For nearly a century, powertrains and vehicle design have followed a largely evolutionary development path, slowly improving on one basic concept. But rising fuel prices for our inherited automotive paradigm points to radical changes ahead. Hybrids have already established a beachhead for the coming revolution. Like the dot-com boom just a decade ago, the EV gold rush is on. From pure vaporware to Hail-Mary-mobiles to groundbreaking machines that threaten real world practicality and affordability, there's lots to learn from and laugh at in the post-combustion world.

Blogging is a crazy game.The sheer size of the internet means you can always get more traffic, and the best way to do so is to spark a little controversy, however unintentionally. [Ed: words to live by.] Take Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters' new blog fastlane.dot.gov, for example. In Ms Peters' rush to create "a true on-line community," she didn't realize the name "Fastlane" has already been taken by GM, no less. While it's great to see government and industry competing rather than colluding, you'd think that Peters could have had an intern do a quick Google search for "fastlane blog." As Ms. Peters says "If I'm going to insist on twenty-first century solutions for our transportation system, I better communicate in a twenty-first century way!" As of writing, GM has yet to take umbrage. As keen observers of FoMoCo's thetruthabouttrucks.com, we'll be content to enjoy the unfolding controversy from an editorial distance.

While the chattering classes clamor for a fully-realized Nissan/Renault hookup with Chrysler, Nissault CEO Carlos Ghosn is in no rush to commit further to the U.S. market. In an interview with Business Week, the Brazilian/Lebanese wunderkind say the the American new car market isn't climbing out of the crapper anytime soon. "This year in the U.S. is going to be down, between 15 million and 15.5 million units for total vehicles [including light commercial vehicles]. Next year I think will be down as well.. I don't think auto sales will really stabilize until 2010. The U.S. auto market is not going to be great again. It has all the characteristics of a mature market." Ghosn also predicts (among other things) the increased prominence of small cars in the U.S., the rise of electric cars (including a Renault/Nissan for sale stateside by 2010), the resurgence of the U.S. as an exporter of commercial vehicles, and the unlikeliness of Chinese and Indian vehicles for sale in stateside. Lottery numbers upon request.

While GM say it turns to face the strange ch-ch-changes, it seems old pork barrel habits die hard (with a vengeance). The Detroit News reports that US Rep Joel Knollenberg (R-MI) has proposed $1.2b in federal spending and $3.2b in tax rebates to help American automakers achieve recently-increased CAFE standards. The bill sports a nausea-inducing acronym: "Bridging Industry and Government Through Hi-Tech Research on Energy Efficiency Act." Yup, that's the BIG THREE Act. The easiest of the bill's provisions to stomach: $750m over five years for "advanced battery research and development" The hardest? The $50m to pay for 200 hydrogen fueling stations, and the $150m to buy fool-cell vehicles for government use. The big-ticket spending comes in the form of a 20 percent refundable tax credit for research and development costs connected to meeting fuel efficiency standards. Figure that at $3.2b. The Detroit automakers are lining-up to fawn over Rep Knollenbergs fiscal irresponsibility bold leadership. Which was probably the point of the exercise anyway. Knollenberg is locked in a tight race for re-election (with suicide Doc Jack Kevorkian amongst others). To differentiate himself from his opponents, he's been emphasizing his support for the auto industry. Sounds like several billion well spent.

The Detroit News reports that GM will be cutting one shift from its Flint, Pontiac, Oshawa, Ontario, and Janesville, WI factories by July 14. The slashing eliminates some 3,500 jobs from GM's North American workforce. The move eliminates produciton of some 50k body-on-frame vehicles– which have already fallen 100k due to the ongoing American Axle strike. Analyst Joe Phillippi of AutoTrends Consulting says this is gonna leave a mark. "These are the most profitable things they make, and losing those profits is going to hurt for the next three quarters." Still, there's no point in building 'em if nobody wants to buy them; GM has seen a 17 percent decline in pickup sales and a 29 percent drop in large SUVs in the first quarter of this year. Sure, cutting makes the powerless feel like they're in control, but until GM goes "down the road, not across the street," expect the misery and moodiness to continue.

