car Mitsubishi is rolling out in Japan next summer is the real deal — quick, nimble and comfortable. Here's hoping we see it in the United States.
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The Autopia 2008 L.A. Auto Show WTF? Photo Caption Contest
Posted: November 21st, 2008, 8:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Write the best caption, win some schwag.
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Vintage Iron Rules the L.A. Auto Show
Posted: November 21st, 2008, 5:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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There are acres of sweet cars at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and the best of them are older than you are.
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Phooey to Fuel Economy: 10 Cars That Just Don't Care
Posted: November 20th, 2008, 9:00pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comOh sure, we're all for alt-fuel green cars. Hybrids? Love 'em. EVs? We'll take two. Hydrogen? Show us where to get the stuff, and we're there. But there's something to be said for being pushed back into butter-soft, hand-stitched leather as you hurtle toward the horizon at absurd velocity. Here then are our picks for the 10 cars at the Los Angeles Auto Show that will do just that.
Left: Gumpert Apollo
If "limited edition" isn't limited enough, Gumpert has the car for you. The boutique supercar maker is sending just 10 of the race-ready rides to America next year. They start at $485,000, but we'll take the top-of-the-line $850,000 model, because why wouldn't you want every one of the 850 horsepower you get with it?
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comIf you have to ask, you'll never understand.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comIt's not the flashiest car around. The doors don't flip upward. It isn't covered in carbon fiber. And most people won't have any idea what it is. But the DBS is just so quintessentially British that way. It's got a 6.0-liter V12, it'll hit 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, and it tops out at 191 mph. When you're that good, you can afford to be understated.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comIt's got more scoops than Baskin-Robbins and more bling than Flavor Flav, so you'd be forgiven for thinking it's something of a joke. But this Dutch rocket with a racing pedigree produces 400 horsepower, does 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds and has a top speed of 187 mph. So the joke's on you.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comLotus is one of the most-storied names in sports cars, and those who have driven them love them. If you haven't driven one, now's the time to start.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comEeenie, meenie, miney, mo … oh, just pick one. You can't go wrong.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comFrom the gleaming chrome hood ornament and 500-horsepower twin-turbo V8 to the diamond-quilted leather interior (choose from one of 25 different kinds) and jeweled fuel cap, everything about the Azure T is decadently, sensuously luxurious. And for $350,000, it damn well better be.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comYes, there are faster Porsches. Yes, there are more-expensive Porsches. And yes, there are Porsches that will run circles around the Boxster. But we just love this scene.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comThe R8 is stereotypically German — beautifully engineered, ruthlessly efficient and exceptionally quick. It isn't as good as you've heard; it's better. Everyone should have one.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comFor burning rubber, doing donuts and blowing the doors off anything short of a Gumpert Apollo, nothing beats the 638-horsepower Corvette ZR1. It's a muscle car on steroids and the best 'Vette ever. Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, nothing beats it.
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And the Green Car of the Year Is ... a Diesel
Posted: November 20th, 2008, 12:35am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI is named Green Car of the Year on Thursday at the L.A. Auto Show, marking the first time a diesel has won the award.
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Despite Gloom, L.A. Auto Show Looks to the Future
Posted: November 18th, 2008, 6:13pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Even though GM and Chrysler are pulling out of the expo, the L.A. Auto Show promises a look at some new hybrids, electrics and muscle cars.
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Video: Dodge EV Smokes a Hemi, Sort Of
Posted: November 17th, 2008, 5:55pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Chrysler stages a drag race to gin up a little publicity for its electric sports car.
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Gallery: The 10 Coolest James Bond Cars Ever
Posted: November 15th, 2008, 12:00am EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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: Sweet cars and amazing, if improbable, car chases have been essential elements of James Bond movies since the series began in 1962. The tradition continues in Quantum of Solace, which finds our favorite superspy behind the wheel of a hot Aston Martin DBS and — in a nod to these eco-conscious times — a Ford Edge that runs on hydrogen (in the film, if not in real life). But it takes more than a fuel cell to make the list of the 10 coolest Bond cars ever.
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Aston Martin DB5The quintessential Bond car appeared in Goldfinger, and it is both the most famous Bond car and one of the most iconic vehicles in the history of film. In addition to gorgeous lines and stunning speed, Bond's DB5 featured machine guns, a bulletproof shield, radar and that über-cool ejector seat that could villains flying at the push of a button.
: This one's tricky because Bentley never produced a car called the Mark IV. Ian Fleming made that up. Bond drove a 1933 Bentley convertible with an Amherst-Villiers supercharger in the novel Casino Royale. Various Bentleys have appeared in Bond films, including From Russia With Love, in which our hero seduces Miss Sylvia Trench behind the wheel of a 1930 Bentley Derby similar to the one in this photo by Flicker user starpitti.
