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IT'S COME TO THIS: "PRAYER AT THE PUMP" GROUP FORMED

One might think that this cartoon from this week's NEW YORKER magazine (be sure to click to enlarge), which uses an old punchline from the 1920's which originally had to do with yachts to make a point about our country's situation today, "says it all".

While it's a typically NEW YORKER-ish snobby-yet-witty take on "what must be going on in the suburbs," keeping the magazine's urbane and sophisticated readers (or those who pretend to read it while waiting at their doctor's office) informed on the perils of not living in a metropolis, we've come across a French Press Agency (AFP) article which ran on the Web worldwide today, May 5th. And, as the saying goes, "If it weren't so sad, it'd make you laugh".

What was it Senator Obama said about "people holding onto their beliefs" when times get bad? (Okay, maybe he didn't say it that well). The following piece is a typically dumb but predictable American response to a problem over which we all actually do have some control, at least if people bother to vote when they're not praying and "home-schooling" their kids on the evils of science and evolution, and not drilling for oil in Alaska and off our country's west coast. (Photo --- As much as I like Obama, I think Senator Clinton is out ahead of him with her call for a "tax vacation" for gasoline-buyers, but only as long as the oil companies use some of their record profits to make-up the shortfall, and she makes solid proposals for long-term relief at the pump ... Which Obama has not yet done).

I found this piece on Oil Watchdog; click on this line to visit there, a site dedicated to providing information to the public about the worldwide oil industry.

FYI, the French Press Agency (AFP), which carried this piece, was the only "western" press agency which kept a bureau in Hanoi throughout the entire Vietnam War (both the ones against the French and the US, both of which they won for various reasons not important here and now. However, President Lyndon Baines Johnson's own Secretary of Defense, Robert Strange McNamara, and that is his real middle name, has written that the potential for large amounts of oil in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam's east coast was one of the reasons US troops were kept there for so long --- Sound familiar?). For AFP's so-called "intransigence" and "support to the enemy," most all American media, print and electronic, still do not carry their reports; today, thanks to the Internet, we all have access to it. But as a 13-year old volunteer at WBAI radio, the Pacifica Radio station in NYC, I learned that WBAI was the only radio or TV station in the country which then subscribed to the AFP; the station's News Director, Paul Fisher, understood French, the language used on AFP's teletype machine ... This was in 1967. No computers yet.

And just by the way (or, "not for nothing" as my Italian friends in Rhode Island say), oil hit $120 a barrel today, "another record day," just seven weeks before Memorial Day weekend and the Indy 500, the two portents of the traditional "start of America's summer driving season". (Photo --- NY TIMES photo of a gas pump in Gorda, located on California's Central Coast, taken over a month ago; prices ranged from $5.19 to $5.39 a gallon).

Anyway, without any more fanfare nor my interruptions, here is the piece, entitled: "Tired of Paying Through the Nose, Americans Try Praying at the Pump," written by Karin Zeitvogel and distributed worldwide by AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE.

At a Shell gas station in Washington, Rocky Twyman and an unusual group of activists were mad as hell about soaring fuel prices.

"Last week, this station was 3.51 dollars. Now it's practically 3.60. So it's gone up nine cents in one week," Twyman said as he pumped five dollars' worth of gas into his thirsty American car.

"Someone's making a lot of money and it's really, really wrong," added Twyman, who founded the Prayer  at the Pump movement last week to seek help from a higher power to bring down fuel prices, because the powers in Washington haven't. (Photo --- Recent pump prices at a Shell gas station near Palm Springs, CA; the range is from $3.85 to $4.05).

The half-dozen activists -- Twyman, a former Miss Washington DC, the owner of a small construction company and two volunteers at a local soup kitchen -- joined hands, bowed their heads and intoned a heartfelt prayer. "Lord, come down in a mighty way and strengthen us so that we can bring down these high gas prices," Twyman said to a chorus of "amens."

"Prayer is the answer to every problem in life... We call on God to intervene in the lives of the selfish, greedy people who are keeping these prices high," Twyman said on the gas station forecourt in a neighborhood of Washington that, like many of its residents, has seen better days.

"Lord, the prices at this pump have gone up since last week. We know that you are able, that you have all the power in the world," he prayed, before former beauty queen Rashida Jolley led the group in a modified version of the spiritual, "We Shall Overcome".

