I remember the first time I eyeballed the Mercedes SLK. Even if I didn’t knew who Mrs. SL was, I could picture her as part of a foxy coupe with at least one Italian ancestor. The second SLK lost the existing familial connection; the SLR's genes were all over (in?) the new roadster. Unfortunately, the SLR seems to have been that kind of irresponsible parent that smokes, drinks and does other unmentionables in the prenatal period. The R171 SLK turned out… "special." But the world keeps spinning and soon a new generation of baby SLKs will be born. Hoping that Mr. SLR has learnt his lesson, we can envision the future compact Merc roadster as the cute cub it was intended to be. It should feature all the nerve and finesse of its paps, softened by the peculiar nature of its youth. Can you guess who Mrs. SLR is this time?

[For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here]

For some reason, The New York Times op ed department reckons Mayor Bloomberg's campaign to reduce the number of New York City's free parking passes will help his/their campaign for an $8 per day congestion charge. Huh? First, that's a whole lot of people paying bupkis to bring their car into Manhattan (there may also be tens of thousands of counterfeit passes). People who wouldn't be happy paying $8 a day to the city government for the privilege of doing something they're doing day in, day out on the City's dime. Second, they're all government workers. Let me translate: union employees. No single group can kibosh a new government initiative faster than a public workers' union. If you think about it, the best way for Bloomberg to build support for the congestion charge would be to hand out MORE free parking passes. Oh, and to cut down on fraud, Bloomberg's created a new, centralized parking pass authority within the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau. Fair enough? Uh, well, that department currently accounts for 58k free parking passes.

Back in early February, we reported that Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell was asking for funding for a pilot program of speed-detection cameras along a "treacherous" stretch of I-95. "Those who choose to break the rules of the road need to learn the hard way," said Rell. Today, The Hartford Courant is reporting "a high-profile defeat" for the Gov. Invoking fears of Big Brother, a legislative committee has rejected her plan after "an unusual philosophical discussion" over the rights of drivers and the power of government. The majority say the public's right to privacy outweighs the risks to public safety from speeding. State Rep. Ernest Hewett said "The camera will take a picture, and 10 seconds later, someone will get into a catastrophic accident. This is about revenue." Rep. Linda Orange said the bill was well-intentioned, "but it does violate civil rights." Representative James Shapiro says "Cameras aren't proven to make any one safer." What's more, "State surveillance of our law-abiding citizens is not an area in which I am looking for Connecticut to lead. A lot of other right-thinking people have made that judgment, and that's why these cameras have not caught on. Placing importance on our civil liberties is an American characteristic. Benjamin Franklin said the man who trades his liberty for temporary security deserves neither."  

Automotive battery technology is getting better, but will it be ready to meet the growing demand for alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuel? The Economist reports that the vehicle battery market will soon be worth $2.3b. At the moment, lithium-ion is the go-to technology. While lithium is a light, relatively inexpensive metal that maintains charge capacity well, lithium batteries can overheat and explode. Battery developers are experimenting with a variety of materials and blends for the positive electrode: cobalt oxide, manganese-nickel-cobalt, nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxide, and iron phosphate doped with aluminum, niobium and zirconium. As demand soars, expectations mount. General Motors, for one, needs a safe, dependable Li-ion battery for their Volt plug-in hybrid. And they need it now– if they're going to meet the [most recent] late 2010 deadline. "It's either going to be a tremendous victory, or a  terrible defeat," says James George, a battery expert based in New Hampshire. The clock is ticking.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike has already has idled six GM assembly plants. A seventh factory ceases work today: the Wentzville, Missouri plant where The General builds full-sized vans. The Detroit Free Press reports that the UAW will soon stop production at the Janesville, Wisconsin plant, halting production of Tahoes and Yukons. Barring resolution of the union's industrial action by Monday, GM will shut down the Romulus (MI) Engine, Saganaw (MI) Metal Casting, Moraine (OH) engine plant and its Toledo (OH) Transmission plant. Again, even if the UAW settles at American Axle, the downtime will cost GM tens of millions of dollars, and threatens to drive secondary suppliers to the wall. Meanwhile, GM CEO Rick Wagoner received a 33 percent raise to $2.2m p.a.

