Flybrian

GM's Secret for Safe Lithium-ion Batteries: Cool It! Link to Original Article @ Edmunds Green Car Advisor General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz raised eyebrows in battery development circles when he said recently that GM was “100 percent confident” that it has whipped the overheating problem that is hampering development of lithium-ion battery packs for electric and hybrid cars. Now the General’s secret can be told. Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for GM's E-Flex electric vehicle platform, told Green Car Advisor during an interview in Detroit that instead of mounting a frontal attack on battery design for the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car that is under development, engineers circled around and attacked from the flank. “We’re going to use liquid cooling,” he whispered. Running coolant lines through the big array of lithium-ion battery cells that will store energy to propel the Volt and other models built on the E-Flex platform adds cost and isn’t as elegant as developing a battery that won’t overheat, Posawatz admitted. But it is enabling the automaker to keep on its self-appointed schedule: Volts in the market by 2010. Failure isn’t an option, he said. GM was recently savaged in the popular documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?, for its decision to pull the plug on its first modern electric vehicle, the EV1. With the Volt, a car Lutz has said will be sold for under $30,000, GM has laid its reputation on the line. Asked if the project could wind up on the cutting room floor, Posawatz shook his head. “We’d never live it down,” he said.

Saab 9-4X to bow in Detroit [size=3Cadillac to get variant[/size] 09/14/07, 03:06pm, EDT | Link to Original Article @ LeftLaneNews Saab is close to completing the developmental stage of the all-new 9-4X we reported on just a few days ago. Based on a mix of the re-engineered Theta and Epsilon 2 architectures, the mid-sized crossover will make its debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January. It has also been revealed that Cadillac will get a version of the vehicle to help spread development costs. According to Saab boss Jan Ake Jonsson, both models are expected to get GM's new diesel engine co-developed with VM Motori, which puts out 250 horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque. Jonsson also said that both models will be made in Mexico and will be exported to the U.S. and Europe. Engine choices will include a range of gasoline powerplants as well as the aforementioned diesel. The 9-4X is also slated to be equipped with Saab's XWD all-wheel drive system. Jonsson also indicated that Saab is considering a 9-1 model to compete against the BMW 1-series and Audi's upcoming A1. Although Saab is taking a serious look at the small car market, nothing has been confirmed.

What you see on a daily basis is my routine. [/ego]

CPO Eldorado. Oh. Those? I mean Accord. As others said, the Altima has funny angles and these two oddly placed chrome strips sitting alone on the grille.

In all seriousness, I know I'm going to miss you being around so much. No question you're an asset here in more ways than one. :AH-HA_wink:

No AIM? You suck...and you're going to make me download MSN.

That was awesome.

Someone needs to donk it in acid.

Flybrian's Random Car Showcase Presents... The 1969 Buick Century Cruiser Through boredom and...well, just boredom, I bring you the fourth in likely many little 'diaries' of a completely random car. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking back, the most engaging aspect of Detroit's golden age was not horsepower, luxury, or even styling. It was the fanciful imagination that guided designers and dreamers in producing their concept cars. The term of the day, however, was dream car and appropriately so. This was a time was technology flowed from the labs into our lives with such ease and successive rapidity that the future seemed but a few short years away. And since our wildest dreams of the decade before was reality today, why not dream real big? So we did. And so did Detroit. The Buick Century Cruiser was launched into the public's eyes in 1969. Taking center stage at Buick's traditional showcase venue - New York's Auto Show - the Century Cruiser was showcase of bleeding edge styling and advanced technological concepts. With a look sharing more in common with jet interceptors and missiles of the day than road cars, the knife-creased Century Cruiser featured seating for four in a sleek two-door bodyshell with a one-piece canopy 'door'. Finlike protrusions are likely more for show than true aerodynamics, but concealed wheels and tires would help it cut through the air. A hot-wire-molded single piece glass windscreen (a process later used on the Toronado XSR) provided excellent visibility...at least out of three sides. There was no backlight. The rear luggage compartment was electric and could be raised or lowered to ease in loading. The inside of the Century Cruiser also bore much resemblence to contemporary jet aircraft with buttons, knobs, dials, and screens mounted overhead, in between the seats, and on the front console. A TV screen showed a panoramic view of the road behind you via CCTV cameras. Designed to drive on the fully-automated highways of tomorrow (where have we heard that before??), manual control was handled by pistol grips mounted in the armrests. Steering was accomplished by moving one or both backwards or forwards; squeezing the grips would accelerate the car while releasing pressure slows it down. Upon entering tomorrow's glorious computerized superhighway, the driver turned control over to the state-of-the-art guidance system. Insert a punchcard with a preprogrammed route into the sidewall of the cabin, and the 'Electronic Highway Center' takes over driving for you until you exit the highway. You can follow along on a strip map projected onto a screen in front console, enjoy the scenary, or - as GM put it in a print ad - "catch up on your reading" and "twiddle your thumbs." Sound fanciful? It was, though many individual innovations alluded to in the Century Cruiser exist today. Moving map GPS displays provided continuous route information. GM's satellite-based OnStar telematics system is a form of 'highway control,' providing assistance to drivers. Rear-mounted cameras help large vehicles park. Yet somehow the reality of these forward-looking innovations lack the punch and panache of the Century Cruiser. Perhaps because the Century Cruiser was penned and engineered in a time where optimism in the American auto industry reigned supreme. But by the time it debuted, the dream cars' golden age was waning. Vietnam, Arab Oil Embargo, Watergate, and the Japanese. The focus was no longer on dreaming the future; it was on preserving a place in the present. Perhaps one day soon we'll dream up big things again. But until then, we can look back on cars like the Century Cruiser and imagine ourselves what the future could very possibly be. Sidenote: GM's advertising remarked, "You can't buy a Century Cruiser today..." but you can. Even today you can. Around the time of the real car's debut, Hasbro made a plastic replica as part of its Amaze-A-Matics series of cars. These neat little toys were designed to drive by itself around a route set up with cones. Unlike bumper or infrared toys that behave similarly today, these cars' routes were preprogrammed into a punch card inserted into the rear. The electronics inside read the card, and drove the card's route. Interestingly, this is identical in concept to the 1:1 scale's automated driving mode. You can read a little more about the Amaze-A-Matic Century Cruiser here at Toy Room Collectibles or try to pick one up yourself on eBay. I know I'll be trying to! **--If you have a suggestion for Random Car Showcase, feel free to PM me!--**

