You'd expect a web site named "howstuffworks.com" to be an excellent source of information on, well, how stuff works. If so, check out HSW's entry "How the Tesla Roadster Works." Author Ed Grabianowskii states the Roadster is "fast, fancy, handles like a dream and goes like a rocket." Since the only road tested Teslas have been prototypes driven under tightly-controlled conditions, Grabianowski's description requires a distinct leap of faith. Likewise, even though Tesla has delayed production numerous times, he gushes, inaccurately enough, "Tesla's first production car is also the world's first high-performance electric car." Like most of the mainstream media, HSW is happy to parrot Tesla's official claims without question: "An electrician can install a recharging station in your garage. This 220-volt, 70-amp outlet allows for a full recharge in 3.5 hours from a completely dead battery." And here's the kicker: the reference link to safety claims leads to a Tesla web page proclaiming "We're sorry, the page you requested has been moved or is not available." Perhaps HSW should to change the website's name to howpressreleasessaythingswork.com.

People who buy SUVs because they think the extra ground clearance gives them a better vantage point in traffic are at risk of losing their catalytic converters for the same reason. The Los Angeles Times reports that catalytic converter thefts have skyrocketed over the festive season; high-rise vehicles are the targets of choice. The Times says the platinum-rich converter, valued at $40-50 by scrap-metal dealers, is gone in 90 seconds. In the past month, thefts were reported in Los Angeles, Pasadena, the Bay Area, Sacramento, Seattle, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., and Tennessee. Since there are no serial numbers or any other identifying marks on the converters, nabbing the thieves requires catching them in the act. Crime-prevention experts recommend parking in a garage (thanks). Alternatively, you can weld the converter to the exhaust system to foil the socket-wrench-wielding thieves– and thusly avoid a $1k replace and repair bill.

Fox Business reports that a lithium-titanate-powered dragster has set a new electric vehicle speed record for the quarter mile. Dennis "Kilowatt" Berube drove the Current Eliminator V into history on Sunday. The Eliminator clocked-in with a 7.963-second quarter mile run, during which man and machine reached 160.65 mph. Berube actually broke the record twice. Earlier in the same day, he bested the current (no pun intended) EV quarter mile record. On his second run, he set the new new one. While the Eliminator thusly eliminates the electric vehicle's golf cart rep, we doubt it can go 250 miles on a single charge and then recharge in three hours. Then again, neither can any other electric car…

Hertz has jumped on the enviro-bandwagon. Their new Green Collection consists of cars with "EPA Highway Fuel Efficiency rating of 28 Miles or more per gallon." There are currently six cars in the Green Collection, each reservable by name: Toyota Prius and Camry, Ford Fusion, Buick LaCrosse, Subaru Outback and Hyundai Sonata. Interestingly, other cars in Hertz' fleet that meet their arbitrary mileage criteria (e.g. the Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Accent) aren't invited to the party. The TV ad bragging about their environmental friendliness only mentions the Prius– to the point where you've got to wonder if Toyota co-sponsored the come-on. Of course, the green-washing fails to mention that the rental car company's fleet also includes gas guzzlers that go by the name of Hummer H2 and H3, Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln Navigator and Town Car, Ford Shelby GTH, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Corvette. Now that would be an inconvenient ad.

As if anyone who's been semi-conscious for the past six months couldn't see it coming, Bloomberg predicts December's auto sales numbers will close the year on a sour note. Based on their survey of six industry analysts, they estimate deliveries were down by 5.6 percent at GM, 7.8 percent at Ford and 7.9 percent at Chrysler. They expect smaller declines from the transplants. Americans bought an estimated 16.1 million cars and light trucks last year which is the lowest since 1998. Analysts across the board are predicting an even worse year in 2008. We'll see how far off Bloomberg's stats are when the overall sales figures are released tomorrow. Look out for TTAC's wrap-up on 2007 sales via the specific models we've been tracking. 

