Automotive

The Detroit Free Press reports that GM has finally chosen a Volt battery supplier from its dueling development partners LG Chem and Conti. But in the interest of squeezing as many "Volt On The Way" headlines into future news cycles, it isn't saying which has been chosen. Both the battery partner and the final look of the production Volt will be previewed by the end of the year, probably whenever some bad news emerges that GM wants the public to ignore. In the meantime, this news means one thing, according to GM auto authoritarian Bob Lutz: "the Volt is real … and test work is progressing nicely." Perhaps not as nicely as Toyota's plug-in Prius though, which just had its delivery date bumped from 2010 to 2009. (Read the full post about ‘Volt Birth Watch 80: One Tough Cell’…)

Well, here it is, courtesy of LeftLane News. Maybe. The Chevy electric - gas plug-in hybrid sure doesn't look like the show car that GM's been advertising (as if you could go down and buy one). On the other hand, the Volt shown here isn't a Malibu-a-like, which is a good thing. (Unless you ascribe to Ye Olde German "Different Length of Sausages" School of Model Design.) On the other other hand, the Volt pictured lacks the Toyota Prius' instantly identifiable "quirkiness" and attendant green cred. In fact, in this guise, the Volt's front end shares more than a little gestalt with the current Ford Fusion. So, over to you, our Best and Brightest. (Read the full post about ‘Volt Birth Watch 79: Production Volt Spied on Transformers Set’…)

OK, so this isn't specifically about cars, but it could have ramifications for anyone who uses gasoline. Cars.com reports small-engine mechanics around the country are reporting an increase in damage in boat, lawnmower, chainsaw and other small engines. The culprit? They're saying it's the ethanol blended into gasoline. Apparantly it creates a gummy substance that "clogs valves and causes small metal parts to rust, destroying carburetors and other crucial components". The bad thing is, even if you drain the tank, this residue remains behind and does its damage. (Read the full post about ‘Ethanol May be Harmful to Your Lawnmower’…)

"As General Motors Corp. showed off its 2009 lineup Thursday," Scott Burgess writes in The Detroit News. "I found myself wondering, 'What's the next Malibu?' So I posed that question to a table full of GM employees during lunch at the automaker's annual event to roll out coming models for the media. The group looked at one another, stammered, and could not offer anything definitive." Wow, a cheerleader embarasses the football team? Well, not exactly. Despite Voltmania and Camarophilia, Burgess suddenly adopts the TTAC-standard position of evolution not revolution. (What else can he do?) "While no one at GM's lunch table could name the next Malibu, individually each of them talked about some of the changes being made to many of the vehicles. (Read the full post about ‘DetN’s Burgess: Conflicted on GM’s ’09s’…)

According to the AP [via MLive.com], GM has said "no thanks" to a $56m tax credit and grant package designed to save its Moraine, Ohio SUV plant. Ohio Department of Development spokeswoman Kelly Schlissberg said the state is "disappointed and will continue to look for alternate uses for the plant, which employs about 2,400 workers." The General plans to close the plant by 2010, or sooner, because of "a customer shift to smaller vehicles." In other words, it wazzunt me. MLive.com »   (Read the full post about ‘TTAC Called It: GM Turns Down $56m Tax Credits for SUV Plant’…)

Haven't heard a peep from the green lobby yet on August's sales figures collapse, but I suspect they'll be smugly pleased, even though tens of thousands of jobs are at risk in the car industry. I'd also like to know what mandarins in the Treasury, DfT and trade department, the architects of bountiful anti-car legislation, regulation and initiatives, are really thinking as they watch one of the country's prime income generators struggle away. Is it too much to hope that both officials and greenies might feel at least a twinge of remorse that their actions are helping to depress economic activity and put jobs at risk? Of course it is. (Read the full post about ‘Down another day’…)

The new Honda Insight looks like a regular hatchback. Which is exactly what it should resemble. After all, that’s the Toyota Prius’s greatest strength – it’s thoroughly conventional to drive but just that little bit odd-looking, so that the neighbours know that you’re also trying to save the planet. And Toyota has sold more than a million of them, so it’s no wonder that Honda is aping the formula. All this is in complete contrast to the original Honda Insight, which looked like it had come from another planet when it landed in 1999. I spent quite a bit of time driving one back then and it was like nothing else: lightweight, two seats, odd to drive and, of course, it looked like nothing else on the road – complete with its faired-in rear wheels to improve aerodynamics. (Read the full post about ‘Hybrid renaissance’…)

Let's say you manage a fleet of vehicles, and your bosses want it updated. "Make it cleaner," they say, "more efficient." There any number of hucksters (and their hard-won tax breaks) out there who will try to convince you that ethanol is cheaper and sends the right PR message. What they won't tell you (until it's too late) is that converting to E85 costs money and reduces efficiency. Converting to hybrids will come with a sphincter-clenching price tag, if you can even find enough Priora for sale. So what's a fleet manager to do? Invest in education. A Ford-sponsored study at Green Car Congress shows that lessons in eco-driving techniques can bring down fleet fuel economy by as much as 26 percent. (Read the full post about ‘Fleets Of Efficiency’…)

There is no greater condemnation of an industry's lack of competitive spirit than seeing its executives hanging around political conventions. Their sudden interest in the future direction of America sends a single resounding message: we have failed on our merits and our misery demands company. And while Detroit snuggles up to Obama, courtesy of McCain's semi-stand against a D2.8 bailout, the E85 lobby gets to represent the failures of America's auto and energy businesses at the Republican convention in Minneapolis. Of course, it helps that Minnesota is a standard-bearer for ethanol, bringing countless millions in pork to the land of a thousand lakes. (Read the full post about ‘E85 Boondoggle of the Day: Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail’…)

Tropical Storm Gustav, which some experts say will be the worst Gulf of Mexico hurricane since Katrina, is projected to hit the Louisiana Gulf Coast early next week. After the Katrina fiasco, you can count on three things: 1. Residents of New Orleans will evacuate when they're told to; 2. FEMA will be on full alert; and 3. Gasoline prices will go up. Bloomberg reports Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc and ConocoPhillips are already cutting production and evacuating workers from their off-shore platforms along the Louisiana coast. If Gustav follows the predicted path (there's a 70-75 percent likelihood it will), it could halt production of 1.2m barrels of crude per day. (Read the full post about ‘Gustav Already Affecting Oil Prices’…)