No. Its actually just ugly crap.

Dayton Andrews Chrysler has had one for two and a half weeks. Saw a truck with three Caravans heading to Autoway Dodge. And there's a T&C sitting outside of Enterprise as of last night.

Toyota Has One-Truck Mind Regarding Diesel Date posted: 09-13-2007 | Link to Original Article @ Edmunds NEW YORK — Fugheddabout diesel engines for anything other than the Tundra pickup, says Toyota Motor Executive Vice President Kazuo Okamoto, who's in charge of, among other things, Toyota's Vehicle Engineering Group. This, despite assertive plans by rivals Honda and Nissan to deploy diesel-powered variants of their mainstream Maxima (2009) and Accord (2010) sedans. If it is to launch diesel engines for the U.S., the only product that appears to make a business case is the Tundra, said Toyota executives. Toyota had long been known to be interested in launching a diesel-powered Tundra to compete with highly profitable, heavy-duty versions of Detroit Three pickups, but some sources now suggest Toyota may be reassessing those plans. Nonetheless, Toyota says development of a diesel-powered Tundra is "completed." Toyota says given the strict emissions regulations in the U.S., the company doesn't like the prospects for diesel-powered mainstream vehicles because the emissions systems that will be required to make diesels emissions-compliant in all 50 states will add plenty of cost to those vehicles. A cost, Toyota thinks, customers may not be willing to bear. Also a factor, no doubt: the enormous investment Toyota has in hybrid-electric vehicle technology. "We are really focused on the hybrid," for the U.S. passenger-car market, said Okamoto at a presentation here for journalists and the financial community. He added, however, that Toyota will watch the situation carefully in the event that customer tastes "shift." Or, perhaps, if Honda and Nissan start selling a bunch of diesel Accords and Maximas? What this means to you: If you want a diesel-powered car in the next couple of years, you don't have to bother looking at the Toyota store.

GM To Union: Trust Us Andrew Farrell | 09.13.07, 12:29 PM ET | Link to Original Article @ Forbes With a key deadline looming on labor negotiations, investors were optimistic that General Motors would soon be able to create a new health care trust for its workers and save billions of dollars. Shares of General Motors rose $1.93, or 6.4%, to $32.18, after Citi analyst Itay Michaeli said they would be worth much more if GM could hammer out a favorable labor deal. Michaeli initiated coverage of General Motors with a "buy" rating on Thursday. GM, Ford Motor, and Chrysler are in round-the-clock negotiations with the United Auto Workers Union, which represents about 180,000 workers whose labor contracts expire Friday. A sticking point is healthcare. According to Michaeli, healthcare liabilities add over $1,000 to the cost of each vehicle made by General Motors. Detroit auto makers want to trim these expenses to better compete with foreign rivals, but workers are reluctant to give up benefits as their medical costs skyrocket. Michaeli said General Motors shares could be worth $57 if the company and the UAW agreed to a type of health care trust fund called a voluntary employee beneficiary association, or VEBA. Such a fund could save General Motors billions of dollars in retiree costs. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger has agreed in principle to the trust, according to a report in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, and the two sides are now haggling over the amount of money that the auto makers will front. Hopes of a cost-saving deal also rallied Ford shares on Thursday. The stock gained 34 cents, or 4.5%, to $7.84. Chrysler is owned by private equity firm Cerberus.