"We'll have lower gas prices, we'll have lower gas prices..." they sang.

At the weekend, Twyman had led a group of around 200 people in prayer at pumps in San Francisco, where gas is touching the four-dollars-a-gallon mark.

On Thursday, US lawmakers and experts at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill painted a grim picture of how Americans are being hammered by record fuel costs and the steepest food price spikes in 17 years.

To read the entire "Prayer at the Pump" story, simply click anywhere on this line.

Also, the LOS ANGELES TIMES ran a somewhat frightening piece today on Chinese businesses finding "bargains" in the US ... Click on this line to read that piece. Doesn't seem "connected" to the "Prayer at the Pump" story at first, but in reality ... at some level, aren't they all?

Finally, click on this line for some rather surprising statements made by members of the Rockefeller family, America's "First Family of Oil (and Money)".

TESLA OPENS LOS ANGELES STORE; NOW ALL THEY NEED ARE CARS

Those of Los Angeles' much-vaunted and desperately-hip Westside can now shop for their EVs in a new 10,000-square foot showroom owned by Tesla, the troubled Northern California electric vehicle-builder. Tesla employees, not commissioned salespeople, will also staff the facility, opened on May 1st. Located at the heavily-trafficked corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevards, one of the most-clogged intersections in the entire city, Tesla says (still) that the best is yet to come. Like actual cars. (Photos --- Staging a business opening in Los Angeles? You need red-coated parking valets, uniformed "actors/servers/models" who "circulate" with trays of cheap champagne and "crudites," whatever they are, a security guard-looking person or two, especially if celebrities are expected, and in LA, they always are, and, perhaps most-important, nearly-unreadable signage; Below, Here's an actual big-time celebrity Tesla managed to corral into their dealership opening; yes, it's "Q", or, as he's known to everyone else, Quincy Jones. Jones is also a great actor; see how he acts as if he knows the Tesla exec he is hugging).

A better start would have been locating the showroom even farther west, in the People's Republic of Santa Monica (one of our old and much-missed hometowns) or Venice (the only part of the city of Los Angeles which actually touches the ocean) ... West LA is cool, if you're a UCLA student or a Hasidic Jewish family with 11 kids and family members "in the diamond trade". But it just ain't SM and doesn't even come close to Venice when it comes to cool, where zillionaire actors and their heavily-armored and -patrolled "vertical estates" share block space with 4th-generation public housing and strapped gangsters slingin' rock being the local live entertainment starting at 11pm each evening. Ask about the special Sunday afternoon shows during summer. (And I lived there, too, so don't get hinky with me about it).

Tesla, which forced-out its co-founder, Martin Eberhard, and is engaged in various lawsuits with car designer Henrik Fisker, recently took delivery of its first four production cars --- depending on who you talk to about that very touchy subject.

The first production car went to Tesla Motors chairman and chief financier Elon Musk, while car #2 is reserved for that forced-out co-founder, Martin Eberhard, who reportedly doesn't want his car until a special paint job is ready (we predict he'll never see that car --- getting forced out of a company you help found and staked isn't a good way to engender positive vibes). Tesla says that #4 was seen at the Top Marques Monaco show with U2's Bono behind the wheel. Investors, buyers and others hope that Roadster #3 might soon be on its way to an actual customer's garage.

The automaker says they have already pre-sold 600 cars and has a waiting list 400-strong. Priced at $100,000, Tesla demanded a $100,000 "deposit" from Roadster buyers willing and able to wait a long time until their cars are ready; there are plenty of oh-so-worried green-types with that kind of disposable income in LA. Which brings us to the new store. (Photo --- If you have a car dealership, you need a car to exhibit, like this $100,000 Tesla Roadster, one of four made in-time for the showroom's opening).

With reportage by Mark Rechtin of Automotive News (with our own inspired comments), we learn that the new store, close to the crawling 405 freeway and the congested corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevards, makes a potent statement for forever-gridlocked Angelenos to buy an electric car.

Click below to read more about and see more photos of the new Tesla dealership in Los Angeles!

HONDA'S ASIMO ROBOT TO LEAD DETROIT SYMPHONY; WE FIRST MET HIM WHEN HE (IT) COULD BARELY WALK!

