During Bob Lutz's keynote speech kicking off the LA Auto Show this morning, he announced that GM would bring a fleet of 100 Chevy Volts to California in late 2010. GM will partner with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), the Sacremento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for this real-world test that is intended to help figure out what sort of charging network is needed in an area to help automakers introduce plug-in cars. Over 500 charging stations will be installed as part of the program. "This program will determine the best methods to accommodate an expanding fleet of electric vehicles from all OEMs," Lutz said. "This extended real-world study will allow us to make electric vehicles as good as they can be for our customers."

The U.S. DOE is providing a matching grant worth over $30 million for this program, and will get user data for their money. OnStar will provide feedback on how the Volts are used to GM, and GM will relay this data to the DOE. This program does not mean that the first Volts will be used only for fleets. The first customer deliveries are still scheduled to happen at around the same time. We'll have a more complete report on Lutz's speech up soon.

Take a look over Infiniti's current line-up and two vehicles stand out: The M and the QX. Both vehicles have been soldiering on while the brand's volume models (G and FX) have undergone major redesigns, leaving Infiniti's flagship sedan and hulking SUV toiling away unchanged since 2003 and 2004, respectively.

Last night, that changed.

We'll probably see a mildly tweaked G in So. Cal. while covering the LA Auto Show (an updated QX full-size SUV won't appear until later), but the star of the party is the 2011 Infiniti M. Due to go on sale next spring, the M will be available with two powerplants -- Infiniti's ubiquitous 3.7-liter V6 and a new 5.6-liter V8 -- each available with rear- or all-wheel drive and both packing enough electronic gizmos to make even the most hardened NASA engineer's head spin.

UPDATE: A hybrid version of the M will debut sometime in the middle of 2010. A live image gallery of the M56 has been added below, along with more high-res pics of both the Sport and Touring models. Also, scope out the sexiest door handles you'll see this week here.

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Renault Environment is partnering with a Belgian driver training company to expand the availability of a program targeted at teaching ecodriving. Renault Environment is actually a wholly owned subsidiary of the automaker that focuses on helping other green businesses expand their reach.

Key Driving Competences (KDC) SA has been providing its ecodriving program since 2005 and over 50,000 hours of training have been conducted with 10,000 drivers. The partnership will expand the program to several more countries next year. The techniques taught to students can help reduce fuel consumption by an average of 10 percent.

One of the keys to the program is the short and long-term followups to help reinforce the lessons learned. Drivers come back after three weeks and after one year to review what they learned and how they are doing. KDC uses simulators, telematics and online support systems to get drivers to use less fuel.

[Source: Renault]

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Chevrolet has confirmed was has been talked about for some time now: when the Volt goes on sale late next year, it will initially be available only in limited markets. First up will be the state that has pushed hardest for electric vehicles, California. Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District are partnering with GM and EPRI (the electric power research institute) to promote plug-in vehicles including the Volt. The partners will use $30 million from the stimulus bill for a test program to put 100 Volts into fleets for two years of real-world testing.

All new Volts are equipped with GM's OnStar system and the cars will report back vital technical data to the automaker. GM will monitor battery performance in part to validate its own simulation models and test cycles that are used to test batteries. The EV promotion program will also fund the installation of 500 public charging stations.

California is first in line because of its aggressive stance on establishing the infrastructure needed as well as other incentives to make the vehicles more palatable. The state's warm climate also makes it a good locale for using battery powered vehicles. Other regions will be added at a later date.

UPDATE: Utilities will also get a slice.



Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

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The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze is finally coming Stateside and during a private event held earlier this evening ahead of the LA Auto Show, General Motors – 20 minutes after announcing the departure of Fritz Henderson as CEO – unveiled the U.S.-spec version of its Cobalt replacement and Toyota Corolla competitor.

Sharing much of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt's architecture, the Cruze has the potential to be a massive leap forward for Chevy in the mid-size/compact segment. Larger than the Cobalt in almost every dimension and packing a choice of either a turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder putting out 138 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque or a naturally aspirated 1.8-liter four-pot, fuel economy and efficiency take center stage. However, "driving enjoyment" was mentioned more than once during the presentation, so to aid both its fuel consumption (an estimated 40 mpg with the turbo'd four) and enhance the experience, buyers will be able to choose between a manual or automatic six-speed gearbox.

Although we've seen the Cruze in person before (it's been on sale in Europe and other markets for over six months), its sharp lines, taut headlamps and enlarged grille play Dr. Jekyll to it's rather staid, Mr. Hyde rump. Inside, the two-tone brown and black leather interior is a tremendous improvement over the model it replaces, with an artfully sculpted dash and center stack surrounded by soft touch materials, brushed fauxluminum and a smattering of chrome. Back seat passengers should be equally pleased with the appointments and a 60/40 split bench ups the ante for usability.

The Cruze's arrival late next year couldn't be better timed, as Ford is readying the next generation Focus and Honda is toiling away on a reworked Civic. We're expecting to get some seat time in the coming months, and for the first time in recent memory, we're looking forward to sampling a new mid-size product from the General. Full details in the press release below the fold and check out the gallery of live images below.

