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Detroit Auto Show


At Witz' End: Detroit Auto Show: Reality Check - Part I

This year's Detroit North American International Auto Show (aka NAIAS) was easily the greenest ever, greener even than the evergreen Los Angeles show two months earlier. Several automakers (most notably Nissan) were missing due to the weak economy, while others (Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz) were present but silent with no press conferences. That left room for the likes of Tesla, Fisker and a pair of Chinese makers to set up shop on the main floor and hype the media on their grand plans. While a number of high-powered gas- and ... Read more →

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ABG Quick Drive: Ford Focus EV mule [w/VIDEO] Sam Abuelsamid

As Ford was getting ready to make its big announcement this week in Detroit that it would build and sell a battery electric car beginning in 2011, I got a call asking if I'd like to come down and ...

Volt chief engineer still thinks hydrogen is the long term answer Sam Abuelsamid

In recent years, Nick Zielinski has led the powertrain engineering teams on a number of GM advanced technology programs including the Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicle and the Sequel concept. For ...

Detroit 2009: Cadillac Converj, Audi Sportback win Eyes on Design Awards Sebastian Blanco

The Cadillac Converj is currently winning the AutoblogGreen reader poll of the best car from the Detroit Auto Show (but only by two votes, the new Honda Insight is right behind). Seems like you ...

Detroit 2009: the ugliest Tesla Roadster you've ever seen Sebastian Blanco

There is a Tesla Roadster in the Tesla Motor booth at the Detroit Auto Show this year, but you've all seen that car a gazillion times by now. And, since it'll be awful hard to beat those gorgeous ...

Toyota considering April 2009 intro for next-gen Prius 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click on the photo for a gallery of high-res images of the Hybrid-X Concept We've been hearing about the third-generation Toyota Prius for a very long time, and we're really looking forward to seeing it in person at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, where we are expecting its official debut to take ...

Lexus to introduce a dedicated hybrid crossover? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

While it's no surprise to hear that Lexus will be showing off a more luxurious version of the Prius hybrid sedan, Inside Line is reporting that the upcoming model will be priced over $30,000 and possibly have an older brother in the form of a dedicated hybrid crossover utility vehicle. Based on ...

Next-gen Prius to get larger engine, more efficient 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click on the photo for a gallery of high-res images of the Hybrid-X Concept There's a good deal that we already know about Toyota's next Prius. For instance, we expect it to make its formal debut in 2009 at the Detroit Auto Show, along with a possible Lexus sister. We know that Toyota plans to ...

Audi Snook concept makes the Segway look so last century 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The Audi Snook concept performs quite the balancing-act. There's just one contact point hitting terra firma. While the Segway only has to balance in one direction, the Snook would go all the way ... kinda like a unicycle rider. We can see no real point to this concept, other than to look cool, but ...

Lexus to get its own Prius for 2009 Detroit show 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Gasoline-electric powertrain aside, part of what makes the Toyota Prius get such good mileage is the stripped-out interior and itty-bitty wheels. Put in a leather interior, power everything, premium entertainment system with DVD players and LCD televisions and big wheels – features that Lexus ...

Detroit 2008: AutoblogGreen Q&A: Tom Purves CEO of BMW-NA 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Prior to the kick-off of frenzy of press conferences at the Detroit Auto Show, ABG had the opportunity to talk with BMW-North America CEO Tom Purves and another BMW representative. We discussed the company's diesel announcement along with their hybrid and hydrogen plans. ABG: We're here with Tom ...

Detroit 2008: More photos than you can shake a stick at 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The Detroit Auto Show is open to the public this week. If you're the type of person who really wants to be there, but can't find the time or money to arrive, allow me to present you with a viable alternative. Sure, we already brought you news about the green cars that were revealed or are on ...

Detroit 2008: Toyota's Takimoto talks about all of Toyota's future eco plans 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

During the hectic press days of the Detroit Auto Show, AutoblogGreen and a small number of other news outlets were invited to a corner of the Riverfront Ballroom at Cobo Hall. The reason for the meeting was the chance to inteview Toyota Motor Corporation Japan's executive vice president, Masatami ...

Autoblog Green Podcast #18 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Episode 18 of the Autoblog Green Podcast sees us reminiscing about the North American International Auto Show, recently passed in Detroit. We start with the reconfigured Saturn Vue Hybrid from AFS - the "extreme hybrid" claiming a narrowly defined150 mpg. AFS's claims point up the need for a new way ...

