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General Motors updates official statement about Chevrolet Volt in CT fire

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Government/Legal, Chevrolet, Electric

2011 Chevrolet Volt involved in Connecticut fire

While some have been quick to point fingers at the 2011 Chevrolet Volt involved in two separate incidents at the Barkhamsted, CT home of Storm and Dee Connors, General Motors has updated its earlier statement to improve the clarity of the situation. “While the Volt’s battery pack sustained damage,” says General Motors Global Electric Vehicle Executive Doug Parks, “it was not extensive enough or of the type that would suggest that it caused the fire.”

GM experts are working with fire officials in the small town in the Northwest corner of Connecticut to help determine the cause of the blaze that also destroyed a home-built Suzuki Samurai EV that Storm Connors had been chronicling on a blog. General Motors is confident that the engineering and systems in the Chevrolet Volt provide exceptional safety, and the vehicle’s involvement in this situation is one of circumstance, merely a damaged vehicle due to its parking spot, and not the root cause of the fire. Full statement posted after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading General Motors updates official statement about Chevrolet Volt in CT fire

General Motors updates official statement about Chevrolet Volt in CT fire originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Seven Marine uses Cadillac CTS-V engines in outboard motors

Filed under: Etc., Videos, Cadillac, Off-Road

Seven Marine 557 outboard

Seven Marine 557 – Click above to watch the video after the jump

In case anyone was accusing supercharged, the 556-horsepower LSA V8 that powers the Cadillac CTS-V of lacking versatility, refer to this video and stand corrected. Custom boatbuilder Seven Marine has taken the enormously powerful engines and adapted them to a marine outboard application.

According to Seven Marine, its 557 is the most powerful outboard ever made. The grunt is channeled to the water through an electronically-controlled ZF transmission. The Seven Marine 557 is also the first outboard ever to be joystick-controlled.

According to Seven, it can be hung as a single-engine setup on a 25 to 27-foot boat, or in a double, triple or quad setup on boats ranging up to 55 feet. Seven Marine claims the engine should be good for a 10-20 percent efficiency and performance increase over standard onboard engines because it requires fewer gear sets to operate, which means less drag. You can check the CTS-V-powered marine setup in the video after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Seven Marine uses Cadillac CTS-V engines in outboard motors

Video: Seven Marine uses Cadillac CTS-V engines in outboard motors originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 12 Mar 2011 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Tesla Motors share price drops as IPO lock-up period ends

Filed under: Earnings/Financials, Tesla, Electric

Tesla Motors (TSLA) shares were hammered hard near the end of last week and are still dropping as word of the expiration of a 180-day post-IPO lock-up agreement continues to make the rounds. Starting today, 75 million Tesla shares, which had previously been subject to a lock-up agreement restricting their sale, will be eligible for registration.

The automaker’s recent 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission noted that a fall in share price could possibly coincide with the expiration of the 180-day post-IPO lock-up agreement. The filing’s actual wording reads:

The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market in the future, and the perception that these sales could occur may also depress the market price of our common stock.

Tesla shares are currently listed at $25.44, a drop from the $29.36 that they were trading at in early November and a decline from the $32-plus price recorded near the middle of last week.

[Source: Forbes]

Report: Tesla Motors share price drops as IPO lock-up period ends originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mission Motors reveals race-ready Mission R

Filed under: Motorcycle, Electric, MISC

Mission Motors Mission R

Mission Motors Mission R – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Mission R cut a seductive silhouette in a teaser shot from Mission Motors that presaged its arrival. Now, with its public debut scheduled for later today at the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show, the lights have come up and the bike is rather awe-inspiring. As we take it in details, from its front Brembo brakes to its rear single-sided swingarm, we are indeed smitten.

Mission Motors Mission R motor closeup Newly developed MissionEVT components have been intelligently integrated into a compact James Parker-conceived chassis, then dressed in a design of grace and aggression by Tim Prentice of Motonium. The result is an electric race bike that’s smaller than a typical 600cc MotoGP machine, yet it holds a massive 14.4 kWh battery beneath its carbon fiber skin. You might not guess this creature weighs a significant 545 pounds (247.2 kg), and though we’ve yet to see it dance through the esses, we’re hoping its movements will conceal this fact as well.