With gas heading for $10/gal (maybe), automakers aren't raking in the bucks. But oil companies are. Marketwatch reports that British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell both released 1Q profit numbers yesterday, and the results would make any automaker drool a little. BP made $7.2b in the last three months, beating analysts expectations by over a billion bucks. Shell boasts a whopping $9.08b in profit this quarter, also beating market expectations by over a billion. Neither BP nor Shell increased production by more than one percent; they received between 52 and 66 percent more per barrel sold than last year. Even the oil companies are scratching their heads– all the way to the bank on these numbers. "We don't understand the oil price at this stage," Shell CFO Peter Voser tells The International Herald Tribune . "The fundamentals will not justify an oil price as we see it at the moment." Voser added that Shell "was not investing money in projects that would require oil prices to remain high to be profitable." (That's the job of SUV makers.) ExxonMobil and Chevron are expected to announce their own knee-weakening profits later this week.

Marketwatch reports that Daimler's profits dropped 32 percent in the first quarter of this year, tumbling to $1.3b. Revenue actually jumped about four percent in the same period, although pre-tax earnings dropped by an even more precipitous 40 percent. Daimler blames the red ink on its remaining 20 percent stake in struggling Chrysler, which created a 340m Euro drag on operating profits. [Chrysler's reply coming.] Another hit: Daimler's sale of its minority stake in EADS, parent of Airbus, in the first quarter of last year. Daimler's core business is operating on a fairly solid financial basis; Mercedes sales increased by 17 percent, operating profit by 45 percent. Only Daimler's truck business remains shaky, due to the "tense economic situation in the United States," a European oversupply of commercial trucks and new emissions standards. Still, Daimler is sticking by its forecasts that profit will continue to rise throughout the year. What a difference a brand makes. 

With five months left on their current contract, Ford and the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) have agreed on a new deal. Union workers will see a wage freeze and reduction in vacation time, in exchange for holding off the "two tier" wage system which have wreaked havoc cut U.S. labor costs.Yes, well, The Globe and Mail reports that the new contract calls for new employees to receive "70 per cent of regular base wages in the first three years of work." So what does Pierre Hardhat get in exchange for the cost of living freeze and stealth two-tier wage structure? Cash money, of course. Ford will pay each CAW worker a $2,200 bribe "productivity and quality bonus" when the contract is ratified, and $3,500 reimbursement for giving-up 40 hours of vacation time in January '08. The St. Thomas plant will stay open under the agreement; Ford has promised to find a replacement for the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Towncar combo. Still on the table: health and safety provisions and clauses covering skilled trades workers. With some of Ford's most important products coming out of Canada (Edge/MKX and soon, the Flex), look for a final contract to be settled sooner, rather than later.

Because outsourcing axle-making has turned out so well for GM, Chryler will be selling two Michigan-based axle factories. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chrysler has approached Dana Holding Corp and American Axle (as well as other private equity firms) with an offer to sell the two plants for $400m. Shockingly, "the offer has sparked little interest," according to "people familiar with the discussions." The two factories on the sale block are Detroit Axle and Chrysler's Marysville axle plant, the latter of which is still being built. The usual Michigan labor bugbears appear to be the main culprit for the lack of interest, as any buyer would have to also buy out Detroit Axle's UAW contract. Still, Chrysler has got to slim down, meaning the price might just drop until someone can be saddled with find value in the axle plants. We'll be right here holding our breath.

The last time we heard from Chrysler's Camcord-fighting "Project D" development team, we learned that Chrysler "star engineer" and Project D leader Mike Donoghue had bailed, amid rumors of an Acting Chief Innovation Officer ego-trip. To assure themselves as much as anyone else, Cerberus rolled out a little hype information to the Detroit News on its midsize do-over. There's little talk of the actual cars themselves in the story, as most of the ink is spilled on the importance of the segment to Chrysler and how miserably its efforts have failed to capitalize on demand. "The problem is everyone is getting really, really good in that segment," says Todd Turner of consulting firm Car Concepts. "Chrysler's current entries are probably the weakest in the marketplace, not just in terms of sales, but in customer satisfaction." Ouch. But fear not, because Chrysler gets it... just don't ask for any specifics. Without revealing any details of the actual products which will make it to market (besides the fact that there will be sedan and crossover body styles… shocking!), Project D's new leader Mike Chernoby wants everyone to know that the new D-segment offering will totally rule. "We will manage the time line accordingly to always make sure we have a product that will satisfy the market place," says Chernoby. "You can take that to the bank." Sounds great, as long as Cerberus foots the overdraft charges.

