sirmijail

Smug Vee Dub

2010-12-14T19:40:00.000-08:00

I saw this guy, "GAS H8R" on the road the other day. I suppose he removed the TDI badges from his Golf.

Nissan's Naughty Nav

2010-12-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

Nissan's new Nav system will help you find "Adult Entertainment" locations, according to a review by Family Car Review. It's debuting in the new 2011 Nissan Quest minivan.

Good job Nissan. Way to know your market.

Top 10 Recalls of 2010

2010-12-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Car And Driver, my favorite car enthusiast magazine, has an nice one-page article in this month's issue summarizing graphically the top 10 recalls of 2010. Leading the pack was Toyota, with 5 of the top 10 recalls. Second was GM, with 2, and Honda with 2. Nissan had 1 recall in the top 10.

Congratulations to Ford, Chrysler, VW, and Hyundai for not making this top 10 list.

Tangled

2010-12-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

I went with the kids to see Tangled over the weekend. It was excellent, probably the best non-Pixar Disney movie in recent history.

I experienced 3D for the first time, and had mixed feelings. On one hand, it worked very well in many scenes. It seemed to break down a bit when the effect was used to try to make objects look very close to the audience. And the 3D version of the Justin Bieber biopic preview... ugh, nauseating.

It was neat. Maybe even worth an extra $3, for the right movie. But not for Justin Bieber.

Rumor: Honda Killing Element

2010-12-03T06:31:00.000-08:00

There is a rumor that Honda is going to announce the end of the Element, the quirky 3 1/2 door bread van, likely due to slow sales. It's too bad, I was impressed with Honda for bringing out such a quirky and utilitarian vehicle, which was basically a large box on wheels. The Element, though much larger than the Scion xB and Nissan Cube, paved the way for the quirky little box cars.

I'm not sure what Honda is thinking lately, in terms of design. Some of its designs are unique and interesting, like the now aging Civic, or the new CR-Z. But Honda has been flirting too much with ugly, witness Acura's ugly chrome mug, or the bizarre Odyssey lightning bolt zig-zag belt line.

Bumper Compatibility: Not There Yet

2010-12-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

IIHS, the organization that is funded by the auto insurance industry, issued a report about continuing poor comparability between small SUV and car bumpers. You can read it here.

The bottom line is, automakers have not yet redesigned their small SUVs to have bumper heights that are compatible with their cars. The result is expensive low speed collisions between small SUVs and cars, which necessarily drive up insurance costs to the consumer.

How To Move Your Garmin Favorites

2010-11-26T07:59:00.000-08:00

Garmin GPSs store your favorites in a file called Current.gpx, in the folder X:\GPX\.

So say you got a new GPS, and want to copy over your collection of favorite locations.

Connect your old GPS via USB to your computer. It should show up as a new drive.

Copy the file Current.gpx to your computer, and rename it to somenthing else, e.g. TEMP.gpx.

Then plug in your new Garmin, and copy the TEMP.gpx file to the \GPX\ folder.

Restart the Garmin. It should merge your favorites into its Current.gpx file.

GM Ad: "We All Fall Down"

2010-11-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

This is a touching ad, no doubt about it.

However, GM isn't an individual. It is a huge company with hundreds of executives at the top, steering the boat.

GM isn't a boxer that took a hard punch by a powerful opponent.

GM whittled itself down, year after year, making bad decision after bad decision. And GM didn't entirely pick itself up... it required a major reorganization, financial destruction, and outside management.

That is the key thing. GM must remember, as an organization, how they went from largest automaker in the world to bankrupt. They need to have the "lessons learned" burned into the very DNA of their leadership culture.

I'm glad GM is back on track, for numerous reasons. A failure of GM would have been catastrophic not just to the domestic auto industry, but to the entire economy.

They had better stay on top of the game now, because I don't think the American public will have the will to save them again.

GM Logo Flip-Flop

2010-11-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

For a while, GM insisted on linking all of its brands together by putting a little silver GM square logo on each vehicle, be it a Daewoo Chevrolet or a Cadillac. Now, the old GM-in-a-blue-square logo is hard to find--it is off of the RenCen, and missing from most of GM's web pages.

One place it appears to live on is at the GM fleet web site, here: http://www.gmfleet.com/

I suppose if you go bankrupt, and then are reborn as a new, lean company, you may want to tinker with your logo. And if you are GM, you want to emphasize each brand individually, instead of reminding people that their Cadillac has something in common with a Daewoo. But the Blue Square dates back to 1964 according to one source I found, and logos should not be thrown around lightly. Remember how Ford was mocked for changing its top line logo from the blue oval to the company name in script?

New GM Website

2010-11-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

GM has updated its web site with a neat intro video showing off GM's engineering prowess. It's a great video, with a nice tech-rock soundtrack, check it out. http://www.gm.com

.GOV Soaking Up Hybrid Capacity

2010-11-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

According to Bloomberg, Obama's administration has purchased 25% of domestic hybrid production. In fact, it appears that Obama was the biggest customer for the Malibu mild hybrid, which was a market flop.

The government purchased about 64 percent of GM's Chevy Malibu hybrid models and 29 percent of all Ford Fusion hybrids manufactured since Obama took office in 2009, the data show. GM stopped making the Malibu hybrid in 2009 after lack of consumer demand.

Hybrid demand is weak because of relatively reasonable gas prices, so the U.S. government is helping to keep hybrid capacity utilized by buying for the federal fleet. This will help the taxpayer in the long run, by using less fuel, but the cost up front is significant.

Interestingly, Bloomberg reports that the average purchase price was about $5,300 under MSRP. GIven that hybrids tend to be a loss leader or break-even product to begin with, this program probably didn't help Ford and GM make much money.

For the hybrid business to prosper and evolve, two things need to happen, and soon: batteries need to be cheaper, and gas prices need to be higher. The consumer has proven that he is primarily cost driven.

Fiat's Nero

2010-11-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

I heard on John McElroy's automotive news show, Autoline Detroit, that Fiat will use Italian names for its colors in its marketing and ordering materials. For example, red will be called rosso and black will be nero. (Que Rome burning jokes)

What I don't understand then is why Fiat is calling the 500 "Five Hundred" and not "Cinquecento", which is its proper Italian name. Some Americans many associate a recent large sedan by Ford with "Five Hundred". Maybe the problem is teaching us dumb Americans how to say Cinquecento, although it isn't that hard once you hear it. It sounds like "chink-wuh-chento" (not "sink-wuh-sento"). Fiat could hire some Italian babe with full lips to show us how it is done.

If you are going to go Italian, I say, go all in. Call it Cinquecento.

Ford Explorer Smashing "Priceless Ming Vases"

2010-11-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

Part of Ford's online social marketing campaign for the new Explorer is a series of short and amusing YouTube videos which answer a question about some feature of the vehicle.

I thought this one was funny.

iPod Touch Bug: Alarm

2010-11-13T19:44:00.000-08:00

Well so much for the illusion of Apple's "it just works". I found a bug in iOS 4.1 in, of all things, the built in Alarm app.

After the end of daylight savings time, my alarm that was set for 6:00 AM now triggers at 7:00 AM, even though the click is set to 6:00 and the alarm is set to 6:00!

Happy Veterans Day

2010-11-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

Did you know there is only one surviving American veteran of WWI? Read Frank Buckle's fascinating story here.

Thank you to our military veterans. You fought, and many of you were wounded, many of you lost friends, because the country asked you for service. Our freedoms and comforts rest on your shoulders.

GE: Eating Up EV Tax Credits

2010-11-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

Is there a downside to the public to GE's announcement that it will buy 25,000 EVs, including 12,000 Chevrolet Volts?

The tax credit for EVs phases out after a manufacturer sells 200,000 of them. From Public Law 111-5, Sections 1141-1144

`(2) PHASEOUT PERIOD- For purposes of this subsection, the phaseout period is the period beginning with the second calendar quarter following the calendar quarter which includes the first date on which the number of new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles manufactured by the manufacturer of the vehicle referred to in paragraph (1) sold for use in the United States after December 31, 2009, is at least 200,000. By gobbling up EVs, GE certainly helps to jump-start the industry, but they also gobble up future tax credits that consumers would have gotten, unless GE opts to forego the EV tax credit. Which would be bad business.

E15: Big OIl Fights Back

2010-11-10T14:57:00.000-08:00

The American Petroleum Institute has filed a lawsuit to block the EPA's waiver allowing E15 in late model (post 2007) vehicles, on the grounds that the potential harmful effects from E15 have not been fully studied.

I agree with the API, at the heart of it. If E15 is sold alongside E10, some customers may try to use it in older vehicles, and they could have problems.

However, on the practical side, I don't see E15 going anywhere in this piecemeal permitting approach. For E15 to have any impact, it will have to be mandated, not just permitted. And I doubt it will be mandated until it has been proven safe for older vehicles. Considering that the average age of cars on the road in the U.S. is around 10 years or so, to safely cover most used cars EPA needs to test back well before 2001 model year. I don't have the data (R.L. Polk, where are you?) but I suspect you would have to go back to like 1995 to cover 95% of the vehicles on the road.

On the commercial side, gas station owners are not about to spend $20,000 per pump to upgrade to E15 certified pumps. According to this NY Times piece, unless there is a mandate, gas stations are not going to be switching over.

The third option for service station owners is simply not to sell E15, which Mr. Eichberger said seemed likely. "It is an authorization without a mandate," he said. "There is no retailer out there who has to sell this product."

E15 will remain mostly a symbolic gesture for the near future. And if your favorite station does put up signs warning you that they are selling E15, make sure you don't put it in your older car, boat, 4 wheeler, or lawnmower.

Mulally Crushes Jobs

2010-11-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

Steve Jobs, that is. Amazing times we live in. Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, has crushed Apple's Steve Jobs in the Fortune magazine Business Person Of The Year internet poll, 96% to 4%. Link here.

Mahindra Update -- Still On Track?

2010-11-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

I just got this email from Global Vehicles regarding Mahindra. It doesn't mention the litigation at all, and seems to blame domestic Indian market demand for the delay to U.S. introduction. Huh?

Good Morning Mahindra Truck Fans,
Congratulations. You are part of over 30,000 signed up to be the first to experience the hardworking Mahindra trucks.

I know you are wondering when you will have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one of these amazing, authentic, robust, fuel-efficient trucks at a Mahindra dealer near you. While I cannot give you a firm answer on timing, I can tell you in my estimation, trucks will arrive in the spring of 2011.

