It’s been a year since three competitors walked away with the $10 million Automotive X Prize money for demonstrating cars that could go 100 miles on the equivalent of one gallon of gasoline, could be mass produced, and could be sold for a reasonable price.
Since none of the cars are in showrooms yet, we decided [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 30th, 2011 | No Comments »
Top executives from major automakers joined President Obama this morning in Washington, D.C., for a ceremony to officially announce higher fuel-efficiency standards for car and light trucks.
The plan will raise the average gas mileage for passenger vehicles sold in the United States to 54.5 miles per gallon by the year 2025.
The proposal is not quite [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 30th, 2011 | No Comments »
If you’re looking for a new car–maybe for a teen driver heading off to college–this weekend may be a good time to buy. It marks the end of the month, which means that dealerships may be more willing to negotiate to meet their monthly quota, plus there are a number of rebates and incentives available [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 30th, 2011 | No Comments »
As the drive for higher fuel economy standards builds momentum, Ford has announced that its 2012 Explorer fitted with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine is EPA-rated at 20 mpg city, 28 mpg highway—enough to outshine key competitors. In fact, those numbers are closer to what is found with smaller SUVs, like the Honda CR-V and Toyota [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 29th, 2011 | No Comments »
Nearly all regions of the country have been experiencing hot, repressive temperatures this summer. As we have noted in the past, winter tires generally don’t stop as well as all-season and summer tires on dry and wet roads, and because they wear quicker, it just makes sense to remove them when spring arrives. But how [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 29th, 2011 | No Comments »
Hidden in plain sight at the Plug-In 2011 Conference & Exhibition in Raleigh, N.C., last week was a cable-free charging system called Plugless Power. It’s an inductive (wireless) charger similar in theme to those that charge an electric toothbrush or smart phone.
Produced by Evatran, Plugless Power is a gadget that would reside in your [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 27th, 2011 | No Comments »
Car owners continue to feel tricked by vehicle service contracts that provide little or no benefit, the St. Louis Better Business Bureau reports.
The BBB says that, in the past 12 months, it has received nearly 800 complaints about 24 automotive service contract companies in the St. Louis area. The complaints allege misleading advertising and a [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 27th, 2011 | No Comments »
With elevated gas prices that continue to hover near $4 in some markets, the automotive industry, consumer groups, and government continue to debate new standards that could bring fuel economy targets well above the 50-mpg mark by 2025. As the industry has been waging a public relations campaign against this effort, we have joined with [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 27th, 2011 | No Comments »
Charting a new course for the company, GPS leader Garmin has completed its acquisition of Navigon, a smaller rival.
Garmin dominates in its U.S. home market, but it trails TomTom in Europe. Buying Navigon may help Garmin overseas, where the German-based company has operated since 1991.
Navigon became known in recent years for pioneering a [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 26th, 2011 | No Comments »
GPS-based navigation has become a common, valued tool used by millions of motorists, bicyclists, and hikers. And as any user will confess, they are not foolproof and success on road trips often depends on some local knowledge and an old fashioned, paper map.
NPR ran a story today on a family caught in Death Valley due [...]
Filed under: Cars on July 26th, 2011 | No Comments »
