General Motors on Wednesday delivered its first consumer-ready Chevy Volt to Jeffrey Kaffee of Parsippany, N.J.
The Volt is GM's much-anticipated hybrid electric car that can run on electricity alone or a combination of electricity and gas.
As part of the deal, Kaffee, a retired airline pilot, traded in his old Toyota Prius at the Gearhart Chevrolet Dealership in Denville, N.J., to get the 2011 Chevy Volt.
GM said Kaffee is just one of 360 customers who will receive Chevy Volts this week. In addition to the New York metropolitan area, Volts straight from the company's … Read more
On today's show, McDonald's has a data breach, although it's not as bad as the one from the Mesa County, CO, sheriff's office, which apparently keeps its lists of victims, suspects, and informants in a nice, big, unprotected plain-text database. So, that's a few informants running for safe houses, then. Also, the Comcast Death Star turns its rays on Roku, Apple TV, and the like; and the Nook Color goes from awesome to officially awesome. --Molly
analysis Republicans in the new Congress will pose a greater threat to the Obama administration's strategy to regulate greenhouse gas polluters than a plethora of industry lawsuits.
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is marching ahead with rules requiring big polluters like coal-fired power plants, oil refiners, and cement manufacturers to get permits starting January 2 to emit gases blamed for warming the planet.
President Barack Obama has always said the EPA would regulate carbon emitters if lawmakers failed to pass a climate bill.
Republicans, who will control the House of Representatives in January after winning some 60 seats … Read more
WASHINGTON--U.S. environmental regulators said on Wednesday they will not force coal plants and manufacturers to adopt specific technologies to cut greenhouse gas output, but will push them to become more energy efficient to comply with looming climate rules.
The move by the Environmental Protection Agency helped relieve some fears in the industries that the agency would require emitters to quickly invest in expensive, unproven technologies to cut output of gases blamed for global warming. But industry groups did complain they would not have enough time to comply with the rules.
Beginning January 2, the EPA plans to start requiring big emitters such as power plants, refineries, and cement manufacturers to obtain permits for polluting greenhouse gases.
"We believe this approach will in most cases lead to improvements in energy efficiency," Gina McCarthy, an EPA assistant administrator on air and radiation, told reporters in a teleconference.
The agency released on Wednesday guidance on the best available control technologies, or BACT, that companies should use to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases. The companies will have to adhere to the guidelines when expanding or building new plants or factories, and work with state and local air authorities to decide which technology works best for them. … Read more
The Toyota Prius has nabbed the top spot once again on the U.S. government's guide to fuel efficient cars.
Earning a rating of 51 miles per gallon for city driving and 48 mpg on the highway, the 2011 Toyota Prius was named the most fuel efficient vehicle by the Fuel Economy Guide 2011, which is produced jointly by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency.
The Ford Fusion Hybrid, the Mercury Milan Hybrid, and the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid tied for second place with all of them getting a fuel efficiency rating of 41 city mpg and 36 … Read more
Two organizations have squared off this week regarding whether increasing ethanol in fuels from 10 to 15 percent will damage engines in vehicles older than 2001, smaller gas-powered motors, and increase the cost of corn production.
In a press conference today, Renewable Fuels revealed the findings of a new study conducted by Ricardo Inc. (the company that set octane standards). The study finds that moving from 10 percent ethanol (E10) in gasoline to 15 percent (… Read more
Under a new EPA fuel economy label design proposed today, and currently up for public comment, electric vehicles will get an A+, plug-in hybrids score an A, and hybrids, which the EPA now considers a conventional technology, could rate as high as an A-. High performance vehicles would get the lowest grade allowed, a D. No vehicles will get a failing grade because all cars for sale in the United States meet the minimum federal standard for emissions.
Where a vehicle falls on that spectrum will depend on how many gallons it takes to drive 100 miles, its fuel economy, … Read more
The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation on Monday proposed a fuel economy label overhaul to reflect how electric and alternative fuel vehicles stack up against gasoline passenger vehicles.
The federal agencies released two new labels that officials expect to be finalized early next year and used in 2012 model year cars. The published labels will be available for public comment for 60 days.
The changed label, mandated by the 2007 energy law, includes the same information on city and highway miles per gallon and estimated driving costs based on 15,000 miles a year now available.
It has proven itself to be a fun little ride. It even sort of defeated a super car. Now, the upcoming 2011 Ford Fiesta earns bragging rights at the pump with an EPA-certified fuel economy of 40 mpg highway when equipped with Ford's PowerShift automatic transmission.
To achieve this level of efficiency, Ford started with the Fiesta's new 1.6-liter Duratec engine. We found that this 120-horsepower mill was no neck-snapper during our First Drive, but it does feature an assortment of fuel-saving technologies including variable camshaft timing, aggressive fuel shutoff on hard deceleration, and a more efficient … Read more
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