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Porsche sets the pace in ALMS with Panamera, Cayenne support vehicles

Filed under: Motorsports, Sedan, SUV, Porsche, Police/Emergency, Racing

Porsche Panamera Turbo ALMS safety car

Porsche Panamera Turbo ALMS safety car – Click above for high-res image gallery

At any of the myriad Le Mans series races around the world, you’re guaranteed to see more than a proportional sampling of Porsches. Those are usually one manner of 911 GT3 or another; less so Panameras and Cayennes, but the latest additions to the American Le Mans Series paddock are exactly those.

The Porsche Panamera Turbo has been selected as the official safety car for ALMS, outfitting a stock model with a dome light and special paint scheme. It’s joined in its duties by a set of Cayennes that will act as medics’ emergency response vehicles, a task to which the Porsche SUV is already perfectly accustomed. See for yourself in our high-res image gallery below.

Gallery: Porsche ALMS support vehicles

[Source: Porsche via World Car Fans]

Porsche sets the pace in ALMS with Panamera, Cayenne support vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study reviews break-even point for hybrid vehicles

Filed under: Car Buying, Hybrid, Sedan, SUV, Ford, Toyota

2010 Ford Escape Hybrid

2010 Ford Escape Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery

Buying a hybrid is a responsible environmental move but, given their premium over standard cars, they aren’t always a money-saving purchase. A study by CarGurus showed that gas would have to top $7 a gallon to make most hybrids the economical choice.

Hybrids command, on average, a 17-percent markup over their standard-powertrain counterparts, which stunts their economy at the pump. The $7-a-gallon break even point is an average. For some cars, the break-even is point is even higher. For a Cadillac Escalade Hybrid to make you money, gas will need to climb to $15 a gallon.

On the lower side of the scale are the Toyota Camry Hybrid and Ford Escape Hybrid. The Toyota’s break-even point came out to $4 a gallon, while the Ford bucked the trend, breaking even at $2.50 a gallon.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Study reviews break-even point for hybrid vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Chicago Auto Show: Editors’ Choice for Top Five Vehicles

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Etc., Acura, Chevrolet, Dodge, Hyundai, Design/Style

The Chicago Auto Show may be the smallest of the major North American auto shows, but this year proved to be surprisingly bountiful in terms of the number of new cars that were revealed. Sure, many of these new products were merely trim level upgrades, but we saw quite a few big introductions that sparked lengthy discussions amongst the Autoblog staff.

Thus, we’ve looked through the lot of Autoblog’s show coverage and the staffers on-hand in Chicago have picked their favorite vehicles that debuted in the Windy City. Much like our Detroit Auto Show picks, our editors had no problem picking our first and second place winners, but when it came to numbers three, four and five, that’s when the arguing began.

Still, we’ve come to a final consensus, and you can read our Top Five Editors’ Choice debuts after the jump.

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2011 Chicago Auto Show: Editors’ Choice for Top Five Vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: How apartment dwellers can charge their electric vehicles

EV charging for apartment dwellers is a challenge. Click above to watch video after the jump.

Recently, we got an email from a reader named Bernadine asking about apartment dwellers charging their plug-in cars. She wrote:

I would like to see Autoblog contact, address, and consider how would apartment dwellers fit in the scheme of things by the manufacturers of “green” vehicles. I am quite sure there are others, like myself, who would love to purchase or get in line to order such vehicles. However, we do not have garages or nearby outlets that we can access to charge our vehicles, once purchased. Are there any projects in place that will address the needs of apartment dwellers? Will our local gas stations be transformed into electric stations?

Turns out, Bernadine isn’t the only one thinking about this particular issue. We covered it in some depth about a year ago in this Greenlings article, which noted that, in 2009, Mitsubishi helped develop an electric vehicle charging system for apartment buildings in Japan. More recently, our friend Paul Scott and Santa Monica Nissan did a presentation very subject at a local library. The panelists included people with deep knowledge of EVSEs, permitting and other related issues. You can watch a well-edited video of that event provided by Plug In America after the jump.

