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Government bailout does not mean EV mandates for GM, Chrysler

GM and Chrysler may have gotten government help totaling almost $40 billion, but that money does not come with strings attached demanding that the two companies build electric or high-mpg cars. Government task force head Ron Bloom told Reuters that, "We obviously would be very happy if Chrysler and GM were making lots and lots of high mileage cars. It's not a prerequisite. It's not an obligation." While the U.S. as a whole would benefit if the cars on the road were more efficient, the government's stance is understandably self-serving. ... Read more →

STUDY: Cash for Clunkers helped Japanese way more than Detroit 3 Michael Harley

While there is no question that Obama's Cash-for-Clunkers program accelerated vehicle sales this summer, a new report by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute shows the ...

Congress restores hydrogen funding with $187 million in appropriations bill Sebastian Blanco

Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu is not getting his way in Washington. Recently (and, at this point, still allegedly) he said that he "would put every cent into electric cars." The ...

Cash For Clunkers gets $2B assist in the Senate; C.A.R.S. funded through Labor Day Sebastian Blanco

After a week of uncertainty and a lot of weighing in from all sides, C.A.R.S. (aka Cash For Clunkers) looks set to continue for another month, at least. The Senate confirmed the House's $2 billion ...

After $2.4 billion for batteries, feds give out millions for smart grid, biofuels, more Xavier Navarro

Those who were worried that the U.S. government was picking winners by only spending $2.4 billion on batteries should be pleased with this: Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced $347 additional ...

Obama announces battery grants: Big Three, Michigan, li-ion companies come out winners 3 months ago on Autoblog Green

At the closed and then re-openend Monaco Recreational Vehicle plant in Indiana today, President Obama will announce exactly how $2.4 billion in Recovery Act grant money will be spent on advanced battery technologies and on infrastructure for more electric vehicles. This is a bit more than the $2 ...

Obama signs Cash-for-Clunkers bill into law, countdown to start begins 4 months ago on Autoblog Green

President Obama has taken pen to paper and signed off on Cash-for-Clunkers, a law that could help the auto industry shake its year-long funk. The Transportation Department now has 30 days to determine the rules and regulations for Cash-for-Clunkers, placing the start of the program at the end of ...

Obama responds to governors' biofuels concerns 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

Presidents and biofuels. Seems to be a theme today. Back in February, the Governors' Biofuels Coalition sent a letter to President Obama asking for a stronger ethanol position, specifically asking that the national blend be increased to E13 and that the government consider promoting the ...

Chrysler says alliance with Fiat will allow it to meet future CAFE requirements 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

Joining the chorus of supporters applauding the Obama Administration's new CAFE standards is bankrupt automaker Chrysler. After 'thanking the administration for their leadership' and for creating a single nationwide standard, Chrysler points out that it's alliance with Italian automaker Fiat ...

Responses to higher CAFE standard from Plug In America, Auto Alliance, more 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

In President Obama's speech this afternoon about the new 35.5 mpg CAFE standard for 2016, he made sure to emphasize the broad support for the new national rule. From the responses we're seeing around the web following the announcement, it's clear that he wasn't just expressing a hope that a broad ...

Obama: CAFE increase is "an historic agreement to help American break its addiction to oil" 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

Aside from the Daimler-Tesla announcement earlier today, the big green car news for May 19 is the increase in CAFE standards that President Obama made just a short while ago, joined by Governors Jennifer Granholm (MI), Deval Patrick (MA) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (CA), members of Congress and Ron ...

Auto Alliance comes out in favor of new federal fuel economy proposals 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

After fighting fuel economy and emissions rules at both the federal and state levels for many years, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is finally coming out in favor of the new regulatory framework that will be announced by President Obama tomorrow. The biggest sticking point in recent ...

REPORT: Obama to announce new CAFE standards tomorrow, require 34 mpg standard 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

According to reports from both the New York Times and Politico, the Obama Administration plans to announce new CAFE regulations tomorrow that will finally reconcile both federal and state standards. The plan is expected to combine California's strict emission rules with the federal rule, raising ...

Obama, DOE slash hydrogen fuel cell funding in new budget 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

The message has been hinted at before, but the federal government is now serious about shifting the focus away from hydrogen and onto plug-in vehicles. In an important statement yesterday, Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu said that hydrogen vehicles are still 10 to 20 years away from ...

DOE announces $786 million for third-generation biofuels 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a huge, $786.5 million program to speed development and commercialization of biofuels today. The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is intended for the following specific projects: $480 Million Solicitation for ...

Honda pondering plug-in hybrid as response to U.S. policy changes? 6 months ago on Autoblog Green

"We are thinking about plug-in hybrids, but we aren't thinking about commercializing one right away." This is what Honda's President Takeo Fukui said in a recent interview. The automaker, which is leasing hydrogen cars in the U. S. and Japan, thinks of hydrogen as the long-term solution, but ...

Obama outlines high-speed rail plan for U.S. 7 months ago on Autoblog Green

President Obama today outlined a plan to build regional high-speed rail routes in the United States. Cross-country trips will still be conducted best in a plane or as a road trip, but options to go from Detroit to Chicago, for example, would include the new trains that can go up to 110 mph. The ...

Group sues Obama administration over weak MPG standards 7 months ago on Autoblog Green

When the next step in the road to 35 mpg by 2020 CAFE standards was announced recently, those in the know made clear that the Obama administration upcoming goal of 27.3 mpg by 2011 would not be hard for automakers to meet. In fact, the 2007 average was already 31.3, so the 2011 goal would not ...

