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Autoworkers check stats on a new Chevy Volt. (Photo by John F. Martin for Chevrolet)
Tribune staff report | The first pre-production Chevrolet Volts are coming off the line at the Detroit-Hamtramck manufacturing plant in Detroit, Michigan.
The pre-production versions of the Volt will not be sold at dealerships, but will be used to assure all steps in the production system will meet the quality targets set by the Volt engineering team.
Associated Press | The U.S. government is setting tough gas
mileage standards for new cars and trucks, spurring the next generation
of fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrids, efficient engines and electric
cars.
The heads of the Transportation Department and the Environmental
Protection Agency on Thursday will sign final rules requiring 2016
model-year vehicles to meet fuel efficiency targets of 35.5 miles per
gallon combined for cars and trucks, an increase of nearly 10 mpg over
current standards set by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Nonprofit group Greenpeace criticized data centers run by tech giants like Microsoft and Google on Wednesday, saying that their centers consume too much electricity. At Microsoft’s new Chicago data center, 72.8 percent of power was generated by coal, and 22.3 percent was nuclear, according to Greenpeace.
Get the full story: seattlepi.com.
Associated Press | Ford Motor Co. will become a player in the small market for luxury hybrids this fall when it launches its first Lincoln hybrid, a gas-electric version of the 2011 Lincoln MKZ.
Ford says the hybrid MKZ – introduced Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show — will be the most fuel-efficient luxury sedan on the market, getting an estimated 41 miles per gallon in city driving. By comparison, the Lexus HS250h gets 35 miles per gallon.
Nissan Motor Co. Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga poses for photographers with the automaker’s “Leaf” zero-emission electric vehicle and its recharging cable in Yokohama, Japan. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Associated Press | Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday its new electric car will cost just over
$25,000 in the U.S., a move that could force rivals to lower prices on
similar vehicles.
The Leaf, a four-door hatchback due in showrooms late this year, will
have a base price of $32,780, but buyers can get a $7,500 electric
vehicle tax credit, Nissan said.
The price tag puts the Leaf, which can go up to 100 miles (160
kilometers) on a single charge from a home outlet, within reach of
mainstream car buyers, and it also will force competitors to respond
when they introduce their cars.
Tribune staff report | FedEx unveiled the first all-electric, full-size delivery vehicle in the U.S. Monday. The delivery truck was rolled out this morning at Soldier Field, before beginning a two-week road trip on Route 66. The zero-emission truck, built by Navistar, is designed to offer a full eight-hour shift of power before needing a recharge.
From Reuters | At a public hearing in Washington on Thursday, federal commissioners and business leaders, including the chief executive of Chicago-based Exelon Corp., discussed the problem of finding a home for radioactive waste in the U.S. The commissioners said that although nuclear waste does not pose an immediate threat to the U.S., a plan on its disposal must be set up to address worries Americans have about expanding nuclear power.
Chrysler will be selling an electric Fiat 500, its first electric, in two years (AP)
Associated Press | Chrysler’s Italian management is
revising the company’s electric vehicle strategy, announcing Monday that
it will build a fully electric Fiat 500 minicar to sell in the U.S. in
2012.
But they’ll be a minimum of two years behind other major automakers
including Nissan Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., all
of which plan to have rechargeable electric vehicles on sale this year.
By Ameet Sachdev | A
new lawsuit raises questions about the funding of a $350 million
modernization project to make the Willis Tower more energy efficient.
Pickering & Associates, an Elgin-based public-affairs consulting
firm, said in the suit it was hired by American Landmark Properties,
part of a group of investors who bought the building in 2004, to help
secure public funding for the renovation, known as the “greening
project.” Pickering alleges that it has not been paid for its work.
By Michael Oneal | Broadwind
Energy, a provider of windmill equipment and services based in
Naperville, reported a loss of $110.1 million for 2009 on
revenue of $197.8 million.
Much of the loss, came from a non-cash charge of $82.2 million for the
impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets, the company said in
a release. The charge stemmed largely from management’s reassessment of
how certain key customer contracts will perform over time, the
release said.