Lastly, we have some news about charging for people without a garage or a dedicated parking space. A company called 350Green is bringing a fast EV charging station network to the U.S. that is designed specifically for this type of plug-in driver. The network is made up of DC fast chargers that will be installed at “select, high-traffic retail locations” in six cities in the Bay Area. Find more details in the press release on the other side of the jump.

[Sources: Plug In America, 350Green]

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Video: How apartment dwellers can charge their electric vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: $33M in EV tax credits went to buy unqualified vehicles

Filed under: Car Buying, Government/Legal

Is a bicycle an electric vehicle? How about a Hummer H3? These are some of the things that Americans claimed were hybrids, alternative-powered or plug-in electric vehicles on their tax forms, reports USA Today. What’s more, the false claimants managed to get $33 million back from the federal government. According to the daily, $33 million is about 20 percent of the $163.9 million total that has been claimed under the tax credit programs so far.

The information comes from a new report, published by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (read the full report in PDF), which found that the problem lies with the IRS, which apparently doesn’t have the “adequate procedures” required to ferret out which claims qualify and which don’t. The IRS responded by saying it, “has already implemented measures to address some of the problems highlighted in the report.” Okay, that’s all somewhat understandable, but a getting money back for a bicycle? We love bikes, seriously, but we’re pretty sure that they’re not cars…

[Source: USA Today | Image: General Motors]

Report: $33M in EV tax credits went to buy unqualified vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xplore Adventure Series vehicles want you to see our National Parks

Xplore Adventure Series FJ Cruiser – Click above for high-res image gallery

Our National Parks are American treasures, and one company wants you to get out there and explore them. We saw its first creation, the Xplore Adventure Series FJ Cruiser, at last year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas. That vehicle is going to be auctioned off and the proceeds donated to the National Parks Foundation. Xplore isn’t limiting itself to just the FJ Cruiser, however, and parts will soon be available for various Jeep, Ram Truck, Toyota, Ford, GM, Nissan, Honda, Subaru, Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

The parts are available at local dealerships and range from the basic to the burly. Stage one of the Xplore series of parts includes interior upgrades produced with the help of Katzkin. Stage two upgrades feature BFGoodrich off-road tires, aluminum wheels, Bilstein shocks and a Magnaflow stainless-steel cat-back exhaust. If you want to push further into the woods, Stage three bolts on winches, a roof rack, rock rails, a rooftop tent and upgraded lighting. There’s also a built-to-order Stage 4 for Jeep and Toyota vehicles, which brings builder TLC into the mix and adds custom paint choices as well as electronic upgrades and expedition-level equipment.

Keeping with the theme of the Xplore name, each Xplore vehicle comes with a one-year National Parks pass, membership in the Xplore club and a subscription to the Xplore Lifestyle magazine.

Gallery: Xplore Adventure Series FJ Cruiser

Xplore Adventure Series FJ Cruiser

[Source: Xplore Vehicles]

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Xplore Adventure Series vehicles want you to see our National Parks originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 16 Jan 2011 14:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Detroit Auto Show: Editors’ Choice for Top Five Vehicles

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show

It’s never easy to reach a unanimous decision when it comes time for our group of auto-obsessive bloggers to choose any sort of list that involves automobiles. In the case of the Top Five Introductions from the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, the process was especially difficult.

Somewhat surprisingly, most everyone agreed rather quickly on positions one and two, but from there, the waters were much murkier. In the end, though, we made our arguments for and against, considered each others’ viewpoints and, after much weeping and gnashing of teeth, had ourselves a workable list.

Follow the jump to see the fruits of our labor.

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2011 Detroit Auto Show: Editors’ Choice for Top Five Vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Soviet vehicles stage in Mississippi?

Filed under: Classics, Etc., Military, Russia

Restored Zil 131 truck, photo by Stephen Hanafin

When old Soviet-bloc vehicles started showing up in Mississippi, mutterings about overthrow plots and secret roads began to spread. Were all these trucks being staged as part of an advance effort? The truth turned out to be far more mundane, but also ironically symbolic of the ignominious end to the U.S.S.R.

