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Report: Formula E calendar set at ten races, top F1 teams being courted

Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Electric

Formula E, the open-wheel EV racing series has finalized the calendar for its inaugural season. Set to kick of in 2014, the races looks like to have been distributed quite evenly across the globe.

Two American races (LA and Miami) along with a pair of South American races in Rio and Buenos Aires round out the contests in the New World. London, Berlin and Rome make up the European leg of the championship, while Beijing, Bangkok and Putrajaya cover Asia.

This news follows a report from Autoweek that Formula E is courting some of the top Formula One teams. According to AW, series organizer Alejandro Agag is already in talks with McLaren, and is of the opinion that one day the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull will take part in the emissions free series.

Despite the current lack of big names, the parts of the Formula E cars look promising. Batteries from Williams are mated to electric motors from McLaren, while Dallara provides the chassis. Like F1, there’s only one tire supplier, although we’re happy to announce it’s Michelin rather than Pirelli. Series test driver Lucas di Grassi showed us just what the FE cars can do with an in-car video a few months ago.

As for drivers, we don’t see Sebastien Vettel leaving his gas-powered racer soon. Formula E could see an influx of retired F1 drivers and GP2 veterans, although Agag told Autoweek “I can’t say any names yet.” The series will kickoff in 2014, in the Italian capital of Rome.

Formula E calendar set at ten races, top F1 teams being courted originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Jul 2013 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Car and Driver details ten years of Alfa Romeo delays

Filed under: Europe, Plants/Manufacturing, Alfa Romeo, Fiat

Alfa Romeo U.S. launch delayed... again

Fiat has been talking seriously about bringing Alfa Romeo back to these shores since early 2000, making a decade of delays in the brand’s relaunch. Most recently, the company’s debut has been pushed back to sometime in 2013. To commemorate the anniversary of Fiat’s colossal history of setbacks, Car and Driver put together a time table of the promised Alfa Romeo launch.

The story begins on March 27, 2000, when Fiat announced it had partnered with General Motors to bring Alfas to the States by 2003. The first delay came less than a year later, when Fiat and GM announced that Alfas would move through Cadillac and Saab dealers starting in 2005.

Obviously, none of that came even remotely true. In 2002, the relaunch got pushed back to 2007. In 2004, it was killed altogether. The Italians changed their minds again in 2005, going back to 2007 as the year of the Alfa. Need we go on? The promises, cancellations and delays have carried on this way through two wars, two presidents, an economic nosedive and the odd oil crisis thrown in for good measure.

At this point, we’d really like to believe that we’ll see an attainable Alfa in the USA by 2013, but history makes the time table hard to believe. Head over to Car and Driver to see a full infographic of Fiat’s waffling.

Car and Driver details ten years of Alfa Romeo delays originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 May 2011 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is your city one of the top ten worst speed traps in America?

The weather is finally beginning to turn warm in parts of our great nation, and with spring looming, plenty of people have an eye on scratching their road trip itch. Before you take to any wide-open expanse of tarmac, it might be worth taking some time to note some of the worst speed traps in the country. Yahoo Autos has gone through the trouble of ranking the top 10 cities with the worst speed traps in the U.S., and while no one should be surprised to see that Los Angeles, California has claimed the number 10 spot, there are a few surprises on the list.

Colorado Springs, Colorado managed to break into the top five with a number four ranking. The locality boasts a heady 186 speed traps, and local law enforcement says that they’re happy to write citations for drivers who exceed the limit by 1-4 mph. But it was Texas that took the cake by driving away with three of the 10 spots, including the top two. Austin took the silver metal with 189 traps, while Houston was crowned the speed trap capital of our nation with a staggering 373 hotspots. Head over to Yahoo Autos to check out the full list.

[Source: Yahoo Autos | Image: Mark Wilson/Getty]

Is your city one of the top ten worst speed traps in America? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Top ten most and least expensive cars to insure in 2011

Filed under: Etc., Aston Martin, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Toyota

2011 Chrysler Town and Country minivan

With the calendar year changing from 2010 to 2011, insurance adjusters have recompiled their actuarial tables and that means a new list of the cheapest and most expensive vehicles to insure for the new year. In this case, Insure.com recently conducted a survey of the nations six top insurance carriers and complied a list of 40 vehicles that take top honors in each category.

The study goes past the specific model and narrows down vehicles by trim. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the least expensive vehicles are dominated by minivans, while the most expensive list is filled with high-powered German machines. We cut down the list of 40 to show you the top 10 from each side of the fence and included the average annual premium for each vehicle after the jump.

[Source: Insure.com]

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Top ten most and least expensive cars to insure in 2011 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Autoblog’s Top Ten Car Books of 2010

Filed under: Etc.

The year in car books has been, like the year for cars themselves, a good one. In spite of the printed word’s interminable lament for better days, there was still released a healthy number of tomes for your automotive edification, enjoyment and escapism. The ten we’ve listed certainly here aren’t the only good ones, but we think every one of them will make for a great first read in 2011. Follow the jump for the list…

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Autoblog’s Top Ten Car Books of 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 01 Jan 2011 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By the Numbers – November 2010: Almost Done With Oh-Ten Edition

Filed under: By the Numbers

Subaru, Hyundai and Kia set full-year sales records

The subtitle above should surprise no one. Of all the automakers operating in the U.S., Subaru, Hyundai and Kia are the only automakers to increase sales month after month through this years-long recession while their competitors have faltered. As such, all three are enjoying new full-year sales records a month ahead of the Times Square ball dropping.

