Edmund's Kills Inside Line

One of my favorite automotive blogs, Inside Line, is being absorbed into its corporate host, Edmunds.com I don't like it. It looks l...

Coda Death Watch?

Bad news leaking from Coda,  according to inside sources off the record, Coda has laid off a large portion of its employees. The other day, ...

Coda Flunks Front Crash Test

The NHTSA has released the test results of their crash testing for the Coda electric sedan, and amazingly, it flunked.  Coda only got 2/5 s...

How To Get Your 45MPG+

So you bought a shiny new hybrid, maybe a C-Max rated at 47mpg, or maybe a Prius rated at 46mpg.  You start driving it to work, and you are ...

Right To Work and Unemployment

There is a raging debate in Michigan now over "Right To Work" laws, which are being proposed by the Republican controlled state le...

The $550 Car Battery

Braille Battery is going to start selling an aftermarket car battery which uses the lithium ion chemistry instead of lead acid.  It will wei...

Lincoln Motor Company

Ford is re-branding (or, maybe, re-re-branding?) Lincoln as Lincoln Motor Company.   Personally, I'm not sure it matters, everyone knows...

Starbucks for $7? Phew...

$7 Starbucks Geisha coffee?  Yawn.  When Starbucks starts selling  Kopi luwak , then I'll be impressed.

Restaurant.com gift certificates are lame

Someone gave me a gift of a Restaurant.com gift certificate.  It entitles me to purchase like $50 with of dining coupons. The problem is, th...

How To Use A Cheap Air Impact Wrench

I picked up a cheap air impact wrench from a certain retailer of cheap tools (rhymes with beers).  It is rated for up to 400 ft-lbs of torqu...

The Ethanol Mandate...

The ethanol mandate is idiotic and should be scrapped.  Not waived , or delayed, but killed. Making fuel from food crops is basically a ...

Tesla COTY Reminds Me Of...

Tesla's Model S winning the Motortend Car Of The Year award reminds me of another premature award, when the Nobel Prize committee awarde...

Suzuki Packs It In

American Suzuki is filing for bankruptcy protection, and the mother ship (Suzuki Motor Corp) is leaving the U.S. market.  This is not a surp...

Did Hyundai Cook Their MPG Numbers?

Did Hyundai cook their MPG numbers on purpose?   Peter DeLorenzo, blogging over at The Autoextremist , makes the bold and blunt accusation t...

Obama Vs. Romney: Who Is Better For Auto Industry?

Is Obama or Romney better for the auto industry? It is true that Obama saved GM and Chrysler from a possibly very messy end, by forcing them...

More Fisker Fires

Not good for Fisker. Jalopnik has photos of 16 Karmas that burned out after being submerged by the rising seas caused by hurricane Sandy. ...

Hyundai's MPG Mistake

Wow. Hyundai is under investigation by the EPA for over-estimating the fuel economy, on the Monroney (consumer info) sticker, by about 3%, a...

Ford Announcement: Fields COO, Farley to head Lincoln

This morning, Bill Ford Jr. and Alan Mulally announced that Mark Fields was going to be promoted to Chief Operating Officer, reporting to Mu...

Sad At Sears

The other day, I made a run to Sears, to buy a battery for my Craftsman li-ion compact drill.  It's a great little tool. I spent some ti...

MI LG Chem Plant: Public Loan, No Batteries

According to a local news report, the LG Chem battery plant recently built in Holland MI is sitting idle.  After building pre-production tes...

Starbucks Poor

Ugh.  Medium coffee and a cookie, almost $5.  Why do I come here again?  

Vu1, what happened?

I am frankly frustrated.  I was excited to try a new kind of high efficiency, long life, dimmable, high color accuracy light bulb called an ...

Debate Thoughts

Automotive content in last night's presidential debate between Obama and Romney was minimal. Obama, in the opening remarks, quickly ment...

Mazda's i-ELOOP: Mild Non-Hybrid Regen

Mazda is promoting its new i-ELOOP regenerative braking technology as part of its "Skyactiv" suite of fuel saving technologies. ...

Fisker's Bad Karma

Consumer Reports is a fairly tough judge of consumer vehicles.  I frequently disagree with their judgements, but they are very influential, ...

Leaf Batteries Wearing Out Early

Looks like Nissan's decision to use an air-cooled battery system on the Leaf is going to cost it a lot of goodwill.  Inside EVs writes u...

Dirty Blonde

I just discovered that Atwater Brewery's excellent Dirty Blonde beer is now available in cans.   I love good beer in cans, because ...

Return Of The Rotary?

Mazda recently killed off its consumer market rotary offering, the RX-8, but according to Motor Authority , Mazda may use a rotary engine as...

Myths and Truths about 55mpg CAFE

Ranting against the CAFE regulations is one of my favorite topics. Here are some of my reactions to some of the myths that the Obama adminis...

Coda Recall: All 78 Vehicles?

BEV maker Coda is recalling 78 vehicles due to improper installation of side curtain airbags. Now, what is shocking here is not the reason f...

Tesla Model S Track Numbers

Edmunds was allowed to test a Tesla Model S with instrumentation, and it does put down some impressive numbers, particularly stopping dista...

Aptera, again?