: The Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me is almost as famous as the DB5, if only because it could turn into a submarine at the flick of a switch. The car featured surface-to-air missiles, torpedoes and depth charges, all of which we find amazing given the shaky reliability of the electrical systems in British cars.
: Strictly speaking, this wasn't Bond's car. It was driven by his assistant, Aki, in You Only Live Twice. But it makes the list because it was chock-full of cool gadgets — including a television, a cordless phone and a voice-activated stereo – that are commonplace today but the stuff of science fiction in 1967. Toyota built a GT without a roof because Sean Connery was too tall for the coupe.
: Aston Martin returned to Bond's fleet in 2002 after the spy's brief dalliance with BMW in the late 1990s. The Vanquish that appeared in Die Another Day came with an ejector seat and a cloaking device that rendered the car invisible. We prefer the more muscular and understated DBS in Casino Royale because it's a better match for Daniel Craig's darker, more brooding Bond.
: Yes, Bond drove a Mustang, albeit briefly, in Diamonds are Forever, and he looked almost as cool as Steve McQueen did driving his 'stang in Bullitt. Connery took the Mach 1 on a wild ride through Vegas, getting up on two wheels to squeeze through an alley. The film editors weren't so skilled: The car is shown entering the alley on one set of wheels and emerging on the other.
: Pierce Brosnan drove the convertible Beemer in The World Is Not Enough, but it was a BMW in name only. The Z8 was still a prototype when filming started, so the film featured a Cobra kit car wearing BMW skin. We're still not sure where Q found room for the surface-to-air missiles, let alone the six cup holders, but now we know where they put the movie camera.
: Bond stole this car from a dealership showroom to make an escape in The Man With the Golden Gun, making a spectacular corkscrew jump over a canal to elude his pursuers. The stunt was planned with help from a supercomputer at Cornell University, and it is the only time in history an AMC Hornet has ever looked cool.
: This Whyte Industries jobby appeared in Diamonds Are Forever. It's a moon buggy. 'Nuff said.
: Another Bond car that wasn't what it appeared to be. The 2CV couldn't outrun its own belching plume of exhaust, so the car in For Your Eyes Only was tricked out with a hotter engine, a modified transmission and a reworked frame. It still had trouble outrunning the humble Peugeots – Peugeots — pursuing it, so Bond had to resort to skilled driving and good luck to make his escape.
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Gallery: Homemade Motorized Bike Pays Tribute to Motorcycles of Yesteryear
Posted: November 1st, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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: Photo: James HoughJames Hough is a lawyer by profession but a gearhead at heart. He’s always tinkering with engines and building things from scratch. About a year ago, he combined the two passions to create the Houghmade Cycle Works 71, a motorized bicycle that pays homage to the racing motorcycles of the early 20th century.
"I had been looking for a project and saw online that someone had put an engine on an old Schwinn," Hough says. "I was inspired by that and thought it would be a fun project, an outlet for my desire to build. I thought it would be fun to ride around the neighborhood and to run errands. The 100-plus mpg didn't hurt."
Click through the gallery to check out the tech behind this cruiser on steroids.
Left:
Hough drew inspiration from the board-track racers that sped around steeply banked wood tracks called motordromes — especially the 1911 Harley Davidson "Silent Grey Fellow" and the leaf-sprung Indian motorcycles of that era. The Houghmade bike's gas tank copies the tank found on the 1919 Excelsior OHC that some consider the most advanced motorcycle of its day.
: Photo: James HoughLike most projects, the Houghmade Cycle Works 71 took longer and cost more than expected. "I started in August of 2007 and expected it to be done in a month," Hough says. "However, as time went on, my vision of what I wanted became clearer. I wanted something special."
Hough spent 13 months and "somewhere around $1,000, give or take," on the project. Future plans include better brakes — drum brakes from a moped or disc brakes from a mountain bike — and perhaps a chain guard. "I do not see it as a safety issue, because my cuffs are nowhere near the drive chain," Hough says. "I purposefully left the chain guard off both sides because board-track racers did not have chain guards."
: Photo: James HoughHough modified or made many of the parts on the bike. The handlebars were formed from old plumbing pipe, and the headlight is a railroad lantern. He's fitted it with a speedometer and electric lamp that uses a 3-volt flashlight bulb and two batteries. "I will probably install a more robust lighting system inside the current headlight housing, though I have no intention to ride at night," he says.