Here's a press release we recently received from Honda: Honda Motor Co.'s remarkable robot Asimo will conduct the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at a special performance for young people on May 13 that will feature superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Asimo will open the evening by conducting the orchestra in a performance of the song, "The Impossible Dream." (Editor's note: Impossible Dream, like Andy Williams' rendition of Moon River, are both much-loved by the Japanese public, apparently fraught with all sorts of deep meanings which a drunk Japanese recognizes more easily than his or her drunken American friends. It's not unusual to hear either song being sung, always loudly and usually badly, on Japan's late-night streets and in restaurants, and, of course, in the estimated 50 million karaoke bars throughout the country).

The 4-foot robot, able to speak English and Japanese, is the latest generation in a line of Asimo robots developed in 2000 by the Japanese automaker.

Honda has teamed up with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to offer music lessons to students in Detroit and has provided more than $1 million to create The Power of Dreams Music Education Fund.

As part of the program, Paris-born cellist Yo-Yo Ma will teach a master class on May 14 for a group of students selected from the Detroit School of Arts. (Photo --- Guest-starring in a corporate video seen at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, Asimo demonstrates features of the company's "FCX Clarity" hydrogen fuel cell family sedan).

"Honda hopes Asimo's appearance will draw attention to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's nationally acclaimed youth music programs, and particularly Detroit Symphony Orchestra's effort to encourage and support involvement of children in Detroit," Honda said in a statement.

Asimo, which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility, made his first appearance in the United States on Feb. 14, 2007, when he rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. (End of Honda press release).

Asimo is conducting ... in Detroit?! Boy, those folks at Honda really know how to rub it in, don't they? Other recent Asimo happenings:

"Honda demonstrated its unique robot, ASIMO, at the Kennedy Center JAPAN! culture + hyperculture festival in Washington D.C. from Thursday, February 7 - Sunday, February 17, 2008.

The robot performed live (?) 15-minute demonstrations several times daily throughout the festival. Visitors will experience the most sophisticated robotics technology and see how robots like ASIMO will someday assist people. The free demonstrations will be held in the Nations Gallery at the Kennedy Center."

And ...

"Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has further advanced intelligence technologies enabling its advanced humanoid robot ASIMO to act autonomously and perform uninterrupted service to office guests. (Photo Below --- If Asimo replaces hostesses at Japanese companies, what will the women working there do? Gosh, maybe they'll let them have real jobs!)

Honda developed an intelligence technology that enhances smooth movement by enabling ASIMO to choose between stepping back and yielding the right-of-way or continuing to walk based on the predicted movement of oncoming people ("Out of the way, Asimo!", "Yes, master," or, "Hai, sensei." At least we hope that's what happens ... Just imagine the other possibilities). Honda also developed a new intelligence technology related to ASIMO's ability to perform tasks such as carrying a tray and pushing a cart. In addition, a newly added function enables ASIMO to automatically charge its battery when its remaining battery level falls below a certain level. Furthermore, a new comprehensive system was developed so that multiple ASIMOs can share tasks by adjusting to the situation and work together in coordination to provide uninterrupted service. For example, if one ASIMO is idled while recharging, other ASIMO robots will step in and perform assigned tasks.

Honda will begin test operations of two ASIMOs equipped with these newly developed technologies December 12, at the second floor lobby of Honda's Aoyama, Japan headquarters."

If human beings suddenly start flying out the windows of the upper stories of Honda's HQ, then we'll know ASIMO may have a problem or two ... But plugging-itself in when the battery gets low? Working in conjunction with other robots? Serious stuff, my friends (as John McCain might say, just like the used car salesman he is).

Hey, Uncle Car Nut, tell us about the time you first saw Honda's robot, Asimo, climb down a flight of stairs! (Photo --- Asimo at rest. It shrinks quite a bit when "off;" gaining height as it powers-up. Latest-generation Asimo is now four feet tall).

Well, sure kids ... Now gather round! And in spite of Honda's efforts (and who can blame them) to have  everyone anthropomorphize Asimo, like a favorite, gentle pet, let's keep in mind that "he" ( or "she" --- and who decides? Mrs. Asimo?) is quite literally a bucket of bolts. Very smart bolts and all the rest, but bolts nonetheless.

It was a cool, wet afternoon at Honda's Research and Development Center on Tochigi, Japan, about 50 miles north of Tokyo, in the lowlands surrounding the mountains where, if you cared to drive up, one would find the Twin Ring Motegi Race Track. Honda, at the time, had some 5,000 engineers working at the Tochigi R&D Center, none of them, they told us, over 40 years old. I bet a like-number of them were women, too, but I digress, kids ... You have to remember, "When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do" ...

