April 2010
Sign of the Times: Russia Approves Tesla Request to Park a Roadster in Red Square
By Scott Doggett April 30, 2010By Scott Doggett, Contributing Editor Joseph Stalin might be turning over in his grave right now. If the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee were standing in Red Square today - which besides being the official address of the Soviet government, was renowned as a showcase for military parades - he'd no doubt be squinting disapprovingly at the American electric sports car parked there. Not only doesn't the plug-in vehicle contain any Russian parts - as usually required of cars parked in Red Square - but the Tesla Roadster draws attention to more
New Tech by Mitsubishi, Tokyo Institute Uses Night Wind Power to Charge EVs
By Scott Doggett April 30, 2010Mitsubishi Corp. and the Tokyo Institute of Technology have devised a method to use excess wind power produced at night to charge electric vehicles, according to a report today by the subscription-based Nikkei Business Daily. A little background: Power companies buy windmill electricity generated during the daytime and resell it to households, factories and buildings. But they often are not interested in buying power produced at night because of weak demand. In order to store electricity generated at night, windmill operators need to install battery systems that are as costly as power generators. The technology developed by the Mitsubishi-TIT more
Battery Companies Awarded a Combined $5.4 Million in DOE Funds, Partnerships
By Scott Doggett April 30, 2010Two closely-held battery makers will get a combined $5.4 million in grants and partnerships with the U.S. Energy Department as part of an effort to speed up the development process for energy-storing batteries that can be used in alternative-fuel vehicles. Orlando-based Planar Energy was awarded $4 million by the U.S. Energy Dept. to accelerate the development of its solid-state ceramic-like batteries, which the company says gives three times the performance of lithium-ion batteries at about half the cost. Planar will also be able to streamline the development of solid-state lithium batteries by using funds from the grant, the company more
If You Can Find a More Overheated Auto Stock Than New GM's - Buy It
By Michelle Krebs April 30, 2010General Motors Co.'s recovery from both Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the past two years' horrid auto-sales climate couldn't be categorized as being anything but in its infancy. But that isn't stopping Wall Street and the analyst community from breathless speculation of the initial public offering that has never been far removed from GM's own post-bankruptcy posturing. The company emerged from bankruptcy last July 10 and almost immediately began the dialogue about getting back to public ownership via an IPO. Just three months from bankruptcy in early October last year, then-CEO Fritz Henderson's delivered the first meaningful update about the more
Exec Says Nissan Leaf EV, on Track for 25,000 U.S. Orders, Will Be Profitable
By John O'Dell April 30, 2010A top Nissan North America executive says the automaker is on the road to collecting orders for 25,000 Leaf EVs in the U.S. by the end of the year and that it will be selling the electric cars at a profit. The profitability claim from Nissan North America product planning chief Mark Perry - reported by Reuters news service - is likely to be subject to massive scrutiny in coming months. It recall Toyota Motor Corp.'s much-disputed claim in the early years of Prius sales that it was making a profit on the hybrid. Rivals said Toyota was secretly more
What We're Reading: What Alan Mulally Reads; Two Fiats; National Debt
By Michelle Krebs April 30, 2010The auto industry at large is a diverse group of professionals with different perspectives on the auto industry and the world. Here's a look at what Edmunds.com staffers and audience are reading and thinking about this week. MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, and How to Get It Back When You Lose It! by Marshall Goldsmith "Mojo is the moment when we do something that's purposeful, powerful, and positive and the rest of the world recognizes it. This book is about the moment -- and how we can create it in our lives, maintain it, and recapture more
China's BYD Selects Los Angeles as Automaker's North American Headquarters
By Scott Doggett April 30, 2010By John O'Dell and Scott Doggett Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and BYD Chairman Chuanfu Wang stood on the steps of Los Angeles' City Hall this morning and announced that BYD Auto, China's fastest-growing automobile manufacturer, will establish its North American headquarters in downtown L.A. BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, is one of the first carmakers to come out with an electric-drive vehicle in recent years, introducing the F3DM dual-mode electric vehicle to the world in December 2008. BYD began offering the vehicle, the world's first mass-produced plug-in gas-electric hybrid, to the public more
One Year After Chrysler Bankruptcy, an Auto Turnaround Is Work in Progress
By Michelle Krebs April 30, 2010It was one year ago today that Chrysler officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A year later, as one dealership group CEO remarked to AutoObserver on the eve of this dark anniversary -- almost in awe: "We're here. We're still here." Survival was by no means a given a year ago. The betting was Chrysler was a goner. General Motors was in critical condition. It wasn't clear if Ford could stay out of bankruptcy. Death appeared near for a host of parts suppliers, dealerships, ad agencies and other businesses that draw life from the auto industry. But most are still here a year later, more
AutoObserver Reader Favorites: Ford, Saab and April Car Sales Forecast
By Michelle Krebs April 30, 2010This week was Ford week, as the automaker reported earnings and three of the five most- read posts on AutoObserver were about Ford. The No. 1 read was Edmunds.com Senior Analyst and Editor at Large Karl Brauer's interview with Ford Chief Economist Ellen Hughes-Cromwick followed closely by a commentary by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Paul Ingrassia on what could go wrong at Ford. Also among the best read items on AutoObserver was a report on Ford's bigger-than-expected $2.1-billion profit in the first-quarter. more
Argonne Lab Develops Greener Way to Produce Widely Used Brake Fluid Ingredient
By John O'Dell April 30, 2010An important new research finding at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory could one day lead to the greener production of automotive brake fluid. ----------Argonne National Laboratory researchers (from left) Stefan Vajda, Larry Curtiss and Jeff Greeley helped develop a greener method of producing a key compound used in brake fluid and other products.---------- Researchers at the laboratory, located just outside of Chicago, say they have figured out how to create propylene oxide - a key chemical compound used in brake fluid production as wel as in plastics, paints and household detergents - in a more environment-friendly more