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Let\’s cut right to the chase. Everything about the 2009 Chevy Traverse that will be unveiled later today in Chicago is stuff we pretty much already know. As the fourth Lambda-platform crossover from General Motors, the basics have been introduced already in the GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave. The Traverse is a roomy seven (or eight)-passenger crossover with a well-organized cockpit, whose details differ only slightly from its platform sibs. That\’s been GM\’s M.O. thus far, so why should the Traverse be any different? Power, like the other Lambdas, comes from the 3.6L V6, which makes 281 or 286 horsepower in the Bowtie version depending on whether the vehicle is equipped with a single or dual exhaust. GM promises \”best in class\” fuel economy (final numbers are still TBD), but our experience with the other Lambdas has been… Read the rest of this entry

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Lots of businesses and even regular folk have a need for a vehicle with plenty of space inside to carry stuff that isn\’t necessarily incredibly heavy. For those applications, something like a full-size van is just overkill and results in higher than necessary operating costs. Over the years, Chevy, Dodge and Ford have all offered cargo van versions of their mini-vans for plumbers, caterers and anyone else that didn\’t need the extra two rows of seats but wanted more storage space. With the demise of the Windstar/Freestar in late 2006, and new, stricter fuel economy regulations on the horizon, Ford found a new solution in its European lineup. Several years ago it launched the Transit Connect, a smaller, tall roofed… Read the rest of this entry

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Ford is not shy about reminding the world of the enormous number of full-size trucks that it sells every year. A large portion of those trucks get sold to people who use them to earn their living. Contractors, plumbers, electricians, installers, landscapers and more use their trucks and vans as mobile offices, workshops and tool cribs. With the market for this class of vehicles getting increasingly competitive, thanks to new models from Chrysler and entries from Toyota and to a lesser degree Nissan, Ford knows it needs to provide something that appeals to those core commercial customers. In mid-2006, the brand that Henry built talked to its customers and determined that owners would appreciate new features that would make their… Read the rest of this entry

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So, just where is the line between hype and bluster and reality when we’re talking about the Zotye electric SUV? That’s something that will be made much more clear in the next two months, as that’s when deliveries of this $20,000 highway-speed, all-electric SUV are supposed to start. In the near term, let’s get busy with the Chicago Auto Show.

• Zotye electric SUV: $20,000, highway speed, 100-mile range and just 60 DAYS AWAY!
• Chicago 2008: Ford brings the Transit Connect to America
• VW sells one millionth DSG, next million on the way
• Airbus completes world first GTL-powered flight
• GM invites you to talk about the environment on GMNext tomorrow
• Video: Jim Dawson’s 80-mile range electric SaturnDOE picks 2009 Solar Decathlon teams
• Keene State College an EPA award finalist with waste oil project
• General Motors to invest $69M in Ohio diesel engine plant for updated

… Read the rest of this entry

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Dutch inventors might have ushered in the return of the full-service station. Yet like so many other things being taken out of the hands of flesh and blood people, the new full-service could be an all-robot affair. The robot — called the Tankpitstop robot — is affixed to the bowser, and if it recognizes the make and model of car, and your gas cap doesn\’t need a key, it will open everything up and start pumping.

The creation is the brainchild of a gas station operator who said he saw a robot milking a cow, and figured that a robot could fill a car. Heck, if robots can build cars and fill their fluids, we figure there\’s no reason why they can\’t fill a tank. The question now is how to let drivers know that the robot knows how to fill your… Read the rest of this entry

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Last Friday, Tesla chairman Elon Musk took delivery of the first production Roadster, which carries the name P1 (Production vehicle 1). The black coupe was flown in from Hethel, England, where all Teslas are being built alongside the Roadster\’s cousin, the Lotus Elise. When the Roadster arrived at the start-up\’s R&D facility in San Carlos, California, it was pushed into the garage and had its Thailand-produced battery pack installed. After the battery was fitted and charged, Musk led a pack of four other Roadsters on a quick drive and AutoblogGreen was able to procure a video of the run. For those of you who wanted to hear how the Tesla Roadster sounds while accelerating, we\’ve embedded the video after the jump.

[Source: Earth2Tech.com, Image: Stephanie Lawrence]

Gallery: First Drive: Tesla Roadster

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One of the main concerns that Autoblog readers have about Chinese cars is their safety. We\’ve seen some fairly horrific crash tests of Chinese-made cars recently, but some improvements, as well. You just gotta know American insurance companies are not looking forward to these things being on U.S. roads.

That\’s why we find it quite ironic that U.S. insurance company AIG has bought a sizable stake in Chinese car and motorcycle-maker Lifan. We haven\’t seen any Lifan crash tests, so their cars could beat even Volvo at the safety game for all we know. But so far, Chinese cars in general aren\’t exactly known for their safety.

While one report says AIG\’s piece of Lifan could be as big as 25%, Lifan\’s Chairman Yin Mingshan said last year his company would not sell… Read the rest of this entry

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2009 Volkswagen Routan. (Photo courtesy of Volkswagen of America, Inc.)

CHICAGO — Volkswagen decided several years back that it couldn’t afford to develop and build a modern-day successor to its iconic Microbus. Instead, the Powers That Be in Wolfsburg elected to tap Chrysler for a near-clone of the Town & Country for its U.S. clientele.

Enter the 2009 VW Routan, a seven-passenger minivan that looks like, well, just another minivan. Especially a Chrysler minivan, despite VW’s press puffery about how the vehicle features “European sensibilities in design, fit and finish and handling characteristics.”

Aside from the VW grille and badging, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the Routan apart from its American cousins from most angles, inside or out.

Under the hood is a familiar Chrysler 3.8-liter V6, rated at 197 horsepower and 230 pound-feet of torque. A 251-hp 4.0-liter is optional.

Among the… Read the rest of this entry

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The Simpsons and the Renault Kangoo. (Photo courtesy of Renault)

BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, France — Renault has enlisted some famous faces in its campaign for the new Kangoo family wagon, and it’s not President Sarkozy and his new supermodel wife. The Simpsons of TV and movie fame are the stars of a new series of ads, subjecting the Kangoo to what Renault calls “a real torture test.” Warning: cartoon violence!

Homer and Marge, their children Bart, Lisa and Maggie, and Grandpa are all shown in the Kangoo ads, which were created by Fox Licensing and Merchandising and the French Publicis Conseil ad agency. The point is to show that the Kangoo is the “ultimate family car” and can “take anything — even the ultimate family: the Simpsons.”

The ads will run in 29 countries after a French debut on February 9.

What this means to you: Are… Read the rest of this entry

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The Queen of Soul herself. (Photo courtesy of Sodamnhappy.com)

LOS ANGELES — Pink vehicles are usually the stuff of Mary Kay Cosmetics power sellers or history books — dare we mention the infamous Dodge La Femme from the 1950s? So to see the girlie paint job on a 2008 Cadillac CTS can trigger a major gasp. But it’s all for a good cause, as the custom “Pink Cadillac” autographed by Aretha Franklin hits the auction block here on February 8 for MusiCares, an organization that benefits musicians.

In a statement crafted by a punster, Cadillac says it is “tickled pink” to participate in the auction, which gets underway during Grammy week.

The pink Cadillac, which is inspired by Franklin’s hit song “Freeway of Love,” is powered by a 304-horsepower 3.6-liter direct-injection V6. The lyric, “goin’ ridin’ on the freeway of love in my pink… Read the rest of this entry