: Photo: James HoughHough sweats the details, going so far as to install a manual oil pump and fabricate an air-filter housing similar to those the board-track racers used. Houghmade Cycle Works is a play on words, and the model number he assigned the bike — 71 — refers to the year he was born.
: Photo: James HoughThough the final product looks seamless, underneath it's a Frankenstein of disparate bike parts.
The project all started with a Huffy "Santa Fe" beach cruiser Hough found at a flea market for $25. The only things left from that old clunker are the frame, stem and seat post.
The Husky wheels sport white Kenda tires. Pedals from a Free Spirit that Hough road in junior high turn a crank set taken from a kid's bike of unknown origin. The springer fork is from an old Schwinn.
: Photo: James HoughThe seat is an "eBay special" Hough re-covered it with goatskin. The front and rear leaf springs are ornamental and don't actually provide any suspension damping, but the style is spot-on.
: Photo: James HoughBut how fast is it? Although the speedo maxes out at 50 mph, Hough says the Houghmade Cycle Works 71 won't go that fast. "It runs smooth," he says. "I cruise around at 25 to 30 mph. It tops out around 40, but that's really pushing it. At 25 to 30 mph, it really feels like highway speeds, and I love every minute of it."
: Photo: James HoughThe bike sports a half-gallon fuel tank bonded to a fiberglass shell that replicates the shape of the fuel tank on a 1919 Excelsior OHC. It's enough to go about 50 miles. Hough is toying with the idea of fabricating a tank out of sheet metal. "This project has done wonders for many of my DIY skills," he says, "Why not more sheet metal skills?"
: Photo: James HoughThe heart of the bike is a Honda GHX50 50cc engine mated to a Grubee Skyhawk II transmission. Hough spent a little more than $400 for the drivetrain, which is mounted to the Huffy frame with a Grubee engine mount. The bike is street-legal in Indiana and doesn't require a license plate or registration. "I have ridden it to work," he says, adding that it's a 32-mile round trip. "I stick to back roads and try to do my riding away from traffic. I try to ride two or three times a week for fun."
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Rolls-Royce Considers an EV. No, Seriously
Posted: October 23rd, 2008, 4:51pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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As odd as it sounds, an electric Rolls-Royce makes a lot of sense.
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Supersonic Jet Car Targets 1,000 MPH
Posted: October 23rd, 2008, 2:09pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The British team that broke the sound barrier on four wheels is back, eager to continue Britain's tradition for building the fastest cars on the planet.
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A $110,000 Motorcycle as Ugly as It Is Expensive
Posted: October 19th, 2008, 5:00pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The Confederate Motors B91 Wraith was an amazing motorcycle with a timeless design. What the hell happened with the Renaissance?
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Going Green and Burning Rubber in a CNG Mustang
Posted: October 17th, 2008, 1:52pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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A 300-horsepower natural gas-burning Mustang shows "green" does not mean "boring."
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Electric Mini Spied!
Posted: October 16th, 2008, 4:10pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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It's more than a concept — it's a running car. And we'll see it at the Los Angeles auto show.
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The New Prius Looks Like the Old Prius
Posted: October 16th, 2008, 3:13pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Toyota slaps cat-eye headlamps and fog lights on its eco-darling, but keeps the exterior pretty much the same.
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Veggie-Oil Lotus Wins Alt-Fuel Race to Vegas
Posted: October 14th, 2008, 3:05pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Only two of the five alt-fuel vehicles that attempted to scavenge the fuel they needed to Escape from Berkeley made it to Sin City. The winner made the trip in 1,418 minutes.
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Mad Max Meets Cannonball Run in an Alt-Fuel Race to Vegas
Posted: October 8th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Ten cars, three days and two rules: no petroleum, and you've gotta scavenge your fuel along the way. Gentlemen, start your engines.
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A New Insight Brings Hybrids to the Masses
Posted: October 2nd, 2008, 2:19pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The Insight will undercut the mighty Prius by several thousand dollars, opening up a whole new market for gas-electric vehicles.
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Sweet Digital Mockups of Fantasy Ferrari Motorcycle
Posted: September 28th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Many have envisioned a motorcycle bearing the Cavallino Rampante, but perhaps none so thoroughly as Israeli designer Amir Glinik.
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BioWillie Boys Make It Cross-Country in 38 Hours
Posted: September 24th, 2008, 4:43pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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They don't set any records, but biodiesel evangelists Nik Bristow and Brian Pierce did spread the gospel from coast to coast.
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The Next Dodge Viper Will Be Electric
Posted: September 24th, 2008, 11:31am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The Dodge Viper is as anachronistic as it is fast, and Chrysler says it's time to move on.
