Tesla announced today that it has received $465 million in low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy and will use $365 million for the production and assembly for the Model S sedan. The San Carlos automaker will use the other $100 million for a powertrain manufacturing plant. Tesla says that the powertrain manufacturing facility will [...]
The Honda CR-V has been on sale since 1996 and didn’t receive its first major redesign until 2007. According to Mag-X, Honda is now working on the 2012 CR-V and has settled on the basic requirements for the 4th generation model and is currently focusing on the design direction. Overall, Honda is focusing on increasing [...]
Porsche’s majority control of Volkswagen AG will bring a lot of new possibilities to the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer. One of the many things being discussed is a 4-cylinder engine for the Porsche Boxster and the hard-top Porsche Cayman. A Volkswagen sourced 4-cylinder, although not officially confirmed, is in the works to be fitted into [...]
As early as summer 2010, auto manufacturers will start shipping plug-in hybrids and other electric-vehicles in volume. According to a new research done by Pike Research, the global installed base of charging locations will surpass 5 million with equipment revenues of $6.5 million by 2015. “While electric vehicles will be primarily charged at home, a [...]
Oil giant Exxon announced today the sponsorship of an all-electric car-sharing and rental program called AltCar. Joining efforts with Electrovaya, ExxonMobil will provide a new patented battery separator film that will enable the use of Electrovaya’s Lithium Ion SuperPolymer battery in its Maya-300. “The battery separator film, which is produced at a plant in Nasu, Japan [...]
The Mercedes-Benz CLK is no more and has been replaced by the much-like 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe. Also, it was recently reported that the CLC hatchback in the C-Class lineup will be replaced by a true C-Class Coupe in 2011. According to EVO, the S-Class lineup will see a similar fate with the CL. Sources [...]
An estimated 70 Saturn dealerships closed this year before the brand’s savior Roger Penske announced plans to acquire it from General Motors and keep all the dealers in business. Penske Automotive Group will now be looking to fill Saturn stores with vehicles from other brands – and Kia isn’t one of them. Nonetheless, Kia saw [...]
The 2010 Opel Astra is looking good and is set to make it world debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show in September. However, what’s better looking than the ’10 Astra is a new convertible Astra that is currently in the works at Opel’s UK brand, Vauxhall. The new Opel/Vauxhall Astra convertible is currently being [...]
Are you ready for some change at Toyota? We definitely are and we’re definitely excited to welcome auto enthusiast Akio Toyoda as he takes control of Toyota from former boss Katsuaki Watanabe who will become vice chairman of the Japanese automaker. The man behind cars such as the Lexus IS-F and the Lexus LF-A, Toyoda [...]
The Department of Energy is expected to lend money to FoMoCo, Nissan Motor Co. and Tesla Motors Inc. from a $25 billion fund to develop environmentally-friendly cars. Sources said today that Energy Secretary Steven Chu is scheduled to announce the loan funding for the three automakers. Ford has asked to receive a total of $5 [...]