I've never driven a Spyker, but I've sat in a bunch. And let me tell you, this is the car in which you want to be buried. Still, as I said, I have no clue how a Spyker drives. The C8 is propelled by the 4.2-liter V8 out of the Audi RS4, so I'm good with that. If Spyker is like a lot of big ticket small volume products, the car probably doesn't live up to the interior, right? Or does it? How will we ever know? Well, luckily for car fans, Matt from Garage 419 took one for the team and drove the boutique hypercar. His verdict? Not bad.

Writing in the New Scientist, Carey W. King and Michael E. Webber of The University of Texas at Austin compare the amount of water used for petroleum refining vs. electricity generation. King and Webber found that electricity generation "consumed" or evaporated three times more water than gas production. During electricity generation. seventeen times more water is "withdrawn", used as coolant and returned to its source. "I wouldn't sound the alarm that this is going to ruin the day," says King, "But looking into the future, this is something we should take into account." King advises powerplants to switch to more expensive dry (forced air) cooling. Alternatively, "If we use only wind or solar energy, water use would be essentially zero." Where will we get the energy to build all those turbines and panels? Fossil fuels, of course.

Finally, it looks like the other shoe is dropping. Nine days after Toyota slashed prices on 16 of its Canadian models, its greatest emulator, Hyundai, has followed suit. CanadianDriver.com reports that Hyundai has recently clawed back the prices the Tiburon and the Tuscon L by $3,000 and $4,200 respectively. So how does this stack up against U.S. pricing? According to Hyundai.com, a new base-level Tiburon now costs $15,995 in Canada vs. $17,025 south of the border. The Tuscon is now cheaper north of the border, at $16,995 versus $17,235 in America. Before you Americans start drafting your business plan around a Canadian domestic market importation scheme, beware: the base Sonata is still more expensive in Canada, relieving of you $18,995 Canadian or $17,670 American. Now that Chrysler, Toyota and Hyundai have put the squeeze on dealers at other car companies' franchises, we expect many more "adjustments" to come. [thanks to Dave McDonald for the tip]

In 1968, a book called The Peter Principle argued that large organizations promote employees past their proven abilities, until they reach their natural “level of incompetence.” As a remedy, Dr. Laurence J. Peter suggested a rigid corporate caste system. For example, a talented accountant could rise within his field to become the company’s The Chief Financial Officer (CFO). And that’s it. Promoting the successful beancounter to the head of the company risks evoking The Peter Principle, and threatens disaster. Or, in the case, of GM, creates it.

My car has 224 hp. I'm suddenly mature enough to not bother racing people at stop lights (especially since that CTS-V humbled me). I only use all my car's strength when I'm getting on the freeway or when I'm at a red light in the left hand lane and need to quickly get over to the right. And you know what? It's more than enough. I was going to write up a whole post about Lightning taking pre-orders for their 700 hp GT EV, but… what's the point? (Sidenote: TTAC will be taking pre-orders for our new 1,200 hp vapor electric car soon) Unless you routinely drag race (and I'm talking, you know, all the friggin' time) what on earth do you need 700 hp for? I'm not in any way suggesting we cap output, I just want to know who's buying these beasts? And why? For the record, 420 hp feels just about right. You?

