ePower Synergies Inc. is a “designer, developer, and manager of transportation systems for sustainable eCommunities.” The company would like to offer Niagra Falls tourists the chance to rent a ZENN Neighborhood Electric Vehicle. According to The Buffalo News, Brian M. Klumpp Jr., vice president of marketing and sales for ePower, thinks electric vehicle rentals would be "a great way to help attract people to this neck of the woods." Local Tourism Advisory Board member Debora Krieger pointed out that "Earth's Favorite Vehicle's" 35-mile range would leave ZENN drivers attempting to nip across the border into Canada stranded somewhere between Lewiston and Niagara Falls. What then? Ever the pragmatist, Mr. Klumpp Jr. said they'd tow 'em back.

Get out yer shovel, Ford is exhuming Lincoln. The Motor Authority reports that the 415hp "TwinForce" V6 engine featured in the Lincoln MKS concept car is actually going into a Lincoln. (The "twin" part of the moniker refers to "improved efficiency and performance," not double forced induction.) But wait, there's more! Ford claims it's developing "TwinForce" four and eight cylinder engines, the latter destined for high end cars and Mustangs. Keep in mind that Ford has disappointed us once or twice before (Interceptor, 427, Shelby GR-1, every Lincoln concept in the past ten years, etc.). I'm expecting to drive a cool-looking 400-horse V6 Ford, along with the promised six-speed dual clutch transmission, about the time geneticists engineer airborne swine. 

Thanks to a Ohio ban on indoor smoking enacted last November, Honda's Buckeye state employees may no longer indulge in the evil weed inside the plant. In response, Honda's tobacco addicts began driving off the property, parking at the sides of nearby roads, lighting up and then (presumably) tear-assing back to the plant. The local county sheriff's office became concerned about hundreds of people parking and puffing along the roads. According to MSNBC, Plan C: Honda will create outside smoking areas on their property. Smokers will also be able to partake in their own cars on Honda's parking lot. The automaker remains committed to its anti-smoking program, but the new policy makes sense, as workers get a half-hour lunch break and two 10-minute shift breaks.

Wards has posted the results of The Prospect Satisfaction Index, a survey compiled by Pied Piper Management of Pacific Grove, CA. We have our doubts about the methodology– and not just because of the company's name. According to Wards, Pied Piper's professional pollsters asked an undisclosed number of prospects an unspecified series of “yes” and “no” questions at 1,592 dealerships. We also have our doubts about the results. The study asserts that only five percent of respondents were "oversold." Pushy salesmen? Pied Piper's Pied Piper says it's purely a pernicious perception problem. “The treatment prospects receive on average is very good and professional,” says Fran O’Hagan. So now you know.

Ynet,com reports that 90 percent of vehicles stolen in Israel are taken to the West Bank, where they're dismantled and used as spare parts for garages serving… Israeli clients. To drop the hammer on the chops shops, MK Moshe Kahlon (Likud) is introducing a bill that makes it a crime for Israeli citizens to service their cars across the "Green Line." Why punish Israelis with a three-year jail sentence instead of going after illegal parts trade? We're thinking it's a blend of politics and practicality. MK Kahlon summarized the latter justification most eloquently: "Our goal is not to fight the flies, but to dry out the swamp. Once we reach a stage in which they don't have customers, they won't have to steal cars in order to obtain spare parts."

Ford is hawking their “new” Taurus (née Five Hundred) as America's safest full-size sedan. This tells us two things. First, the Ford division famous for producing the world’s safest cars (Volvo) is as good as gone. Second, The Blue Oval Boyz replaced their alleged allegiance to Bold Moves with a profound proclamation of Risk Aversion. Whether or not either decision is correct is a moot point; FoMoCo doesn't have the time nor the money to not to sell Volvo or develop edgy new automobiles. So is Ford’s safe car a safe bet? As the Afrikaners say, Ja nee.

While Toyota has declared itself fully committed to a hybrid-powered future, Honda's hedging its bets. Honda is developing hybrids, more efficient gas-powered engines, clean diesels and now, biomass. Working with non-profit partner Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), Honda says they've developed a new bacterial strain that produces large volumes of ethanol. The microorganisms munch on widely-available waste products including wood, leaves and plant stalks to ferment sugar into alcohol. Quoted by Reuters, RITE's chief researcher at their molecular microbiology and genetics lab didn't beat around the bush. Hideaki Yukawa claims his team has cracked the biomass nut: "This achievement solves the last remaining fundamental hurdle to ethanol production from soft biomass." Next year, Honda plans to set up a test plant (so to speak).