Mahindra has applied for and received their EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) certificate, which means the vehicles have passed emission requirements. They also filed with (NHTSA) National Highway Safety Administration, which handles US standards for safety.

With these hurdles completed, it would seem production is imminent, but other factors may hinder the US launch. India's car sales are on a dramatic trajectory upward. The sales pace combined with an industry wide parts shortage is impacting home market sales, which will have an affect on the United States introduction.

In closing, I know each of you anxiously await the arrival of the Mahindra trucks, and I am confident that you will see a launch announcement in the next few months.

If you haven't seen the Specsheet on the trucks yet, please click on the link below to see it.

Click here to view Specsheet

Or copy and place the following into your browser:

http://mahindrana.com/pdf/specsheet.pdf

Regards,

John A. Perez
CEO
Global Vehicles USA, Inc.
1720 Windward Concourse
Suite 400
Alpharetta, GA 30005

www.mahindraNA.com

They Want Trucks!

2010-11-05T05:48:00.000-07:00

Well, not just trucky trucks, they also want crossovers. But still, Americans are not buying increasing numbers of small cars, which may force some very interesting discussions in Sacramento and Washington. From AP:

The category – known as light-duty trucks – made up 54 percent of all new U.S. vehicle sales last month, compared with 46 percent for cars, according to industry tracker J.D. Power and Associates. It's the biggest difference since December 2005, when trucks accounted for 56 percent of sales.

Which continues to show that Americans want large cars and cheap gas--not small, fuel efficient cars. If Washington forces the automakers to push small cars in a market that doesn't want them, there will be a strong political backlash.

Review: Dyson DC31 Animal Vac

2010-11-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Dyson company recently sent me a Dyson DC31 Animal vacuum to review, as part of "Clean Your Garage Day", a made-up holiday dedicated to cleaning up garages.

The DC31 is a handheld vacuum with a 22V Li-on battery. It has Dyson's signature industrial/colorful design, and comes with a motorized brush attachment. It has a high power button on the back, which increases the suction but reduces run time. The DC31 Animal has an attractive metallic purple and gunmetal color scheme, with controls clearly marked with red.

The DC31 takes about 3 hours to charge, and will run for about 10 minutes in normal mode without the motorized brush, and about 6 minutes in high output mode. Using the brush probably costs some run time, but I didn't bother to measure it.

I used the DC31 to vacuum out my very crummy car. It didn't last long enough to do the front and back halves, I was only able to vacuum the (very dirty) front floor and seats before the battery ran out. That is in part because I was using the high suction mode, and I also used the motorized brush to get some stubborn crumbs out of the seat cushions. As we always say in this business, your mileage may vary. While it lasted, it did quite a good job.

I would have liked if Dyson had a plug-in mode, to allow the machine to run off of a car's 12v power supply through the accessory plug. Perhaps a module which replaces the battery, and includes a DC step-up transformer to generate the needed 20v for the motor? There also isn't an easy way to recharge the unit in a vehicle, you would need a DC to AC transformer to do it.

The vac is not very small, but it isn't terribly heavy, and with the

battery well balanced at the end of the pistol grip. I give the ergonomics a mixed grade, it is natural to hold and point, very much like a cordless drill, but the long overall length means that it is ungainly to maneuver in tight spaces, unlike a more traditional vacuum with a flexible hose.

The Dyson uses what they call a "digital motor", which from what I can tell is a high speed brushless DC motor, to spin the impeller and create the vacuum. It has a built in digital controller. It is smooth, with very little vibration, but it is quite loud, making a high pitched whine and whistle sounding similar to a cordless drill. I found the noise to be annoying because of its high pitch.

The other main issue I have with the Dyson DC31 is that it is expensive. Retail price is around $270, or about what you would pay for a good quality cordless drill. Dyson argues that they are offering a premium product, and I don't disagree--but not everyone is ready for a hand vac that has the Apple treatment, innovation at a high price.

Pros:

Excellent suction for the size
Nice motorized brush attachment
Easy to empty
Good ergonomics
Dyson's hallmark design
Long 2-year warranty

Cons:

No wall-mount feature
No way run off of vehicle power or recharge in vehicle.
3.5hrs of charging only gets you 10min of runtime
Trigger must be held down continuously, no way to keep it running
Can be awkward to maneuver in tight spaces
High pitched whistling sound
Expensive

In conclusion, the Dyson DC31 makes a very good car vacuum if you are quick about your cleaning, and would like to own a premium product. It makes quick work of small, dirty jobs.

Engineering School Q&A

2010-11-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

A student emailed me asking about how to go about getting into the automotive engineering business. Here are my answers.

I stumbled across your blog through an internet search and found your writing to be very interesting. I am a 24-year-old Mechanical Engineering student, and I have plans to go into Automotive Engineering.

Some advice on the best way to become an Automotive Engineer would be very helpful. I spent 6 years out of highchool as a diesel/auto technician before going back to school. Is this going to be a help for me as an engineer later on?

It depends. If you are going into part of the business that is service related, such as service and diagnostics (the guys who write service manuals, develop procedures, etc.) this is very valuable experience. And it is valuable in general if you are going to be involved in hands-on vehicle work.

Is there any drafting software I can get to experement with on my own time in order to put me ahead of the game later on?

Again, it depends what you are going into. If you are going to be a designer, or a release engineer who releases parts that someone else has designed, CAD is very useful. If you aren't going to be dealing with part design as much, for example you are in the vehicle testing side of things, it is less useful. The concepts among different CAD programs are probably similar, so I wouldn't sweat it too much--it is the thinking in 3D, and the craft of drawing up designs which matters. You can get a cheap copy of TurboCAD and go to town.

And most importantly: I've almost finished up my basic courses and plan to transfer to a 4-year university to finish my education. What qualities do I need to look for in an engineering program?

Look for engineering programs that have relationships with industry. You want to get into an internship, or co-op type situation if you can. This will give you invaluable experience and may line you up for a job later, if they like you. Look for schools that have good placement records--how many students go on to get jobs in their field? Look for schools that offer hands-on activities such as Formula SAE or similar competitions. Look for schools that have lab facilities for engineers where they can actually build and test things.

How much does the university matter to prospective employers?

Not super much. I have met brilliant engineers from smaller, less exclusive schools. I have also met idiots from places like Cornell. If you go to a decent school which has a good reputation in industry, and you do well, you will be looked at.

Some other advice. If you can hook up with an engineering professor who is running a lab and working on neat stuff, especially if it is grant funded neat stuff like military research, do so. Being on a project, doing real work, is always a plus.

Volt: Quicker With Gas

2010-11-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

Edmunds did a track test on the Chevy Volt. One interesting result is that the Volt is nearly 1s faster from 0-75mph when using the gasoline range extender than in pure EV mode. Hmmm... could it be because some gasoline torque is going to the wheels? Just asking.

The AutoExec Wheelmate Desk on Amazon

2010-10-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

Heh. Check out the user photos here.

Review: Scosche motorMOUTH II Bluetooth

2010-10-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

I was recently given a Scosche motorMOUTH II (model BTAXS)

bluetooth gadget to try out.*

The motorMOUTH II is an ingenious idea, one of those "why didn't they think of it sooner!" type things. It is basically a bluetooth headset combined with a stereo mini-jack. Instead of sticking it in your year (that would really hurt) you plut it into your car's aux input. It plays the audio from your phone call, or stereo audio via A2DP, through your car's sound system.

I have been using the gadget for a few days, and I think it is worth buying. If your phone rings, you just change your input to AUX, and press the button on the side to answer the call. You can also use the button hang up, redial, and voice dial (if your phone supports it). It isn't large or obtrusive, and while I didn't care for the shiny plastic microphone end, it isn't ugly. Since it can be plugged directly into a mini stereo jack, it can be installed without wires trailing all over.

Inbound sound quality is reasonably good. Streaming music from my iPod was decent, but not as good as a direct USB connection. I did find that the volume level was a little low, but I was able to compensate it on my head unit by increasing the gain on the AUX input. People I called on the unit told me that I sounded reasonably clear, but occasionally a little "robotic" or "tinny", which suggests that a high level of compression and noise cancellation is going on. My callers were able to understand me even with the car moving at highway speeds, and I didn't have to shout.

The design of this unit suggests an interesting unintended use. If you were to plug this unit into the input jack on your PC sound card, or another recording device, you could easily record telephone conversations, conference calls, or other audio streams that come through your bluetooth connection.

Pros:

Reasonably good incoming audio and A2DP sound quality
Good battery life
Plugs into your AUX port directly
Easy to use (like a bluetooth headphone)
Useful accessories included, such as Y adapter, extension cable, dash mount
Compact

Cons:

Unit resets when connected to power and drops bluetooth link temporarily.
Non-standard power connector, should be micro or mini USB
Outgoing sound quality mixed
You may need to increase your AUX volume

Overall, I think this is a great gadget, and I would buy one. It is more convenient than a stand-alone bluetooth speaker, or fumbling with an in-ear headset while in the car. And it is quite a bit cheaper, at around $70 (Amazon Link), than an add-on bluetooth module for your factory stereo, which will typically cost around $300.

You can find the PDF manual here.

*Note: a publicist for Scosche sent me a motorMOUTH II to review, I did not purchase this unit with my own money. But I would, because it is good.

Volt Spotting

2010-10-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

I saw this Volt parked in Southfield today. A lovely dark red specimin.

Notice how GM is hiding the exhaust. Can you see a tailpipe? The muffler is that light gray thing on the left side. I can't tell where the tail pipe exits, it is well hidden. I'm not sure about the wisdom of the reverse lamp location, it seems like it would get grimy under there from road grime during the winter months.

Disappearing Drive Problem Solved

2010-10-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have this problem on my Windows 7 desktop PC at home, that from time to time my secondary 1.5TB WD Caviar Green hard drive disappears from the system, as if it wasn't installed at all.

It turns out to be a bug in how Windows wakes up SATA drives--there is a time-out, and apparently some large SATA drives don't wake up fast enough, and are assumed to be missing.

There is a Microsoft hotfix for the problem here.

If your large SATA drive isn't the primary drive, then you won't see the BSOD or error messages, obviously. Instead it will just be disappearing.

Some Double Rainbows

2010-10-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

There were some scattered showers this evening, with patches of blue sky, it was very striking. I caught these gigantic double rainbows with my (weak) cell phone camera.

