bob lutz

Despite his long history with traditional internal combustion engines and climate change skepticism, Bob Lutz remains a strong voice for the plug-in future of the automobile. If anything, his recent statement are getting stronger. To wit, in an recent interview with CNBC, the Chevy Volt's ...

Chinese company Wanxiang was in the news earlier this year, as it moved to acquire bankrupt automotive battery company A123. Turns out, while that was taking place in the public eye, Wanxiang was also working with VL Automotive – of Bob Lutz and Destino fame – to try and buy out ...

Two days after a Congressional hearing about a US Department of Energy loan to Fisker Automotive, Bob Lutz wrote a column pondering what should be done to stop the financial hemorrhaging at the company that builds – well, used to build – the Karma extended-range sports car. When Lutz ...

Sometimes, a little suggestion goes a long, long way. Speaking at the SAE World Congress in Detroit today, Bob Lutz took a proposal from the conference organizers to frame his speech around the idea that he was king of the auto industry for a week and ran with it. He said he'd need to rule over ...

Bob Lutz has had grandiose performance luxury car dreams before – Cunningham C7, anyone? – but the VL Automotive Destino that was just unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show was certainly a surprise, even to long-time Lutz-watchers. As a reminder, the Destino is a Fisker Karma with a ...

One result of the litany of problems that Fisker Automotive suffered in 2012 – floods, fires and recalls – was a production stoppage of the plug-in hybrid Karma that has already lasted six months. Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher told AutoblogGreen that the delay was due to an attempt ...

Now he tells us. Bob Lutz, who helped spearhead the development of the Chevrolet Volt at General Motors, told UK's Autocar that the Volt's extended-range plug-in powertrain would've been better developed for full-size SUV than a smaller-sized car because of the greater opportunity to cut fuel use ...

Give Bob Lutz a little bit of time and a big idea, and he will create for the world "the kind of vehicle I would like to own." That's what he called the X-Truck concept – from the Lutz-affiliated Via Motors – which debuted at the Detroit Auto Show. If you're thinking that the X-Truck ...

No one's ever accused Bob Lutz of underselling his products, and the former General Motors Vice Chairman – a key development force for the Chevrolet Volt – is at it again with Via Motors. Via, which will present three new full-size extended-range plug-ins at Detroit's North American ...

Echo Automotive, Inc., a start-up company that converts fleet vehicles to hybrids and plug-in hybrids, has announced an impressive Technical Advisory Board. Plug-in electric vehicle expert Chelsea Sexton and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk are two of the seven board members who met ...

We're learning again that if you take on the Chevrolet Volt, you also take on Bob Lutz. The former General Motors executive used his Forbes column to take issue with the Reuters article that blew up yesterday, estimating that the automaker was losing $49,000 for each Chevrolet Volt sold. Lutz ...

A message to Bob Lutz, former General Motors vice chairman, and proponent of the Chevrolet Volt and Via Motors' plug-in electric vehicles. Regarding your guest column in Forbes lambasting the federal government for granting battery maker A123 Systems a Department of Energy grant and allowing a ...

Bob Lutz recently stopped by to see Jay Leno at the comedian's Big Dog Garage, and the legendary auto executive has brought along his latest project, an extended-range VTrux electric pickup by Via Motors. The creation combines a 4.3-liter V6 with an electric motor to offer around 50 miles of ...

If you couldn't make it to Los Angeles for the 26th annual Electric Vehicle Symposium this week, you can still listen in live some EV experts discuss the next stage of the modern EV era, the one when the "emerging mainstream" begins to investigate plug-in cars. Specifically, according to the ...

And you thought the right-wing attacks on plug-in cars was going to fade away. Not if Rush Limbaugh has anything to do with it (and he does). On his radio show yesterday, Limbaugh complained for many minutes about the evils of EVs. "There's nothing wrong with oil, there's nothing wrong with ...

Bob Lutz is not going to take the attacks on electric cars lying down – the closest he'll come to that is doing push-ups on The Colbert Report. After spending a few of his Forbes' columns laying into right-wing pundits for their attacks on the Chevrolet Volt, he is switching to a positive ...

Former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz went bicep-to-bicep with "America's ballsiest pundit," Stephen Colbert, last night – and came out ahead. Ostensibly, Lutz was on Colbert to talk about his new book, Car Guys Vs. Bean Counters, but as one might expect, the discussion veered into ...

Bob Lutz may no longer work for General Motors, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the Chevrolet Volt's back. The developer of the extended-range plug-in, in an interview with Plug In America's Jeff U'Ren, blasted what he called "the right-wing talk show guys" for what he said was a ...

Bob Lutz has learned something: you can't teach right-wing pundits the truth. Yes, in his ongoing series of Chevrolet Volt defense columns for Forbes (see previous entries here and here), the former GM vice chairman has finally decided to throw in the towel. The short version of his awakening ...

Via Motors, the extended-range plug-in hybrid utility vehicle maker that unveiled the VTrux at the Detroit Auto Show this January, has reached an agreement to provide Verizon Communications with a test fleet of vehicles. Via will provide Verizon with a pickup truck and cargo van for the testing ...