Plug In America suggests reducing warranty time to lower cost of Chevy Volt 7 months ago on Autoblog Green

One of the Obama Auto Task Force's findings RE the Chevy Volt was that it will be a wee bit pricey, too pricey, in fact to play a role in saving GM from itself. Plug In America (PIA), the advocacy group for vehicles with a cord, is trying to make the case that part of the problem for the Volt's ...

The green side of Obama's auto industry speech 7 months ago on Autoblog Green

The short version of President Obama's speech today regarding the U.S. auto industry is this: there's only a little more time for GM and Chrysler to get their act together. First off, GM CEO Rick Wagoner got booted and was replaced by Fritz Henderson. Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm said ...

Obama on Leno: plug-in vehicles FTW 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

Give the man credit, he knows how to take his message to the people. President Obama, during his trip to the west coast to visit Southern California Edison and their plug-in hybrid research center (oh, and to talk about the government money for research like this), he stopped by the Tonight Show ...

EPA looking into regulating CO2 for the first time ever; national auto emissions standard coming? 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

More potential changes in the way the EPA does business. Following the decision to re-open the states' rights question on limiting carbon emissions and the California waiver issue, President Obama said yesterday that the EPA could soon take on CO2 more broadly. The EPA could decide by early April ...

Stimulus bill pumps up plug-ins, public transit, trains, smart grid 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

I heard a phrase on the radio yesterday that described the unappetizing way the stimulus bill was crafted in Congress this past week: emergency sausage. However it was crafted, the deed is now done. The overall impact of the bill is being covered by everyone everywhere, so we'll focus on the ...

Responses to Obama's move, and looking at the potential of a $10,000 PHEV tax credit 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

There were good and bad receptions to President Obama's move earlier this week to push the EPA to rethink the California waiver decision (details here). GM released a very short statement that said they were "ready to engage the Obama administration and the Congress" on this topic (read the whole ...

Officially, Official: Obama directs EPA to look at CA waiver, DOT to enforce CAFE increase 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

Whether you think it's a disaster or delight, President Obama has made it official. Reports that he would ask the EPA to move quickly on reconsidering the Bush Administration's December 2007 decision to deny California a rules waiver (for background, read this) were true. Obama issued just such ...

Obama looks to change California's EPA waiver status; big changes could follow 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

Big news on the emissions regulation front today. For years, California has been in the driver's seat (or at least the co-pilot's chair) when it comes to American emissions regulations thanks to the grandfathered ability of the state to define its own rules. These rules were almost always ...

GridWise Alliance says a US smart grid would create 280,000 new jobs 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

Remember the US presidential election? I know, I know, it seems so long ago now. But one of the big topics in that marathon event was a discussion of jobs, the economy and green energy. From what I remember, there was a lot of talk about how the latter would help the former. The GridWise Alliance, ...

Surprise! Bush administration passes on setting CAFE standards 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

With a brief, three-sentence statement, the Bush Administration has done what we've been expecting for quite some time: pawn off future CAFE decisions to the next administration. So, Obama and his future team will now be in charge of deciding exactly how to proceed with tough new regulations that ...

Plug In America will host West Coast Inauguration parade with 30+ EVs 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

Many of the people in Plug in America were excited by Barack Obama's win in the US presidential election. So excited, in fact, that they applied to be part of the Presidential Inaugural Parade that will take place later this month. Well, with 1,300 other groups having the same idea, PIA's ...

Better Place answers questions about home charging, Obama's interest 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

Over the weekend, we heard a story that the Obama Administration "may be adopting" the Better Place model of powering electric cars. We wanted to know more about what this means, exactly, and got the following from Better Place PR: Better Place has shared their model with a number of government ...

Anti-coal biofuel researcher will become Obama's Secretary of Energy 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

The US Secretary of Energy is not exactly a glamorous position. I mean, go ahead and name the current one. Give up? It's Samuel Bodman, whose name we've had on AutoblogGreen with some regularity and still I needed to Wikipedia the position to recall his name. But the next Secretary might become a ...

Bill Ford to turn automaker into "Green Oval"? 12 months ago on Autoblog Green

Bill Ford, great-grandson of Henry Ford himself, is reportedly hedging his bets on green technology for the automaker that bears his name. Ford has spoken directly with President-elect Barack Obama about energy, especially as it relates to the automotive industry, and the Blue Oval exec likes what ...

Obama says filling up our SUVs isn't progress 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

"Then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it's not important, and we start, you know filling up our SUVs again. And, as a consequence, we never make any progress." - Barack Obama President-elect Barack Obama was on 60 Minutes last night and talked to Steve Kroft about the ...

Did you know McCain owns three GEM EVs? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Maybe this is why John McCain is so gung-ho for better automotive batteries. According to a fluffy piece of reporting by Newsweek, the McCain family owns three GEM electric vehicles. Newsweek wanted to find out how many cars each of the two major party presidential candidates owns, and found out ...

Which cars would a President Obama or McCain promote? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Apparently, Marty Padgett and Bengt Halvorson over at The Car Connection had a little extra time over the weekend. As part of the political frenzy being created thanks to the national party conventions happening over the next two weeks, the automotive website has taken it upon itself to predict ...

Obama: 1 million plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2015 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has proposed a new ten-year $150 billion energy plan today in Michigan. A large part of the plan centers around transportation -- both the use of petroleum and the types of cars we are to drive in the future. For automakers, $4 billion in loans and loan ...

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