Currently Browsing: Autos

Chevy Volt unveiled

Posted by Scott in Autos, Green on 09 17th, 2008 | No Comments

The Chevy Volt has been unveiled for real, and here are some of the pictures we have come away with, thanks to OhGizmo!

The specs are still a little vauge, but we know for sure that the car will go 40 miles on pure electric, then will switch over to a gas powered engine that will both drive the car, and help charge the battery. The car will plugin to a standard 120 volt outlet and will take 8 hours to charge completely, or a 240 volt and will charge in 3 hours. Chevy estimates that the car will use less energy to charge than your refrigerator. They also estimate it to be about .80 cents per day.

Production is set to begin in 2010, and we can see these on the lots by 2011.

I wish it were sooner..

Why is America the last to get the super fuel efficient vehicles?

Posted by Scott in Autos, Green on 09 15th, 2008 | 3 Comments

When a US car company, Ford, starts making car’s that are super fuel efficient but only makes them available in other countries you know something is not right.

Ford has brought back the Fiesta, and this time they are giving it 65mpg, but only making it available in Europe. Why? Because they claim that it is too pricey to import from the UK. The Fiesta Econetic has a diesel engine in it, and ford doesnt think that the US will buy enough of the vehicle to make it worth their time.

“First of all, the engines are built in Britain, so labor costs are high. Plus the pound remains stronger than the greenback. At prevailing exchange rates, the Fiesta ECOnetic would sell for about $25,700 in the U.S. By contrast, the Prius typically goes for about $24,000. A $1,300 tax deduction available to buyers of new diesel cars could bring the price of the Fiesta to around $24,400. But Ford doesn’t believe it could charge enough to make money on an imported ECOnetic.

Ford plans to make a gas-powered version of the Fiesta in Mexico for the U.S. So why not manufacture diesel engines there, too? Building a plant would cost at least $350 million at a time when Ford has been burning through more than $1 billion a month in cash reserves. Besides, the automaker would have to produce at least 350,000 engines a year to make such a venture profitable. “We just don’t think North and South America would buy that many diesel cars,” says Fields.”

Why dont you let us choose instead of assuming, we might surprise you!