cars

Ford drops hydrogen while GM remains confused about ethanol

The car companies have come back to D.C. begging for money. But this time they have put on the table serious restructuring plans. At first glance, Ford’s plan [PDF] appears to me sounder than GM’s plan [PDF]. I’m interested in your opinions. Assuming we believe they will do what they say, the reports reveal a […]

As long as the feds are restructuring auto companies, why not drag them into the 21st century?

The New Republic has an interesting article up from two bona fide experts on the auto industry (who are not employed by the industry), contributing to a discussion where ideas have been plentiful but expertise lacking. They recommend a bailout road map that stops short of Chapter 11 but involves fairly substantial restructuring. Interesting reading, […]

Better Place comes to Hawaii

Hawaii is now a Better Place.

Green stuff from the L.A. auto show

We didn’t do much coverage of the L.A. Auto Show, because we don’t have the resources WE CONDEMN THE DECADENT LEMMING CARBURBAN FANTASIA! But I just read a bunch of stuff about it over on CNet’s CarTech blog, and some of it was quite cool. Probably the biggest news — something I may devote a […]

For stronger cities, build better connections

Infrastructure is a dull business. The guy talking about pipes and wires is not generally the life of the party (to my chagrin). But infrastructure is all the rage these days, with economists calling for broad stimulus, and Barack Obama’s transition team planning big investments in the American economy. The excitement seems to be catching. […]

Who’s to blame for the crisis in the auto industry?

Detroit is in a free fall. Some say it’s their own doing by deciding to push big gas guzzlers rather fuel efficient cars. With that choice, the Big Three maximized their short-term profits but conceded the auto market of the future to foreign companies. There is plenty of blame to pass around. Executives made exceedingly […]

Conservatives claim CAFE standards caused car companies’ woes

A key reason for Detroit’s woes is that for decades they successfully fought efforts to build the kind of fuel-efficient cars the public has increasingly wanted to buy. Virtually all independent observers acknowledge that fact, but no conservative leader can. After all, they provided the political support and the votes that blocked repeated efforts by […]

Avego makes ride-sharing a normal reality

The thing about energy-driven collapse is that it’s uneven — it’s not like the calendar flips back and we all return to having the things we had in the past. Rather, we’re going to have this huge overhang of technology from the peak period of affluence and abundance. Sometimes that’s going to be bad (buildings […]

Bay Area is now a Better Place ™

Thursday, Better Place announced a commitment to build a network of electric car charging stations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. I counted 18 TV cameras. People are hungry for change.