To push the package along, the liquid-cooled AC motor pumps out 141 horses with 115 pound-feet of twist on tap from 0 to 6500 RPM. Top speed hasn’t been determined yet (it will only visit the track sometime after the calender flips to 2011), but the company expects it will easily see 160 miles per hour.

We will have the opportunity to see how the Mission R compares with its peers later in the new year when it competes in the TTXGP North American Championship. The factory team has a lot to prove after sitting out the 2010 season, but this certainly looks promising. The official press release and complete specifications await past the break.

Gallery: Mission Motors Mission R

[Source: Mission Motors]

Continue reading Mission Motors reveals race-ready Mission R

Mission Motors reveals race-ready Mission R originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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General Motors investing $40 million to offset 2011 carbon footprint [w/video]

Filed under: Technology, Videos, GM

General Motors Carbon Footprint

General Motors invests in green solutions – Click above to watch video after the jump

General Motors is planning to invest $40 million in a host of clean energy efforts in an attempt to offset around 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The company says the investments will come over the next three to five years and will involve everything from solar panels for schools to encouraging wind farms and forestry projects all over the country. GM is hoping that these efforts will offset the amount of carbon dioxide put out by the 1.9 million vehicles that the manufacturer is expected to sell in 2011

GM says that it has reduced its manufacturing emissions by 60 percent since 1990, and that a separate effort has seen water use during production drop by 35 percent between 2005 and 2009 worldwide. Additionally, The General operates 75 landfill-free facilities worldwide with a total of 90 percent of the company’s waste being recycled.

These eco investments will be made via third-party organizations that include the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Hit the jump for a video and the full press release.

[Source: GM]

Continue reading General Motors investing $40 million to offset 2011 carbon footprint [w/video]

General Motors investing $40 million to offset 2011 carbon footprint [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Avera Motors teases high-efficiency prototype

Filed under: Concept Cars, Technology

Avera Motors Teaser

Florida-based Avera Motors is beginning to part the veil of secrecy surrounding what the company has been up to for the past few years. The KGB is a downright chatty bunch compared to the start-up automaker, and until now, we’ve only had one very info-light web site and a handful of rumors to give us an idea of what to expect from Avera. We knew that CEO RJ Scaringe had assembled a team of engineers who had worked on projects like the Ford GT, Dodge Viper and Koenigsegg CCX and that the company was planning to build a new take on the efficient automobile, but beyond that, it was anyone’s guess.

Now the company has released a teaser of its first operational prototype – a yet-unnamed, rear-wheel-drive hatch (?) powered by a direct-injection, turbocharged gasoline engine mounted amidships. Scaringe and the rest of the Avera Motors crew are hoping that the vehicle will be able to best every hybrid in the game in terms of fuel economy and driving fun simply by reducing weight as much as possible. We were able to spend a few quick minutes with Scaringe to find out a little more about the vehicle and his company as a whole. Hit the jump to see what we learned.

[Source: Avera Motors]

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Avera Motors teases high-efficiency prototype originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Poll: Did General Motors lie about the Chevrolet Volt?

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Technology, Chevrolet, GM, Electric

2011 Chevrolet Volt

2011 Chevrolet Volt – Click above for high-res image gallery

For the past three years, General Motors has consistently described the 2011 Chevrolet Volt as a pure electric vehicle with a range-extending on-board gas engine/generator. Today we learned that, in fact, there are instances where the gas engine will contribute motive force to move the car along, which technically makes the Volt a plug-in hybrid, not a pure EV. The question we’d like to ask is, how big a deal will this range-extended EV versus plug-in hybrid debate be for The General?

Already, several media outlets such as Inside Line have expressed frustration and disbelief over feelings that they’ve been “lied to” for the past three years in regards to whether or not the Volt’s engine can power its drive wheels. The boys from Jalopnik have gone so far as to Photoshop Chevy’s Volt as the devil. GM, meanwhile, claims this news didn’t come to light earlier because the company was protecting its patents on the Volt drivetrain, which have since been approved.

