Car News Articles

Or not, we might add. As usual, the latest chapter in the Volt saga is both convoluted and taxpayer-funded. Automotive News [sub] reports that “A123Systems, the battery supplier for the upcoming Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid vehicle, will make lithium ion batteries for automotive use at a Michigan plant if it receives federal (136) loans, the supplier said today.” The plant would employ up to 14k, and supply batteries for 19 contracts including the Volt, Chrysler’s ENVI and Project Better Place. But this information is based on A123’s filings. There’s still no official confirmation from GM on the Volt contract, although Business Wire does quote GM’s Bob Lutz as saying “A123’s proposal to manufacture advanced battery cells and packs right here in the United States is a positive development for our industry and the nation.” The strangest part of the story is that the GM-Volt.com cheerleaders, usually privy to info straight from GM, were previously convinced that LG Chem/Compact Power had beat A123 to the contract. Back in October, GM-Volt’s Lyle Dennis seemed to confirm a Reuters report that LG/Compact had won. “As we have heard before in a subtle way from GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz,” wrote Dennis, “GM was only using one supplier’s packs in the mules. Concurrently, we had heard from Compact Power’s CEO that his batteries were being used in the mules. Sources have now confirmed this is the case and that the mules packs are performing flawlessly.” So really, who knows. GM may well be saving the announcement for the forthcoming Detroit Auto Show.

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Audi seems to be the preferred canvas to show off car art. While these cars from the Essen Motor Show aren’t quite as unique or brilliant as the Romero Britto A4, these are some custom paint jobs most enthusiasts wouldn’t mind having in their garage.

These four Audi TTs were used to show off BASf’s new automotive paint system called Carizzma. Catchy, eh?

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Welcome to my new year’s resolution. Instead of blogging in fits and starts as I did throughout 2008, this year I’ve resolved to make it regular part of my week, in addition to 100 pushups and sit-ups every morning and the deletion of beer from my diet.

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WASHINGTON — A Massachusetts-based battery company asked for a $1.8 billion government loan to build a factory in southeast Michigan to produce lithium-ion batteries for hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

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Why it’s special: Simply because it features several brilliant car chases, including the most incredible chase sequence ever committed to celluloid – a rip-snorting thrill ride through Paris in which Robert de Niro drives a Peugeot 406 in pursuit of a BMW M5.

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This is Jaguar’s new XK coupe, caught completely undisguised while testing in the UK ahead of next week’s official debut. As well as the obvious bodywork changes, the mid-life changes will include a raft of all-new engines, including a new 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel and a brace of direct-injection 5.0 V8s. 

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Veteran NASCAR crew chief Tommy Baldwin announced this week that he is starting a Sprint Cup team with plans to run full-time in 2009. Baldwin plans to run Toyotas, but he did not announce a driver, number or sponsor. Read more here.

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By moving school start times back an hour and giving teens a little more time to snooze, a study found that the likelihood of teens getting into a car accident would be lowered, according to the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.We all know how much teens need their sleep; turns out, just an extra hour could help save a teen’s life.

A Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine study found that by moving school start times back an hour and giving teens a little more time to snooze, the likelihood of them getting into a car accident could be lowered. The study of 10,000 Kentucky students found a 16.5 percent drop in accident rates for teen drivers when high schools moved their start time from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. We bet a lot of teens would support similar moves in their own schools, though it would probably come more from a desire to get extra sleep than it would safety concerns. Whatever works!

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There’s an eerie thread of optimism weaving through a number of post-bailout, post-December bloodbath stories lately. Sure, hope dies last and all that, but as Studs Terkel put it, “hope has never trickled down, it has always sprung up.” And most of this fresh-faced optimism seems to have trickled down directly from GM PR. Take the headline “‘Happy Days’ Return For Domestic Car Dealers” over at Dealersedge.com, for example. If the use of scare quotes in the headline isn’t enough to set your PR-friendly hackery alarm ringing, well, that’s why we’re here. The entire piece is based on quotes from employees and owners of three dealerships, two in New Hampshire, one in Michigan. These ecstatic, old-timey song-referencing folks spout anecdotal evidence of a new influx of floor traffic, offering no dissent from the opinion that “happy days” are indeed here again. And why wouldn’t they say that zero percent terms on Trailblazers and Saabs have Americans flooding the showrooms?

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