Green Driving
Cash for Clunkers Junked 4,000 Old Cars on First Day
Posted: Jul. 29, 2009 10:07:27 a.m.
As Uncle Sam sees it, the point of the Cash for Clunkers rebate system wasn't to get you into a better set of wheels. It was to jump start the flagging auto industry and pull old, polluting gas guzzlers off the road. And it's working.
The Detroit Free Press reports, "American motorists looking to scrap their clunkers already have purchased more than 4,000 new vehicles under the $1 billion ‘Cash for Clunkers' program. The National Highway Traffic ...
EPA Mileage Changes Wreck Some Cash for Clunkers Deals
Posted: Jul. 28, 2009 11:07:35 a.m.
Planning to turn in your clunker for a government voucher? Double check the Environmental Protection Agency's mileage numbers before you leave the house. If your old car was eligible last week, it might not be eligible today.
The Detroit Free Press explains, "A last-minute update of federal fuel economy data caused confusion...among shoppers looking at cash-for-clunkers deals, making some old cars and trucks ineligible just as the program launched" The EPA conducted "a review of data on 30 ...
Cash for Clunkers Kicks Off Today
Posted: Jul. 27, 2009 11:07:10 a.m.
The Cash for Clunkers program is finally here. The New York Times reports, "After all the talk, debate and anticipation, the Car Allowance Rebate System (C.A.R.S.), better known as ‘cash for clunkers,' finally kicks off with a press conference this morning by the transportation secretary, Ray LaHood." The program will offer Americans up to $4,500 toward the purchase of a new, more fuel-efficient car when they trade in an older, less fuel-efficient car.
The official rules ...
Don't Get Screwed by Cash for Clunkers
Posted: Jul. 27, 2009 11:07:31 a.m.
Dozens of media reports this morning tout the benefits of the so-called Cash for Clunkers program kicking off this morning - but a few offer important cautions.
The Houston Chronicle warns, "The only way the CARS cash incentive makes good financial sense is if you can afford to buy a new car... Taking on new debt in this economy is not a decision to take lightly, no matter how much money will be knocked off the purchase price to get you ...
Mazda, Toyota Add Cash for Clunkers Incentives
Posted: Jul. 27, 2009 11:07:25 a.m.
The federal Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), also known as Cash for Clunkers, officially kicks off with a media event at the headquarters of the Department of Transportation today - and at car dealerships across the country, many of which have already started accepting old cars. Toyota and Mazda dealers will now greet the event with new incentives.
Kicking Tires reports, "Toyota is one of the few automakers we've heard of that will offer five-year leases, created just for the ...
Cash for Clunkers Officially Launches Amid Hopes, Doubts
Posted: Jul. 24, 2009 11:07:49 a.m.
Update: The program's launch has been delayed until Monday, July 27, apparently due to a problem with the computer system used to register dealerships to participate.
It's official. The federal government is now buying back gas guzzlers and sending them to the crusher.
ABC News reports, "Americans will get a new incentive to trade-in their gas-guzzling cars today when a government rebate program that offers cash vouchers to people who trade in their cars for new fuel-efficient vehicles ...
Want a Chevy Volt? Prepare to Bid on eBay
Posted: Jul. 24, 2009 10:07:38 a.m.
The first Chevy Volts may be sold in online auctions. Autoblog reports that Chevrolet Brand Manager Ed Peper has recently "suggested the automaker may try selling new Volts on eBay."
Chevrolet Brand Manager Ed Peper discussed the idea recently in an interview with the enthusiast site GM-Volt.com. "It's something that's definitely crossed our mind. You could even have an auction on the vehicles. We use this already with certified used vehicles and it's actually worked out ...
Coming To Your Car Soon: Renewable, Organic Gasoline?
Posted: Jul. 15, 2009 10:07:59 a.m.
Someday, you could pull up to the local gas station and fill your conventionally-powered car with a renewable fuel, made in the U.S., that costs less than today's gasoline.
Kicking Tires explains, "Texas-based company Terrabon, which specializes in biofuels, reports that it has devised an alternative fuel compatible with gasoline." Researchers at Texas A&M University have developed "a fermentation process called MixAlco" that produces a fuel very similar to gasoline, using almost any organic material.
The Houston ...
Cash for Clunkers Starts July 23
Posted: Jul. 01, 2009 10:07:31 a.m.
You have three weeks to get the Monte Carlo running, at least well enough to drive it to a dealership. The "Cash for Clunkers" program, which will pay consumers a rebate of up to $4,500 toward the purchase of a new car when they turn in an older, less efficient car, is about to begin.
Autoblog reports, "When President Obama signed the Cash-for-Clunkers bill into law back on June 24, the Transportation Department was given 30 days to set ...
Start-Up Reportedly Developing Bulletproof Inflatable Car
Posted: Jun. 30, 2009 10:06:56 a.m.
"Damn. I popped the car. Anybody got any duct tape?"
Actually, that scenario is unlikely, according to the designers of the inflatable electric car. The material that makes up the outside of the car, they insist, is bulletproof.
A report in Product Design and Development magazine explains, "XP's Mini Utility Vehicle prototype cuts costs and time by using 70 percent less parts and novel materials that require simpler factory devices." It's also...well...inflatable like a balloon.
"XP ...