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Chrysler's Shocking Promise: An EV by 2010
Posted: September 23rd, 2008, 1:21pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The company everyone's left for dead rolls out three running prototypes and springs to the front of the pack racing to bring an electric vehicle to market.
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Pininfarina Charging Ahead With Its Electric Car
Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 6:24pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The famed Italian coach builder and its French battery-building partner say we'll see the car next month at the Paris Motor Show.
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Lamborghini's 'New World' Has Four Seats
Posted: September 19th, 2008, 2:33pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Another day, another teaser photo of the forthcoming car from Sant'Agata. This one reveals more than meets the eye.
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Volvo Thinks Locusts Can Make Us Safer Drivers
Posted: September 18th, 2008, 5:00pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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African locusts never hit each other, even in swarms millions strong. Volvo wants cars to do the same thing.
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KTM's 240-Horsepower X-Bow Coming to America
Posted: August 25th, 2008, 4:00am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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KTM is bringing its 240-horsepower tarmac-terrorizing X-Bow to America and planning to make it street legal.
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Every New Car Will Be a Hybrid By 2020
Posted: August 14th, 2008, 4:15pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The Toyota Prius is just the beginning. Every car will have a hybrid drivetrain within 12 years, and it will talk to other cars and the road to make you a safer, happier driver.
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Presenting the Cleanest Car in Beijing
Posted: August 11th, 2008, 5:29pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Mini bolts the back half of a Clubman to the front half of a bicycle and calls it the rickMini.
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Hydrogen Cars Go Cross-Country — With Help From Fossil Fuels
Posted: August 11th, 2008, 4:19pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The 13 vehicles making the two-week Hydrogen Road Tour through 18 states will spend some of the time riding on trucks. Organizers say that's part of the point they're trying to make.
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Aston Martin Unseats the Veyron As World's Fastest Car
Posted: August 8th, 2008, 6:22pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The Bugatti Veyron's already lost its claim to being the fastest car on the planet. Now it's no longer the most expensive, either.
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The $46,616.47 Oil Change and Size-22 Carbon Footprint
Posted: July 31st, 2008, 2:38pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Someone with more money than sense flies his Lamborghini from Qatar to Britain for an oil change. Environmentalists want the guy's head, but Britain's Lamborghini club can't see what all the fuss is about.
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Next-Gen Prius Is More of the Same, But Bigger
Posted: July 31st, 2008, 1:24pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Toyota abides by the old rule "don't fix it if it ain't broke" and makes the 2010 Prius a little bigger and a little quicker but otherwise the same as those it's selling today.
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Think Your're Fast? Prove It With Your iPhone, Punk
Posted: July 30th, 2008, 1:44pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Two cool apps turn your iPhone into an "automotive performance meter" that will tell you whether you drive like Lewis Hamilton -- or his father.
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If You Wanna Sell Plug-In Hybrids, You Gotta Make 'Em Sexy
Posted: July 23rd, 2008, 5:53pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Plug-ins may be our best chance to save the planet, but many consumers aren't convinced. Automakers need to sell buyers on the technology -- and amp up the cars' sex appeal.
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Intel CEO Calls for 10 Million Plug-In Conversions Within Four Years
Posted: July 23rd, 2008, 4:00pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Andy Grove's called for 10 million vehicles to be converted to plug-in hybrids within four years and laid out some ideas to help get us there.
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Electric Cars Are Inevitable ... and Essential
Posted: July 22nd, 2008, 3:27pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The DRM-free music retailer eMusic has linked up with several Web 2.0 hotspots to give subscribers more bang for their buck and allow them to post album excerpts to social networks.
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GM Joins Utilities to Ensure Plug-In Hybrids Can Plug In
Posted: July 22nd, 2008, 1:37pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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General Motors is working with more than 30 utilities nationwide to ensure the nation's grid can handle an influx of cars that run on electricity.
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The Car of Tomorrow Has an Extension Cord
Posted: July 19th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Forget hydrogen. The car of the future has an extension cord and a great big laptop battery.
The next evolution of the automobile will be plug-in hybrids that get their juice from a household electrical outlet. They'll start rolling into showrooms within in 18 months. Experts say plug-in hybrids could account for about 20 percent of vehicle sales within a decade -- and half of all sales by 2050.
"It all boils down to the three ways electricity is better than gasoline," says Felix Kramer of Cal Cars, a plug-in advocacy group. "It's cleaner, it's cheaper and it's domestic."
