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Featured Threads Archive
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Tesla Tops Luxury Sedan Sales
Source: AD #1803 – Model S Top Selling Luxury Sedan, Improve Fuel Economy w/ Exhaust Heat, Karma Automotive Turns to BMW – Autoline Daily
TESLA MODEL S TOP LUXURY SEDAN
Sales of full-size luxury sedans in the U.S. market dropped dramatically last year. We’re talking about cars that cost in the $100,000 range. Maybe many of those car buyers went for a luxury SUV instead of a passenger car… or maybe they went for a Tesla Model S. Amazingly, the S is now the best selling luxury sedan, by far. And its sales were up 51% while all the other cars in that segment were down. No wonder luxury makers are worried about Tesla. It’s stealing some of the best buyers away from the best known brands.
2015 Luxury Sedan Sales
model sales % 1 Tesla Model S 25202 +51.01% 2 Mercedes S-Class 21934 -13.22% 3 BMW 6 Series 8146 -5.79% 4 BMW 7 Series 9292 -4.64%
Of...bwilson4web Feb 19, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 3,774 Likes: 2 Replies: 51 -
What Drives Us Podcast - #174 Nevada Hates The Sun - What Drives Us
This week we speculate how the Nevada legislature can so stupid, visit the Chicago Auto Show *and* the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto and much more. Patrick Connor, Mark Coughlan, Paul Guzyk, Tony Schaefer and Russell Frost dive deep into world of crazy lawmakers and cars. And funny enough, as I was posting this show this morning, this tweet from actor, Mark Ruffalo showed up...
Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us -
RAV4 Seatbelt Recall
Includes the EVs, too.
Toyota recalls more than 1 million RAV4s in U.S. to fix seat belts -
Prius Hybrid Huggers Have Unexpected Hotbed
Prius hybrid-huggers have unexpected hotbed | The Seattle Times
It’s not surprising that the rate of hybrid ownership in the Seattle area is high. At 5 percent of all vehicles, it’s slightly more than double the national average, according to Nielsen Scarborough market research. -
Series of Articles About Hypermiling
A couple weeks ago, I started posting a series of articles about hypermiling at the What Drives Us site. These articles are not intended to be overly technical; quite the opposite. I want them to be accessible to anyone who has even a tertiary interest in boosting their overall fuel efficiency.
Though I can't stop anyone from posting comments here, it would make more sense if comments were posted at the source.
[Edit] Generic comments about the entire series or hypermiling in general should be posted here. It's any feedback about specific articles that should be posted with the article.
Start with the first article here: Hypermiling Cardinal Rules » What Drives UsTonyPSchaefer Feb 15, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 4,252 Likes: 5 Replies: 25 -
T1 Revival
Source: It's Hard To Argue With This Volkswagen T1 Revival Concept
This is the only thing more attractive than the Pacifica. My first car was a 1966 VW MicroBus and inspite of the 1500 cc engine, marginal steering, lack of heat, it was a great ride. It had a tremendous amount of interior space and got 28 MPG . . . until it needed 'curb side' service. Typically adjusting the valve backlash or swapping the plugs with the ones I'd previously cleaned with a grit-box.
It was big enough to have a single, frame bed, with 18" of space below for stuff. This included a box of spare parts, tool box, and a fold-flat, cardboard box. So when the engine made a 'pling' sound or the recorded MPG was less than 28 MPG, I'd park with the wheels on the curb and let it... -
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What Drives Us Podcast - #173 Do NOT Burn VW Dealerships - What Drives Us
This week, Mark, Tony and Russell wrestle to the ground... Volt powertrain uber alles http://www.autoevolution.com/news/gm-considers-selling-the-volt-s-powertrain-to-other-brands-104479.html Bye bye ELR http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102254_cadillac-elr-is-walking-dead-but-may-be-great-rare-used-car VW plays the villain card http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102114_vw-bites-back-doubts-diesel-whistleblower-says-defeat-software-legal-in-europe?fbfanpage Maybe an electric Bentley http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/bentleys-electric-car-plans-revealed-20160207-gmnzhd.html Prius Superb Owl Commercials http://www.priusownersgroup.com/2016/02/where-i-show-you-what-twenty-million.html Autonomous driving gets better http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/uoc--nai020516.php
Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us -
Tideland Prius Feb 10, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 2,413 Likes: 1 Replies: 22
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New Bill Seeks $5,000 Fine for Rolling Coal
Source: New Bill Seeks $5,000 Fine for Rolling Coal » AutoGuide.com News
If passed, a new bill will see drivers who are “rolling coal” fined up to $5,000.
Rolling coal, or rollin’ coal, is the act of modifying a diesel vehicle, usually a pickup truck, to spew black smoke and soot. The trend hit the mainstream in the summer of 2014 with numerous viral videos of truck drivers dumping large plumes of black soot on passers by.
While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) already has laws that apply to tampering with a vehicle’s emission controls, Rep. Will Guzzardi from the Illinois General Assembly is proposing a new bill that would directly target coal rollers.
Works for me,
Bob Wilson -
Sham: The Government is Trying to Ruin Racing
Source: The Government is Trying to Ruin Racing » AutoGuide.com News
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed new regulations that will prohibit road-going vehicles from being converted into race cars.
Currently, there are exceptions in the Clean Air Act that relate directly to cars converted into race cars, allowing the removal of certain emissions devices like a catalytic converter. This new set of rules would make it illegal to remove these emissions devices from all passenger cars, including those being converted to race cars.
The regulations would also make the sale of certain products that modify emissions illegal, which has caught the attention of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA).
