Archive for February 3rd, 2010

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors, UK

If you consider yourself a right proper gent or madame in Britain or Ireland who has the means and desire to possess a Tesla Roadster, not being able to pop down to the London dealership and pick one out with right-hand-drive is no longer a reason to put off this pleasurable purchase. As you can see in the photo above, the Lotus-built bodies are now available with the steering wheel located on the appropriate side, and if you happen to be nigh to Knightsbridge, you can take one for a test-drive.

If you are seriously serious about it, we suggest you don’t dawdle. Considering this configuration also allows them to be sold in Japan, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong may mean they’ll all be snapped up sooner than might be suspected. They aren’t going to make them forever, you know, and it may be a long wait before an electric sports car with similar range or performance comes along. Go on, check out the gallery below and tell us what other green machine shines so bright on a cloudy London day. Press release after the break.

[Source: Tesla Motors]

Continue reading Right-hand-drive Tesla Roadsters ready to roll

Right-hand-drive Tesla Roadsters ready to roll originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Recalls, Safety, Toyota

$16.4 million. That’s the maximum amount the Department of Transportation (DOT) can fine an automaker for failing to recall a defective vehicle in a timely manner. And according to a recent report, the Feds could be pursuing a multimillion-dollar fine – the sum, yet to be disclosed – due to the Toyota recall.

The largest civil penalty ever imposed was handed down to General Motors when a windshield wiper on 581,344 SUVs wasn’t dealt with in accordance to the DOT’s regulations. Although no automaker has ever incurred the maximum penalty, judging by Secretary Ray LaHood’s recent comments about Toyota’s handling of the matter (“While Toyota is taking responsible action now, it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point.”), it’s not so much a matter of when as it is how much.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req. | Image Source: Alex Wong/Getty]

NHTSA mulling Toyota fines for delayed recall? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The world premiere of the car held in early March next year at the Motor Show in Geneva.

Overall length and width, and wheelbase will be slightly larger than its predecessor. The car will be a little lower and get more volume and more trunk space for passengers in the cabin. The appearance of the new Kia Sportage is made in the new corporate style brand, developed by chief designer Peter Schreyer.

New Sportage built on the same platform as the Hyundai Tucson – Hyundai ix35. In Europe, the new Sportage range of engines will include 1,6 – and 2,0-liter petrol engines of 140 and 166 horsepower, turbo diesel as well as the volume of 1,7 and 2,0 liters, develops 134 horsepower and 184. In the U.S., as expected, the crossover will be available with 2,0 – and 2,4-liter gasoline engines.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Hatchback, Ford

The initial motivation for this piece was a pre-Sno*Drift dinner with Ken Block and members of the new Monster World Rally Team last Thursday, followed the next day by a ride in the shotgun seat of Block’s new Fiesta rally car. As for the ride along, we were anticipating some no-holds-barred, looking-through-the-side-windows-to-steer, make-the-media-guy-puke action, but as is so often the case with most things regarded as insanely fun, some last-minute rule interpretations ruled out the scheduled media rides.

Whether or not there was some friction between Ford’s media efforts and the Rally America staff was unclear, but it was all moot anyway when the Fiesta’s broken suspension bits took Block out of the action late Friday, after just seven stages. At least the dinner went off without a hitch, save for some discrepancy with the waitress on whether or not a chicken Caeser salad was actually ordered by yours truly. If you’re confused right now, you’re not alone.

We did have a chance to noodle around inside Block’s cranium for a couple hours though, and we learned he’ll be headed to the Top Gear studios in April to film, among other things, an all-new Gymkhana session with the rally Fiesta. The new car is actually the same Fiesta Rallycross car that Marcus Gronholm piloted up Pikes Peak last year, though the 800 horsepower has been tuned back to something in the 330 range. We also learned the new car has a healthy torque advantage from his old ride, and as good as Subarus sound with a tight exhaust, the Fiesta has a delicious wail that sounds suspiciously like the WRC-spec Focus he’ll be campaigning in Mexico next month.

Is he excited about driving in the World Rally Championship? Absolutely, but he also confessed to having virtually no seat time in the Focus thus far, which Block describes as “night and day” from the Fiesta. It would’ve been nice to see the Fiesta again on Saturday, or any sort of Monster World Rally Team presence for that fact, and there were certainly an abundance of fans who would agree. Instead, the Fiesta team packed up the broken car and headed south in the wee hours of the morning, leaving the rest of us with nothing but Red Bull to drink.

That is, until another Fiesta showed up…

Continue reading Dinner with Ken Block, Gymkhana coming to Top Gear and a surprise Fiesta at Sno*Drift 2010

Dinner with Ken Block, Gymkhana coming to Top Gear and a surprise Fiesta at Sno*Drift 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No impact on foreign oil dependence for 2 decades?

For several years now, Toyota has sold more than 100,000 Prius hybrids per year in the US. In fact, Toyota has sold more than 1 million hybrid cars in the US alone.

Yet, what effect have one million hybrids had on US foreign oil dependence? None.

Soon, GM will launch the highly-anticipated Chevy Volt, yet it might be a decade before GM is selling 100,000 Volts per year. Likewise, late this year Nissan will begin US production of the Leaf electric car. When Nissan’s new production facility is fully operational, it will produce up to 150,000 Leafs per year.

Yet again, what impact will these vehicles have on foreign oil dependence?

Unfortunately, according to numerous studies, ALL electric vehicle sales in the US, combined, won’t have any noticeable impact on foreign oil dependence for probably another TWO decades, and even then the effect might still be marginal.

Certainly, automakers have to start electrifying the automobile somewhere, and the Prius, Volt and Leaf are all noble and important products. Nonetheless, their impact upon the environment and foreign oil dependence will remain meaningless for decades.

Is this really the best that America can do?