Tag: [*update]

Report: NY Hydrogen station used by GM explodes, closes airport *UPDATE

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Technology, GM

YNN News coverage of NY hydrogen station explosion

Hydrogen faces a number of challenges when it comes to supplanting gasoline as the world’s transportation fuel of choice, one of the largest of which was underscored by two small explosions at a Rochester, New York refueling station yesterday. According to reports, two people were injured when a spark ignited the fuel during a tank exchange. Praxair driver Robert Scruggs was transported to Strong Hospital with second-degree burns to his hands and face as a result of the incident, and a female Burger King employee was treated for ear pain in connection with the explosions.

According to local news outlets, Praxair is a supplier for General Motors’ fleet of hydrogen vehicles, which refuel at the Rochester station. Autoblog has contacted GM to confirm that this is the same station that the company’s fuel-cell Sequel Equinox vehicles use, but we had not heard back as of publication time.

The Greater Rochester International Airport was closed for about 50 minutes due the explosions, and some flights were diverted mid-air while authorities sorted out the cause of the incident. Click on the YNN link below for local news video coverage, as well as on the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle for more information.

*Update: GM spokesperson Scott Fossgard said that the company’s fleet of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have logged over 1.6 million miles with over 16,000 hydrogen fill ups by over 800 drivers. In all of that time, the company has never had an incident like the one in Rochester. While the GM fleet uses the filling station to top off its vehicles this incident did not involve any of GM’s vehicles, personnel or customers.

[Sources: YNN, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle]

Report: NY Hydrogen station used by GM explodes, closes airport *UPDATE originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Update: King reportedly pulls famed UAW Black Lake resort off the auction block

Filed under: Etc., Earnings/Financials, UAW/Unions

UAW black lake resort banner image

Are you looking for 1,000 heavily forested acres in the heart of Northern Michigan? Something in the $33 million range with a world class golf course and sleeping quarters for a couple thousand? If you are, it appears that the United Auto Workers’ Black Lake resort is going to have to come off that (very) short list, because the Rank and File isn’t selling. The Detroit News reports that UAW chief Bob King and the new union board has taken the resort off the market. CB Richard Ellis Senior Real Estate VP John Carver called the decision “a matter of the new board reviewing previous policy decisions.”

That previous board said in January that the recession was a big reason that the facility needed to close. The fact that the resort has lost a reported $23 million since 2005 didn’t help much either, and declining union membership appeared to be the nail in the coffin. Guess not. UAW leadership apparently isn’t talking about Black Lake and why they took it off the market, but DetNews quotes UAW local leaders who say that events are still being scheduled there.

We’re sure there will be plenty of people out there who won’t like the decision to retain such an extravagant resort considering the fact that thousands of UAW members have lost their jobs in the past couple of years. But then again, with Bob King and his blue-collared brothers and sisters looking to make a comeback, selling off the UAW’s crown jewels probably wouldn’t serve to bring up morale.

[Source: Detroit News]

Update: King reportedly pulls famed UAW Black Lake resort off the auction block originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reports: Phaeton coming back to the U.S… again *UPDATE

Filed under: Sedan, China, Europe, Volkswagen, Rumormill, Luxury

2011 Volkswagen Phaeton – Click above for high-res image gallery

This time, with feeling. According to both Bloomberg News and USA Today, Volkswagen is once again considering bringing the ill-fated Phaeton back to the U.S. market. The reasons behind the move are many, but center around VW’s intention to triple its market share here in the land of the free by 2018. In order to do that, the company is planning on rolling out its luxury bruiser one more time, bolstered in part by the success Hyundai has seen with its Genesis sedan. Of course, that particular luxury cruiser doesn’t cost anything close to the Phaeton’s $85,000 MSRP – even the Korean automaker’s forthcoming Equus range-topper will likely not command that sort of money – and its success in the U.S. remains as-yet unproven.

Bloomberg spoke with Juergen Borrmann, the director of the carmaker’s Dresden facility. Borrmann said that the company is gunning for the U.S. and that by the time the model hits our parking lots, it will be completely reworked.

Consider us interested.

Supposedly, the American version will feature a slew of different engine choices compared to the cars currently on sale in Europe and China, as well as a significantly different interior materials. According to the report, our model will share very little with the next-generation car set to hit the market next month. Hey, if at first you don’t succeed…

*Update: Volkswagen says that while it thinks that there are opportunities for the Phaeton in the U.S., right now no final decisions have been made. At the same time, the carmaker says that it is continually working with the Dresden plant to evaluate potential markets for the luxury sedan.

Gallery: 2011 Volkswagen Phaeton

[Sources: Bloomberg News, USA Today]

Reports: Phaeton coming back to the U.S… again *UPDATE originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NHTSA to update 5-star testing process

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety

2011 Chevrolet Cruze Crash Testing – Click above for high-res image gallery

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is set to debut a new testing procedure for the 2011 model year that will make it more difficult for new cars and trucks to earn the government agency’s coveted five-star safety rating. Just as interestingly, the recent influx of electronic safety gadgets, such as lane departure and collision warning, will be included in the testing regiment as well.

NHTSA will calculate one simple-to-understand grade for each vehicle based on how it manages to perform throughout the agency’s testing. While the revised parameters promise to make safety-minded comparison shopping between new automobiles a bit easier, it also means that pre-2011 ratings will not be directly comparable to the new ones.

A total of 55 new 2011 cars, trucks and minivans (including the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze seen above undergoing GM’s internal safety testing) will be tested by NHTSA with the new procedures, and the list is made up of both brand new models and some of the more popular nameplates Americans seem most likely to purchase in large numbers next year. You can check out NHTSA’s official release and the initial list of what cars will be subjected to this new testing regime after the jump.

Gallery: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Crash Testing

[Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]

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NHTSA to update 5-star testing process originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mitsubishi Lancer earns Top Safety Pick award, first small car Mitsubishi to pass new rollover test [*UPDATE]

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Safety, Mitsubishi

2010 Mitsubishi Lancer ES – Click above for high-res image gallery

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has named the Mitsubishi Lancer one of its top safety picks. The four-door sedan managed to be the first small car Mitsubishi that the Institute has tested to pass the new roll-over test with a “good” rating. As much as we like entertaining ourselves by thinking about the researchers flipping a bevy of cars and SUVs from 9-to-5, that isn’t quite how the institute tests for rollover strength.

Instead, a large metal plate exerts a steady force on the roof of a vehicle until the crash structure deflects by five inches. At that point, the boffins measure the amount of force it took to bend the roof and compare it to the overall weight of the vehicle. From there, a strength-to-weight ratio can be established. Currently, the federal government requires a vehicle’s roof to be able to withstand 1.5 times the weight of the car, and in order for a vehicle to earn a “good” rollover rating from the IIHS, the roof needs to be able to stand up to four times the weight of the vehicle.

Gallery: 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer ES

[Source: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]

Mitsubishi Lancer earns Top Safety Pick award, first small car Mitsubishi to pass new rollover test [*UPDATE] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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