Motor Authority reports that AMG is ditching its 6.2-liter V8 and 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12s in favor of a new 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8. As with Audi's recently-announced downsize from V8 to V6 in the S4, Mercedes claims they're losing the big bore mills to increase fuel efficiency. Not only do Merc's massive 12-pots struggle to break 15 mpg in typical (for a V12) driving conditions, but they lack the low-end shove of previous AMG engines (notably the old supercharged 5.5-liter V8). The "entry-level" version of the new V8 twin turbo– replacing the normally-aspirated 6.2 unit (called a 6.3 for nostalgic reasons)– will boast 570hp and 665 lft.-lbs. of torque. A higher performance unit will get turbo upgrades to create 700hp and 885 ft.-lbs. of torque (to replicate turbo V12 shove). Apparently a "BluePower" (not a Smurf racist group, it turns out) version will offer epic hybrid performance from the same V8. If you just have to have yourself a V12, fill out a pre-order now for the SLC Gullwing, launching in 2010. The tasty retro-coupe will be the last application for Ye Olde 6.2, cranking-out over 600 horsepower, mated to an 8-speed automatic.

Here's another one for TTAC's new Whisky Tango Foxtrot category… Ontario's new anti-street racing laws were enforced for the first time when a garbage truck was clocked doing about 70mph in a 40 mph zone. The Record reports that the Great Lakes Waste Management truck would be impounded for seven days, and the driver's license suspended for a week– on top of a $2,000 fine for street-racing. The citation has caused the Ontario police to expand its investigations into alleged street racing beyond the initial targets ("young men in cars," surprise, surprise). Their undue diligence now includes commercial vehicles. "The more we apply this new legislation, we're seeing this problem is across the board," says Ontario Police constable Joanna Van Mierlo. That, or garbage truck drivers are far more dedicated to time efficiency than previously thought. Talk about going like stink! [thanks to QuasiMondo for the link]

The Times of London reports that Indian automaker (and Jaguar and Land Rover's new Daddy) Tata Motors will develop an Indian design and manufacturing center in Pune with iconic Italian design house Pininfarina. Tata will also "participate" in Pinin's $100m capital increase (a.k.a. bailout) this summer. The Times notes that Pininfarina's controlling family could be about to unload as much as 55 percent of the Italian firm's stock, opening the possibility of a complete Tata takeover. With ties already close between Tata and Fiat, a joint ownership scenario is also possible. In case you haven't guessed where all this is headed, Tata has set aside $1b for the development of new Jaguar models. Tata and Pinin are already hashing-out the next gen Jags, with an F-Type roadster rumored to lead the way.

American Axle (AA) posted a $27m first quarter loss today. AA CEO Dick Dauch told the Detroit Free Press "AAM's first-quarter 2008 results were severely impacted by the strike called by the International UAW at AA's original U.S. locations." The loss is quite the comedown from last year's first quarter profit of $15.7m. Robert W. Baird & Co equity analysts David Leiker said the impact of the strike was about 40 percent larger than he was expecting., "We continue to recommend investors avoid the stock due to questions regarding the company's long-term growth opportunities." As if to illustrate Leiker's point, hundreds of strikers picketed AA headquarters in Detroit, after negotiations broke down late last week. AA had offered a wage and benefit package, claiming it's "substantially higher than $30 an hour and is higher than what its competitors pay UAW members." The UAW (perhaps waiting for AA to post its losses) rejected the offer. The strike will officially enter its third month tomorrow with 3,650 AA employees on strike and some 30 GM plants shut down or in limited production.