Shocking News: Americans Won't Pay More For Electric Cars

2010-10-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

From Edmunds Green Car Advisor:

About two out of three Americans say they wouldn't be willing to pay more for an electric car than for a comparable gas-powered vehicle, while just 17 percent said they'd pay more than a $5,000 premium for an EV, Nielsen Co. said, citing its September poll of more than 2,300 people.

I guess the good news is that about 30% of Americans would pay extra for an electric car--but most of them would not pay more $5,000.

To me, the reason is obvious. People are still mostly motivated by costs, not by environmentalism, and the reduced range of an electric vehicle is also a point of concern for the average person. Now, if gas prices would stabilize around $4/gallon, I am sure the numbers would shift.

Mahindra Trucks... Still Dead

2010-10-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Despite some sputtering noises to the contrary, it appears to me that Mahindra's plan to import diesel light trucks into the U.S. is still quite dead.

In addition to jerking around the dealer network and potential customers, and creating ill will, Mahindra has to overcome a legal battle with its original distributor, Global Vehicles.

Also, not to pile on or anything, but while Mahindra may have certified its emissions for the EPA, I have not heard anything about NHTSA certification to FMVSS or crash testing.

E15: Good For Corn Farmers, Confusing For The Rest Of Us

2010-10-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

EPA is announcing today that they are ready to approve E15 (15% ethanol) gasoline blends, but only for 2007 model year and newer vehicles.

That's silly.

Are gas station owners really going to set aside one or two pumps for E15, and label them? Consumers would then be faced with 5 types of gasoline choose from: base, mid-grade, premium, E85, and E15. Some people will be confused and put E15 in pre 2007 vehicles. Others will be confused and shun E15.

EPA should have waited to see if E15 was good for all "modern" vehicles, and then switched E10 to E15, since they are apparently required to enrich the corn farmers and ethanol refiners.

People running E15 should expect to see a small degradation in fuel economy. Since ethanol is about 25% less energy rich than gasoline, switching from E10 to E15 should look like a 1.3% fuel economy reduction, or about 0.4 mpg in a car that averages 27 mpg. Switching from E0 to E15 will cost about 3.8%, or about 1 mpg.

The Semiotics Of Volt: The Meaning Of "Direct"

2010-10-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

GM's clarification about how the Volt powertain has an interesting statement:

There is no direct mechanical connection (fixed gear ratio) between the Volt's extended-range 1.4L engine and the drive wheels.

Note how GM defines "direct mechanical connection" as "fixed gear ratio". However, to a technically minded reader this sounds like semantic squirming.

Here is how it works. There is a planetary gearset. In the Volt, the outer ring is locked by a clutch, and is also connected to the gas engine and generator motor. The generator can be used to recharge the battery, or to produce torque.

When the ring gear is locked ("grounded") to the transaxle case (C1 locked), there is no torque path from the gas engine to the wheels, which are connected to the planetary gears. If C1 is unlocked, C2 and C3 are locked, then torque flows from the gas engine to the wheels.

The point is, there is definitely a mechanical connection from the gasoline engine to the wheels, because the clutches can be commanded to send torque to the ring gear and therefore out to the wheels.

Volt Frenzy, Part III

2010-10-11T22:11:00.000-07:00

After doing some reading around, it does seem like the blogosphere overreacted to the news that the Volt's gasoline engine *gasp* can actually help push the front wheels.

My conclusion is that it doesn't really matter. Since a gasoline engine was put on-oard to charge the battery, the Volt was never going to be a pure electric car. From the very beginning, it was thought to be a "series hybrid" (gas to electric to wheels), but now we see that it is really a "series/parallel hybrid" (gas to electric and gas to wheels).

So what?

If you drive less than about 40 miles per day, it will act more or less like an electric car, carrying around some extra weight in the form of a vestigial gas tank and small engine. If you always remember to plug it in, and never put a drop of gasoline in it, it should work fine*.

If I understand the design correctly, the difference in how the Volt operates and how a Prius operates isn't significant, except that one is tuned to rely more on its electric power path, and the other is tuned to rely more on its gasoline power path. It seems to me that GM could, with software changes, tune the Volt to work like a Prius. They could use the gasoline engine to send more torque to the wheels, and less to charge the huge battery.

*Actually, we need to ask GM... can the Volt run without a drop of gas in it, ever? Or will it annoy the user with warnings and chimes because it wants to run the gas engine from time to time to keep it fresh?

The Telegraph Rumor Was True!

2010-10-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

A few months back, this article in the Telegraph caused a stir among the Volt followers. In it, Andrew English quotes an Opel engineer working on the Ampera (Euro Volt):

"We are considering driving the wheels directly from the petrol engine," says Andreas Voight, an Opel project engineer.

Then, The Car Connection, wanting a clarification, went to GM and asked about this. GM responded with two points:

"We're definitely not making any changes,"

and

Peterson also directly refuted English's claims regarding the Volt's high-speed need for the gasoline engine, stating that during the 40-mile electric-only range, there is no circumstance under which the gasoline range extender will turn on--no matter the power draw or speed. Beyond that range, it supples ample power for the electric motors, whatever the driving conditions.

Now, the "no changes" comment is a bit of a red herring, because the original article was under the misconception that the planetary gearset link between the engine and axles was new. So GM was able to give a correct answer to the wrong question.

But on the more direct question, GM appears to have claimed that the gasoline engine will not be needed in the first 40 miles, and that it supplies "ample power... whatever the conditions".

It is possible that in the testing and calibration optimization work late in the program, that GM's powertrain engineers discovered that they couldn't meet certain requirements (highway acceleration?) unless they blended in some good old fashioned fossil fuel-to-the-rubber torque. In which case, GM wasn't trying to mislead, they just didn't know yet.

Edmunds: "GM Lied",

2010-10-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

Edmunds' Mike Magrath writes, in very strong terms, about the admission in an online interview that yes, the Volt's gasoline engine can send torque to the drive wheels, if needed.

"flat-out lie to make things look better."

This is a devastating PR failure for GM. After the long and massive build-up for the Volt, and the swearing up and down that it was a "range extended EV", this makes GM look really desperate for public approval, and ready to play semantic games to look better than they really are.

A true, pure, "range extended electric vehicle" would have no mechanical torque path from the engine to the wheels, in the minds of the EV boosters and automotive bloggers. To electric car fans, the Volt was just demoted to a plug-in gasoline hybrid, with a large electric reserve, but a PHEV nonetheless. The Volt will now be compared not with the Nissan Leaf, but with the Prius plug-in. And when Ford brings out its electric Focus, it will be able to claim the first new American all-electric sedan.

What GM did was take a similar architecture to the Prius or Ford hybrid, and do two things--add a much larger battery pack, and tune the software so that the car "chooses not to" use its gasoline engine for propulsion except for rare circumstances. So it is a PHEV trained to act more like an EV than an HEV.

The question now is, how will the public react? Will they listen to the bloggers and EV enthusiasts, that Volt is not literally an all electric vehicle, or will they agree with GM, that since it runs almost all the time on only on electric torque, it is effectively a range extended EV?

Sharron Angle on Dearborn

2010-10-10T00:18:00.000-07:00

Sharron Angle, a Republican candidate who is trying to unseat Harry Reid in Nevada, was recorded at a town hall meeting answering a question from a guy concerned about creeping Sharia law in the U.S. The left has latched onto her quote as proof that she's an anti-Muslim bigot and a crackpot.

I thought I would get to the bottom of it, so I downloaded and listened to the audio recording (available here) of the event. The remarks of interest start at about 43:00, "My question is very controversial..."

Here is what she said, if I am understanding the audio clearly:

OK, we're talking about a militant... um... terrorist situation. It... I believe it isn't a wide spead thing, but...
it is enough that we need to address, and we have been addressing it. Um, uh, my thoughts are these, first of all, Dearborn Michigan and Frankfurt Texas are on American soil, and under constitutional law, not sharia law, and I don't know how that happens [noisy] in the United States. It seems to me that there is something fundamentally wrong with allowing a foreign system of law to take even hold in any, um, municipality or government situation in our United States.

Um, as far as the mosque at ground zero, I made my own statement when that was first brought up, I'm a personal property rights defender...

Now, the non-charitable way to read this is that she is agreeing with the questioner that Dearborn is under sharia law. However, she is clearly fumbling around at first, with lots of stuttering and "ums". I think what she may have meant to say is that Sharia is not really an issue ("isn't a wide spread thing", "Dearborn... under constitutional law, not sharia law") but that she is against it ("fundamentally wrong with allowing"). She then goes on to talk at length about the mosque at ground zero, more smoothly, which is probably the question she was prepared for.

An experienced pol would have skipped the stuttering, said "I'm not aware of the situation in Dearborn, but in general, I'm not for allowing sharia law..."

As an occasional visitor to Dearborn, I can attest that there is significant cultural friction between the Muslim population and the other, mostly Christian ethnic groups, but they don't have anything like Sharia yet.

Between Angles stumbling and the poor audio quality, I am not sure you can use this to show she's unhinged. At worst I think it shows someone fumbling for an answer and botching the delivery.

Secretary LaHood, Man Of LaMancha

2010-10-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

Secretary of Transportation Roy Lahood is advocating bans on in vehicle cell phone use, even of the hands-free variety.

I don't think it is going to happen--people like the ability to make hands-free calls.

Much bigger safety gains might be made by training people to follow basic traffic rules, like not driving slow in the left lane, and wearing seatbelts. Approximately 18% of all U.S. drivers still don't regularly wear their seatbelts! (source)

Western Digital Caviar Green (WD10EADS) Failure

2010-09-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

On my desktop PC I have a 1 TB secondary drive which I use for storing photos, videos, music, and etc. I was using a WD Caviar Green model WD10EADS, and it developed a strange behavior. File access slowed to a crawl, with wait times of between 3 and 5 seconds to read from or write to a file. Disk utilization (resource monitor) showd 100%, but the drive wasn't making much noise. According to the SMART check, everything was still within spec. Then I tried to do a sector test on it, using WD's Data Lifeguard tool, and it failed about 2/3 the way through, "Error 8: too many bad sectors".

My theory about what is going on is that the drive controller, for some reason, is not able to "wake up" anymore, and so sometimes when you ask for a file it takes a long time to actually read it or write it, but my data did not appear to be damaged--I was able to copy everything off of the drive, it just took multiple tries for some files.

Thanks to a 3 year warranty, I am able to send the drive back for replacement to Western Digital. I'm a little spooked by the failure though, and I am going to replace the drive with a non-Green model for now. I liked how quiet the Caviar Green was, but it wasn't the fastest drive even when it was working.