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The Ford Fiesta has proven to be a very successful small car wherever it's sold in the world. Ford has sold 12 million Fiestas over the vehicle's lifetime and the new-for-2009 model has moved half a million units already this year in Europe and Asia. It's a smash hit in spite of the fact that the Fiesta is not for sale in the U.S., a.k.a. the world's biggest car market. That all changes in the spring of 2010 as the Fiesta finally makes its way stateside.

Ford appears to be focusing its efforts in the U.S. small car market at exactly the right time, as consideration for B-Segment vehicles is at an all-time high and the trend appears to be upwardly mobile. And while Ford would love for us to believe that it was clairvoyant when deciding to bring the Fiesta to the U.S., it just isn't true. In fact, the Fiesta wasn't originally designed for the U.S. market, but the shock of $4 per gallon gas and a new-found interest in eco-friendly transportation led the Blue Oval to rethink its strategy. Ford didn't start readying the Fiesta for the U.S. market until many bits and bolts of hardware were already settled, so Team Blue had to go back to the drawing board to make its small car ready for Americans. The result is a U.S.-spec Fiesta that has only 60% of its parts in common with the Euro Fiesta. Will Americans be missing out? Follow the jump for everything you need to know about the Fiesta.

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Undoubtedly, the Chevy Volt is one of the most hotly anticipated new model launches in Chevrolet's long and storied history, and it will likely be seen as a halo model of sorts for the entire General Motors lineup. As we saw first hand when we got the chance to slide behind the wheel of a preproduction Volt the other day, the car is well on its way to becoming a production reality, but actually getting the vehicle into the hands of customers will be another matter entirely.

According to a report from Automotive News, GM is currently in the process of selecting which markets will get first crack at the Volt when it finally goes on sale in just under one year's time. Chevrolet division President Brent Dewar said that the automaker is looking at a number of factors to determine those unannounced target markets, including the existence of an EV charging infrastructure and available tax credits. After this initial launch, the rest of the country's inhabitants will get its chance to see the USA in an electric Chevrolet.



[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req'd]

Quick – name the most fuel efficient car brand in America. Did you say Toyota? Honda? Surely, you're not alone, but incorrect all the same. In fact, the answer is none other than Hyundai, which publicly set out to nab the title just one year ago. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Hyundai cars averaged 30.1 miles per gallon for the 2009 model year.

Rounding out the top five are Honda (29.7 mpg), Volkswagen (29.6), Toyota (29.4) and Kia (28.0). Naturally, we can expect all of these figures to continue rising in the coming years as every automaker strives to meet the upcoming 35.5 mpg U.S. standard for the 2016 model year.

Hyundai promises to meet that requirement with such technologies as direct injection, turbocharging, hybrid powertrains and lithium polymer batteries. The Korean automaker's first hybrid vehicle will be the 2011 Sonata sedan, which will hit the market early next year. Click past the break for the press release.

[Source: Hyundai]

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Smart, the German-born automaker that revived the stagnant microcar market in the first place, has seen itself fall behind in the city car wars with Toyota's oh-so-clever iQ taking the top spot with its extra space for passengers and packages via its brilliant layout. What's more, new machines are on the way from BMW (the long-rumored Isetta revival) and the Audi (the A1, which will be debuted at the next Geneva Motor Show).

As such, we're not surprised to see Smart engineers out and about testing what appears to be the next generation of the diminutive Fortwo. Judging from the fender flares, we might make and educated guess that the new model will be slightly wider than the current car, which makes sense as the same platform is rumored to gain an extended-wheelbase variant called the Fortwo+2.

Unlike the previous Forfour, the Fortwo+2 would share the expected rear-engine, rear-wheel drive architecture with the base car and would come equipped with what would surely be a mini set of rear doors. According to Auto Express, we should see the next Fortwo in dealerships late next year with the +2 showing up in 2012. Electric and hybrid versions are reportedly in the works – and here's hoping they finally fix that horribly awkward transmission.

[Source: Auto Express]

There is some ethanol in almost all of the gasoline sold in the U.S. Usually, this amount is no more than 10 percent of the total and, if it's more than that, it jumps all the way to 85 percent and is sold as E85. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to come down on one side or the other today of a possible increase across the board to 15 percent that Growth Energy and 54 ethanol manufacturers asked for, but instead announced that it needs more time.

The EPA has been looking at the E15 issue all year and investigating all sorts of issues, but there are a lot of moving parts in this sort of decision. Everyone from farmers and their subsidies to grow the corn used to make most of the ethanol sold today to car makers who have tuned their engines to run on E10 but not E15 want to have their say. The EPA has heard the comments, and now says that it needs more time to test E15 in vehicles. Right now, it thinks that any vehicle built after 2001 will burn E15 just fine, but there are a lot of older vehicles still on the road. Cash For Clunkers didn't get all of them off the road, after all. A decision is now expected in mid-June 2010.

The postponement was met with approval by the Alliance of Automobile Manufactures, which said they want more government testing "to prove that increasing the allowable ethanol blend limit will not harm vehicle emissions, performance, and durability." Read their full statement after the jump.

[Source: Reuters, Auto Allliance]

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