Click below to read more about Honda's car-building, orchestra-conducting, and potentially union-bashing robot, Asimo!

EARTH DAY! PRESIDENT BUSH LOOKS "GREEN AND MEAN" BEFORE HE'S ESCORTED OUT OF TOWN

US President George W. Bush is eager to appear busy as he marks time until the next president is sworn-in this coming January (and it can't come soon enough, for me or our nation). He has recently included meeting the Pope, appearing on NBC-TV's "DEAL OR NO DEAL" and planning the coming US attack on Iran into his "busy work". On a day when the Democratic candidates fought the latest round of their true Heavyweight Championship, John McCain defended NAFTA to a town-hall-style meeting at Youngstown (Ohio) State University full of union workers that, "Last time I checked, NAFTA was a five-letter word, not four," and was ridiculed by the crowd for doing so, the White House decided to roll-out new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards (those much talked-about CAFE standards) while, basically, no one was listening. But these new numbers, while tougher than the Detroit Three would like them to be, nevertheless were a little bit stronger than some expected. But, hey! It's Earth Day! (Photo Above --- Well, just write your own caption!)

As reported by McPaper (aka USA TODAY), cars and light trucks would have to be 25% more fuel efficient by 2015 under a proposed rule announced April 22nd, by the Transportation Department. Under the proposal, automakers would have to speed up the timetable for achieving an average fuel-efficiency standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Today's car and truck fleets average about 25 mpg.

The proposal would require each automaker's car fleet to achieve an average of 35.7 mpg by the  2015 model year. Light trucks, which include pickups, SUVs and minivans, would have to meet a 28.6 mpg average by 2015. (Photo Below --- Wonder what the MPG is of the all-new Popemobile? This snazzy new model, with Benedict XVI on his glass-enclosed throne, uh, seat, appears to be built on a Mercedes-Benz M-type or G-type chassis.)

The federal proposal is tougher than the fuel-economy requirements passed by Congress last year, which called for a 3.3% annual increase in gas mileage. The federal plan calls for a 4.5% annual increase from 2011 to 2015. If those increases are achieved, Transportation Department officials said automakers would need to increase fuel economy by only about 2.1% a year from 2016 to 2020.

The CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the lobbying arm of the auto industry, said, "Automakers are prepared to meet that challenge."

In the interest of full disclosure, and your own edification, Alliance members include: BMW Group, Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, USA, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen of America, Inc.

To us, the Alliance's positive comment about the proposed new standards is a major red light. Whenever the lobbying arm of this nation's auto industry (including Germany's Porsche) agrees so fully and so publicly with any government standards ... fuel types, safety, emissions, mpg, whatever ... Then those standards deserve a long, hard look by all sides involved. Our 35+ years of experience covering the auto industry tells us that only when all sides involved are upset with new or proposed standards that they might possibly be good for everyone involved ... including this country and all its citizens. Right now, with the White House trying to look "tough on the car-makers," it only looks laughable. These proposed standards are still nowhere near where they should be, not even what the car-makers could achieve practically tomorrow with just a few simple re-settings of the CPUs in every car and truck built after 1974 (a lot of vehicles could get these updates by a quick trip to their local factory service center, putting the vehicle online with the factory computers, and having the engines re-set for better mileage and even cleaner emissions in a few micro-seconds).

(Photo Below --- Fuel conservation made history this past week. Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an open-wheel Indycar race, her victory coming April 20th, 2008, in the "Honda 300" at the Twin Ring Motegi race track in Japan. Patrick's win came about through her judicious use of fuel conservation "tricks", including one as simple as slowing her racing speed while her competitors all needed to make a pit stop with only about 10 laps to go to fill their need for fuel; Patrick and her pit crew stayed in-communication via two-way radio all through the race, and her crew chief outsmarted all the competition when it came to being forced to make fuel stops during the race.)

Click below to read more about these new "proposed" White House goals for improving your vehicle's "miles per gallon" and how they might affect us all.

EV = LAWSUIT; TESLA SUES HENRIK FISKER

Ready for an "Only in California" quote? Try this on for size: “I think it’s ironic that Fisker chose to name his car the Karma, when what he’s done is very bad karma,” said Adam C. Belsky, a lawyer at Gross, Belsky & Alonso who represents Tesla. (End of quote) Now, where else would a lawyer representing a car-maker make a bad joke about the word "karma"? (Photos --- Above, Concept drawing of Fisker's "Karma", Below, Tesla's "Roadster").