Coda's Electric Car Will Cost $44,000...

2010-09-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

...and be serviced at a "a major retail department store chain" (e.g. Sears, or perhaps WalMart) for the electrical propulsion system, or one of several Firestone locations for non-powertrain issues.

Yeah, good luck with that.

They expect people to pay top dollar (more than a Leaf or Volt) for a car that looks like a 2003 Protege. Then, if something breaks, the customer has to decide if needs to be taken to the mall or to Firestone to get fixed?

And if you get in an accident and need body and mechanical work, where do you take it?

My prediction: Leaf, Volt, and later Ford's Focus EV will kill off the Coda. People will have no compelling reason to have a complicated life when the faithful full service dealer is still right down the road.

Edmunds article is here.

Wild Dodge Magnum

2010-09-18T20:25:00.000-07:00

I saw this, uh, pimp-wagon on the road Friday.

X-Prize Realities

2010-09-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

Now that the Progressive Automotive X-Prize competition is over, I expect that green car boosters (and Tesla, who didn't bother entering) will begin pointing at the winners as evidence that the mainstream auto industry can't compete.

But.

As impressive feats of small-team engineering, the X-Prize finalists are amazing. But they are nothing like consumer products, just as NASCAR "stock cars" are nothing like consumer products. The X-Prize competitors were given a set of design constraints, which to Progressive's credit did include basic performance and safety criteria, and optimized their designs to meet those criteria. In other words, they built cars that were going to have very high efficiency and a bare minimum of performance.

If you were to take an X-Prize winner, and try to make a mass market product out of it, that would meet FMVSS standards for a passenger car, 150,000 mile reliabilty, NHTSA's crash standards, would be comfortable and convenient, easy to drive, and affordable to a middle class family, you would not wind up any where close to 100 MPGe.

You would probably wind up with something like a Nissan Leaf or Chevrolet Volt. But without the economies of scale in purchasing, design, and development that a major OEM has, your X-Prize car would cost thousands of dollars more.

The OEMs could have easily competed in the X-Prize competition, if they wanted to. They were too busy making vehicles people would actually consider buying.

Ken Block: "obama can't gymkhana"

2010-09-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

Check out the bumper sticker on the Segway wheel at 2:30.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TshFWSsrn8&feature=player_embedded#!

Travis Pastrana Does Mt. Washington, Quickly

2010-09-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

This is a really neat video of a world class rally driver flying up a mountain road. Link to video

Evil Twins?

2010-09-02T20:21:00.000-07:00

Jaws from James Bond

2011 Dodge Durango

Tell The EPA What You Think!

2010-08-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

The EPA has posted some prototype fuel economy labels on their web site, and is asking for the public to comment. You can see them in their full detail here.

There are two proposed

designs. The first shows a large letter grade (also color coded), Green A, Yellow B, Orange C, and Red D. Apparently, everyone passes--F's are not allowed to go on sale?

The second shows some Star Trek style sliding indicators, and leaves out the letter grades, but keeps the color coding.

The EPA is inviting public comment as part of its rulemaking, and you can fill out the form at the bottom of the page and hit "send" to give them a piece of your mind.

I have already voted for Form 2 (the simpler one on the right). I think the letter grade Form 1 is too cluttered, and I don't agree with the way they are assigning letter grades. As much as I hate to sound like a whiny pre-med, the grades need to be on a curve--you can't really compare Silverados with Subarus, can you? The grades should really be assigned among like vehicles.

I also think that the fuel/energy efficiency report should be as simple as possible. Ideally, the form should present one universal metric--MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent), which recalculates all energy consumption into units we are used to, miles per gallon of EPA standard test gasoline. The MPGe also is closely related to CO2 production, so I would leave the CO2 data off of the label completely. MPGe tells you everything most people really care to know.

The fuel const estimate is neat, but how often will they update the number? What if the label is based on $2.70 gasoline and $0.12 electricity, but in fact gas is $3.50 and electricity is now $0.20/kWHr? Will we be constantly reminded now that not only our mileage may vary, but our fuel cost may vary as well?

So that's my advice to the EPA, and my comment as well. Keep it simple, leave the grades off, and be careful about the energy cost assumptions.

Help Name Ford's Iguana

2010-08-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ford Motor is doing a Facebook poll to pick a name for their stow-away iguana. I like "Henry" myself, for political reasons.

Link to poll: http://www.facebook.com/ford/posts/154449744566760

Illegal Immigrant Hides In Parts Shipment

2010-08-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

I thought this was cute--an iguana managed to make it from southern Mexico to Ford's transmission plant in Sterling Heights, MI, hiding in a parts shipment. He's at the Detroit Zoo now.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/maynards-garage/2010/aug/25/new-ford-iguana/

Review: Lemur EconoDriver

2010-08-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

I was recently sent a Lemur EconoDriver gadget to review. It looked neat, so I agreed.

The EconoDriver is a two-part device which attaches to your car's OBD-II port. The transmitter is not much larger than the OBD plug itself, and transmits data wirelessly, over a proprietary 433MHz protocol to a large key-fob which has a reflective LCD display.

The Econodriver grabs and decodes some signals from your vehicle data bus (CAN on modern cars) such as vehicle speed and engine load, to calculate some interesting stats on your fuel usage. It can calculate trip average MPG, cost of fuel used (if the correct fuel price is input), cost of fuel wasted due to idling, average cost per mile of fuel used, and will display little leaves which is, I suppose, a way to encourage better driving.

For example, from my commute home from work the other day, the EconoDriver told me that after 19 miles, I had used $1.81 in fuel, $0.07 of which was wasted due to idling. My cost per mile was $0.09, and average fuel economy was 30.0 mpg. I was awarded 41/2 out of 5 leaves for driving style.

Overall it was, as advertised, easy to install and use. The accuracy seemed decent, the monitor's 30mpg was a little bit higher than my car's on-board calculation of 29.2 mpg. My trip was only 20 miles, so over time that difference may become much smaller.

Update: After 200 miles, the difference between my car's on-board measurement (27.1mpg) and the EconoDriver's measurement (27.4) was reduced to a mere 0.3mpg, so I attribute the difference between the two on a different averaging rate.

I did have a few minor problems. First, in my car the OBD-II port has an access door, so installing the transmitter dongle required driving with the door flopping around. I had to tape the door partly shut to keep it out of the way--not elegant.

I also discovered that if you have an OBD DTC, the EconoDriver does not seem to warn you that its accuracy may be compromised. When I pulled my intake air meter sensor connector, I got the "Check Engine" light and a DTC for the air meter, but the EconoDriver did not seem to react in any obvious way. When I asked Lemur about this I was told that the EconoDriver will reduce your green rating (leaves) if you have a DTC, but this isn't very obvious. I think a good improvement would be to flash a warning if a DTC is present.

The update rate is limited to 30s, I was told for technical reasons. This means that you can't really use this device as a driving style trainer, more of a trip monitor. I would have preferred a faster update rate so I could see what kinds of driving are better.

The leaves are supposed to coach you to drive more efficiently, but my leaf score was consistently 4 1/2 to 5 out of 5, except when I sat and idled for a few minutes. Then the score was slowly reduced. I'm not sure if the leaves are useful or not.

There is no backlight on the display fob. This is consistent with the recommendation that the monitor should not be used while the vehicle is moving--but I do, and I would like a light.

Overall, would say this is a good gadget for someone who really wants to know how much money they are spending on fuel without doing hand calculations. Perhaps someone who drives for a living and wants to track fuel costs carefully for business purposes. If I didn't have a fuel economy calculation built into my car's IP already, I would consider buying one.

Pros:

Easy to install and use
Calculates fuel costs and fuel economy for you
Relatively inexpensive, ~$80

Cons:

30s update rate
No warning if DTC present
OBD port dongle may interfere with OBD port door on some vehicles
No method included to mount display to vehicle
Meaning of leaves is not clear to me

Who should consider:

Travelling salesman or fleet user who wants to track fuel costs carefully
Anyone interested in tracking their fuel economy who doesn't have an on-board fuel economy monitor

Alternatives:

Scangauge II auto computer, $150 (link)

*I received no compensation for this review other than the gadget itself.

Pre-Cruise Friday Part 5: Best In Show

2010-08-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

This, in my opinion, is the most beautiful vehicle at the Dream Cruise. Not because it has been restored to such great shape--though it has--but because of what it represents. This truck was restored to serve as a hearse for fallen firefighters who are being escorted to their last call. It was a work of love, funded by charity.

The place of the hero.

Click on the photo to read the whole story

Pre-Cruise Friday Part 5: Emergency Vehicle Alley

2010-08-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

The police and fire departments had a really neat display of emergency vehicles, right down the street from all the Mustangs. This was my favorite area of the Cruise so far.

Old school vehicles.

The "meat wagon", a Vietnam era ambulance.

Inside the meat wagon

This Troy Police car was built with funds siezed in drug raids.

Watering the kids.

Paddy wagons, old and new.

Pre-Cruise Friday Part 4: Ferndale Stryker

2010-08-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Army's TACOM set up this Stryker vehicle on the median in Ferndale. Several TACOM employees were there to answer questions. I asked about IED survivability, and they explained that while the Stryker was designed before the Iraq and Afghan wars, and was not equipped to handle roadside bombs, they are retrofitting them with a thick aluminum underhull, offset from the main hull, which can help absorb the blast energy. The next generation will be designed with a "double V" hull.

A large vehicle, it was designed to fit inside of military transport planes.

It looks light and airy, but actually there isn't a ton of room inside. The gunner sits below the gun (to the right and behind of the driver) and can control it remotely while looking through periscope prisms and a camera screen. The driver space looked tight.

Pre-Cruise Friday Part 3: Ford in Ferndale

2010-08-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Next I headed south to Ferndale, where Ford has set up "Mustang Alley".

This Dewalt Superduty concept was pretty neat, and it was the only vehicle I saw at the Cruise that could probably cut itself up into little pieces.

Police Mustang (the strobes are flashing, but it is hard to see)

CSI Transit, lots of room for "samples"

Mustang Alley

A mockup of the Taurus Police car. I don't think it is the real thing, because it didn't have any kit inside of it, and had a console shifter.

Not content to let Chrysler show off too much, Ford also brought a monster truck, but no crushed import under this one.