The Orange County Register reports that dozens of investigators from the Orange police and the county DA’s office raided a local Nissan dealership on Monday. According to the report, Douglas Nissan stands accused of using stolen pay stubs, driver licenses and social security numbers to secure car loans. “There may have been thousands of fraudulent loans processed with the stolen identities of thousands of unsuspecting people," the Chief prosecutor explained at a press conference held in front of the dealership. "The vast majority of the victims were Hispanic." And behind him… it was business as usual. Even as officers carted away hundreds of boxes of lease documents, dealer jackets and loan applications, customers continued shopping. “The only thing going on here is a big sale," claimed a manager. Talk about dedication.

We've reported here about the huge surge in Toyota Prius sales over the last few months. In contrast, the number crunchers over at JD Power report that U.S. consumer interest in hybrid-powered automobiles has begun to fade. According to their second annual Alternative Powertrain Study, half of all new-vehicle shoppers polled (4k) are considering a hybrid. That's down from 57 percent of shoppers polled in their 2006 survey. Mike Marshall, director of JD's automotive emerging technologies unit, attributes the drop to the discrepency between inflated expectations and reality: "In the 2006 study, we found consumers often overestimated the fuel efficiency of hybrid-electric vehicles, and the decrease in consideration of hybrids in 2007 may be a result of their more realistic understanding of the actual fuel economy capabilities." In other words, the new EPA fuel economy calculations have hit hybrids hard. 

The Truth About Cars has been telling the truth about cars since 2002. Ford was the first mainstream manufacturer to realize the potency of our brand, snapping-up www.thetruthabouttrucks.com to sell their highest margin vehicles. Now Audi's at it, launching a whole "TRUTH IN ENGINEERING" shtick to accompany their new driver experience program. According to our German admirers' website, the truth is fast ("The truth leaves others behind") and it's headed your way ("Discover the Truth in a city near you"). We're nervously expectant on this new tagline; will it replace Ingolstadt's previous, catchy boast: Vorsprung durch Technic (Progress Through Engineering)? Oh, and by the way, what the Hell does TRUTH IN ENGINEERING actually mean? 

First, it was the OBD-II black box that records your speed just before an accident. Then it was GPS systems in rental cars keeping track of where you drive and how fast you drive there. Now the finance and insurance companies want their piece of the privacy intrusion business. According to the Detroit News, GMAC Financial Services' insurance unit is asking drivers with OnStar-equipped cars to let them track how many miles they drive, dangling the carrot of lowered insurance rates in front of them. OnStar president Chet Huber says data on when or where the car is driven wouldn't go to the insurer. (Yet.) The article makes no mention of whether or not OnStar would share driver information with any local, state or federal agencies and, if so, under what circumstances.  

Quick! Which will earn you more: a doctorate in physics and a professorship at a university, or a high school diploma and a job with Chrysler? It doesn’t take a PhD in economics to guess the right answer to that one. Dr. Mark Perry from the University of Michigan looked at the average total compensation for auto workers (Big 2.8 and transplants) and college professors. He found the average autoworker with a high school diploma and maybe a year or two of technical school earned about $134K per year, while the average college professor makes about $93K in exchange for eight years of college and post-grad work. We won’t even look at what the typical high school or elementary school teacher makes in comparison to the janitorial staff in the auto plants.

In his fastlane blog, GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz recently whipped-out his jargon generator and "it'll cost X thousand per car more to do this thing everybody wants us to do" excuse to explain why diesel engines ain'tgonnahappen in the American market. At the tail end of the something-less-than-riveting video clip, MB surprised us all, grabbing his lantern and proclaiming "The diesels are coming! The diesels are coming!" According to Bob (not the most reputable source), GM's developing a V6 diesel for passenger cars and a V8 diesel for its SUVs. Autoweek's done the right thing: asking if GM's last foray into diesel-powered passenger cars has killed the concept for all time. Alan Starling, a former chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, says he's not worried about GM's dire diesel history. "Those memories are painful for all of us," he says. "But I would rather have that discussion than not see customers at all."

Cell phones cooler than cars? No way! Way. CNW Marketing Research recently reported that thirty-two percent of today’s 16 to 29-year-olds view Apple’s new cell phone as the hot ticket to campus stardom. Only twenty percent made the same claim for a car. In fact, the survey found that any kid fortunate enough to lift an iPhone to his or her ear was guaranteed a seventy percent popularity rating. If we accept that the iPhone is the King of cool, what does Apple know that has the U.S. automobile industry doesn’t, that allows a nerdy little electronic device to trump the [formerly] ultimate symbol of adult independence?

CNN Money recently named Google as America's top workplace of choice. Among the Googliscious perks: free meals, a swimming spa and access to on-site doctors. Some 1300 people apply per day. In Italy, college grads seeking similar satisfaction send their resumes to the home of the Prancing Horse. Paddock Talk reveals that a study by Stockholm’s Universum Communications says Italian engineering, science and economics students consider Ferrari their ideal workplace. Ferrari’s training initiatives, culture and wellness plan make for a happy workforce. Yeah okay, but what about “employee pricing?”