Now that the UAW gave away the farm concluded its 2007 contract negotiations with the Big 2.8, it's the Canadian Auto Workers's (CAW) turn. CAW president Buzz Hargrove has publicly committed the union to opposing the two-tier wage system adopted by the United Auto Workers (UAW) at all three Detroit automakers. He'll attempt to forestall the change despite the fact that the rising Canadian dollar has eliminated Canada's competitive advantage over the lower 48. ReportOnBusiness reveals Buzz is addressing the problem with his usual combination of humility and tact. "We're not agreeing to a second-class group of workers at our plants that come in at half-pay and never get to top pay. That just isn't going to happen." Buzz reminded Canadian automakers that the UAW didn't accept wage and benefit cuts to reach parity with CAW salaries back when Canadian costs were lower than in the U.S. Even so, Buzz better have a good supply of Pepto-Bismol on hand when he starts negotiations; chance are he'll be eating his words right form the git-go.

The Detroit News reports the new fuel mileage bill will have one side effect that should make some truck buyers happy: all three Detroit automakers are planning a diesel option for their light-duty pickups. Long restricted to heavier-duty applications, oil-burners provide the mileage the manufacturers will need to meet the new fleet-wide 35 mpg standard. Dodge will shoehorn a diesel into the Ram 1500 just after the 2009 model year. Ford plans diesels for "future generations" of the F-150. And GM is developing a V-8 diesel for the Silverado 1500 that could replace any small-block V8 in its lineup. Just think– if things keep heading in Rudolph's direction, a diesel Impala could displace the Crown Vic as the taxi of choice. That is, if GM has finally exorcised the ghosts of their 1980's V8 diesel debacle.

Ward's Auto reports Panda Ethanol Inc. is planning to build a new plant in Muleshoe, Texas. They plan to process 38m bushels of feedstock-grade corn per year, producing an estimated 115m gallons of ethanol. What makes this plant different from other ethanol plants? Yup. The energy source used to generate the steam in the refining process ain't gonna be electricity or natural gas. The Muleshoe plant will use gassified manure– a projected one billion pounds of cow shit per year, to be exact. The company estimates the b.s. will save the plant a thousand barrels of oil per day. If Panda (Panda?) could find a way to transport bullshit directly from Washington D.C. to Muleshoe, they could more than double production.

Whatcar.com says Porsche's on-again/off-again cute-ute is on again. And if further diluting the Porsche sportscar ethos with a mini-Cayenne isn't bad enough, the aspiring VW owner has trademarked the Roxster name– meaning it'll show up on something eventually. (We would have gone for Paprika.) The newest anti-Porsche will be based on the upcoming Audi Q5, ostensibly to do battle with the BMW X3. Wait… isn't that what the Q5 is supposed to do? Anyway, the photochopped speculation on its appearance in the link shows something that looks like a cross between a Cayenne and a RAV-4. It's not due for at least two more years. Here's hoping Porsche's brass will use that time to come to their senses before they're forced (by whom we're not saying) to commit Hara-kiri with a Porsche Design Chroma Type 301 kitchen knife.

With 2007 gasping its last breath, the Detroit Free Press asked local civic and industry leaders for their thoughts on the upcoming year. GM's Slick Rick Wagoner took the conservative approach and wished for "an end to the housing and auto recessions in the U.S. in 2008; a comprehensive U.S. energy policy, and continued success in emerging markets." Mark "The Mullet" Fields from FoMoCo took an equally optimistic view, hoping "we don't continually talk ourselves into a recession" and wishing "cars and crossovers will outsell trucks and SUVs for the first time in many years." But every auto journalist's favorite sound bite machine Maximum Bob Lutz didn't mince words: "Now that we have the 35 miles-per-gallon fuel economy mandate by 2020, I am hoping that in 2008 'Professor Doktor' David Friedman (research director, clean vehicles program, Union of Concerned Scientists) and his 'highly-qualified' band of allegedly concerned, self-proclaimed scientists will turn their energy toward showing the world's automotive industry exactly how those numbers, using existing technology and 'costs of a few hundred dollars at the most' can be attained with a vehicle selection that even remotely resembles the cars and trucks Americans want to buy today." Go get 'em Bob!