The new Boss 302

More views of The Boss

The new Ford Explorer was there. I though it looked good, if a bit like the GMC Acadia. The rear glass does not appear to open, and neither do the rear quarter windows, a departure from the 2010 Explorer.

Moving on...

Pre-Cruise Friday, Part 1: Mopar Land

2010-08-20T15:52:00.001-07:00

I started off Friday's quick tour at the corner of 13mile and Woodward, where Chrysler set up shop.

A gorgeous Coronet.

The Mopar guys bought this Honda at a junk yard and then squashed it. It still had baby toys and other junk inside of it.

Some sort of custom Jeep truck concept, the "Nukizer". I'm not sure about the front end interpretation.

Fiat 500

Some old Mopar dragsters

An old 500?

A Mopar golf cart? I hope this isn't a new business direction for Chrysler.

A better view of the poor Honda.

Pre-Cruise Friday Part 2: On The Corner

2010-08-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

Awesome color for a Mercedes -- Construction Orange

Barn Fresh GMC

Eastern European troop transport?

Smooth wagon

Unsure, looks British

The Valentine Vodka barrel truck (I'm not sure Vodka comes in oak barrels, though)

Beat up DeLorean

Very high center of gravity on this one... probably won't do well at the track. Or offroad.

Way chopped truck

Grand Torino (no Hmong though)

This Mustang came all the way from New Jersey

Ford GT

Junky goodness

Replica (?) GT40

California 'Vette

Pre-Cruise Thursday

2010-08-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

I went out to Birmingham today to see the pre-cruising, it was quite busy. Tomorrow will be a complete zoo.

The Pink Jeep Of Death!

Nash hot rod!

Weird efficiency car from the 70's, I think. Fore-runner of today's X-Prize entries.

This guy's bike made a lot of noise... it looks like it has a V8 installed. Maybe a "Boss Hoss".

Nothing says "out to play"like a dropped GMC dually.

Caterham

Only on Woodward, can you see an Aston Martin next to a lifted 4x4 truck, behind a classic Mustang.

"The Devil's Joke" Quad-cycle

Riding with Grandma and Grandpa

Pre-Cruise Tuesday

2010-08-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

I went out Tuesday evening, and people were already cruising, building up to Saturday's Dream Cruise. Here are a few photos.

Spotted: Mud Truck (For Sale)

2010-08-15T00:22:00.000-07:00

I spotted this truck recently while tooling around rural Michigan. $1,000 actually doesn't seem like a terrible deal, except for the blown engine part...

Not much of a bed... then again, that isn't the point of this truck!

Spotted: Amphicar

2010-08-15T00:16:00.000-07:00

I took a road trip recently, and spotted this Amphicar on one of our fine Michigan beaches. Shortly after I snapped the first two photos, the owner hopped in with some guests, fired it up, and drove it down the boat ramp.

Equinox Quality Field Sample

2010-08-15T00:09:00.000-07:00

I spotted this blue Chevy Equinox on the road recently, and I happened to have a camera with me.

GM can not afford to let these out of the plant, assuming it wasn't damaged later. Even a slight mis-alignment of door trim really ruins the perceived quality of a vehicle.

And how could she even stand to drive the car like that? I would feel nauseous.

Oops... Chrysler Techs Break Edison2 X-Prize Cars

2010-08-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

In a blog post about the Progressive Automotive X-Prize, here, the sad tale of the coast-down testing at Chrysler's Chelsea Proving Grounds is told. The Chrysler test drivers who were to run the coast-down tests accidentally over-revved both of the Edison2 cars, which use sequential manual transmissions, and blew up the engines.

Also on the morning of Day 3, Edison2, TW4XP, and X-Tracer hit the proving grounds for their turn through Coast Down. On the straight-away of the test track, Edison2's Mainstream Class entries, vehicle numbers 97 and 98, were fielded. In both cases, as third party test drivers accelerated the vehicles to speed, a mechanical over-rev condition resulted in engine failures and the tests had to be aborted.

The fact that the Edison2 vehicles employ sequential transmissions may have contributed to the unintended downshift and subsequent mechanical over-rev condition that damaged the engines. In a typical racing configuration, the driver pulls rearword on the shift lever to shift up through the gears. This is opposite the convention used by many US automakers in their semi-automatic transmissions (like Chrysler's AutoStick), where manual upshifting is executed by pushing forward, away from the driver. Further, given that this is a competition vehicle, the automated software that would normally override an unintended downshift at speed or at high RPM is not yet perfected.

All was not lost however. Since the point of coast-down testing is to coast the vehicle to measure its decelerating forces, an engine isn't needed except to get up to speed. Chrysler was able to save the day for Edison2 by pushing their cars up to speed with another vehicle.

Video: Moscow Carnage

2010-08-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

A distrubing compilation of wrecks from Russian traffic camera footage. Many of these look like they are serious injury or fatal accidents.

GM's European "Lifetime" Warranty

2010-08-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

In Europe, GM is going to offer a "lifetime" warranty on its Opel and Vauxhall brands. Except that lifetime is limited to 100,000 miles (160,000km).

Which begs the question, are EU GM cars only designed for a 100,000mi service life?

If I was GM, I'd stay away from marketing hyperbole. Either make it unlimited miles, or don't call it lifetime

Volt Architecture 201, Voltec Fiero Anyone?

2010-08-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

Over at AutoBlog Green, Sam Abuelsamid* delves into the Volt's powertrain architecture, and why GM may have chosen not to have a mechanical path from the gasoline engine to the drive wheels. It's worth a read.

Another reason that a gasoline-electric-battery-motor-road path makes sense is that it is easy in the future to replace the gasoline engine with some other sort of power source, without having to do as much re-engineering of the electric powertrain side of things. For example, if GM wanted to package a diesel range extender for Europe, or drop the range extender completely, it would not be a radical re-engineering job. Perhaps in the future, the gasoline I4 will be replaced with a hydrogen fuel cell stack, or a flux capacitor.

Having no mechanical connection also allows for some packaging flexibility. Though GM decided to package the 1.4L I4 in the traditional underhood location, in another application it might make sense to package the motor in the rear of the vehicle--Voltec Fiero, anyone?

*Props to Sam, who is an actual engineer, not just a news writer, he tends to understand his topics.

Frigidaire Dryer Bearing Failure

2010-08-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

I have a 5 year old Frigidaire clothes drier. It started making terrible squealing noises recently, and since I don't run piglets in my dryer, I suspected something was wearing out. After some internet research, I learned it may be the rear main bearing, which is difficult to replace yourself.

We called an appliance repairman, and sure enough, $140 later, we had a new main bearing and a quiet dryer. So, if you have a squeaky Frigidaire dryer, it may be the rear main bearing. It will cost about $150 to fix.

Chevy Cruze, Damned With Faint Praise?

2010-08-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

The WSJ had an in depth review of the new Chevrolet Cruze, and to sum it up in one word, it basically said "meh". The new Cruze is quiet, and has a nice interior, but a bland exterior and bland handling.

It looks like GM has made a decision to produce a smaller version of the Malibu--a competitive, competent cruizer, but not a sexy vehicle. In other words, a Korean-American Corolla (the Cruze was developed primarily by GM's Korean division, Daewoo). This is a different strategy than much of the competition. Ford, for example, is bringing European handling in the upcoming 2012 Focus, so there will be a definite focus on the fun-to-drive aspect. Honda is due for a redesign of its Civic, which is a sharp handling car, though noisy.

I think WSJ is too hard on the Cruze's styling, I like it personally. It is clean and athletic without being over-busy. But the bland handling worries me. Is this going to work for GM? Will they beat Corolla at the no-drama small sedan game? Or will they, like Cobalt before it, wind up selling a lot of rental cars?

Maker Faire Detroit 2010

2010-08-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

I went to visit the Maker Faire Detroit 2010, which was staged outside of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. The Henry Ford is a national treasure, BTW, and if you have never gone, you should definitely schedule a trip.

Maker Faire was a strange place, it reminded me of Burning Man (without drugs), or maybe a sci-fi convention (without Star Trek uniforms). The crowd was a mix of all kinds of people. I saw lots of punk rock and tattooed kids. I also saw religious Muslims and Jews, together in one space, in Dearborn. It was like, peace, love, and robots, man.

Here are a few things that I thought were neat.

Miniature V-4 engine, made by a guy from the Metro Detroit Metal Machining Club.

It runs!

Electric scooters by Current Motors. They claim a range of about 45 miles from a 4.6kWh battery pack, with a top speed of 55mph. Cost: $6500.

This cute hearse and "mad scientist" are promoting a product which is claimed to preserve jack-o-lanterns so they won't rot so quickly on your porch. I had no idea I needed such a product. Dr. Frybrain's Pumpkin Embalmer.

A really neat 4-rotor remote controlled helicopter (quadrocopter). It uses an on-board micro-controller (Arduino) to trim the motors to maintain attitude, using inputs from a 6-axis inertial sensor board.

Over at the TARDEC display, the Army shows off a concept for a light armored ground vehicle.

This Gladiator robotic vehicle was doing peace-time duty writing people's names on a dry erase board. In battle, it can be used to remotely manipulate road-side bombs and suspicious packages. They can also be mounted with weapons.

One of two Jackson Pollock tribute cars, by Matt Donohue.

This hilarious car, the "Sashimi Tabernacle Choir", is a 1984 Volvo 240 sedan which has been decorated by a bunch of those cheesy dancing lobsters and singing bass that you can order on late night TV infomercials. The effect is hypnotic--when the sound system plays, all of the lobsters and fish sing and dance in sync. If you go to the linked web site, you see that this was a huge engineering project--they actually wired each fish and lobster into a central relay system, and wrote software to control all the motion.

The centerpiece, the main attraction I would say, of Maker Faire Detroit was the Life Size Mousetrap installation. A strange, wacky, and slightly disturbing mix of childhood memories, tattooed punk rock burlesque girls, welded steel, clowns, and a very crushed Chevy Astro minivan. This thing travels around the country like a mini-circus, smashing things.

Esmerelda Strange, the one-woman punk/polka band who warmed up the crowd for the Life Size Mousetrap piece. She seemed bored with the whole thing. She sang in a monotone and had way too many tattoos.

The Life Size Mousetrap in action.

Rose "The Mouse", the ringleader's wife and head merchandiser.

Another highlight was Big Dog, a gigantic pedal powered quadracycle with propane flame belcher. I'm not sure why fire was involved, but the design and construction of this beast is amazing.

A Big Dog drive-by, slightly out of focus (sorry).