So, here we go! Here come the lawsuits! It wasn't enough for Tesla to spend the past two years embarrassing themselves in the world's media ... Nope, now they start with the lawsuits. Promising too much, too soon wasn't in these guys' minds ... With all their Silicon Valley billions, they have little real concern for the "rest of us". No, they need to feel important, need to feel they are doing something for humanity. Well, they're wasting a lot of time and money in doing so ... If that's what they are trying to do.

And who are they suing? Henrik Fisker, he with the (some say) solid-gold Aston-Martin/BMW-design pedigree, and whom Tesla apparently hired, and quietly so, sometime last year. Now Tesla is saying that Fisker's Karma show car, seen at auto shows over the past year, and which has gotten tons of media attention, rips-off hybrid technologies which he, Fisker, only learned about from his paid association with Tesla. And that his Karma sedan is nothing more than the (code-named) "White Star" which Tesla told the media they were planning on building in an all-new facility somewhere in ... New Mexico. Tesla says their made-by-Lotus "Roadster" all-electric sporty car is now in production, even with a pasted-together transmission which is able to make use of about 50% of the power developed by the car's electric motors, and with that car out of the way, they now want to get-to-work on their White Star all-EV sedan, somewhere (we guess) in New Mexico. Now, everyone knows that New Mexico is a hotbed of All-American born-and-bred automotive technology, with numerous parts suppliers just off I-10, I-40 and I-25. And don't forget about the state's universities, full of professors with voluminous industry experience and packed with students of all sorts desperate to learn the latest of American car technology. Not. And Tesla says Fisker sold-out for under $1 million. Here's some of the NEW YORK TIMES story about the latest Tesla happenings (and now aren't you really glad you didn't lay-down $100,000, the "100% deposit" required of the Roadster's buyers?):

Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley maker of electric sports cars, filed suit in San Mateo Superior Court on Monday against a competing company and two of its employees, saying they stole some of Tesla’s design ideas and trade secrets. (Photos --- Below, Fisker's Karma at the Detroit Auto Show, Bottom, California Governor Schwarzenegger met with Tesla officials and rode in the car almost two years ago, garnering the company free, positive media throughout the world).

Tesla, which has generated much interest among fans of cars and technology, recently started shipping a  two-seat electric sports car in limited quantities. Last year it hired Henrik Fisker, a Danish-born designer who is known for his work on high-end exotic sports cars, to do the body design for a four-seat sedan, code-named White Star.

The Tesla lawsuit contends that Fisker and his chief operating officer, Bernhard Koehler, doing business under the name Fisker Coachbuild, fraudulently agreed to take on Tesla’s $875,000 design contract to gain access to confidential design information and trade secrets, then announced a competing vehicle. Last fall Mr. Fisker founded Fisker Automotive, which is backed by the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The quarrel sheds a light on the insular world of the Valley’s investors in environmentally friendly technologies.Sergei Brin and Larry Page, whose Google search engine was originally backed by Kleiner Perkins, were both early Tesla investors.

Both the planned Tesla sedan and Fisker’s recently announced Karma are meant to be hybrid cars using a small gas engine to power a generator that charges a battery, which in turn powers an electric motor. The design, known as a serial hybrid, is thought to greatly extend the range and efficiency of hybrid vehicles.

The Tesla lawsuit states that before doing the design work for Tesla, Mr. Fisker had no experience with hybrid technology. It says that he did substandard work for Tesla, essentially sabotaging it, and then used the revenue from the design contract to develop his company’s car.

“I think it’s ironic that Fisker chose to name his car the Karma, when what he’s done is very bad karma,” said Adam C. Belsky, a lawyer at Gross, Belsky & Alonso who represents Tesla.

Calls to Fisker Automotive were not returned. A person answering the phone at Finck & Dadras, the San Francisco law firm representing Fisker Coachbuild, said it was the firm’s policy not to comment on litigation.

Click below to continue reading and for more photos.

