For some time now, firefighters have warned of the challenge of extinguishing ethanol fires. Because ethanol cannot be piped due to its corrosive properties, large quantities are delivered by tanker truck or rail car. Pure ethanol can burn at a temperature as low as 55 degrees F (12.8 degrees C). Even when highly diluted in water ethanol remains flammable at higher temperatures. Since oceanic quantities of water would be required to extinguish a large ethanol fire, special retardant foams are generally used– but not readily available (= hours) to many fire departments. Even with that foam, a big ethanol fire can take days to extinguish; the holding tank often burns to the ground. (At least pure ethanol burns cleanly, leaving behind just water and carbon dioxide.) A NIMBY situation arose this spring in the heart of highly populated Alexandria, VA. (FYI, that’s communist country per First Brother wannabe Joe McCain.) Ethanol rail cars started offloading their cargo back in April 2008, but local fire departments didn’t get the appropriate flame-retardant foam for another month afterwards. There’s lots of finger pointing going on, with the city of Alexandria blaming rail company Norfolk Southern for slipping ethanol shipment in without notification.

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Ethanol producers are jockeying for a seat on the increasingly crowded bailout bandwagon. Just last Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer addressed the plight of those poor, poor businessmen who got locked into the cost of corn this summer. Just like oil and natural gas, the current price is half of what it was at its peak. Fierce competition and the economic downturn are contributing to thinning of their ranks. Schafer claims that “the ethanol industry is too important to the nation to allow it to go into more financial difficulty.” The USDA is prepared to provide bailouts loans of up to $25m– an offer which sparked a backlash from livestock producers. They’ve been whiplashed by the price of corn, first as it shot up thanks to ethanol production, then by taking long positions and taking a hit as corn prices plummeted. As usual, the customer is going to get the shaft: don’t expect much of a price break on your E85 or pork bellies anytime soon.

While Toyota has frozen its full-size pickup truck and SUV production lines, GM is, surprisingly enough, about to do the opposite. A few months ago, GM announced production cutbacks at the Arlington, Texas plant that produces the Yukon, Tahoe, Suburban, Escalade and Dual-Mode Hybrid SUV’s. In addition to the usual two-week summer break, the plant was scheduled to be closed for five more weeks through the rest of the year. Ostensibly, the cutback was designed to prevent the trucks from piling-up on dealer lots. Starting next month, the previously laid-off workers will be back for an additional four-and-a-half hours overtime per week, plus a few Saturdays. GM cites the recent decline in gas prices and hefty incentives as the reason behind the volte-face. The General claims the “back to work you scurvy bastards” decision has nothing to do with the impending December 2008 closure of Janesville, Wisconsin plant–that also builds Yukahoes. Nor anything to do with future production cuts. What say you?

The Journal of the American Medical Association (subscription required for full text) offers a study on car and pedestrian death rates on Presidential Election Days (E.D., believe it or not). When compared to the day before and day afterwards, there was a small but consistent rise every time we’ve elected a president since 1976, approximately 24 more deaths each E.D.  This small (18% overall) fatality increase was seen in all parts of the country, across different age groups and genders, drivers and pedestrians, shorter vs. longer polling hours, and Democratic vs. Republican victor. The authors noted that Election Day was deadlier than Super Bowl Sunday, although did not compare these data to more notorious periods such as New Year’s Day and Independence. The Canadian researchers (takes an outsider to figure this out) still recommend participating in democracy, but to avoid speeding as well as alcohol and other distractions. (Drinking while voting is probably not a wise activity).  As they say in Chicago, vote early, and vote often.

Chrysler’s monthly sales spreadsheet is as glum as ever, with the soon to be wholly American-owned again carmaker‘s September sales off 33 percent. Fleet-charged minivan sales rose six percent, 2,376 Challengers peeled off the lots, and almost 5K customers took a Journey. Viper sales are up 258 percent to, uh, 86. And then there’s a whole lot of familiar bad news that could me mistaken for a copy and paste from the previous few months. The small, mid-sized, and large cars aren’t what you’d call hot sellers. Outgoing Ram sales are down 31 percent and Chrysler now offers $6k to take the last of the 2008’s. Durango sales were back down, this month just 616 without mention of hybrid sales. Total year-to-date sales are down 25 percent. The only other thing poor CJD dealers have to look forwards this fall: budget Challengers and freshened interiors on the Jeep Compass and Patriot. Woo-hoo.

Nissan’s hefty summer incentives were no match for September’s carnage, with division sales down 38.4%. The Rogue was the only vehicle in positive territory with 5,504 sold, only because very few of them slipped off the boat and onto sales lots one year ago. Everything else was down well into double-digit percent territory: Versa down 12 percent, Sentra down 34 percent, Altima down 42 percent, the new Maxima down 19 percent. The truck side saw horrendous drops with most products in the minus 60 to 80 percent territory. Infiniti fared hardly better, -24%, with the shine off the G37 coupe (down 55 percent) and the new FX (down 15 percent). Godzilla watch: 341 GT-R’s this month, 1052 YTD.