Detroit 2008: Videos of GM-Coskata ethanol partnership and BMW's diesel plans 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

If all the AutoblogGreen coverage of the GM-Coskata cellulosic ethanol partnership wasn't enough to satisfy your curiosity about just how these two companies hope to make living green and going yellow that much better for the environment (at least until Coskata gets into the coal-to-ethanol stuff, ...

DOE offers $30M for plug-in hybrid research 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a $30 million push to help get plug-in hybrids to market. Seven million will be coming this year, and the rest over the next two years. The $30M, which will be matched by the auto industry for $60M total, is to be used to improve PHEVs and high-power ...

Cool videos of Mazda's Furai, the ethanol-fueled racing car concept 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The first video below the fold is Mazda's Director of Design, Franz von Holzhausen talking about the Furai concept at the Detroit Auto Show. The Furai is a racing concept that runs on E100 (100 percent ethanol) and the car's design is inspired by the wind. The video includes a look at a really cool ...

What's in store for NYC taxis? Escape hybrids or Priuses? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The green future of the New York City taxi cab fleet has been in the news off and one since at least last May. That's when Mayor Bloomberg announced that the entire fleet would become hybridized by 2012. An article in Automotive News last week updates the story a bit by comparing possible ...

Detroit 2008: AutoblogGreen Q&A: Malcolm Bricklin talks about building a PHEV supply base 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

During the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, ABG sat down to chat with Malcolm Bricklin about his latest project Visionary Vehicles. Mr. Bricklin has been involved in the car business for four decades and could be described as a serial entrepenuer. Over the years his projects have had varying degrees of ...

Videos: Toyota's self-driving electric car, GM's paint shop goes green 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Lori Harfenist, a really funny vlogger, was hired by GM to cover the Detroit Auto Show and she filed a report all about green stuff. You can watch Lori interview a GM's color and pigments designer, NASCAR racer Jeff Gordon, Designer: Project Runway winner Jeffrey Sebelia and Def Jam Founder Russell ...

Toyota clarifies their hybrid goals, ten more years 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

During Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe's speech at the Toyota Media reception at the Detroit Auto Show last Sunday night he mentioned the company hybrid sales goal. I didn't mention it in my own report of the event because I didn't consider it all that noteworthy since it's been discussed before. ...

VIDEO: Detroit 2008: Rounding up all the biofuel and diesel announcements 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The 2008 Detroit Auto Show is opening up to the public on Saturday and the media previews were chock full of announcements of new flex-fuel and diesel vehicles. The flex-fuel reveals ran the gamut from the wild race car based concepts like the Mazda Furai with it's ethanol fueled rotary to the soon ...

Bob Lutz explains exactly why Volt delayed: batteries late, engineers want perfect software 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Your browser does not support JavaScript. This media can be viewed at <a ...

Detroit 2008: Peeking inside the three Chrysler eco-concepts 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

While Sam took some amazing photos of the three Chrysler concepts - the Jeep Renegade diesel RE-EV, the ecoVoyager and the Dodge ZEO BEV - during their respective live reveals at the Detroit Auto Show, he wasn't able to get inside the vehicles. When I went down to the show floor a little later, the ...

Detroit 2008: Bill Ford talks about hybrids, EcoBoost and sustainability 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

During the Detroit Auto Show, a Ford press liaison invited AutoblogGreen and around a dozen other journalists to an on-the-record dinner to talk about sustainability and related topics. As a guy who writes for AutoblogGreen, I couldn't help but notice that every single person around the dinner ...

Jesse James to break land speed record in hydrogen car but says Gore is still "a dork" 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/celebrity/Call_HIM_a_Treehugger_He_would_kick_my_a'; Michigan Live caught up with popular custom bike maker and host of Monster Garage, Jesse James, at the Detroit Auto Show Wednesday. Jesse was at AutoWeek's annual design forum awards dinner promoting recycling and ...

Detroit 2008: Video of the PHEV Saturn Vue's brief on-stage appearance 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Usually, the auto show game plan works like this: an automaker reveals the latest car with a flourish, everyone crowds around the stage and snaps photos and then the scrum dies down and forms at the next booth. Later, some low-level techs move whatever vehicle was just photographed like ...

Detroit 2008: Subaru changes their mind, diesel coming to the US after all! 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

When Subaru announced their new diesel boxer four-cylinder engine, American Subie fans were disappointed to learn that the company wasn't planning to offer the engine here. Fortunately it looks like rising fuel prices and increasing fuel economy standards are causing Subaru management to have a ...

