Two recent developments have tarnished whatever green reputation ethanol has left. First, the news that corn-derived ethanol requires up to three times more water to produce than previously thought has cast a spotlight on the industry, especially in the dry west and southwest. A new study published by the American Chemical Society reports that previous estimates of water used to produce ethanol are inaccurate. The article’s abstract:
What the hell is a “random visit to Tesla”? Is Project Better Place’s Shai Agassi an adherent to the philosophy and practice found in George Cockcroft’s “The Dice Man”? If so, that’s not exactly a better way to run a car company (unless you’re GM). Or perhaps Agassi’s a fan of Andrew “Dice” Clay. If so, Shai should ditch the mermaid joke for something with a bit more punch. Elon Musk sat on a wall. Fuck you! This stuff writes itself. Anyway, Shai’s epiphany: a machine could automatically swap out EV batteries. Kinda like you do with, I dunno, a flashlight. Except the resulting eMiles follow Moore’s law, apparently. Which means EV drivers will be racking-up zero-carbon (a.k.a. “clean electron”) electric miles at two cents a mile by 2020. Did I miss something there? Agassi says this is “fascinating to most people.” Define “most.” [Skip to to 8:36 and you’ll actually hear a non-fictional sentient being say he’s going to save the world.]
Marketing to a particular demographic is a tricky business–just ask Honda or Toyota. Honda introduced the Element in 2003. Toyota brought us the Scion xB in 2004. Both machines were designed as funky vehicles to fit the twenty-something lifestyle. Needless to say, their room and versatility immediately found favor with the quintagenarian crowd. Now Kia’s taking a shot with the Soul. Our own Eddie Niedermeyer, squarely in the demographic Kia’s aiming for, liked it. But then there are us pesky demographic-bustin’ Boomers. Will we see more Souls parked at the old farts’ home than on college campuses?
Autocar reports:
A system that warns drivers of children about to cross the road is being evaluated in Aberdeenshire.
Called the Amparo See Me, the system uses a tag that is attached to a child’s school bag to trigger warning lights on bus stops or at crossings.
This then warns drivers that children are in the vicinity, and studies have shown that the speed of passing vehicles reduces by an average of 8mph.
The system is already used in Sweden.
Recent UK Department for Transport figures show that in 2005, 28,126 children aged 0-15 were injured in road accidents. Of these, 331 were seriously injured and 141 were killed.
South African entrepreneur Alan Lubinsky bought the rights to the Cobra name and intellectual properties in 1996. Since then he’s been scamming customers, governments, investors and the media by pretending that the “legendary” Cobra would arise from the ashes to . . . what’s the word for it these days? Viability. In 2006, TTAC (and The New York Times) poured cold water all over Lubinsky’s plans to build Cobras in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The project received tax breaks aplenty and an endorsement from the Governor (no less). This is after Lubinsky left a trail of bad debts and unfulfilled orders in the UK. And before he started taking orders (i.e., cash) for the rights to be a US dealer. After that never happened, Lubinsky tied-up with Texas’ Unique Performance to build a new Cobra. Unique soon fell to pieces amidst accusations of criminal fraud. Now Lubinsky is announcing the new, new, new Cobra. And once again. the automotive press—from Autocar to Autoblog— remain blissfully unaware (or unconcerned) about the scammery involved. So, here’s the most recent press release pitch for a gull-wing Cobra (why not?), chronicled and reprinted in its entirety by AB.
The background on this billboard: AutoInc owns/owned the two Dodge dealerships in Amarillo, and the single Chrysler/Jeep dealership. Under the influence of Chrysler, they split the stock from the Chrysler/Jeep store, closed it, and turned both Dodge stores into Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep stores. Of course, since nobody knows for sure what’s happening with Chrysler, the dealer is not gonna spend a dime on redoing their signage. Their compromise was to update a nearby billboard they lease just a block away from their I-40 fronting store.
Apparently, somebody didn’t bother to think past how clever they were trying to be: to realize that dodge ball is played by knocking out your opponents by hitting them with a ball. I’m not sure what “dodge ball” has to do with selling cars, or even why “having a ball” would be a good thing if you buy a Dodge (or Chrysler or Jeep). The negative connotations are so riveting I just can’t wrap my mind around why anybody would have greenlighted this.
Sadly, I know EXACTLY what happened since I used to work for the in-house ad agency that handles this dealership. In fact, I did that billboard for the dealership a couple of years ago. The entire agency functions like a camel (a horse designed by committee).
“The Hummer H3 ReEV is the first range-extended electric vehicle based on a full-sized SUV,” powertrain developers FEV claim ahead of an unveil at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) hoe-down. Yes, on April 20, the world will be shocked—shocked!, I tell you— as FEV’s Hummer H3 Range-Extended Electric Vehicle (ReEV) proves that a “Raser scalable plug-in series hybrid design provides 40+ miles all-electric range and 100+ mpg fuel economy.” FEV says it performed the full vehicle integration (i.e., built the thing) and developed all software for the hybrid control unit and in-vehicle graphical display. Sweet! But I’m not sure what differentiates the FEV mule from a Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, or an Dodge Aspen Hybrid—other than the possibility that the gas – electric HUMMER H3 may be slower than continental drift with a top end that just about beats walking while stuffed to the rooftop with batteries. But apparently not . . .