You can bet you’ll be hearing plenty more on the topic from those of us who Obsessively Cover the Auto Industry, but for now, we’re more curious about what you think.

Has General Motors knowingly lied about how the Volt operates or is the explanation less sinister? Or do you simply not care as long as the final design is as efficient as possible? Take our poll below and then weigh-in with your more detailed thoughts in the Comments.

View Poll

Poll: Did General Motors lie about the Chevrolet Volt? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paris 2010: Exagon Motors Furtive eGT range-extended EV looks better in person [w/video]

Filed under: Hybrid, Videos, Paris Motor Show, Electric

Exagon Furtive e-GT – Click above for high-res image gallery

Exagon Motors hasn’t often appeared in these pages – the company built some electric ice racers last year – and so yesterday’s announcement of the Furtive e-GT extended-range/all-electric sports car caught us by surprise. We recovered from our shock long enough to check it out in person at the Paris Motor Show today, and the metal does the sleek shape more favors than a camera lens. Still, with a 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds (take that, Tesla Roadster) and some range guarantees (!), we’ll take one no matter how it looks.

Specifically, Exagon guarantees that the Furtive-eGT will be able to go – when “calculated according to European standards and energy use cycles” – the following distances before the range extender kicks in:

At a constant speed of 50 km/h : 402 km (31 miles per hour : 250 miles)
At a constant speed of 90 km/h : 288 km (56 mph : 179 miles)
At a constant speed of 110 km/h : 241 km (68 mph : 150 miles)
At a constant speed of 130 km/h : 197 km (81 mph : 122 miles)

Another interesting thing about the Furtive-eGT is that the range extender is an option, which is certainly a welcome change from the one-type-fits-all powertrains we see in the Tesla, Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt. Check out more views of the Furtive-eGT in the gallery below and be sure to click past the jump to watch the video.

Gallery: Paris 2010: Exagon Motors Furtive-eGT

Exagon Motors Furtive-eGT

Gallery: Exagon Furtive e-GT

Continue reading Paris 2010: Exagon Motors Furtive eGT range-extended EV looks better in person [w/video]

Paris 2010: Exagon Motors Furtive eGT range-extended EV looks better in person [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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General Motors invests $483 million in Spring Hill facility, rehires 483 workers

Filed under: Technology, GM, Earnings/Financials

GM Ecotec engine General Motors has announced that it will invest a total of $483 million in its Spring Hill, Tennessee powertrain facility by 2012. The news comes as GM continues to move toward building more fuel-efficient engines. The automaker says that the next-generation Ecotec four-cylinder engine, complete with direct-injection, will be built in the Spring Hill plant. Those funds will also go toward bringing back a total of 483 workers that have been idle since last year.

In 2009, the company laid off 2,000 workers at the Spring Hill facility as part of its restructuring efforts, though 800 of those individuals relocated to other GM plants around the country. Even so, that didn’t do much for the economy in Maury County, Tennessee. According to the Associated Press, the locality has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state – 14.5 percent in July.

Until now, the future of the Spring Hill plant had been more than a little uncertain. The facility was originally designed to produce Saturn vehicles, but was reworked to produce the Chevrolet Traverse to the tune of $600 million. GM then pulled Traverse from the plant last year.

[Sources: Associated Press via Google, General Motors]

General Motors invests $483 million in Spring Hill facility, rehires 483 workers originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kia Motors chairman resigns over recalls?

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Kia, South Korea

Jeong Sung Eun, the vice chairman of Kia Motor Corporation, has reportedly resigned on the heels of a large recall by the automaker. According to Automotive News, Eun stepped down on September 3 after a global recall sent a total of 85,900 Kia vehicles back to the factory due to faulty wiring. In the U.S., around 35,000 Soul and Sorento models were impacted by the fault, which could cause a short that can result in a vehicle fire. The company is also recalling 18,147 Sorento, Borego and Soul models in China for bad circuit boards.

Before becoming the vice chairman of Kia, Jeong served as a president of the company’s production division. As of right now, it’s unclear who will take over Jeong’s duties within the company or what the former vice chairman will do now that he’s stepped down.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

Kia Motors chairman resigns over recalls? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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