Advocates say plug-in hybrids are the best chance to address global warming and wean the nation from oil. Consumers remain unsure about electric vehicles. Ethanol's a shaky proposition because of the food-for-fuel debate. And it'll be decades before hydrogen is a viable option. That, advocates say, leaves plug-ins as the best option. They'll go up to 40 miles on a charge; but they'll also have a gas engine to keep you going beyond that at 80 to 100 mpg or more.
People have been converting conventional hybrids to plug-ins for years, but the auto industry has been slow to catch on. Now the big automakers and start-ups like Fisker Automotive are scrambling to build them despite questions about their cost and long-term reliability. Those are just two of the issues that automakers, battery manufacturers and utility companies will discuss next week at the international Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose.
"The discussion is no longer one of 'if,' but of 'when' and 'how,'" says Chelesa Sexton, executive director of the advocacy group Plug-In America. "This has moved beyond the grass-roots level into the policy and business arenas."
It all starts in 2010. General Motors promises to have the Chevrolet Volt rolling into showrooms by then. Toyota says it will roll out a small fleet of plug-in Prius hybrids to see how they do. Volkswagen has similar plans for its plug-in Golf. And Fisker hopes to have a few dozen pricey Karma sedans in driveways within 18 months. Ford and others are moving more slowly, aiming for 2012 and beyond.
Automakers know plug-in hybrids are their best shot at meeting tightening federal fuel-economy regulations, and California's zero-emissions-vehicle mandate requires them to put nearly 60,000 of them on the road in six years. They're also responding to a seismic change in the market as record-high gas prices have consumers, fed-up with paying through the nose for gasoline, joining environmentalists to demand fuel-efficient cars.
"For the longest time, this was seen as a crunchy environmental California movement," Sexton says. "It never was, but now there's a broad coalition of people sitting at the same table to demand these cars. There's a collective frustration with the status quo."
Critics note that most of our electricity is generated by coal or natural gas and say plug-ins don't reduce carbon dioxide, they just move it around.
Mark Duvall of the Electric Power Research Institute says they're wrong. His research shows widespread adoption of plug-in hybrids could cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 450 million metric tons annually by 2050. That's the equivalent of removing 82.5 million gasoline vehicles from the road. "There's significant CO2 reduction with plug-in hybrids over conventional vehicles and hybrids, and that reduction increases over time," he says.
Duvall's research and a study by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory suggest that the grid could easily supply as many as 168 million plug-in vehicles.
"We can handle as many plug-in hybrids as the auto industry wants to provide and people want to drive," he says. "The supply of electricity is almost limitless."
All those plug-ins would cut petroleum consumption from 20.6 million barrels a day to 16 or 17 million. But the lithium-ion batteries that will store that electricity remain the cars' Achilles heel.
The long-term reliability of lithium-ion batteries remains unknown, and by some estimates they cost as much as $15,000. That'll make selling plug-ins at a price most people can afford a tough proposition until the cars are made in volume -- and the cost of batteries comes down. GM says it doesn't expect to turn a profit on the $40,000 Volt anytime soon.
Sales undoubtedly will start off slowly. Analysts don't expect GM to sell more than 30,000 Volts annually for the first couple of years. Other automakers will see similar sales figures until the cost of batteries comes down.
"We're looking at small volumes initially," says Mike Omotoso of J.D. Power & Associates. "But we could see critical mass by 2015."
Advocates say politicians and policymakers can help by creating tax breaks to make it easier for consumers to buy the cars and automakers to build them. Such incentives -- coupled with perks like carpool-lane access -- helped hybrids gain a foothold, they say, and could do the same for plug-ins.
The Department of Energy has handed out more than $60 million since 2006 to advance hybrid and battery technology and hopes to disburse another $62.3 million by the end of next year.
Both Barack Obama and John McCain have hailed plug-in hybrids in general -- and the Volt in particular -- in recent weeks and promised to spur development of such cars if elected. And Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, has called for Washington to go further by launching a "New Manhattan Project" that would include getting plug-in hybrids on the road in large numbers.
"We have the plug," he says. "The cars are coming. All we need is the cord."
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Film and Geo-Tag Your Next Car Accident
Posted: July 18th, 2008, 4:26pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The CarCam Voyager Pro not only records what happened, but where and when it happened. Just the thing for convincing your insurance agent you didn't cause that six-car pileup.
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Racing to Canada in a Hydrogen Car
Posted: July 11th, 2008, 7:00am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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The name of the race is the North American Solar Challenge, but the University of Missouri wants to prove hydrogen is the fuel of the future.