The rest of the industry, however, is apparently done fumbling around and is clearly finding its footing. The vast majority of brands saw increased sales last month except for the usual suspects (GM’s non-core brands that are just about dead, also-dying Mercury, along with Smart and Jaguar) and a few cellar-dwelling surprises like Chrysler, Dodge, Toyota and Lexus. We’re not sure what Toyota’s banking on to turn things around, aside from mass amnesia of its recall woes, while Chrysler is doing its best to either fully redesign or substantially upgrade its existing models to keep customers interested.

Either way, when the book closes on 2010, automotive historians will write that the competitive landscape on December 31 looked markedly different than it did 365 days earlier. With one more month to go, we doubt the list of winners and losers is going to look very different from what you see below.

Brand/Company	Volume %	Nov-10	Nov-09	DSR %*	Nov-10	Nov-09
Ram	66.89	19,040	11,409	59.93	793	496
Jeep	57.78	24,202	15,339	51.21	1,008	667
Suzuki	51.43	2,332	1,540	45.12	97	67
Porsche	48.59	2,416	1,626	42.39	101	71
Kia	48.15	26,601	17,955	41.98	1,108	781
Mitsubishi	47.21	4,306	2,925	41.08	179	127
Hyundai	45.21	40,723	28,045	39.16	1,697	1,219
Infiniti	44.97	8,182	5,644	38.93	341	245
Audi	37.52	9,365	6,810	31.79	390	296
Buick	35.91	11,725	8,627	30.25	489	375
Land Rover	34.90	2,922	2,166	29.28	122	94
BMW	30.18	20,097	15,438	24.75	837	671
GMC	29.52	27,590	21,301	24.13	1,150	926
Ford	27.02	133,544	105,133	21.73	5,564	4,571
Nissan	24.76	63,184	50,644	19.56	2,633	2,202
Volkswagen	24.24	20,189	16,250	19.06	841	707
Subaru	22.39	20,792	16,988	17.29	866	739
Acura	22.23	10,718	8,769	17.13	447	381
Cadillac	21.40	11,801	9,721	16.34	492	423
Honda	20.95	78,899	65,234	15.91	3,287	2,836
Lincoln	19.33	7,648	6,409	14.36	319	279
Chevrolet	17.56	117,588	100,023	12.66	4,900	4,349
Mercedes-Benz	13.34	19,037	16,797	8.61	793	730
Mini	8.66	2,786	2,564	4.13	116	111
Mazda	7.36	15,304	14,255	2.89	638	620
Saab	7.01	397	371	2.55	17	16
Lexus	-1.41	18,240	18,500	-5.51	760	804
Jaguar	-3.12	1,117	1,153	-7.16	47	50
Toyota	-3.58	111,077	115,200	-7.60	4,628	5,009
Volvo	-11.94	4,078	4,631	-15.61	170	201
Mercury	-12.12	6,146	6,994	-15.79	256	304
Dodge	-12.45	21,246	24,268	-16.10	885	1,055
Chrysler	-22.96	9,664	12,544	-26.17	403	545
Smart	-67.49	211	649	-68.84	9	28
(Hummer)	-88.69	25	221	-89.16	1	10
(Pontiac)	-99.91	7	7,426	-99.91	0	323
(Saturn)	-99.92	3	3,737	-99.92	0	162
COMPANIES
BMW Group	27.11	22,883	18,002	21.82	953	783
Nissan NA	26.79	71,366	56,288	21.50	2,974	2,447
Ford Mo Co	24.30	147,338	118,536	19.12	6,139	5,154
Jaguar/LR NA	21.69	4,039	3,319	16.62	168	144
America Honda	21.10	89,617	74,003	16.05	3,734	3,218
GM (Core)	20.79	168,704	139,672	15.75	7,029	6,073
Chrysler Group	16.66	74,152	63,560	11.80	3,090	2,763
General Motors	11.43	168,739	151,427	6.79	7,031	6,584
Toyota Mo Co	-3.28	129,317	133,700	-7.31	5,388	5,813

*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were24 selling days in November 2010 versus 23 selling days in November 2009, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.

By the Numbers – November 2010: Almost Done With Oh-Ten Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Top ten stolen vehicles of 2009

Filed under: Etc., Safety

1994 Honda Accord

It’s that time of year again. The National Insurance Crime Bureau has just released its top 10 stolen vehicles from 2009, and once again, the most stolen vehicle in the U.S. continues to be the 1994 Honda Accord. In fact, all but three vehicles retained the same slots on the list as they held last year. Newcomers include the 1994 Chevrolet full-size pickup at number 7, the 2002 Ford Explorer at number 9 and the 2009 Toyota Corolla at number 10. The ’02 Explorer moved up one notch from last year, and both the 1999 Ford Taurus and 1996 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee dropped off of the list all together.

The FBI recently released a study finding vehicle theft in the United States was at its lowest point in nearly 20 years, though recovery rates were similarly lower than ever, too. NCIB says that may be due to the fact that the majority of vehicles stolen today are immediately cut up for parts instead of being resold as whole vehicles. Like the FBI, NICB recommends owners use common sense by locking their vehicles, installing a warning or immobilization device and considering a tracking mechanism. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Gallery: NICB Most Stolen Vehicles of 2009