Detroit 2008: Jeep Renegade concept live reveal 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the Renegade for a high-res gallery Of the three new Chrysler concepts on revealed at the Detroit Auto Show, the Jeep Renegade was certainly the best received as far as its design. The compact off-roader is immediately recognizable as a Jeep, with its round headlights, seven slot grille and ...

Detroit 2008: Dodge ZEO BEV concept live reveal 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

click the ZEO for a high-res gallery from Detroit The Dodge ZEO lies somewhere between it's Jeep and Chrysler concept siblings in aesthetic terms. Like its siblings, the ZEO gets drive torque exclusively from an electric motor, although this one relies entirely on electrons retrieved from an ...

Detroit 2008: Chrysler ecoVoyager live reveal 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

click the ecoVoyager for a high-res gallery from Detroit The Chrysler ecoVoyager was to this year's Detroit Auto Show what the Ford Airstream was last year in more ways than one. An odd-ball shaped one-"box" design, the ecoVoyager is specced out with a hydrogen fuel cell acting as a range extender ...

Detroit 2008: Kia shows off the new 3.0L diesel V-6 they are testing 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Sitting off to the side of the Kia stand at the Detroit Auto Show is a display of a 3.0L clean diesel V-6. This same engine has been in production in Korean market Kia and Hyundai models including the Veracruz. John Juriga director of powertrains at the Hyundai-Kia Technical Center (HATCI) near Ann ...

Detroit 2008: X Prize contender will add solar thermal collectors, PV panels, wind turbines to old Blazer 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

You can probably guess that the photo above was not taken anywhere near Cobo Hall during the Detroit Auto Show. Nope, that green Chevy Blazer is sitting in Lake Havasu, Arizona. The connection to Detroit is that Jim Stansbury, the founder and CEO of the Physics Lab of Lake Havasu, was in town to ...

Detroit 2008: Vehicle Recycling Partnership makes an announcement of sorts 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

On Tuesday, ages after the major automakers had made all the glitzy announcements they wanted to make, USCAR (the United States Council for Automotive Research, a joint project of the Big Three) announced that - wait a minute. Announced is too strong a word here. Sure, USCAR representatives held a ...

Detroit 2008: This is what 150 mpge looks like - pics of the XH-150 and XH250 hybrids 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Near the cutaway BYD F6-DM hybrid in the depths of the Detroit Auto Show, AFS Trinity Power Corporation is displaying a new hybrid SUV (actually a converted Saturn Vue) that gets more than 150 mpge thanks to something AFS calls the Extreme Hybrid (XH). The SUV recently achieved "more than 150 miles ...

Bob Lutz video: it's "immaterial" who's first on EVs, guarantees "internal" release date for Volt 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The video above is GM chairman Bob Lutz eating a little crow on Bloomberg Television. In the past, Bob has said GM would beat Toyota by "a year" in the lithium-ion battery race. Now, that Toyota has said they will release lithium-ion plug-in hybrids ahead of GM's new EVs, Bob does not want to play ...

Detroit 2008: The Hummer HX with its parts off 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

One of the features of the HUMMER HX ethanol-ready concept is a number of very configurable body panels. Doors, fenders and much more can be taken off and change the look of the vehicle to suit the fickle mood of the hypothetical owner. On each day of the Detroit Auto Show, GM will be showcasing a ...

Detroit 2008: BYD exposes the F6-DM plug-in hybrid 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Down in the basement of Cobo Hall is where the Chinese automakers are grouped together. If you're going to be going to the show in the coming days, I recommend making your way downstairs to see the cut-in-half BYD F6-DM hybrid. I have never seen a more detailed (consumer-level) explanation of how a ...

Detroit 2008: Volkswagen Passat CC to launch TSI engines in US market 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

click the Passat CC for a high res gallery Volkswagen has been offering their 1.4L TSI engine range in several of their European models for the past several years but has yet to make them available in the U.S. The TSI engines are reduced displacement, turbocharged direct injection engines that offer ...

Detroit 2008: Mercedes-Benz E320 BlueTec is only sort of 50-state legal 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Back in October, Mercedes-Benz made something of a splash in California when they re-introduced the E320 to the California market. It was the first new diesel available in the state in over two years. However, it now appears that the E320 BlueTec is not actually technically legal in California or ...

Detroit 2008: Audi targeting Q4 2008 Q7 hybrid intro, A4 hybrid to follow 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Off in a remote corner of the Audi booth is a display labeled A4 hybrid drive-train. According to an Audi representative this is the same hybrid system being developed for the Q7 SUV. The Q7 hybrid is still targeted for a production launch in the fourth quarter of 2008. Audi has not firmed up a ...

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