GM's EN-V concepts are one look at a possible future for personal urban mobility that encompasses electric drive, autonomous capabilities and vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
#cars #autonomousdriving #en-v
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Heading into the next decade as the world gets more urbanized, the two biggest problems we're going to have deal with in transportation are energy use and congestion. Some of the smartest people in the business are already thinking of solutions today, but it seems clear that smaller physical footprints that take up less space on the road and smarter vehicles that can talk to each other and drive themselves to avoid congestion will almost certainly be part of the solution.
#cars #congestion #energyuse
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Bill Ford Jr. says plan now for future traffic jams
Dearborn— His family made its fortune selling cars to the masses, but now Bill Ford Jr. is fretting about selling too many.
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Going into the weekend with a new Ferrari, what could more could a gearhead ask for? Maybe the budget to afford one?
#cars #ferrari
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Exclusive: This is the 2013 Ferrari F620 GT
A GTspirit reader has exclusively send us the first live photo of the brand new and upcoming 2013 Ferrari F620 GT ahead of its release.
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My friend +Alex Nunez went to the New York Toy Fair earlier this week and one of the items he stumbled across was the Soda Geyser Car. It's an evolution of the concept behind mentos and pop fountains to create a toy for kids. Just don't let them play with it indoors. It could get expensive pretty quickly too.
#cars #toys
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Fully autonomous vehicles are still quite a few years out, but the many of necessary pieces are appearing in cars now. The next big step is integrating all of those signals to build smarter control algorithms.
We also need more precise GPS data which will be enabled by the next generation of satellites that are going up over the next couple of years, assuming LightSquared doesn't mess it all up first.
#cars #autonomous
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Five Reasons The Robo-Car Haters Are Wrong
.autonomous_left_rail {
clear: left;
float: left;
font-size: 0.9em;
margin-bottom: 30px;
margin-left: 0;
margi…
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Just watched this on the new motor trend youtube channel via the xbox on the big screen and it looks fantastic. Congratulations to Angus MacKenzie and the whole +Motor Trend Magazine crew. They have truly succeeded in making the transition from old school print buff book to digital media
#cars #motortrend
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A couple of years ago, while I was driving the Acura ZDX for a review http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/29/2010-acura-zdx-review/ a product development executive from another automaker that I was talking to labeled the odd crossover-coupe as "Sales-Proof"
Based on the January sales figures released yesterday it appears he was right as a mere 54 customers drove off Acura lots with one. Although I liked the shape of the ZDX and some aspects of driving it, the overall packaging just never made any sense.
Despite the lackluster sales of both the ZDX and BMW X6, Audi and Mercedes-Benz both seem to be intent on creating similar vehicles of their own. Is there something that they know that customers don't?
#cars
In album Acura ZDX (17 photos)
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From the sounds of this review, the Scion iQ isn't going to be converted any more Americans to microcars than the Smart ForTwo did. At least the iQ has more cargo space.
#cars
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2012 Scion iQ
The 2012 Scion iQ is slow and tiny—but also surprisingly expensive. Read the review and see photos of Scion's little runabout at Car and Driver.
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vehicle fleet had hit 10.8 years, the oldest ever. That's bad news for plug-in vehicles.
The fleet has been getting steadily older for a number of reasons. First vehicles today are more durable than ever so they just plain last longer. Bodies are less susceptible to rust and with proper maintenance, it's not hard for engines to run 200,000 miles or more. That's means there is no need to dispose of a perfectly useful car or truck.
The second and more insidious reason is the economy. For the past two decades, real incomes for all but the very wealthy have been either stagnant or declining. That means it's harder for most middle and lower income people to actually buy a new car. Up until 2008, automakers got around this by using subsidized lease programs. The increased durability and reliability of cars meant their value at the end of a lease was higher and they brought in more dollars when re-sold.
Following the financial collapse, increased unemployment, tighter credit, more expensive gas, higher prices on new vehicles and other factors have made it nearly impossible for sales to climb back toward their peak of just a few years ago. Thankfully, that same improved durability and reliability has made it easier for many people to keep their existing cars on the road longer, especially after their loans are paid off.
An aging fleet is actually a multi-edged sword. For consumers it means that buying a new car is something that can more easily be put off for a time. For automakers, it means it's harder to grow sales and employ more workers. For the environment and fuel efficiency, it means older less efficient vehicles stay on the road longer before being retired while at the same time avoiding the life-cycle energy costs of manufacturing, delivering and disposal.
All of this also means that it it going to be extremely difficult for plug-in vehicles to gain any traction in the market place soon. The cost of batteries remains stubbornly high while energy capacity remains low. With less need to replace vehicles and less financial wherewithal to do so, I don't see electric vehicles getting beyond a small niche in the market any time soon.
#cars #automobile #EVs #electricvehicles
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Average age of U.S. light vehicles reaches record high, Polk says
DETROIT — The average age of light vehicles on U.S. roads keeps rising, reaching a record high of 10.8 years in 2011, according to an analysis released today by automotive research firm Polk. Polk…
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Now it looks like Jaguar will officially blend the two for first time with the upcoming XF SportBrake (Sport wagon + shooting brake). The XF is a great driving car despite my complaints about the gimmicky motorized vents and shift knob and the excruciatingly slow Flash-based infotainment interface. http://www.luxist.com/2010/02/08/review-2010-jaguar-xf-supercharged-a-worthy-leaping-cat/
The question is would I want the 500hp supercharged XF-R or the fabulously torquey and fuel efficient 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6 (unfortunately not available in North America yet)? Now if only the XF was available with a manual transmission.
#jaguar #cars #stationwagon
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Jaguar XF Sportbrake
New Jaguar XF Sportbrake estate car is spied outside company gates
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