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Providence considers Ferris-wheel type parking garage

PROVIDENCE — A Florida company is proposing what may soon be the strangest part of the Providence skyline: a pair of 13-story, translucent parking towers that operate like Ferris wheels, loading cars at the ground level and then moving them high up into the structure for storage, according to the Providence Journal.

The Weybosset Street project would be the first public parking garage of its kind in the continental United States, said Douglas Dodd, chief operations officer of Mechanical Vertical Parking Inc., the West Palm Beach, Fla., company backing the project.

“We picked Providence to be the introduction of this to the United States,” Dodd said.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:24 PM to Design | Permalink | Comments 0

Toyota Will Offer a Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle by 2010

The chief executive of the Toyota Motor said Monday that he is pushing his company’s engineers to develop a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle with a lithium-ion battery before 2010, raising the stakes in a race with General Motors, according to the New York Times.

The comments by Katsuaki Watanabe came at a briefing here on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show, which opened to the press on Sunday.

Mr. Watanabe said he welcomed a competition with G.M., which plans to introduce its own lithium-ion hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt, around 2010.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:17 PM to Toyota | Permalink | Comments 0

Interest Fades in the Once-Mighty V-8

DETROIT — The V-8 engine, long a symbol of power for American car companies, is sputtering, according to the New York Times.

At the Detroit auto show this week, Detroit’s Big Three are promoting smaller engines and alternative-fuel vehicles, eliminating the V-8 from many models and relegating it to niche status.

Ford Motor, which first popularized the V-8 in the 1930s, will start using a turbocharged 6-cylinder in many vehicles, including the next generation of its Explorer sport utility vehicle. The company has named its new engine technology EcoBoost, a nod to consumers’ concern for the environment.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:09 PM to Design | Permalink | Comments 0

Concepts at Detroit Auto Show

Check out these concepts at the Detroit Auto Show, courtesy of USA Today.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:56 AM to Shows | Permalink | Comments 0

Tiny Tata has all of Detroit talking

DETROIT — The most talked-about car at the Detroit auto show is a car that isn't here, and isn't intended to ever be sold in U.S. showrooms, according to USA Today.

It's the Tata Nano, a car that will cost just $2,500 and was unveiled last week at a car show in India. The bare-bones vehicle is meant not as an aspirational car but as a safer replacement for mopeds, which can even be seen carrying small families around neighborhoods in India.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:54 AM to India | Permalink | Comments 0

Toyota pursues alternative fuel-saving technology

DETROIT — Toyota Motor, known for gasoline-electric hybrids such as its Prius, says it's branching into other alternative power plants to stay ahead of rivals, according to USA Today.

It will offer low-pollution diesel engines on the Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV, while doing more research on ethanol, President Katsuaki Watanabe said.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:52 AM to Alternative fuels , Toyota | Permalink | Comments 0

Car engines squeeze power out of every drop of gas

DETROIT — Looking to cut gasoline consumption by up to 20%, automakers aren't just rolling out pricey diesel-powered models or gas-electric hybrids, according to USA Today.

General Motors, Ford and others are launching big initiatives to get more mileage out of what they sell now: tweaking internal-combustion engines with turbochargers and a technology called gasoline direct injection. The goal is to make fuel-stingy small engines perform like big ones.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:50 AM to Fuel economy | Permalink | Comments 0

Chinese automakers make presence felt, target U.S. market

DETROIT — Hundreds of media representatives crowded around two Chinese vehicles at the North American International Auto Show Tuesday, somewhat confused and befuddled about what they were looking at, according to USA Today.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:48 AM to China , Shows | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil Gyrates on Bernanke Comments

NEW YORK -- Oil futures fluctuated Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he expects slower growth in 2008, but no recession, according to the Associated Press.

Bernanke's comments added to the negative economic sentiment that has been the market's dominant driver in recent days, pushing prices down nearly $10 from their record over $100 a barrel two weeks ago. Despite Bernanke's comments, many investors fear a recession is imminent.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:45 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0