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Hybrid Cars Pose Hazard to Blind People

BALTIMORE -- Gas-electric hybrid vehicles, the status symbol for the environmentally conscientious, are coming under attack from a constituency that doesn't drive: the blind, according to the Associated Press.

Because hybrids make virtually no noise at slower speeds when they run solely on electric power, blind people say they pose a hazard to those who rely on their ears to determine whether it's safe to cross the street or walk through a parking lot.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:02 PM to Alternative fuels , Safety | Permalink | Comments 0

Backseat Driver: Britain's Top Gear TV Show in the American South

Check out one of the BBC's top TV shows, Top Gear, starring Britain's most famous auto critic, Jeremy Clarkson. This particular show, in which he and his two co-stars fly to Miami, buy three cars for $1,000 each and drive to New Orleans, is hiliarious and available on YouTube in six segments.

Particularly funny are the adventures the three have in finding the cars, where they end up at the most dubious used car lots imaginable in the back, back streets of Miami, and testing of cars on the track at the Moroso Motorsports Park in Palm Beach.

Then there is the driving across Alabama with huge provocative signs painted on the old cars: NASCAR SUCKS; I'M BI and MANLOVE RULES OK: HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT; COUNTRY MUSIC IS RUBBISH. Needless to say they and the camera crew nearly get killed by a mob at a gas station!

Here are the link to the first show.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:43 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil Prices Drop Below $80 a Barrel

VIENNA -- Oil prices slipped below $80 a barrel Tuesday amid profit-taking as investors awaited the weekly U.S. energy supplies report due Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

Some investors were taking profits after September's record-setting rally, said David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. He said the U.S. Energy Department report "will be important for the short-term direction of oil prices."

Light, sweet crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 61 cents to $79.63 a barrel in electronic trading by midday in Europe.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:09 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0

GM to make Volt electric car in 2010

General Motors plans to manufacture the Chevrolet Volt electric car in 2010 and will produce a Chevy version of its full-size crossover SUVs in 2011, according to a summary of the automaker's new contract with the United Auto Workers, according to USA Today.

It will also add wagon and coupe versions of the newly redesigned Cadillac CTS sports sedan in 2009.

The rare peek at GM's product plans is part of the four-year labor agreement between GM and the UAW.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:06 AM to Alternative fuels | Permalink | Comments 0

Toyota unveils fuel-cell vehicle capable of longer distance

TOKYO — Toyota has unveiled an upgraded fuel-cell vehicle that successfully completed a test run, proving its ability to run a longer distance than its existing model, a move to take a lead in the future power-train technology race, according to the USA Today.

The latest model has gone 480 miles on a single fueling, more than double the mileage achieved by Toyota's existing model, the company said in a statement.

Toyota has been in a race with global automakers, including General Motors, to develop non-gas-emission vehicles. A major challenge in developing fuel-cell vehicles is their limited driving distance .

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:47 AM to Alternative fuels , Toyota | Permalink | Comments 0

GM May Close 2 More Plants Under Deal

DETROIT -- The tentative contract between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers would allow GM to close a plant each in Michigan and Indiana and possibly shut down several other facilities, according to a detailed copy of the agreement, according to the Associated Press.

The moves are the downside of job security pledges that the UAW won in the negotiations, including commitments for new products at 16 plants. About 74,000 hourly GM workers will vote on the pact starting this week, with a final tally to be done by Oct. 10.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:39 AM to GM , Unions | Permalink | Comments 0

Back Seat Driver: Dagmar Mea Culpa

Bill Brickach and Cheryl Fonseca write to tell me that I was all wet when I wrote that the bullet-shaped chrome fenders on the 1955 Cadillac in Ken Andrade's shop, Hot Rides in East Providence, were named after the silent screen actress Dagmar Godowsky.

They write it was the 1950's TV personality "Dagmar" who served as the origin of the name, and certainly Bill's link to this site is very convincing:

http://www.answers.com/topic/dagmar-1

Thanks Folks!

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 9:12 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0