Two examples of Amick wind assisted electric vehicles, without their large vertical airfoils. The concept is to use energy from cross-wind to help propel the car, similar to how a sailboat can pull energy from the wind with its airfoil, the sail.

Yet another NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, limited to 25mph) offered by EcoV. This is a prototype vehicle, commercial production is supposed to start later this year.

Moving inside, near the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile I found a guy showing of amazing miniature mechanisms, including air-powered steam engine models. He had a hightly detailed, running miniature model of a steam-age machine shop, much like the full size one you can tour in Greenfield Village.

My Solution To WikiLeaks

2010-07-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

If I was POTUS, the guy who runs WikiLeaks would be snatched, tried before a military tribunal as a material supporter of terrorists, and then sent to prison.

And if I couldn't snatch him, I would cause him to have a tragic accident.

Espionage is an act of war, and leaking military documents could actually cost the lives of our soldiers or our allies.

More Volt Math

2010-07-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

The comments to my previous post, Some Volt Math, had some very astute observations. Obviously my little calculation was based on lots of assumptions, and there are many ways to make the economics worse for the Volt.

For example, if you add the cost of a 240V home charger, professionally installed, it could add thousands to the cost. On the other hand, it may be partly offset with tax credits.

Sales tax on the difference can be significant, 7% of $8,500 is $600, or 9 months of cost advantage gone.

12c/kWh electricity may be a rosy assumption for some, such as Californians. What if you had to pay 15c/kWh, or in Hawaii, 27c/kWh?

On the plus side, the alternative to the Volt might not be a 30mpg vehicle, it could be a 25mpg vehicle. But then again, it could cost $20,000 instead of $25,000, adding another $5,000 to the payoff barrier!

I have also read stories on forums that some Chevrolet dealers are planning on charging thousands over MSRP. This won't last long, they are just going to make extra money on the early adopters, and will have to make deals when demand collapses at those prices.

I think I need to make a spreadsheet.

"Sponsored Post" WTF?

2010-07-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Over at LeftLane News, I read a glowing review of Toyota safety features. I wondered why they were basically repeating Toyota's new marketing campaign, until I saw the tag "Sponsored Post".

Guys, write your own stuff. It is bad enough that readers have to wade through banner ads, side panels, and on some sites, popup ads. If they have to learn to ignore parts of your main feed, they'll get annoyed and start to tune out.

I don't have massive readership, but for the few readers I do have, I can promise this: any posts you read on here were written by me, with some thought. There will be no sponsored posts. No ghostwriting.

Some Volt Math

2010-07-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

Today's big news is that GM will charge $41,000 MSRP for the Volt. (Question for GM: how will you keep dealers from adding a "market adjustment"?)

Assume you can get the $7,500 tax rebate, so your actual price is $35,000, plus applicable local taxes. And suppose that a comparably equipped vehicle of similar size, in a non-hybrid flavor, can be had for $25,000 (a premium compact like a VW Jetta, Volvo C30, or a Subaru Impreza).

For $8,500 premium, you get a 40mile all electric range. That represents 80% of the 16KWh battery, or about 13kWh. At 12c/kWh, if you can drive all electric, 15,000mi/year will cost you about $585. Very nice.

If your premium compact gas car gets an average of just 30mpg, 15,000mi at $3.00/gal will cost you $1,500.

Under these assumptions, best case (all electric Volt miles), you save $915/year driving the Volt. To gain back your $10,000 price premium, you will have to drive the Volt for 9.3 years, 1.3 year longer than the battery warranty.

Now suppose you can't run your Volt 100% electric, but you need to rely on the gas generator engine for just 33% of your mileage. 10,000 miles electric will cost you $390, and 5,000 miles at 40mpg (assume) will cost you $375. Running a Volt 66/33 electric/gas will cost you $765. The payback time for your $10,000 premium is now over 11.1 years, 3 years longer than the battery warranty.

My point here is that at $41,000 MSRP, the Volt is not a great deal, except for people who are passionate about not using much gasoline. In order to even come close to making sense for the average consumer, the Volt needs to be priced for a payback of about 5 years, or about $29,000 out-the-door, or $36,500 MSRP, with the $7,500 tax credit.

Update: fixed my math error.

2011 Explorer Reveal

2010-07-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was National Explorer Reveal Day. I won't re-write what you have no doubt already read from many other source.

Here is a nice slide show of the reveal in Dearborn, from the Examiner. Apparently, worried that people would get the idea that the new Explorer is an on-road machine only, Ford constructed a 30 foot high dirt hill (very well groomed) which they used to unveil the new Explorer.

I think the vehicle looks great, inside and out, but it is a definite departure for Ford. It is no longer PC to sell a truck which over-capable, primarily targeted at suburban families, who won't really ever drive it on off-road trails or tow anything heavier than a jet-ski trailer or pop up camper. Ford looked at who was buying the old Explorer, and made a vehicle that appeals to a majority of those customers. This will however alienate the few people who actually used the old Explorer as a heavy tow vehicle, or benefited from a real locking 4x4 system.

2011 Ford Explorer Aside

2010-07-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Old Henry was not known as being particularly friendly to the Jews.

Today, Ford is showing off a major redesign of one it its signature products, the Explorer.

In this video, project manager Julie Levine shows Mark Fields some of the new features of the 2011 Explorer.

They're both Jewish.

Ford's Explorer Tease Campaign

2010-07-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ford is running a teaser campaign on Facebook for its new unibody Explorer. You can see spy shots here. I have been following it to see the teasers. The official reveal will be Monday. Since they met their goal of 30,000 friends, they will be giving away a new Explorer.

I am amazed at all the people who say basically "if it isn't a truck, I don't want it!" The days of the body on frame, rear wheel drive, V8 powered SUV are long over. All the big players have basically left the market except for Toyota, which sells the 4Runner, and of course Jeep. Oh, and you can't get a V8 4runner. And Xterra doesn't have 3 rows. GM's Trailblazer and Hummer H3? Dead. Even the Jeep Commander, which was unibody, is rumored to be going out of production.

From Edmund's, here is the list of top 5 selling mid-sized SUVs:

2010 Ford Edge

2010 Toyota RAV4

2010 Chevrolet Traverse

2010 Jeep Wrangler

2011 Honda Pilot

Only the Wrangler is a body on frame rear driver.

Aside from niche vehicles like the Wrangler, Xterra, and FJ Cruiser, the mass market is moving towards lighter, more fuel efficient "crossover" type SUVs. People want a little bit of offroad capability, but they also want good fuel economy and handling. The sweet spot here is clearly mid-sized unibody designs like the Chevrolet Traverse.

Hurray! BP stops leak!

2010-07-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Finally, BP has been able to stop the oil leak.

One. Bad. Truck. Border Patrol Raptor FTW!

2010-07-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

I'm in lust with this, even though I have like no use for it whatsoever in my current suburban lifestyle. Like the fanboys on the forums say, "FTMFW!!!"

Spotted: 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

2010-07-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

Out and about today, I spotted a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee pre-production car (manufacturer plate) parked out in public. I didn't have a camera with me so I can't post pics, but I can share some overall impressions.

The design is handsome up close, with generally taut body work. This is a much better styled vehicle than most of what Chrysler has released lately--it looks like the excesses of the Sebring/Caliber/Compass are behind us. The interior looked nice also, with tasteful use of chrome highlights, faux wood, and grained surfaces.

This example did have some problems, though. The hood alignment was off, creating sloppy looking panel gaps and poor seam alignment. The a-pillar seams were not well aligned, bad enough to be noticeable. In other words, it was put together more like the "old" Chrysler. I wouldn't take this too seriously yet, since this was a pre-production vehicle, but Chrysler needs to have world class fit and finish if they hope to compete.

Black Box Video Recorders? No.

2010-07-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Intel is showing off a concept for an Event Data Recorder (EDR) which records in-cabin video as well as vehicle network data and GPS coordinates. (Story here)

This is not going to happen any time soon, unless of course Congress passes a law to require it, which they won't.

The privacy advocates won't agree to video recording, and the expense of adding the hardware to the EDR module will be a strong deterrent to automakers, who will also lobby hard against it. The trial lawyers will also try to kill it, because a video recorder would be typically be a witness against their plaintiff customers.

To encode video into a reasonably compact form, a standalone video processor chip would be required, such as are packaged into DVRs. A ballpark price for one of these is probably in the $20 range. In addition, enough flash memory would have to be added to store the video streams in addition to the vehicle data. 90s of video at reasonable resolution and quality would require several megabytes of flash, easily several more dollars per vehicle.

I also question the utility of recording GPS data. A vehicle typically has a fairly accurate on board velocity estimate, which comes from the ABS wheel speed sensors. Unless a driver is involved in a hit-and-run, it will be pretty obvious to accident investigators what the path of the vehicle was, based on external evidence and the on-board inertial signals which would normally be recorded in an EDR.

Review: Sony KDL-32EX308 LCD TV

2010-07-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

I have been using a CRT TV with a DTV decoder box since the digital transition, but finally, I decided to join the world of true HDTV, and decided to shop for a modestly price LCD HDTV. My main requirement: it had to work well with OTA viewing, since I refuse to pay money for TV service.After some digging around, a clear winner came out: the Sony KDL-32EX308. This is a 32" 720p unit which has a price around $430 from SonyStyle.com. I am convinced this is the best modestly price TV for OTA use out there.

Pros:

Ethernet port and free wi-fi adapter. Automatically updates firmware.
2 HDMI ports, plus USB for music and photo playback.
Internet video functions like Qriocity, Amazon, Netflix, and Youtube built in
Internet radio from Pandora, Slacker, NPR, others
TV Guide populated from internet download
DLNA client built in -- you can stream video from your PC, even Windows Media Center
Decent OTA reception (about as good as my Zenith DTV box)
Nice integrated Favorites menu lets you assign inputs, internet functions, and channels to the favorites bar
Nice XBM menu system
Massive deal at only $430
Good remote with redundant power button underneath (where your fingers go)
Nice basic understated design
HDMI link lets you control Sony branded stuff from the TV menu, without changing remotes.

Cons:

Advanced features take longer to "boot up" than basic TV function on a cold start (can be remedied by setting up quick start mode, but this uses more power)
DLNA client needs MPEG2 video to play, so you need a DLNA server which can transcode to MPEG2 on the fly. Windows Media 7 seems to work fine for most formats this way, with some loss in quality.
TV Guide startup delay of about 5s after you press the guide button.
Sluggish response to some menu navigation commands, slow response to direct channel input.
Can't add channels manually, must scan then delete
Lots of "fluff" (craplets) in internet sources like Ford Models channel, which apparently can't be manually removed.
Narrow viewing angle--colors begin to noticeably wash out if you move just 45 degrees off center.
No support yet for Hulu, ABC video on demand, and some other sites.