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Gallery: Top 10 Worst Aircraft Ever
Posted: July 8th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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: In the 105 years since the Wright Brothers took to the air, dreamers, engineers and aviation buffs have designed every kind of airplane imaginable in a never-ending quest to fly higher, faster or further. Some were innovative, some were beautiful and some even made history. Others, well, let's just say they must have looked good on paper.
Here's a tribute to some of those that surely looked better on paper.
Tupolev TU- 144The Concorde gets all the love, but Russia's Tupolev TU-144 was the first supersonic transport and the only commercial plane to exceed Mach 2. The "Concordski" was fast but plagued by bad luck. Three crashes -- including a dramatic mid-air breakup during the 1973 Paris Air Show -- relegated it largely to a lifetime delivering mail. It was mothballed in 1985 but briefly brought back a few years later as a research plane.
: The Comet was the premiere commercial jet airliner and a landmark in British aeronautics when it first flew in 1949. Today it's better known for its atrocious safety record. Of the 114 Comets built, 13 were involved in fatal accidents, most of them attributed to design flaws and metal fatigue.
: The “Spruce Goose” was either a brilliant aircraft years ahead of its time or the biggest government boondoggle ever. By far the largest aircraft ever conceived -- its wingspan was 319 feet -- the Spruce Goose was intended to be a military transport plane. But it wasn't finished until well after World War II ended, rendering it both obsolete and irrelevant. It only flew once.
: The Zubr was as useless as it was ugly. Not only was it incapable of flying with the landing gear retracted, the airframe was so highly stressed the plane could disintegrate without warning. If that wasn't enough, it couldn't take off with a payload much heavier than a few cartons of cigarettes. The Polish Air Force had a few in its fleet during World War II, but none of them saw combat.
: Cool name, lousy plane. Dr. William Christmas didn't know the first thing about planes when he designed one for the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and it showed. He didn't think the plane needed wing struts, so of course the wings fell off during the plane's maiden flight in 1918.
: With its carbon-composite construction, unique design and rearward-facing turboprop engines, the Starship was a groundbreaking aircraft. But it was slow, difficult to fly and a bear to maintain. It took to the air in 1989, but Beechcraft only sold a few of the 53 it built.
: The Hiller VZ-1 hovercraft must have looked good on paper, because it sure didn't look good in the air. The idea was simple -- a fan provides lift and the pilot steers by shifting his weight. The Defense Department loved it until it saw the Pawnee in flight. It was good for just 16 mph and it tended to be uncontrollable. The project was killed in the late 1950s.
: Defense Department projects are famous for cost overruns, and General Dynamic’s flying wing bomber was a doozy. The Flying Dorito was the most troubled of the stealth aircraft projects the Pentagon embraced during the 1980s, experiencing problems with its radar systems and use of composite materials. When the projected cost of each plane ballooned to $165 million, a Secretary of Defense named Dick Cheney killed it in 1991.
: With its anemic engine, poor maneuverability and gunner blocking the pilot's view, the B.E. 2 was doomed from the start. German aces had no problem shooting them down during World War II, making it just about useless as a fighter. It had no problems against German Zeppelins, though, so the plane lived out its days attacking them instead.
: The XB 15 was the largest plane ever built in the United States until the Spruce Goose came along. The heavy bomber was so massive it had passageways in the wings and bunks for the crew. But big planes need big engines and no one made one big enough to give the XB any kind of speed for its maiden flight in 1937. The plane maxed out at 200 mph, and the U.S. Army Air Corps killed the project. The only XB ever built saw duty as a cargo plane in the Caribbean during World War II.
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Ferrari Building a Smaller, Lighter, Quicker Enzo
Posted: June 24th, 2008, 8:00pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Ferrari believes smaller, lighter cars will help it cut fuel consumption by 40 percent and emissions by 25 percent, and its engineers are working on a 600-horsepower supercar that weights a scant 2,200 pounds. Look for it in 2010.
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Gallery: 10 Best Apocalyptic Vehicles
Posted: June 17th, 2008, 9:00pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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: Photo submitted by CruiseKillerGlobal warming. Faltering economies. Dwindling resources. Mankind has finally set in motion environmental, political and social policies that will surely destroy the world as we know it.
Not everyone will fall. Those who survive will roam the scorched wasteland to fend for themselves against the predatory undead while scavenging what they can to survive. The end of days is at hand, and the only question is this: What will you drive when it all comes tumbling down?
Click through our reader submissions to see your best bet for survival.
Left:
Toyota FJ40
The FJ is Toyota's answer to the Jeep CJ, and flame wars between fanboys of the two vehicles will continue long after the apocalypse begins. The consensus is the Toyota will take more abuse -- a big plus when roaming the desolation -- but it's harder to fix when something goes sideways. Fortunately, it's a Toyota, so you'll break before it will.