The custody battle over Plastech's injection mold tooling just got a lot more complicated. Mlive.com reports that H.S. Die, the company who manufactured Plastech's Chrysler-specific parts tooling, says that it holds a special-tool lien. In theory, the agreement gives them legal priority to reclaim the equipment now that Plastech has entered bankruptcy. (Chrysler is appealing the decision barring the automaker from reclaiming the same tooling.) H.S. Die was surprised to find itself on top of the "unsecured creditors" list; Plastech owes it $9m. H.S. Die has filed a legal notice, arguing its legal right to the equipment– registered with the state of Michigan– as unpaid-for merchandise. If the court rejects the die maker's arguments under this under-interpreted lien jurisprudence, H.S. Die stands to lose millions. If, on the other hand, the tooling is handed back to H.S. Die, Chrysler could find itself in the awkward position of having to work-out a deal with yet another supplier to keep production lines moving. The saga continues…

Since TTAC began, GM has never deigned to address or correct a single General Motors Death Watch. The automaker's PR department has also declined numerous invitations to post a guest editorial on this site. And there's never been a single "official" comment in the comments section by a single GM employee. Not one. And yet, of course, GM wants to be Web 2.0. We've already chronicled the half-assed attempt at e-glasnost known as gm.next.com. As the company is unwilling/unable to engage in anything remotely resembling open, honest and frank online dialogue with their critics and customers, it seems that they've shifted tack. While keeping his low profile, GM PR Supremo Steve "attitude is key to a successful career in public relations" Harris has launched a charm offensive with [relative to Edmunds, kbb, etc.] small bloggers and webslingers. And by charm offensive I mean, of course, payola. The General has taken to providing all-expenses-paid trips to the auto shows for small sites. Gaywheels.com went to Detroit on GM's dime (don't tell the AFA). Askpatty.com and automobilesdeluxe.blogspot.com are headed to the New York Auto Show at GM's expense. I'm sure there are plenty more. I call on all websites accepting GM's largesse to declare it in any and all copy generated at the show, and make sure it's included in their tax returns, and trust that they will do no such thing.

Mass High Tech reports that General Electric is dipping a toe in the electric car business, investing $4m in electric car maker Th!nk and another $20m in A123 Systems, the MassiveTaxes-based battery company. The announcement comes as the formerly Ford-owned Norwegian EV manufacturer unveils its new Ox crossover in Geneva. GE says it plans on opening a new research center in upstate New York, where it will work with A123 to develop high-capacity, lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid cars. Last year, A123 received a $15m contract for next-generation vehicle batteries from the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (Chrysler, GM and Ford) and a contract to supply batteries for the Saturn Vue Green Line plug-in program. It's good to see investment in homegrown battery development that's a little more sophisticated than just strapping a bunch of laptop batteries together.

At the International Renewable Energy Center, President Bush was shown a modified plug-in hybrid Toyota Prius and a Mack truck with a biodiesel-friendly Volvo engine. According to The Detroit News, Bush sang the body politic electric. "We want our city people driving not on gasoline but on electricity. And the goal, the short-term goal, is to have vehicles that are capable of driving the first 40 miles on electricity." (Not coincidentally, 40 miles is the projected EV range of the Chevy Volt.) While the Prez signed an energy bill mandating 36b gallons of ethanol by 2022, he's refused to fund advanced battery research (chump change at $500m over five years). "We've got to get off oil," the former oilman pronounced. "Dependency on oil presents a real challenge to our economy." Yeah, but how about political dependency on subsidies?

Though locked in a battle for worldwide sales domination, top executives at GM and Toyota agree on one thing: hydrogen fuel cell cars are a crock of shit (albeit an extremely cold one). Speaking separately to reporters at the Geneva Auto show, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe criticized the "zero-emissions" technology as too expensive, too dependent on non-existent infrastructure, not competitive with other alternative power sources, and an idea that just ain't done cookin'. The Wall Street Journal quotes ToMoCo's top dog as saying "it will be difficult to see the spread of fuel cells in 10 year's time." Meanwhile, the recipient of TTAC's inaugural Bob Lutz Award asks, "If we get lithium-ion to 300 miles… Why do you need fuel cells?" I guess this explains why The General didn't bother installing an actual fuel cell power train into the Cadillac Provoq hydrogen concept making the rounds at this season's auto shows.