Even if it didn't have a built in DLNA client, and didn't do Youtube, the TV Guide function alone would be worth considering.

Screen Shots:

Excellent picture when viewed close to head on.

The favorites menu overlays on top of your current activity, this is the best way to get to things you frequently use.

XBM Menu is quick and attractive.

My main reason to buy: the TV Guide which is fed from internet data or OTA data. Cons: delay before it comes up, slow response to inputs, advertising.

Useful channel strength and information display.

Pandora Radio interface.

YouTube frontend.

YouTube fullscreen with navigation controls. They go away after a second if you don't need them.

Remote details. Nice quick access buttons for major functions, redundant power button on the back of the remote.

Close-up of display for display geeks.

Ford Teases 2011 Explorer

2010-07-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Ford is dribbling out little bits about the new Exporer, which will be a major redesign (new platform, unibody, FWD/AWD) for the product. This is a neat video which shows some aerodynamic testing in a wind tunnel using a clay styling model. Even though Ford hasn't officially shown the Explorer, the clay model gives a lot away, assuming it is accurate.

Fix: Missing DVD Drive Letter On Windows 7 64Bit

2010-07-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

I am running Windows 7 64bit on a Dell desktop machine. Mysteriously, my DVD drive disappeared from Windows 7, and going through the hardware manager to re-install it did not work.

It turns out that iTunes (effing Apple! "it just works", hah!) puts in an ASPI driver from Gear Software.

To get my DVD drive back, I followed the instructions in this Microsoft KB article. It involves going into the registry using Regedit (don't forget to do it "run as Administrator") and deleting the UpperFilters key, which to the GearASPI file.

Problem is, if you update iTunes, you will have to do this again (I did).

Happy Birthday USA!

2010-07-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

There are few countries in the world I can think of that I would rather be a citizen of than the US of A. There are other countries which are great, and powerful, and free. But none of them are such good combination of the three.

I get a rush every time I read our founding words. Pure poetry:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,...

TxtStopper: Probably Illegal

2010-06-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

I saw a press release about a device called the TxtStopper, which is a cell phone jammer you wire into your car's 12v power line to jam cell phones when your engine is running. The idea is to keep your teenager from texting while driving.

This device is probably not legal in the U.S., since it interferes with legal and regulated cell phone signals.

Also, I don't see how they keep it just to your vehicle. If it is so low powered that it doesn't extend much beyond about a 5 foot radius, it may not be powerful enough to reliably jam your phone.

Also, cell phones in vehicles have legitimate safety uses, such as 911.

Bad idea.

Boycott BP?

2010-06-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

Should you boycott BP?

Yes, maybe, no.

Yes because reduced wholesales of their products will hurt them in their pocket books and teach them a harsh lesson.

Maybe not, because chances are if you have a 401(k) or pension plan, you are infact a shareholder of BP, one of the largest (by capitalization) companies in the world. You will help to damage your own retirement funds.

No, because you will hurt your local small-business owners who own BP stations, which are almost all franchises. And BP is one of the largest employers in oil producing regions. Many more people will lose jobs, than already are.

Myself, I am ambivalent. I don't actively avoid BP stations these days, but I don't really seek them out either. Besides, near me, Speedway and Valero brands are usually cheaper!

Want Less Oil Use? Raise Gas Taxes!

2010-06-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

The laws of economics are nearly as immutable as the laws of physics.

If you want to reduce consumption of an item, increase its price, or reduce its supply (same effect, different mechanism).

David Frum points this out in a very lucid piece on CNN.com, here.

We want to get the country off oil? Tax it. (Politicians may not wish to say it, but their advisers can at least think it.) Then liberate people to find their own best alternative -- and incentivize industry to develop alternatives that make sense at the new higher price. And be prepared to argue candidly and straightforwardly in the marketplace of ideas why this new tax is right and justified.

If not, then kindly please spare us the grand speeches about how the status quo is the thing you will not accept. It is precisely the thing you are accepting.

However, as Frum correctly points out, a politician who raises gas taxes by $1+ per gallon will soon be an ex-politician. That's because there is not really a strong consensus on reducing our use of fossil fuels in this country. As I write here so often, people want cheap gas and high fuel efficiency, but they aren't willing to pay much for it.

One sensible solution to the sting of higher taxes is to do a "feebate" scheme, where the taxes which are collected are distributed back to the taxpayers as tax rebates. This way, you would nudge the consumer to consume less fuel, but on average wouldn't hurt the economy much. Congress can even play with the rebate rules, to penalize higher income consumers less than low income consumers, exclude business and agriculture uses, etc.

Instead, we have the perverse system of CAFE, which tells automakers what cars to build and in what mix they can sell them, but is largely invisible to the consumer except on the window stickers at the dealership.

Well, CAFE isn't free either. Getting to 36mpg is going to have some nasty side effects on the vehicles available on the marketplace, foremost of which is that cars are going to get more expensive. So instead of slightly less expensive cars and pricier gas, we are going to have cheaper gas and more expensive cars. You still pay in the end, though--efficiency costs money. The advantage of the market approach is that the consumer has choice--if someone wants to drive a thirsty vehicle, and they can afford the gas tax,they can choose to pay. With CAFE, the very choice of the thirsty vehicle may be taken away, depending on how the fleet average works out.

Gordon Murray's (Controversial) T.25

2010-06-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

There are new photos out of designer Gordon Murray's proposed T.25 city car (see photos here).

It looks like a very tidy design, with a 1+2 seating arrangement where the passengers sit behind the driver, who is front and center. But the ergonomics look very tricky--to get those 2nd row passengers in their seats, they have to climb over (I assume) a folded forward drivers seat, after negotiation the forward tilting cab.

Unless the rear of the cab opens as well? It is hard to tell from the press photos.

Even if the rear cabin opens, I don't think a forward opening door will be well received. If it is raining, you (and our seat) are getting wet while you work on getting in or out. If you are in a front end accident, it seems like it would be harder to open the door, if the hinge was crushed.

The half-windows are also not going to go over well, although perhaps in the U.K fast food drive-through is not as common as in the U.S.

Mandatory Breathalyzer Interlock?

2010-06-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the NHTSA, together with 13 automakers, is working on a device which will test your breath alcohol concentration, to be installed (they hope) in all vehicles? Did you know that they are spending $2,000,000 per year (some of which is taxpayer money) on this project? Now Senator Udall from New Mexico is proposing to increase funding to $12,000,000/year.

To its credit, the DADSS project acknowledges that in order to be accepted by the public, the system they come up with must be practical and non-intrusive. They are pursuing several methods of doing a passive test, to avoid having to have the driver blow into a tube and wait several minutes before allowing the car to start.

They are looking at both contacting and non-contacting methods. One method is to have an IR spectrograph system which reads the blood alcohol level by analyzing the reflected light from a persons skin, which would have to be touching a sensor hidden somewhere such as the steering wheel or shift knob. Another method would be to analyze the vapor in the cabin using several "sniffers".

However, even a passive system has some significant issues that will need to be overcome before the average person will agree to have one in their vehicle. The chance of a false positive must be vanishingly small. But at the same time, the system must be difficult to defeat, or it loses its protective effect.

And any system that degrades over time, to the point where it starts calling false positives, would not be acceptable.

Consider a contacting spectrograph sensor. What if it is winter, and our driver wants to wear gloves? Do you make him remove his gloves to start the car? Would people submit to that? (No).

Can the system tell the difference between a bag of saline solution and a persons finger? Could it be fooled with a hot dog?

Or what if you are using cabin air sensors, and you are sober but your friend in the passenger seat is drunk? The system must be able to tell the difference reliably to be acceptable.

Would an air analyzer system work with the windows down, or with the ventilation fans blowing? Any solution which requires people to start with closed windows or without ventilation won't be accepted.

Could a cabin air analyzer be fooled by taping over the sensor inlet ports?

To be effective and safe, the system would have to make an up or down call quickly while the car is parked. Which means it will almost certainly have to be a default-to-guilty (restrictive) system as opposed to a non-restrictive default-to-innocent system. If the system allows you to drive away, but then makes a "intoxicated" call later, and stops your car, it may leave you in an unsafe situation.

I am skeptical about the idea that every car should have an alcohol detector on board. I think many lives could be saved if, instead, the system were required as an after-market installation for anyone who is caught DUI. I am not ready to accept, and I don't think most people would accept a system which presumes that you are drunk unless you can prove otherwise.

You can read more about the DADSS project at http://www.dadss.org/.

An interesting source of counter-advocacy is here: http://interlockfacts.com/, which is run by the American Beverage Institute.

Camry Most "American" Car?

2010-06-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

According to the Detroit News (here), Cars.com finds that the Camry is the "most American car", based on domestic parts content and popularity.

I suppose it is fair, and congratulations to Toyota for supporting the U.S. economy as much as the Camry does.

But...

If you follow the flow of engineering and the flow of money, the picture is a little different. The Camry has quite a bit of its engineering done in Japan, which means that Japanese engineers are doing the work, not U.S. engineers. Also, the profits from the sale of the Camry flow back through Japan, though the shareholders of Toyota are global.

Consider instead a car designed in the U.S. and built over the border, such as the Ford Fusion, or the Chrysler 300. Yes, it is being bolted together by Mexicans (or Canadians, or even Mexican-Canadians), from parts that flow from all over. However, U.S. engineers and technicians worked on the product, and and the profits flow mostly to U.S. shareholders (and the .gov in the case of Chrysler and GM).

It isn't black and white, and if you buy a Camry, to my thinking it is much better than buying a car designed and built overseas. But if you want to support American engineering and American shareholders, you can do better than Camry.

The Truth About The Vuvuzela

2010-06-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

The vuvuzela was originally invented by the Jews! Made of a rams horn, the shofar was blown during battle, and I am sure during ancient soccer games. Today, it is blown during the high holidays.

Why Not Small Cars?

2010-06-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Mark Tapscott at the Examiner (link) does a good job discussing why it is that small and fuel efficient cars are not taking off in the marketplace yet. He mentions several major reasons, such as safety issues (perceived and real), and cargo capacity.

I can add a few more.