IMHO, this is a tempest,...bwilson4web Feb 10, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 2,190 Likes: 0 Replies: 18 -
Exxon Report on Future World Energy Demands
Key findings of the report include:
- In 2040, oil and natural gas are expected to make up nearly 60 percent of global supplies, while nuclear and renewables will be approaching 25 percent. Oil will provide one third of the world’s energy in 2040, remaining the No. 1 source of fuel, and natural gas will move into second place.
- North America, which for decades had been an oil importer, is on pace to become a net exporter around 2020.
- India will surpass China as the world’s most populous nation, with 1.6 billion people. The two countries are expected to account for almost half of the growth in global energy demand.
- Global demand for electricity is expected to increase by 65 percent, and 85 percent of the increase is in non-OECD nations.
- The share of the world’s electricity generated by coal is expected to fall to about 30 percent in 2040 from approximately 40 percent in 2014.
- Global energy demand from transportation is projected to rise by about 30 percent,...
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Tideland Prius Feb 8, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 1,065 Likes: 1 Replies: 2
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2016 Prius Super Bowl Commercial: "The Longest Chase" Prius4
Very entertaining and well-done commercial by Toyota's @Prius Team that aired during the Super Bowl tonight. Great to finally see a Prius ad capture the positive aspects of the car while mixing humor and entertainment.
Toyota later at the conclusion of the game posted a follow-up commercial, with the police unveiling their secret weapon to stop the Prius:
Danny Feb 7, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 17,922 Likes: 15 Replies: 118 -
BORON as alternative fuel for cars
The book “Prescription For The Planet” by Thomas Blees proposes using boron as a fuel for cars. (Chapter 5) After the boron is burned, the resulting boron oxide or rust would be taken to a recycle plant to be reformed into fuel usable boron again. The recycle plants would be powered by Integrated Fast Reactors (IFRs) which are advanced nuclear reactors that, as explained in the book, are much safer than existing nuclear reactors and inexpensive to operate as they use for fuel the spent fuel from existing reactors and excess depleted uranium which our military has a lot of. For boron to burn it needs pure oxygen, so miniaturizing oxygen extractors for cars would be necessary.
According to the book, the best cars would be boron/electric hybrids. With the purchase of the car would come about $200 of boron, which would be recycled over the life of the car costing the equivalent of about twenty five cents per gallon of gas. As explained in the book, this method would create zero...CraigCSJ Feb 6, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 3,534 Likes: 1 Replies: 14 -
What Drives Us Podcast - #172 Amputations - Prius Family Future
Listen to What Drives Us online
Prius: "Well kids, your mother and I need to talk to you…"
Toyota's fuel-thrifty Prius family may decrease as the automaker ponders strategy
Toyota axes Scion
Toyota Gives Scion Brand the Axe
2MTs:
France to pave 1000km of roads with solar panels : TreeHugger
After Years Of Passive Aggressive Contempt, German Companies Now Trying To Take Credit For Tesla's Success −... -
January 2016 Dashboard - summary to follow
The January Dashboard is available: January 2016 Dashboard
But due to an unfortunate hardware failure (cooling fan wore out,) the summaries will take a couple of days. It also gives me time to rework the spreadsheet:
Model 16_01 15_12 15_11 15_10 1 Prius Liftback 6333 10153 8287 9611 2 Ram Pickup Diesel 3193 4531 3848 4283 3 RAV4 1973 1430 64 4 Prius c 1763 2861 2601 3373 5 Fusion Hybrid 1373 1960 1388 2050 6 Model S 1300 3100 2100 7 Camry Hybrid 1256 1861 1964 2545 8 Prius v (lowercase v) 1205 2040 1643 2128 9 Volt 996 2114 1980 2035 10 Sonata 964 1138 931 1342 11 RX 400 / 450 h 790 1493 958 514 12 Leaf 755 1347 1054 1238 13 C-Max Hybrid 637 837 815 912 14 CT200h 622 1464 984 1077 15 ES Hybrid 622 1443 833 895 16 Avalon Hybrid 583 933 798 993 17 Fusion Energi 581 1058 944 849 18 MKZ 491 867 676 646 19 Optima Hybrid 469 870 844 1262 20 Model X 400 177 15 10 21 Highlander Hybrid 375 516 318 375 22 Range Rover 366 387 283 23 C-Max Energi 350 579 639 695... bwilson4web Feb 3, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 2,471 Likes: 1 Replies: 23 -
New Toyota Commercial (put the drink down)
Bob Wilsonbwilson4web Feb 2, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 1,363 Likes: 0 Replies: 8 -
OH No! Toyota Might Ditch the Prius c, v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) and Plug-In Hybrid
**Mod Note - 3 threads about this all merged into this one, the first one posted **
Should I sell my c now?DKTVAV Feb 1, 2016 Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News Read More Views: 25,236 Likes: 1 Replies: 252 -
Kia's Telluride
Source: Kia's Telluride Concept Merges Great Looks With New-Age Horseshit
If you’re a fan of Kia’s recent design direction (which I am) then I’d suggest just looking at the pictures here. Kia’s new Telluride full-size SUV concept looks great, and is a refreshing departure from what we’re used to seeing. Just don’t read the press release. Especially if you’ve just eaten.
Jason Torchinsky is rapidly becoming my favorite auto-reporter. He had the good sense to record on cell-phone video, a maximum acceleration test of the 2016 Prius at the November 8 event. A brilliant hack, it remains one of the earliest, 3d party, hard data points we've gotten about the 2016 Prius.
Bob Wilsonbwilson4web Feb 1, 2016 Hyundai/Kia/Genesis Hybrids and EVs Read More Views: 1,606 Likes: 0 Replies: 1
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