According to this piece in the Press Democrat, the assets of Aptera were purchased by Jonway Group, a Chinese carmaker who also is tied up ...

Condolences To The Sikhs

I wish to extend my condolences to the Sikh community for their tragic loss. No religious community should be attacked with violence.  In th...

Right To Repair Compromise

Where I stand on "Right-To-Repair".   Right-to-repair is a requirement that automakers allow independent repair shops (outside of ...

Welcome to Sonic Electronix

Welcome to our new blog sponsor, Sonic Electronix! A great place to buy your automotive aftermarket electronics, and they have  excellent Bi...

Swedish Magazine: "Jeep Grand Cherokee Unsafe"

Swedish Car magazine Teknikens Varld has posted more video on the shocking tip-up of the Jeep Grand Cherokee on their "moose test"...

Jeep Moose Test Failure

The reason that the Grand Cherokee failed the Swedish Moose Test run by  Teknikens Värld is that they unintentionally overloaded the vehicle...

Coda: EV Penalty Box

A very unflattering review of the Coda sedan has been published in the NYT , written by Brad Berman. In addition to a long list of missi...

Wheego, Where Did It Go?

Remember Wheego?  The BEV company selling a Chinese sourced ripoff of the Smart, upfitted with electric powertrain? In this telling article ...

Tesla Model S Regen Strategy

Early reviews of the Model S have been published, after Tesla allowed some journalists a short guided test drive of the vehicle.  Here is on...

Songs Of My Youth

I'm sitting here working on some stuff, and listening to "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" by Iron Maiden.  I can't believe t...

Mini Review: Volt Vs Focus EV

At a supplier demo event recently, I was given the chance to test drive, back to back, a Chevrolet Volt and a Ford Focus EV. Image courtesy ...

Noooooooooooooooooooo!

Sad news.  Tom and Ray Magliozzi (aka Click and Clack, the Tappet Bros) are hanging it up after 25 years on the radio. At least there a...

The Scam Marches On

Amazingly, my #1 most popular post is still the eBay Motors/Western Union scam.  And, sadly, people are still falling for it! Here is an em...

Ford May Sales Thoughts

Ford released its sales figures for May today ( here ).  I took a quick look, and two things really jumped out at me. First, the redesigned ...

Those Who Live In Glass Houses...

Obama is attacking Romney over Bain Capital's unsuccessful run with a Michigan auto supplier, Cambridge Industries.  Obama should be ca...

EPA's Hybrid Payback Calculator

The EPA has posted a very nice interactive hybrid vehicle payback calculator .  It lets you quickly adjust assumptions to see how long a hyb...

Ethics of Manuals?

Over at Salon.com, David Sirota asks if it is "ethical" to drive a manual transmission.  The reason for his question is recent new...

Fireman's Lowrider Towncar

I spotted this wild Lincoln Towncar lowrider cruising Southfield today.  He had tiny red wheels, lots of chrome, red tinted windows, and a f...

Video: Bridgestone Airless Tires

Bridgestone's airless tire concept isn't new, it was unveiled a few months ago, but somehow I missed this video from the Tokyo Motor...

Anatomy Of A Scam: Nigerian Check Fraud

So you get an email from someone you have never met, offering you a "work from home job".  You get to keep a sizeable sum of money...

Some Dart Thoughts

I haven't had a chance to drive a Dodge Dart yet (I'm not one of those big-time auto journalists, you know) but I did get a good loo...

SOLVED! TheAutoProphet Geocache Challenge 2012

SOLVED! Jason F. has solved the challenge and captured the prize.  However, in true geocaching spirit, he left the container with something...

SAE Congress Tidbit: DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) Issues in US

Listening to an SAE Congress panel discussion about future powertrains.  A question to the panel, regarding transmission, elicits an interes...

The 2014 Impala

GM has unveiled the 2014 Chevrolet Impala at the NY Auto Show.  You can see nice photos here . I like the exterior design, it is a big imp...

Ford's 5 "Myths", Aren't

Ford has a post on their web site listing 5 "myths" about electric vehicles. I think these need a rebuttal. Myth 1: "The tech...

Republicans Buy American, Democrats Don't

According to a new study by Strategic Vision, these are the top 5 vehicles most popular with Democrats: Honda Civic Hybrid Volvo C30 Nissa...

Another one bites the dust...

Another EV maker down.  Azure Dynamics is filing for creditor protection after Canada's investment regulatory agency denied their reque...

H1-B Posting At Work

At work today, the company posted a notice in the coffee room that it was pursuing an H1-B sponsorship.  I have not seen an H1-B notice in a...

The Dutch Birdman Is Faking

Take a look at these two frames from Jarnos Smeets test flight video. In the pre-launch frame, there is a large black dot on the left wing, ...

The Truth About Obama's Energy Policy

Obama's reelection team likes to promote the fact that oil and gas production is up during his tenure.  This is great news. However, thi...

Consumer Reports Hits Fisker Again

Ouch. But the Fisker is languishing in our lot, going out mostly for short commutes that remain well within cell-phone coverage in case of ...

Obama's Straw Men

Obama loves to argue with straw men.  His latest tactic?  Accusing people who oppose his energy policy as being "flat earthers". ...