Perceived Value: Americans still associate size/mass with value. Many of them are not yet ready to agree to pay mid-sized car prices for a small car.

Ride and Handling: Americans seem to be divided on how they want their cars to handle. Some of the best selling cars (Toyota Camry, Corolla) are comparatively squishy, while others (Honda Accord, Civic) have sharper handling and firmer rides. While it is not impossible to produce a small car with a softer ride, light weight and short suspension travel limits do make it more difficult. Also, when efficiency is the overriding design factor, one of the easiest places to lose weight is in sound isolation materials. Do the "silent majority" want little cars with go-kart manners (Mini, Smart) or do they want scaled down couches? Currently, most small cars are tuned more towards go-kart.

Styling: Looks still matter. Americans want a sharp looking car, although what "sharp looking" is is not always consistent. Designers have to work hard to avoid designing short little jelly beans with high roofs, which is really the most space efficient design with some aerodynamic efficiency. On a larger car, there is more surface to play with, and more ways to draw the eye. Americans don't really want something that looks like a rollerskate, with a tall roof and little wheels pushed out to the corners.

Comfort: Americans are not getting thinner. I recently witnessed about 500lbs of female Target shopper (a mother and daughter?) flow out of both sides of an old Dodge minivan, you could almost hear the springs sigh in relief as the ride height jumped by 2" in front. Show those women a Fiesta and they will probably laugh at you. They might then go ahead and eat it.

Toy Story 3

2010-06-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

I went to see Toy Story 3 today, it is a real work of art, absolutely wonderful. The opening scene features a wild get-away by train robbing Potato Heads in a purple Barbie corvette driven by Martians.

Even if you have not seen the earlier installments, go see this one.

Cheap Gas, Low Demand For Hybrids, B-Cars

2010-06-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

According to Ward's Auto, sales of fuel efficient vehicles (cars with 30mpg+) are falling, as customers move back to their mid-size cars and crossovers. Toyota's Prius is selling well, but the hybrid Camry and Honda Civic Hybrid are declining. Small gasoline cars such as the Yaris (down 38%), Honda Fit (down 20%), and Smart ForTwo (down 63%) are not doing well.

Unless Obama can find a way to ramp up the price of gasoline soon, the near term sales of the many new B-cars are not going to be pretty, and fleet fuel economy improvements are going to be small.

Let's face it, Americans don't want little cars. They want cheap gas and large cars. I can't wait for the public reaction when the 36mpg CAFE regulations force people to look at B-cars, or pay a premium for larger vehicles.

HP2G Vaporware?

2010-06-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

I keep tabs on HP2G, Doug Pelmear's startup which is working on a hybrid electric V8 engine design, because he is somewhat local (Toledo OH) and makes some astonishing claims (110 MPGe and 400HP). As you may have heard already, HP2G was a Progressive Automotive X-prize contender but dropped out in the early stages of the competition. HP2G also had a deal with Revenge Design to supply the HP2G engine for a hybrid supercar, the Revenge Blade. Revenge has broken off its relationship with HP2G, and posted this nasty item on its web site:

Revenge Designs Inc is announcing the withdrawal of all support and funding to Hp2g llc, due to numerous requests for third party validations to the claims of their 110mpge Hp2g engine. Revenge Designs was informed the patents were in place late 2009, since then Revenge Designs has requested documentation for the third party testing to no avail. Revenge Designs finds this to be unacceptable.

A quick search of the U.S. patent database shows that the only patent that Doug Pelmear has to his name at this time is one for an engine block brace--nothing about his magnetic cylinder assist system. There are no applications by Pelmear in the U.S. patent application database. A quick search of the EU patent database also shows only the engine block brace patent. So it appears that HP2G has failed to apply for a patent for its magnetic hybrid engine technology until very recently. And it is odd that HP2G refuses to allow 3rd party testing of its prototype, an old Mustang.

Does Pelmear have a 110MPGe V8 engine that also makes 400HP, or is he selling snake oil? I wonder if we will ever be able to find out.

New J.D. Power Initial Quality Rankings

2010-06-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

Some interesting results in the new J.D. Power IQS. (Full press release here)

For 2010, "domestic" brands are beating "import brands" as a group, 108 PP100 vs 109 (Problems Per 100).

Toyota has fallen to significantly below average, at 117 PP100. That crashing sound you hear is the sound of Toyota execs jumping out of high-rise windows.

All GM brands are below average, though all but GMC are better than Toyota.

Ford has charged up to just above Honda, well above average, and Lincoln is better than industry average, but oddly Mercury is below average.

Land Rover continues its dominance as the worst in the industry.

Audi (VW) has improved dramatically over the last few years, from 136 PP100 in 2007 to 111 in 2010. VW has also improved, 135 PP100 in 2010 vs 160 in 2007, but relative to average, is still near the bottom.

Volvo improved from below average to above average since 2007.

Mahindra Trucks, In Trouble?

2010-06-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

This may be a sign that Mahindra's attempt to import diesel pickup trucks into the U.S. is in big trouble.

According to Global Atlanta (here), Mahindra's U.S. distributor Global Vehicles has filed a federal lawsuit against the company. Mahindra, despite rumors to the contrary, has not yet filed for EPA certification of its pickup trucks. Which likely means, they aren't making emissions.

Meanwhile, the many U.S. dealers (some of them closed Chrysler or GM dealers) who put down money on a franchise to sell Mahindra trucks have nothing to show for their investments.

"Chevy"

2010-06-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

I heard on the morning news that GM is instructing its employees to always refer to Chevrolet as Chevrolet, not as Chevy. They apparently want to portray a grown-up, mature brand.

Good luck with that.

Chevy is ingrained in the culture. They'll have to retrain thousands of NASCAR fans.

They'll have to get songs re-written: "Drove my Chevrolet to the levr-o-let but the levr-o-let was dry"

It's good for Dodge (Ram) and Ford, through--they only have one syllable. Easier to say.

Fiat Cinquecento (500) Spotting

2010-06-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

You see some neat cars sometimes, living near Woodward Ave.

It's a lovely little car. But it is little. Will it save Chrysler? What do you think?

Onstar Vs. Sync

2010-06-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine was looking for a luxury car, and was wondering about the differences between Onstar (Cadillac) and Sync (Lincoln).

There is a major difference in how these two systems work.

Onstar is a concierge service--when you press the little blue button, you initiate a voice call to a data center where someone will offer to help you. Likewise, when something goes wrong, they can call you and ask if you are OK. Onstar has a subscription fee.

Sync is a speech recognition system. You don't talk to a human, you talk to a Microsoft box which integrates some functions of the car with some functions of your cell phone. Sync does not have a fee.

Onstar advantages: the phone is built into the car, so it is always on, you can talk to a real person, Onstar can do things like unlock your doors or stop your car remotely if it is stolen.

Onstar disadvantages: it has a subscription fee.

Sync advantages: it is free. It has a nice interface for iPod control, will read text messages to you, get news and weather updates, etc. Sync will have apps that users can download and run, and there will be more of them over time.

Sync disadvantages: If you don't have your phone with you or your phone is damaged, Sync can't help you as much. Sync can't do things like immobilize your car or unlock your doors. Some phones or devices aren't fully supported, depending on how they implement bluetooth and other details.

Both systems offer 911 functionality, Onstar through a concierge and Sync through an automated dial-out using your phone.

The Gaza "Peace" Flotilla

2010-06-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

If the "peace activists" of the Mavi Marmari just wanted to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, why did they bring slingshots, metal poles, gas masks, and knives with them?

Video here.

If the "peace activists" wanted to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, why did they prepare to attack the Israeli commandos before they boarded the ship?

Video here.

if the "peace activists" wanted to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, why didn't they just follow the Israeli navy to Ashdod, and have the cargo inspected, as they were offered?

If the Israeli commandos came with the intent to injure "peace activists", why did they rappel down from a helicopter armed with paintball guns?

If the Israelis wanted to injure "peace activists", why didn't the helicopter's machine gun fire into the crowd?

If the Israelis wanted to injure "peace activists", why did the men hold off on using their lethal weapons (handguns) until they were being hurt themselves?

The blockade of Gaza is a legal military action, according to international law, as Israel is in a state of war with Hamas, who runs Gaza. Under a legal blockade, Israel has the right to board any vessel which shows that its intent is to run the blockade.

Israel has a right to prevent non-humanitarian materials from reaching Gaza, which could be used to make missiles or tooling for missiles. For example, concrete can be used to make metal molds, for casting rocket parts. Electric wheelchairs can be dis-assembled for wires, motors, switches, microprocessors, batteries, etc.

The "peace activists" where in fact running the blockade with the intent to provoke Israel into doing something embarrassing, and with the intent to use the other passengers as human shields. The "peace activists" were in fact engaged in an act of war. The "activists" who were killed were not murdered, they were shot in self defense.

$5000 Event Data Recorders? Not Likely

2010-06-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Automotive News has an interesting article where they speculate on the possible cost impact of the EDR requirement in H.R. 5381. Somehow, they manage to throw out numbers like $5000 per car, but if you read the article, you see that they are extrapolating from airplane flight data recorders, which are required to survive deep submersion, very hot fires, and huge g forces.

Many cars already have EDRs, such as the much maligned Toyota unit, which is a closed system, and can only be read with Toyota tools.

The way the EDRs work is that they write data to flash memory in the few milliseconds before, during, and after a safety event, such as an airbag deployment. They typically have a large capacitor onboard, which provides a little bit of power so the unit can finish writing the data if it loses power during a crash.

I think it is unlikely that NHTSA will mandate that car EDRs be made to the same deep submersion and high temperature survival specs that airplane black boxes are made, as these are much less likely to occur in even a very severe car accident.

What may be required is a larger capacitor or a backup battery to keep the thing running longer after losing powere, and more memory to store a longer trace. For example, if the unit needs to store 64 bytes of data at a very vast 1ms rate, a minutes worth of data would require about 3.8 MB of storage. So we are talking about a few dollars worth of flash memory, and maybe another few dollars for longer term keep alive capability.

I could see the cost of EDRs going up by, say, $50-$100 per vehicle. But not $5000.

The Smoker Slob

2010-06-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

I understand, lady in the crossover SUV with the MSU theme license plate and the hardshell roof cargo carrier, that you can't drive to work in the morning without your cigarette. You pay the taxes, so may as well enjoy your vice. But do you have to throw your cigarette butt out your window when you are done with it? Can't you keep your butt to yourself?