Tag Archives: autoinformed.com

California Climate Investments – ~$1B in 2022 to Communities With Worst Impacts of Pollution, Climate Change

“California continues to put our cap-and-trade dollars to work through unprecedented investments in zero-emission infrastructure, housing, conservation, and more,” said Yana Garcia, California’s Secretary for Environmental Protection. “The majority of these funds benefit communities disproportionately burdened by pollution and experiencing the impacts of persistent economic inequity. In 2022 alone, we invested nearly $1 billion in under resourced communities to help ensure an equitable transition to carbon neutrality, and to leveraging improved health outcomes in communities suffering from air pollution and other climate impacts.” Continue reading

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Buick Envista Hatchback Debuts Billed as Crossover SUV

Buick today revealed the 2024 Envista, a new nameplate in the fast-growing small SUV segment. In marketing speak, Envista has the cargo space and utility of an SUV, packaged inside sporty and sleek proportions typically found in a sedan. Translation – in the Alice in Wonderland world of automotive marketing, Humpty Dumpty eschews using the hatchback word, which for generations of Americans meant cheap transportation. Continue reading

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Lancia Pu+Ra HPE – Concept Car or Furniture?

“Today Lancia presents Lancia Pu+Ra HPE, the brand vision for the next 10 years that takes the brand into the era of electric mobility and sums up our way of conceiving and experiencing the car. Starting with the new Ypsilon, our cars of the future will be inspired by the Lancia Pu+Ra HPE,” said Luca Napolitano, CEO of the Lancia brand. Continue reading

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March Global Light Vehicles Sales Up 12%

The month-on-month (MoM) improvement in the SAAR is largely attributed to the rebounding of the China market as customers took advantage of expiring tax incentives before April, in LMC’s view. Relatedly, both the North American market and the Western Europe markets saw YoY improvements when compared against a very weak 2022. Eastern Europe showed the first positive YoY growth in March since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, LMC noted. Continue reading

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New EPA Online Guide – Heavy Metal Exposures in Children

“One of EPA’s top priorities is protecting public health, especially the health of our children who are most vulnerable to health impacts from exposure to heavy metals such as lead, “said Clifford Villa, Deputy Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management. Continue reading

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US EPA – 2021 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Up

“For 30 years EPA has worked with researchers, federal partners, and stakeholders to produce a detailed and complete inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks,” said Joseph Goffman, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation. Well, yes, but it begs the question what is US regulatory policy doing about reducing the CO2 created by burning fossil fuels that is at the core of US economic activity? Continue reading

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Stellantis Shareholders Approve €4.2 Billion Dividend

The proposed distribution means a payment to the holders of common shares of €1.34 per outstanding common share. Shareholders holding common shares traded on the NYSE will receive $1.463548 per common share based on the official USD/EUR exchange rate reported by the European Central Bank on 12 April 2023. Continue reading

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EPA Wants Toughest Federal Emission Standards Ever

Thus far automakers are not commenting in public with details. AutoInformed suggests that this is likely due to the complexity of the problem and backroom lobbying by special interests groups and affected companies or international automotive groups with complex regulatory environments, so to speak, in various areas.

However, the European Union, Britain and Canada have at present enacted similar vehicle emissions standards designed to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by ~2035 while transitioning to electric vehicles. Continue reading

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Land Speed Record Breaker Craig Breedlove Passes at 86

Norman Craig Breedlove Sr. passed away yesterday, the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association  said today in SEMA news update. Breedlove was elected into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1993), Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame (1995), International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2000) and the Automotive Hall of Fame (2009). He also earned life membership in the Bonneville 200 MPH Club (1963). Continue reading

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EPA Wants More Health Protection for Commercial Sterilization

“EPA’s number one priority is protecting people’s health and safety, and we are committed to taking decisive action that’s informed by the best available science,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “These proposals build on EPA’s extensive outreach to communities across the nation and reflect close coordination among key federal partners. Together they would significantly reduce worker and community exposure to harmful levels of ethylene oxide. EPA will continue to use every available tool to safeguard our nation’s communities, including workers, from exposure to toxic chemicals and to deliver important public health protections,” Regan said. Continue reading

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Ford Oakville Assembly in Canada to Convert to EVs

Ford Motor (NYSE: F) said today it is investing C$1.8 billion in its Oakville Assembly Complex to make it  into a high-volume hub of electric vehicle manufacturing in Canada. The property, to be renamed Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will begin to retool and modernize during Q2of 2024 to prepare for production of next-generation EVs. Continue reading

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GM Ventures is Investing in EnergyX for EV Batteries

EnergyX’s direct lithium extraction technology, so-called DLE, can make lithium metal directly from brine and possibly in anode-ready form for EV batteries. GM said this enables a “more cost-effective and sustainable lithium recovery to unlock a vast lithium supply chain in North America that may otherwise be unviable.” Continue reading

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Ford – Most Hourly Workers, US-Assembled Vehicles, Exports

“Ford has bet on American workers, including the UAW, more than any other automaker. This commitment combined with great product and innovation, has earned us the loyalty of customers and returned Ford to America’s best-selling brand so far this year. We could make different decisions, as many others have done to reduce costs, but Ford is different. We will find ways to be lean and competitive while investing in our home market,” claimed Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. This is, of course,  a UAW contract negotiation year starting this summer with many recent Ford jobs going to Southern states hostile to unions. Continue reading

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First Look – 2025 Ram 1500 REV

As is the case with GM and Ford Motor EV pickup offerings now on sale,  vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid bi-directional charging thus far in theory provides the 1500 REV with the flexibility to charge another Stellantis battery-electric vehicle or send power back to the grid. The truck can also power a home during a storm, run a tailgate party, and provide power at a camp or jobsite. Continue reading

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Illegally Towed Vehicles – DOJ Helping Service Members

Under the proposed consent order, which awaits approved by the court*, Steve’s Towing will pay $67,500 to the seven SCRA-protected service members referenced in the United States’ complaint, up to $12,500 to compensate additional SCRA-protected service members whose vehicles Steve’s Towing may have sold without first obtaining court orders and a $10,000 civil penalty. Steve’s Towing will also be required to provide SCRA training to its employees and to develop new policies and procedures consistent with the SCRA.This of course comes at a time when local, state and nationally elected Republicans are trying to de-fund and disrupt the US justice system. Continue reading

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