auto industry
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The EPA reveals final auto industry regulations to try to keep the world habitable
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the final pollution emissions standards for the auto industry on Wednesday. The regulations mandate that by 2032, most new passenger car and light truck sales in the US must be electric or hybrid.
Will Shanklin03.20.2024
Autoblog's new app to help you obsess about the auto industry
Today, Autoblog finally released its iPhone app, bringing together three of the car site's main components (and a new debut) into a central location. The free app provides up-to-the-minute auto industry news from Autoblog, fuel-efficient car news from AutoblogGreen, tech-related vehicle news from Translogic and, for the first time on a mobile device, new car buying data through the "Aol. Best Deals" service. Try using it the next time you visit a dealership. As the editor-in-chief of AutoblogGreen (yes, I do more than just review board game apps on TUAW, and TUAW and Autoblog are both AOL properties), I can't objectively review this app. Instead, I'll run down the list of features and, since it's free, interested readers can check out the app themselves and share reviews in the comments below. The highlight here is, of course, having quick and easy access to Autoblog news in a dedicated app. Sure, the iPhone has long been able to access the regular and mobile versions of these sites, but the app formats them in an easy-to-read manner that also offers one-touch access to the sites' picture galleries and videos. Of course, like most good blogs, part of the experience is participating, and the app offers a really easy way to send in a tip. If you see something great while you're out and about, you can also send Autoblog a picture through the app. Another nifty feature? You can save blog posts to the app for offline reading, kind of like a built-in Instapaper. It's also possible to stream any of the Autoblog podcasts through the app, so if you don't want to fill up your iPhone with downloaded files, now you don't have to. There are some capabilities from the regular sites missing from the app: not all categories are represented in the "Topics" tab, for example. More important, you can't comment on posts (yet). Also, the app is formatted for the iPhone, and so it displays at 2x on the iPad. That means I wouldn't bother with this app on the iPad; instead I'll keep using Mobile Safari to get my auto industry news. Sounds good? Check out the free app yourself here.
Sebastian Blanco05.04.2011
Wheego needs more cash to produce LiFe EVs, 'living hand-to-mouth' for now
Oh, how the winds of fortune can swirl. Just a few weeks after finally selling its first LiFe electric car to a happy couple in Atlanta, Wheego appears to have suddenly fallen on hard financial times. Very hard times. Speaking to Automotive News, CEO Mike McQuary claimed that his startup's coffers are bare enough to jeopardize future production of Wheego's flagship, battery-powered two-seater: "My constraint is primarily capital. We'll be living hand-to-mouth as we try to get the first cars built. The next 200 will creep out as we raise money." McQuary didn't say how far behind schedule Wheego is at the moment, but part of the problem seems to be finding enough money to buy parts for its $32,995, 100-mile range EVs. The company's plant in California was supposed to produce 200 vehicles a month starting in January, in the hopes of eventually churning out 60,000 a year. Those plans, however, were soon derailed, due to unexpectedly delayed approval from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration -- a setback that also hurt the company's capital raising campaigns. The company is hoping to raise some $15 million with the help of a VC firm in Connecticut, but until it does, Wheego may not be going anywhere.
Amar Toor05.03.2011
SantosHuman's Virtual Soldier recruited by Ford for assembly line detail
Future Combat Systems has given us plenty of fun over the years, from Land Warrior high-tech uniforms to field ready Xbox 360 controllers, and while the program was scuttled early last year, the technology keeps popping up all over the place. For instance, Ford's just announced that it'll be using SantosHuman's virtual soldier, a biofidelic (true to the human body) computer simulation, to predict long-term ergonomics and safety concerns on assembly lines. Developed at the University of Iowa for the DoD, this guy has a complete biomechanical muscular system and physics engine capable of registering body strength, fatigue, motion, and strain. From easing the physical strain of soldiers to helping our beleaguered auto workers -- that's what we call progress. Now how about a little help for all of us long-suffering tech bloggers? PR after the break.
Joseph L. Flatley05.21.2010
GM woos CFO Chris Liddell away from Microsoft
As you may or may not have heard, Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell announced that he was leaving the company late last month, but neither he nor Microsoft was doing much talking at the time about what he would be doing next -- other than that he would be "looking at a number of opportunities that will expand his career beyond being a CFO." Well, it looks like he will still be a CFO after all -- this time at General Motors. That move was just made official today, and follows news earlier this month that GM's current CFO, Ray Young, would be transferring to China. As you might expect given the executive situation at GM, however, there's plenty of speculation that this hire might be more than what it seems, and folks already talking that Liddell may actually be being groomed to take over as CEO of the company once he gets a bit more experience in the automotive industry.
Donald Melanson12.21.2009