Pssst. Wanna buy a $25K Honda Civic with a 220-mile driving range and the trunk space of a Miata? Me niether. Since its introduction over a decade ago, the Honda Civic GX has sold between 500 – 1000 per year; production has just been boosted to a mere 1500 p.a. The Civic Hybrid sells more than double that every month. Honda cites parts shortage as a bottleneck, primarily the greenest Civic’s lightweight and costly carbon fiber fuel tank. The Cutting Edge News’ Edwin Black isn’t satisfied with that explanation. In fact, Black claims a conspiracy to suppress production of the GX. Citing the inability of the Spokane, WA school system to secure a fleet of CNG-mobiles, Black chides Honda for milking maximum PR mileage on a car they CLEARLY don’t give a damn about. Even worse (for hardly anyone), the Civic GX is going out of production until June 2009 while production is moving to Honda’s new Indiana plant.  Black contrasts this green conspiracy to GM’s promise to manufacture and sell as many hundreds of thousands of Volts and other electrified vehicles to as many as it can as quickly as it can at the best price that it can.” So why isn’t Black giving GM (and Ford) a hard time for discontinuing their CNG vehicles a few years back?

Hiscox Insurance provides coverage for pre-1980 cars, motorcycles and airplanes in the EU. They recently commissioned a study by psychologist David Moxon to assess human response to physical stimuli. In this instance, 40 participants, both men and women, were asked to listen to engine sound recordings of a Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari and… VW Polo. (No mention of which models, presumably expensive classics, nor the Polo’s mill.) Salivary testosterone was measured before and after listening sessions. Reportedly 100 percent of women and 50 percent of men experienced a rise in testosterone after listening to the Maserati soundtrack. Some 60 percent of men responded likewise to the Lamborghini. And some participants had a drop in testosterone after hearing the Polo. (Testosterone levels exhibit some natural variation and saliva levels are less accurate than blood levels.) Even if this study was reproducible, there’s not going to be a stampede to collectible cars. Sorry, Hiscox. Affordable and wearable aphrodisiacs can be had for less money. Active electronic mufflers if/when available open up the possibility of downloadable exhaust tunes. [thanks to ppellico for the link]

Original Autoblogger Reverend David Thomas over at Cars.com has been combing through HR 6899 (warning: 290 page pdf), a Democratic-sponsored energy bill passed last night by the House of Representatives. Included in the text: provisions for limited offshore and Alaskan drilling and oil shale field exploitation exploration. A provision starting on page 177 requires that gas stations owned by Big Oil companies each have at least one alternative fuel pump by 2018. There’s a carrot ($50k tax-credit) and stick ($100k penalty) for each station. Alt-fuels are defined as E85 (or even more ethanol), compressed natural gas (CNG), diesel (of at least 20 percent bio or other renewable source) and hydrogen. So, where to begin with this lobbyist and re-election friendly clause? We’ve already stated the reluctance of independent chains to fork out the $50k cost of installing E85 pumps. CNG and hydrogen face huge chicken-and-egg problems: you want to buy or lease a new vehicle right now? (How much above MSRP?) Honda will produce just 1500 CNG-inhaling Civic GX’s for MY2009, and forget about getting a Clarity FCX unless you already own won a pair of Golden Globes. Anyhow, ExxonMobil is planning to get out of the gas station business because it’s not profitable enough. If the bill becomes law, don’t be surprised if the other majors follow suit to avoid having to fork out millions. Big if: the bill has yet to be voted on by the Senate. President Bush has promised a veto in the bill’s current form, and it passed the House by a less than a 60 percent (veto-proof) majority.

The two U.S. satellite radio carriers became one at the end of July, but the monopoly has not had a smooth ride. After a few multi-million dollar golden parachutes payoffs, the combined company is in debt to the sad tune of over $2 billion.  Neither was turning a profit prior to the merger, and the long-term outlook has SIRI singing the blues.  Borrowing more money is near impossible right this moment and $400 million in convertible notes are due next year. (Sound like a GM-Ford merger to anyone?) Investors have punished the stock, sending its value below $1, risking delisting from NASDAQ.  Just about everyone who wants satellite radio already has it, as hardware is already affordable. New cheaper ($4-$7/month) rate plans in hopes of bringing in new customers risks backfiring with current cash-strapped subscribers downgrading.  The subscription-free competition is brutal: iPods, MP3-playing cell phones, OEM in-car jukeboxes, and terrestrial digital (HD) radio.  Enjoy it while you can, but those satellites may be going dark in the not-so-distant future.