PLUG-IN AND GO GM says Saturn electric Vue may be on the road by '09 September 13, 2007 | BY MARK PHELAN | Link to Original Article @ Detroit Free Press FRANKFURT, Germany -- Saturn will put General Motors Corp.'s first plug-in hybrid -- a Vue compact SUV that can run up to 10 miles solely on electricity and switch to an engine for longer trips -- on the road "very quickly," brand general manager Jill Lajdziak said Wednesday. "In 2009-ish," Lajdziak said. Saturn showed its latest production model, the European engineered, designed and built Astra compact to journalists Wednesday near the Frankfurt Auto Show. Other automakers are working on plug-ins, but that timetable gives Saturn at least a fighting chance to give GM the high ground in the battle for environmental leadership and the huge PR benefits that go with it. It also would be a major win in GM's fight to reclaim the mantle of technical leadership it held for decades. The Vue plug-in will become the third hybrid version of the popular Vue SUV. It will combine lithium-ion batteries and GM's innovative two-mode hybrid system with the ability to recharge from 110-volt household current. Saturn already sells what it calls a mild hybrid version of the Vue that uses electric power to reduce fuel consumption. The Vue plug-in will use different technology from the electric drive powertrain GM is developing for the Chevrolet Volt. Another hybrid using the first generation of GM's powerful two-mode system is to go on sale in the second quarter of 2008. The two-mode system debuts later this fall in the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs. The stylish and sporty Astra compact hatchback is to go on sale in the United States and Canada late this year. "It's so appropriate the first phase of our revitalization comes with the kind of car Saturn first built," Lajdziak said of the brand GM created to win small-car buyers away from foreign brands. "We are finally fulfilling the promise of Saturn, marrying beautiful products to a great dealership experience." The brand will have grown to an unprecedented five models when the Astra arrives, and it has access to every model coming from GM's German Opel brand, Lajdziak said. The engineering link with Opel means Saturn might boost its environmental credentials further by offering the new generation of fuel-efficient European diesel engines in the United States, Lajdziak added. "It's a natural for us to consider diesel," she said of the engines, which typically use 30% less fuel and produce 30% less carbon dioxide than gasoline engines. Diesels account for more than half of new car sales in Europe, and Opel builds a wide range of them, including several used in the Astra. Saturn is conducting research to see if its target buyers want diesels. Beyond that, the decision will come down to evaluating the cost of technology to meet stringent U.S. emissions standards. Saturn is also in the midst of remodeling its 500-odd sales outlets in the United States and Canada. Saturn of Warren is the first to sport the face-lift, which was designed to help the brand with the upscale customers new models like the Sky roadster and Outlook SUV are drawing. "Our retailers know we have to raise the brand's image, and they're working with us," Lajdziak said. "If somebody's not interested in expanding with us, they've got to make other plans." The moves sit well with Joe Serra, president of Serra Automotive, which includes Saturn of Southfield and Saturn of Clarkston. "Many of us retailers need to adjust, improve, increase the size of our facilities to properly service and sell" Saturn's "current product portfolio," Serra said. "The picture we built to years back has changed, and fortunately for us Saturn retailers, it has changed in a positive way; thus we need to change-improve our facilities." If everything goes really well, the picture will be as pretty as the Astra I drove through the rolling wine country surrounding Frankfurt. It is virtually identical to the car that won my heart in a long test in Germany, Switzerland and Austria earlier this year. The new body-color bumpers meet U.S. crash standards without weakening the muscular design's appeal, and the addition of a dove gray headliner and matte chrome trim make the interior a brighter and more welcoming space. The crisp steering and road-hugging suspension still have their European élan, and the addition of a single cupholder in a less than ideal spot is the sole obvious adaptation to the Astra's new environment in the land of Starbucks and the home of the Big Gulp. I wish the powerful and fuel-efficient turbo diesel that powered the Astra I tested earlier this year were coming to the United States, but for the moment we'll have to make do with a 138-horsepower 1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine. That powerplant should at least match the fuel economy of cars like the Honda Civic and Nissan Sentra. Excluding destination charges, prices for the 2008 Saturn Astra hatchback will start at $15,375 for the four-door model. The even more attractive two-door will carry a base price of $17,875.