: Photo submitted by AnonymousIntimidating mass to frighten zombies? Check. Absurd ground clearance to crush your foes? Check. Room for several crates of black-market MREs and barrels of pilfered fuel? Check. When it comes to planning for the apocalypse, those Germans know their stuff. But this Benz-built beast gets a paltry 13 mpg, so you're going to spend a lot of time scavenging fuel.
: Photo submitted by Lance MillerThe Ural Patrol has two-wheel drive, it climbs like a goat and damn near everything on it can be repaired with a hammer, a screwdriver and duct tape. If it was good enough for the Russian armies, it's good enough for post-apocalyptic road warriors.
: Photo submitted by Rossum's ChildRoam the wastelands in style! The Concept T has a heads-up display to keep you focused on the zombie horde ahead, the ground clearance to handle those who don't get out of the way and a stop speed of 140 to escape the inevitable attack. The challenge will be getting one -- you'll have to break into the smoldering remains of VW's HQ to snag it.
: Photo submitted by StefanThe Dingo will haul 3.5 tons of looted bounty; it's more heavily armored than a bank vault and it comes with your choice of a 7.62mm machine gun or a 40mm grenade launcher. As if that weren't sweet enough, it's got air conditioning! Global warming? What global warming?
: Photo submitted by Zip LockGo ahead and laugh. Unicycles aren't very fast and you can't carry much, but they're cheap, they're reliable and you won't have to scavenge fuel. What's more, with both hands free you'll have no trouble firing your rocket-propelled grenade.
: Photo submitted by AnonymousUbiquity is a desirable quality in an Apocalypsemobile, and Jeeps are everywhere. What's more, their questionable reliability means abandoned Chrysler dealerships will have tons of parts. The closest that most Jeep-owning poseurs come to off-roading is parking on the grass -- so let the zombies fight for the new ones while you hit the local frat house and score a gently used model that's probably never even seen dirt.
: Photo submitted by Anonymous "Last of the V8 Interceptors, eh?" Not everyone is lucky enough to be an Aussie ex-cop with access to a garage containing one of these, but if you're handy with the steel you might be able to smoke the guy who is. This down under Ford Falcon-based muscle car, complete with hood-popping blower, is not exactly easy on the fuel, but if you're rolling in the original Apocalypsemobile, you've probably got what it takes to score a few gallons from anyone in the wasteland.
: Photo submitted by AnonymousUnfriendly survivors trying to keep you out of their water source? No problem: They're going to have to do a little better than that jerry-rigged wall of salvaged timber and corrugated steel if they want to keep you out. When you absolutely, positively need to kill everything between here and the horizon, it's tough to beat the Stryker. If you want one, you might start in Iraq. Most of these eight-wheelers are serving over there.
: Photo submitted by giantjoeThe VW Beetle is the Swiss Army knife and Timex watch of cars -- you can do anything with it and no amount of abuse will kill it. When Armageddon comes and the last man falls, the only thing left will be the cockroaches and the Beetles.
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Hypermilers Push the Limits of Fuel Efficiency
Posted: June 10th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Even with gas at four bucks a gallon, Yahya Fahimuddin enjoys filling his car. It's a contest, a chance to see how many miles he can squeeze from every tank. He's getting about 45 mpg these days and says you can, too.
He's a hypermiler, one of a growing number of people going to often extreme lengths to get 40, 50, even 60 mpg or more. "It's like a videogame," he says. "Can I beat my new high score?"
It's a game that some say started during the gas-rationing days of World War II and came back during the oil embargo of the 1970s. It's catching on again as fuel prices spiral out of sight, and skilled players say small changes in driving style -- eliminating hard acceleration, turning off the engine at stop lights, coasting to a stop -- can bring big improvements in fuel economy no matter what you drive.
"If you combine a handful of simple hypermiling techniques, you can easily see increases of 20 percent," said Tim Fulton, a 25-year-old designer from West Bend, Wisconsin. "Use a few more techniques and 30 percent is yours."
Fulton routinely gets 55 mpg from his 1997 Toyota Paseo, a car the EPA rates at 29 mpg. He started hypermiling about 18 months ago when he landed a new job 37 miles from home and got tired of burning so much gas. He mastered "pulse and glide" -- turning off the engine and coasting while driving. "This technique alone dramatically increased my mileage from 38 mpg to 47 mpg on my first tank," he says. "I was blown away."