Chrysler LLC’s first month without car leasing went just fine, thank you. Okay, maybe not. The beleaguered automaker’s sales are down 34% last month and 24% for the year, with the second number going down 1 percent in each of the past 3 months. There were few bright spots, the biggest being the Town & Country minivan, up 15% and Charger up 3% (*cough* fleets). The Dodge Journey continues to sell well at 4,587 CUV’s sold this month, and everything else was petrified from too much time on the lots. The smaller Jeep Patriot was down 21%, which wasn’t as bad as its hideous fraternal twins, the Compass (down 56%) and Dodge Caliber (down 57%). Most other vehicles are again in negative double digit territory. Dodge Durango didn’t do quite as badly this month, up to 1,430 from 384 in July. The Durango Hybrid (DuH) hasn’t gone on sale yet, so we’ll wait for the numbers to bump next month. Or not.

Nissan’s two divisions did well in August 2008, thanks to a heavy dose of incentives. Nissan division sales were up 14.2% over last year, but car sales flat at plus 0.6% Altima is outselling all other Nissan cars combined and was barely off the pace at 25,298, down just 0.5% still up 9.2% year to date. Versa sales finally took a breather for the first time in months at 8,015, down 5.2% for the month, but still up 15.7& for the year. Trucks/CUVs did well, up 22.7%, with another 6637 Rogue CUVs sold and double-digit percentage sales increases of the Frontier (55.5%), Xterra (76.9%), and Quest (64.4). Those gains are a complete U-turn from whopping drops just 2 months ago. The Rogue jump certainly makes sense, cannibalizing the Murano and probably getting some mileage out of its relatively high MPG ratings (for the segment, at least). The larger new Murano CUV continues to sell off the pace, down 22.9% , and Titan down 15.9%. On the luxury side, Infiniti sales rose 8.0% over last year. A 7.7% drop in G35 sedan sales were offset by a 27.3% rise in FX CUV sales, but that’s just 300 vehicles either way. If anyone’s counting, Godzilla GT-R sales are 484, and 631 in 2008 – and guess what: no factory incentives needed.

GM Inside News reports that The General has spiked the successor to the Kappa-platform cars: Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Opel GT and Daewoo G2X. GM's financial perils are well known, and the market demand for impractical rear wheel-drive roadsters in the current economic climate is not so hot (as in ice cold). A dedicated Kappa factory (without flex assembly), the lack of the Kappa platform's adaptability, the current cars' cost (labor-intensive production, and expensive hydroformed frame rails and major body parts) all contributed to last week's decision to let the cars die on the vine. And why not? GMI reports a $10k loss on each vehicle built, which puts the real cost of a Kappa between $30 – $40k. By coincidence, that's the same price range of yet another car Bob Lutz is championing. Hopefully GM's learned a lesson about low-volume production here: it's best to build on a shared platform on a shared assembly line. You know; in case that whole Li-ion battery pack thing doesn't pan out.

Yes, it's true: a new series on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE– inspired by T. Boon Pickens' nationally advertised plan to run the whole damn country's auto fleet on CNG. Moron that later. For now, The International Herald Tribune reports that Utah's CNG scene in heating up. And why not? State government mandates have kept a lid on the price of CNG to just above extraction costs, currently running about $0.75 –  $0.80/gallon. A cryo-reinforced tank fill-up in the Beehive State runs less than $10. A $3k state tax credit for purchase or new or used EPA-certified CNG vehicles has led to a run-up on prices of used Contours and Cavaliers not unlike that $7000 Geo Metro XFi. And that's on top of the $4k federal tax credit for new CNG vehicles, currently limited to the Honda Civic GX, if you can get one. (The only Utah Honda CNG dealer has a waiting list over 300 buyers.) Not surprisingly, some backyard conversions are taking place by drivers desperate to save money on the cheap, tax credit be damned. "Number of natural gas conversions explodes" was the unintentionally ironic headline in the Salt Lake Tribune. Reports of unsecured and rusty CNG tanks just might give pause to one's running red lights in Salt Lake City. Anyhow, Utah's natural gas reserves aren't much compared to other states such as Oklahoma or Texas. Texas. Doesn't Pickens live down there?

Following his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama became the celebrity he still claims he isn't.  Mobbed wherever he went, Obama's staff urged him to give up driving and jogging for security reasons.  Soon afterwards, sold his beloved 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and got used to being driven around. Black on black leather with 87,000 miles, the Jeep was purchased by Liz Murphy of Naperville, IL.  She was given the original title and told that it might be worth something someday.  Obama's office declined to return her calls asking for his autograph on the dashboard, but she's hoping to cash in on the former Obamamobile after the November presidential election via eBay.  Although its value isn't sinking as we speak, appraisers haven't given much extra value to this ex-celebrity Jeep as he didn't own it while in high office. It might be worth lots someday, 3 to 4 decades from, assuming that Obama wins the presidency and does a good job.  In the meantime, Ms. Murphy's SUV has a worn-down spot on the steering wheel just left of 12 o'clock to remind her of the previous owner's tenacious grip.