Volkswagen releases gas in the general direction of CAFE standards! CEO Martin Winterkorn has confirmed the company is working on an ultra-high-mileage car that will get 235 mpg, according to Greencar.com. The VeeDub hypermiler is a tandem two-seater with a Cd of 0.159 and an estimated range of 400 miles on its 1.7 gallon fuel tank. The engine is a single cylinder diesel displacing 300 – 500cc, attached to a six-speed DSG transmission. Thanks to lightweight materials like carbon fiber, magnesium and lightweight alloys, the entire vehicle weighs in at 639 pounds. VW says a limited production version could be offered by 2010. Unless VW hacks Tesla's "customer" list, the chances are the complete vehicle won't make it to market. But look for a carbon fiber wing mirror on the next GTI.

Going one better than Jerry Flint's Lutz-lust, Newsweek's Keith Naughton nominates GM's Car Czar for canonization. The business reporter's prose soars to celestial heights, enshrining Maximum Bob as the savior of the American auto industry. Yea, verily, Maximum Bob single-handedly "seeks to redefine the automobile with the Chevy Volt." And lo, St. Lutz' road to Damascus was full of potholes. "When Lutz first proposed creating an electric car in 2003, the idea 'bombed' inside GM, he says. 'I got beaten down a number of times.' So in 2006, Lutz formed a skunkworks team of engineers and designers to quickly cobble together the Chevy Volt concept car, which became the star of the 2007 Detroit Auto Show." Cobbled? Ye of little faith!
"And then he persuaded the brass to greenlight the Volt for production by arguing that they must try to seize the green high ground from Toyota." Uh, I thought Lutz WAS the brass. Anyway, Naughton perpetuates the myth that the Volt will hit the market in 2010 and sell below $30k– a piece of PR prognostication that Maximum Bob has recently abandoned. Still, it's nice to know St. Bob's journalistic acolytes are still willing to make that leap of faith, even if he isn't.

Unique Performance in Farmers Branch, Texas built replicas of "Eleanor" from the Nicholas Cage, Angelina Jolie classic Gone in 60 Seconds, and clones of the 1966 Shelby GT 350SR. During a five-year period, Unique Performance banked customer deposits for 225 cars, raking-in between $10m and $15m. The company built 119 cars before a group of owners got tired of waiting up to two years for their fire-breathing replicars. The Dallas Morning News reports that a group of Eleanoristas filed lawsuits to recover their deposits. Some of these aggrieved pistonheads included Shelby Automobiles in their action, as Ole Shel maintained a licensing agreement with Unique. Last month, the police moved in, seizing 61 cars at Unique's shop, including customers' cars hanging around for servicing. The cops alleged title irregularities with the donor cars. About a week after the raid, Unique filed for Chapter 7. The court's protection means that the 106 customers who haven't received their cars will be SOL. The money involved ranges from $50k a pop to one unlucky enthusiast who handed over $500k on an order of four cars. Somewhere in Hollywood, an overpaid screenwriter is laughing. 

Schmaltz: it's not just for matzo balls any more. Consurmeraffairs.com reports that researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a method of converting chicken fat into biodiesel, with a yield in excess of 89 percent. Most biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils. With the exception of home-brewed biodiesel made from used fast food fry oil, vegetable oils are more expensive to produce than petro-diesel because of the high cost of farm production (including petro-chemical based fertilizers). The new process converts chicken fat, a byproduct of Arkansas' thriving poultry industry, into biodiesel in one step, using methanol under high temperatures and pressures. So far there's no talk of turning it into a commercial process, but it may not be too long before your exhaust smells more like your Bubbe's kitchen than a truck stop. 

Navistar is acquiring GM's medium-duty truck line. Navistar subsidiary International Truck and Engine Corporation (ITEC) has formed a $90m joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to build diesel engines for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Put it all together and you have a ready-made source of medium-duty diesel trucks that fit into Manindra International's global expansion plans AND a way for Mahindra to get name recognition in the U.S. truck market. You heard it here (via India Times) first: it's only a matter of time before we see Mahindra's light-duty trucks and its other commercial vehicles sold stateside under the M&M or Navistar/International brands. Meanwhile, the Times also reports that M&M have pulled-out of negotiations for Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover brands. While we have studiously avoided reporting all the baseless conjecture surrounding the British brands' disposal, you gotta love the unavoidable logic of this explanation:"'The whole deal was considered to be very complex, prompting the company not to pursue it,' a source said."