Pulse and glide is controversial -- and in some states, illegal -- because the engine drives the power steering and brakes. Shut it off, critics warn, and you can't steer or stop effectively. Hypermilers say the risks are overstated. Still, there are easier -- and, arguably, safer -- things you can do to boost fuel economy. The first suggestion?
"Try the speed limit," says Rick Harrell, a moderator at the website ecomodder.com and its list of more than 100 ways to improve fuel economy. "It's a crazy idea, but it works."
The U.S. Department of Energy says gas mileage plummets above 60 mph. Every 5 mph above that speed is akin to paying another 20 cents a gallon for gas. For that reason, hypermilers scrupulously obey the speed limit. They also use the accelerator and brake as little as possible, preferring instead to coast. The truly hardcore coast to a stop, avoid using brakes around corners and draft behind trucks or other large vehicles.
Following the speed limit was quite a change for Harrell, who favored high-performance cars before getting the hypermiling bug three years ago. "I knew I needed to slow down for both environmental purposes and not to scare the living daylights out of my passengers," he says.
These days he's driving a 1998 Acura Integra and getting as much as 40 mpg in a car the EPA rates at 24. His quest for better fuel efficiency started with the car, which got a tune-up and an engine-block heater for more efficient starts. He inflated the tires to the maximum listed on the sidewall to reduce rolling resistance. And he installed a fuel-consumption gauge that provides real-time data about how much gas he's burning. He and other hypermilers highly recommend them.
"The instant feedback was great," Harrell says. "Simple things like slowing down on the highway, timing traffic lights (to maintain) momentum and coasting with the engine off started to push that fuel-efficiency number higher and higher."
Hypermilers call the gadgets "game gauges" because they're always trying to see how high they can go. The best of them get absurd figures. Wayne Gerdes, founder of cleanmpg.com and the king of hypermilers, recently drove a Honda Civic hybrid 800 miles from Chicago to New York on a single tank of gas. That works out to 65 mpg.
That's low for Darin Cosgrove of Brockville, Ontario. The co-founder of ecomodder.com averages 69 mpg in his 1998 Geo Metro, a car that got 40 mpg off the showroom floor. He's gotten as many as 133 mpg on a long trip by going slowly and using pulse and glide. He's also modified his car to make it more aerodynamic and tinkered with the drivetrain to improve efficiency.
Fahimuddin hopes to achieve those kind of numbers with his 2000 Honda Insight. It was a heap when he bought it and he's overhauled just about everything, but the clutch is shot so he's only getting 45 mpg or so. He'll replace it eventually, and add a belly pan to improve aerodynamics under the car. He figures that and a few tweaks to his driving style will get him to 60 mph.
But that's just the beginning.
"I'd like to hit 70 mpg. Seventy would be pretty sick," he says. "It's doable."
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Internet Posse Busts 'The Claw,' Canada's Dumbest Car Thief
Posted: April 3rd, 2008, 3:15pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia
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Steal a car in Calgary and the city's internet posse of gearheads will bring you down. Just ask The Claw.
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The 10 Most Wired Cars of the Geneva Motor Show
Posted: March 6th, 2008, 5:00pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Concept cars take a decidedly green turn at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, the first of the year in Europe.
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Skeptics Doubt We'll See ZAP's $30K Electric Sports Car in 2009
Posted: February 1st, 2008, 5:00pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Can't afford $98,000 for a Tesla Roadster? ZAP's Alias costs 69 percent less and has 25 percent fewer wheels. ZAP says to look for it in 2009; analysts say don't bother.
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Startup Says It Can Make Ethanol for $1 a Gallon, and Without Corn
Posted: January 24th, 2008, 1:00pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Illinois startup Coskata says it can make ethanol out of almost anything for under a buck a gallon. Environmentalists and energy experts are cautiously optimistic that the company may be on to something.
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Diesels Are Reborn; Horsepower and Muscle Find New Life
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 6:00pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Wired News finds the best new and old trends among the offerings from the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. -
Bob Lutz: Volt Is U.S. Car Industry's Moon Shot
Posted: January 15th, 2008, 5:30pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Wired News grills Bob Lutz and other top General Motors executives including about when we can expect the highly-anticipated flex-fuel Volt, and what it will look like. -
Gasoline Is Here to Stay, But It's Greener Than Ever
Posted: January 10th, 2008, 9:15pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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For all the hydrogen, electric and hybrids we'll see at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the green stars of the show may be the next generation of gasoline and diesel internal combustion engines. -
How the Next President Can End Our Oil Addiction
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 6:00pm EST by Chuck Squatriglia
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Former Clinton administration official and Brookings Institution fellow David Sandalow talks with Wired News about his plan he says the next president can follow to free the United States from oil.