The only real bad name on that list was Probe. I mean, who wants a probe? Maybe Ocn, but not me.

Yeah, voting ended on the last day of entries. Thanks for the help anyway, guys... ...and Yellow Dart & Toesuf...keep hoping.

She's entering this thing to win a prize and/or scholarship and she need people to vote on her entires. The contest centers around creating artwork for the U.S./Mexico border wall a la the Berlin Wall (the western side at least!). Anyone, if you could click these four and vote for her, that would be super-duper. Thanks! Entry #1 Entry #2 Entry #3 Entry #4 I made Entry #4, btw. P.S. You can vote for them all...you don't have to choose. In fact, please vote for them all

:rotflmao: God, is there a more baseless argument for your claims here?

GM Speeds ’09 Vibe to Meet Matrix Timetable By James M. Amend | Link to Original Article @ WardsAuto General Motors Corp. will accelerate production of its redesigned ’09 Pontiac Vibe by at least two months, a move meant to satisfy an advanced timetable for the ’09 Toyota Matrix and growing consumer demand for choices in the upper-small car segment. The 6-year-old Vibe and Matrix share a common platform. The Vibe is built at New United Motor Mfg. Inc., a Fremont, CA-based facility operated jointly by GM and Toyota Motor Corp. The Matrix is produced at Toyota’s Cambridge, ON, Canada, plant. Toyota wants to update the Matrix because it has attracted families, rather than younger buyers the auto maker originally sought. “The styling does not have the sense of motion about it,” says Mike O’Brien, head of product planning for Toyota Motor Co. USA, during a recent industry event in Michigan. “It’s a bit boxy. And it just does not have the appeal to young people that we had hoped for.” In speeding the Matrix redo, production of the ’09 Vibe now will begin in first-quarter 2008, ahead of a typical NUMMI production turnover in mid-second quarter. “They are sister vehicles, so the timing that would affect one vehicle would affect the other,” a GM spokesman tells Ward’s. In GM’s case, the earlier the redesigned hatchback arrives the better. More fresh choices in its fuel-sipping small-car portfolio could help diversify its mix. Vincent Brown, a sales associate at Inland Valley Pontiac-GMC-Buick in San Bernardino, CA, likes the idea of a new Vibe arriving early but also hopes the redesign distances the Pontiac model from the Matrix. “The Vibe and Matrix look way too similar,” he says. While the current Vibe achieves a thrifty 33 mpg (7 L/100 km) on the highway, its model range also has shrunk to just a single variant after GM discontinued all-wheel-drive and GT variants with the ’07 edition. GM says those models likely will return with the redesign, although given the Vibe’s fuel efficiency, plans do not include a hybrid.

Rumormill: China Automobile almost kicked out of Frankfurt show? Sep 12th 2007 3:35PM | Alex Nunez | Link to Original Article @ Autoblog According to UK-based media service Headline Auto, one of the hot rumors flying around the Auto Messe in Frankfurt earlier this morning was that China Automobile, the German importer for Chinese automaker Shuanghuan, was going to get booted out of the exhibit hall. The controversy stems from some bad blood brewing between Shuanghuan and the mainstream manufacturers whose designs it blatantly, unashamedly copies. On display in Frankfurt are the Shuanghuan UFO and CEO SUVs. UFO is a Toyota RAV4 clone, and CEO is a 95% copy of the BMW X5. (We say 95% because Shuanghuan apparently elected to copycat Mercedes-Benz for the CEO's front end design.) In the end, China Automobile Deutschland got to stay at the show, but Shuanghuan still faces potential trouble ahead, as BMW is considering legal action against the company.

Clicky Note: the kill switch has nothing to do with the ignition.

Been there... Done that... Looked better doing it.

Well, speaking of cars, the Avalon has to die in some way. It truly offers nothing over the Camry or ES except even more comical lines.

Oh, you're talking about the new ones where the license plate doesn't fit right?

I could easily call into question Chrysler committment on quality by allying itself with a Chinese manufacturer, Toyotas clarion call to environmental godliness in light of its poor-mileage trucks and SUVs, or Hyundais claims of offering the 'best' warranty when it offers a myriad of loopholes and processes by which dealers will refuse legitimate claims. Why don't we wait to see solid fleet figures and more importantly where they're going before condemning this as a quasi-treasonous activity (which it isn't). This is the time of year - I believe - where governments also place their largest fleet orders. Also, if the increase in fleet numbers comes from cars like the Grand Prix and '07 Malibu, does it really matter? These cars are on their respective deathbeds anyway, implying that facet of Pontiac or Chevrolet fleeting will end when the cars cease production? if an extra 40k of these fleeted means 40k less G6s, Cobalts, etc. going to daily rental fleets, is that not better?