Rather than any kind of clandestine military operation, the vehicles had been sold as surplus to a businessman who planned to retrofit them for humanitarian use by the United Nations. That effort didn’t quite pan out, and the vehicles (including decrepit Zil trucks similar to the restored one above) weren’t suited for road use in the United States. Some went to Mexico, others were used by the Air Force for target practice, but in the end, a huge number of the vehicles patiently decayed in a Biloxi, Mississippi storage lot until Hurricane Katrina, a civil court ruling and continuing lack of interest sealed their fate. Off they’ve gone, leaving the tall weeds of the storage lot for the towering piles of the scrap yard, destined to be melted down into home appliances and even new automobiles.

And so perishes one of the remaining vestiges of the Cold War. In dying out, the raw materials that once fueled tense stalemate are being transformed into commodities, the raw material of capitalism.

[Source: The New York Times | Image: Stephenhanafin/Flickr – CC 2.0]

Soviet vehicles stage in Mississippi? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How The Gas Tax Is Under Threat From Green Vehicles

Filed under: Government/Legal, Earnings/Financials

Can Governments Afford To Incentivise Electric Cars?

Exxon Mobile gas station

Live in the right part of California and work for the right company and you might be able to buy the new Nissan Leaf for as little as $12,500, as Autoblog has reported, due to the raft of incentives that are available for buyers of the little battery car and other high-mileage, low-emission products.

In recent years, lawmakers have been racing to come up with incentives designed to encourage motorists to migrate to clean, efficient vehicles. It’s a clearly noble effort, but one that deserves a closer look in an era of fiscal restraint.

Several states are looking at a more direct form of taxation: a per-mile usage fee on battery-based vehicles.

The feds, and most states offering such incentives, have put caps on their zero-emission incentive programs, and most will vanish by mid-decade. But, ironically, if these programs do what they’re intended to, the fiscal impact could be felt for years to come. It turns out that going green could plunge state and federal balance sheets into the red.

The short-term costs are already potentially significant. At the federal level, a $7,500 tax credit could drain billions of dollars a year out of the Treasury if major automakers come even close to their battery car sales targets by mid-decade.

Such cash incentives – along with other perks, such as access to California’s HOV lanes – are designed to motivate the move to vehicles like the Leaf and the new Chevrolet Volt. Once momentum starts building, these givebacks can be phased out, proponents contend. But they’re missing a big part of the picture.

Paul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com, and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.

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How The Gas Tax Is Under Threat From Green Vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford touts “Four in the Forties”: Four vehicles with 40 mpg highway or better

Filed under: Ford

2011 Ford Fiesta

2011 Ford Fiesta – Click above for high-res image gallery

Ford wants you to know that it has Four in the Forties. More specifically, four of its vehicles are rated at 40 miles per gallon or better. This reminder comes hot on the heels of an announcement made by Hyundai last Friday that every model of new 2012 Elantra, lineup will achieve 40 mpg on the highway.

Right now, only three of the Blue Oval’s vehicles actually wear the 40-mpg badge of honor: the Fiesta SE with SFE package, Fusion Hybrid and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. Despite what Ford’s press release after the jump claims, each member of this trio is NOT rated at 41 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway – only the hybrids. The Fiesta tops out at 29 city/40 highway. The fourth member to join this family is expected to be the 2012 Focus, as soon as Ford finishes tuning its 2.0-liter, direct-injection engine and six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Once the Focus is ready to go, Ford claims it will be the first, and only, full-line automaker to offer four vehicles that are capable 40 mpg. Ford also claims that its fleet fuel economy has risen faster than any other automaker, some 19.2 percent from 2004 to 2009.

It’s really a matter of investment dollars, and Ford’s decision to invest in new powertrains is clearly paying off with a more fuel efficient fleet. That fleet will get even more thrifty once Ford’s new 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost becomes available in the Edge and Explorer, two CUVs that would traditionally offer only a large V6 or V8 option.

But Ford shouldn’t get too cocky, as all of its competitors are on the same path towards fleet-wide fuel savings and gaining momentum, not the least of which to be worried about is truck-free Hyundai/Kia juggernaut out of Korea.

Gallery: Review: 2011 Ford Fiesta SES

[Source: Ford]

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Ford touts “Four in the Forties”: Four vehicles with 40 mpg highway or better originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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