Green Premium Cars News & Blogs

BMW and SGL Group Team to Make Carbon Fiber Car Parts

Seeking a more cost-efficient way to create lightweight components for its upcoming Megacity Vehicle line and other future "Project i" offerings, BMW and the SGL Group have formed a new joint venture that will specialize in producing carbon fibers and other carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials. The initial €90 million ($160 million) investment will cover the establishment of two companies. SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers LLC will be located in North America and produce raw carbon elements while SGL Automotive Fibers GmbH & Co KG will be established in Germany and weave them into cloth that can then be made into actual components by BMW. While the BMW/SGL ownership of the joint venture will be split 49/51 percent, each will have an...
Read the Full Blog Comments (0)

Feds Greenlight Funding Aid For Mileage-Maxing Three-Wheelers

This week, President Obama signed a bill that makes fuel-efficient three-wheeled vehicles eligible for supplemental development assistance through loans from the Department of Energy (DOE). Prior to its passage, only manufacturers of four-wheeled vehicles qualified for consideration to get a chunk of the $25 billion available under provisions of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program (ATVMIP). Terms of this new legislation -- which specifically came in the form of an amendment authored by Representative Brian Bilbray (R-California) and Representative Adam Schiff (D-California) attached to a previously passed energy appropriations bill -- extend consideration to include all "fully enclosed vehicles that are capable of...
Read the Full Blog Comments (0)

Volkswagen Teams With Stanford on a $5.75-Million Auto Think Tank

Not to be outdone by Lamborghini's recent investment in an advanced composites lab at the University of Washington, Volkswagen has announced its own $5.75 million outlay to underwrite a new joint effort at Stanford University aimed at accelerating all types of automotive-related technologies. Officially the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory (VAIL), it will complement VW's Electronics Research Laboratory, which also is located in Palo Alto, California. Volkswagen has been working with Stanford since 2005 when the two created an autonomous Touareg called "Stanley" that went on to win the DARPA Grand Challenge and followed it up in 2007 with a hands-free Passat entry dubbed "Junior" that took second spot in the annual Defense Advanced...
Read the Full Blog Comments (0)

Fisker Buys Ex-GM Plant, Will Build Affordable Plug-In Hybrid

Joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Delaware's Governor Jack Markell, fledgling plug-in hybrid entrepreneur Henrik Fisker announced that his firm has signed a letter of intent to purchase the shuttered GM assembly plant in Wilmington for $18 million and turn it into the new home of Fisker Automotive's Project NINA. When an additional $175 million in modifications and upgrades are completed, the facility will turn out a new line of more affordable mainstream plug-in hybrid sedans to complement the high-profile Karma luxury model that will be made by Valmet in Finland and go on sale here next summer. Fisker says the still-unnamed Project NINA vehicle, which is due to start production sometime in 2012, will cost under $40,000 after federal tax...
Read the Full Blog Comments (0)

Name The Volt's Signature Color and Win a Test Drive

General Motors has launched a contest to help determine what it will call the "signature" exterior color of the new Chevrolet Volt when the car goes on sale late next year. GM describes the paint -- which will be exclusive to the Volt -- as "silver with an emerald hue," and is asking the public to suggest a fitting name that will round out an exterior palette that already includes Black, Silver Ice Metallic, Cyber Gray Metallic, Crystal Red Metallic and a premium White Diamond Tri-Coat. Full details regarding the competition can be found at chevroletvoltage.com, but the basics call for entries to be accepted from now until the morning of November 4, at which time a team at Chevy will pick three finalists. According to Maria Rohrer, director of...
Read the Full Blog Comments (0)
Previous | 1 2 3 4 5 ...  11 | Next
RSS
Get Adobe Flash player
  advertisement  

Explore Green Cars by Category

Green Car News & Blogs

Manufacturers
Green Technology and Topics