TTAC doesn’t “do” press embargoes. While some of our writers have put me in the awkward position of respecting their desire to respect a manufacturer’s prohibition on publishing a review until the appointed second (I kid you not), if someone sends me anything other than private correspondence, I feel free to publish it. This evening (Monday), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) e-mailed TTAC a couple of pdfs (click here or here), They were embargoed until one minute after midnight, Tuesday. So I immediately decided to publish them. Besides, big whoop; Pentagon papers these ain’t. It’s an anecdotal study of three—count ’em, three—crashes. The match ups: Toyota Yaris/Toyota Camry, Honda Fit/Honda Accord, Smart Fortwo/Mercedes C-class. What’s up with the lack of inter-brand rivalry? Apparently, “the smallest cars do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes.” Huh. And just in case that’s a bit tame (despite the usual photos), the IIHS did some number crunching on fuel economy. They’d like you to know that “even though fuel economy is their biggest selling point, many cars just a little bit bigger get close to, or the same mpg as the mini and micro cars tested.”
[UPDATE: Embargo time and second link now fixed.]
OK, so here’s the latest chapter in GM’s decades old inability to face reality. GM CEO Fritz Henderson told Automotive News [sub] that there’s nothing wrong with GM’s viability plan (or the company’s management leading up to its $22.8 illionb federal “loans”). GM simply failed to, uh, perform. “The viability plan, when you look at the finding, they basically said they appreciated what had been done—actually quite a bit of what had been done is correct. What they really said was they wanted things to go deeper and faster.” Uh, not as I recall it: “The plans submitted by GM and Chrysler on February 17, 2009, did not establish a credible path to viability,” pronounceth The Presidential Task Force on Automobiles (PTFOA). “In their current form, they are not sufficient to justify a substantial new investment of taxpayer resources.” Of course, the PTFOA gave GM $4.4 billion to tide them over to C11 anyway. And if you think I’m just milking this “deeper faster” thing for cheap laughs, well, here it is again . . . and again . . .
The mayor of Duncanville, Texas had a member of the city council arrested last Tuesday for speaking out against the use of red light cameras during an official meeting. The incident took place during the discussion of whether the city should spend $59,000 to make street repairs. Mayor David Green recognized Councilman Paul Ford to speak on the contract item. “Thank you,” Ford said. “I want to let you know that earlier this evening during briefing, Mayor Green threatened me that if he told me to stop talking and I didn’t, he’d have me arrested, and I want to let you know what I told Mayor Green.” Green became outraged and shouted, “Mr Ford, you are out of order. You are not recognized Mr Ford. You need to cease right now.” While Green yelled, Ford continued his brief statement without stopping. . .
OK, it’s pretty clear how this is going down . . . On June 1, GM will file for Chapter 11. The Presidential Task Force on Automobiles will help the company split into “good” GM and “bad” GM. The “good” GM will probably consist of Chevrolet and Cadillac, including the factories and management that produce some (all?) of the brands’ models. It will raise money from a public equity sale ($15 billion?) and investment banks ($10 billion?). It will use the money to buy the cherry-picked assets from the diseased company. The “good” GM will get up and running in a relatively short time; TTAC’s Ken Elias makes it 90 days or so. The owners of the “bad” GM—abandoned dealers, the United Auto Workers, suppliers, etc.—will squabble over their payouts into perpetuity. So, Ken and I have a bet. I say the PTFOA will direct that US taxpayers get a share of the new, good GM, as compensation for “our” $22.8 billion worth of worthless loans. Ken says Uncle Sam will write if off. Legally, Ken’s right: the feds can’t jump to the head of the creditors’ queue. But I say they will. What say you?
In general, TTAC does not cover motorsports. But we’re on the ball when it comes to the business of automotive sponsorships for sports of all sorts. We recently reported that Ford—Detroit’s last man standing—is a major sponsor of curling. The wisdom of that choice has become clear, as the the Men’s Curling Final was one of the most exciting ever played. As The Canadian Press reports, “It was a game for the ages. The final game of the Ford World Men’s Curling Championships came down to the last rock in the 10th end to break a 6-6 tie between Canada’s Kevin Martin and David Murdoch of Scotland.” Nail-biting stuff and perhaps symbolic of Ford’s last ditch struggle to stay out of bankruptcy court.
CAHIBOstep, TTAC’s biggest fan on our Facebook page, writes:
My owner’s manual recommends 91 octane gasoline for my turbocharged five-pot (Volvo T5). There’s no 91 octane gas in Illinois, only 87, 89 and 93. When I was at the gas station the other day, I decided that instead of buying 93, I would mix equal parts 89 and 93 to get 91 (89 + 93 = 182/2 = 91).
Does this actually work? Does this make me the cheapest person in the world?
The Maryland General Assembly yesterday gave final approval to a measure that will expand the use of speed cameras to every part of the state, allowing cameras on high-volume freeways for the first time. Lawmakers in Annapolis, at the urging of Governor Martin O’Malley (D), saw the measure as an essential means of reining in the state’s run-away budget deficit. Traffic camera vendors also helped promote the effort with lavish gifts, parties and campaign donations. The new legislation specifically authorizes the use of speed cameras anywhere in the state up to one-half a mile away from a school zone. School zone cameras can operate as late as 8pm and ticket motorists regardless of whether school is in session.
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