LA TIMES RUNS TIMELY, EXCELLENT PIECE ON ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The LOS ANGELES TIMES ran one of the best and most-realistic looks at California's nascent electric vehicle industry in their Saturday, April 5th edition. It's a MUST-READ for all Car Nuts around the world, and just click anywhere this sentence is highlighted to go to the LA Times' website and read this interesting and necessary article --- Finally, a major newspaper  writer who "calls 'em as he sees 'em" when it comes to EVs. (Photos --- Above, a gasoline/electric plug-in hybrid created by Fisker in Souther California. Below, The iconic Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles; those who saw the movie "Blade Runner" and remember that "apartment building" where an engineer for Tyrrel Corporation worked, creating his own living, breathing "toys," have seen the remarkable interior of that building. And, yes ... The wrought-iron cage-style elevator is still there and still works; we know because we've ridden in it several times).

Now please permit me, because I've worked for both the LA TIMES and KTLA/TV5 in Los Angeles (first commercial TV station west of the Mississippi) to say a bit about today's LA Times, KTLA and their new owner.

In spite of all the bad things which have befallen the once-venerable Los Angeles Times, their automobile coverage has actually improved a bit. Every Wednesday, the paper normally carries three pieces in their "Highway 1" section; a car road test by Dan Neil, a motorcycle test by Susan Carpenter and some sort of industry news important to LA-area readers, usually written by Ralph Vartabedian, one of the nation's top technical writers. On Saturdays, they've started another "mini-section" called "The Garage". This could contain one lengthy article and a few auto news "tid-bits" and, on occasion, a personality profile. The paper will be a long time in recovering from a profile of Carroll Shelby which ran a few months ago and was nothing but a warmed-over PR promotion for Ol' Shel' ... No surprise there, but this piece was embarassing, and I haven't seen the byline of the freelancer who wrote the piece yet again in the paper ... We also couldn't find the article on the LA Times' search engine. (Photo --- LA's City Hall; there was a law in Los Angeles that no downtown building could be taller than City Hall. A publisher of the LA Times, which has its offices across the street from City Hall, purposely built the Times' latest office tower to be higher than City Hall).

Sure, the "Highway 1" automotive "section" is still only the first 1 1/2-pages of the "classified section", certainly nowhere near, in scope or quality, of the section which I was hired to write for every week when it first appeared, and would for its first few months be anywhere from 10 to 20 pages a week. But the Times' bean-counters eventually got rid of the entire section. And, yes, newspapers have bean-counters, too; they don't exist just to torture car-makers, they like to "spread the love" around. The revelation, at about this same time in the mid-90s, of the paper's involvement in a screwy, definitely unethical and immoral, possibly illegal advertising deal cut between the Times and the then-new Stapels Center (home to the LA Lakers, Kings, Clippers, the Grammy Awards and on and on ...), served to further harm "Highway 1" as the paper cut-off buying stories from any freelancers as Times people at the top off the food chain lost their stomach for dealing with any outside writers and/or photographers. You know how it is: When some of the key people at a company are caught with their hand in the cookie jar, then the whole place suddenly "gets religion."

The NEW YORK TIMES, in their April 7th edition, details the recent purchase of Tribune Corporation, parent of the LA Times, by Sam Zell, a well-known Chicago businessman, corporate raider and ... he's been called a "slumlord", too.  Zell also got their near-25 TV stations covering most of the major cities in the nation, and the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, both of which Zell has said are on the auction block. Tribune, it is said now, is hanging by a string to being able to pay all their (new) bills. The NY Times says Zell will probably sell-off his newspaper holdings (LA Times, Chicago Tribune, NY Newsday, etc) and keep the electronic media, which produces more cash. All of this is a shame for Tribune employees, because Zell financed the original deal to buy Tribune by giving ownership to the company's employees, and now they're finding out their shares may not be worth much more than pennies on the dollar.

Click anywhere on this line to read the Times' excellent article about the state of the EV industry in California.

ROUSH HYDROGEN FUEL PROJECT IN UK

Most American racing fans think they know all about Jack Roush, the "Cat in the Hat" who can be found most weekends running the show for his Ford cars and trucks in the NASCAR Sprint, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series. But knowing that much about Jack Roush is like knowing that Roger Penske has won one or two Indy 500s ... The real story is much, much deeper. Roush, headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, right smack in the heart and soul of the Detroit Three's car-making plants, is a company of more than several thousand employees located in offices and factories and assembly plants all over the world. (Photos --- Above, Jack Roush's own "Little Deuce Coupe" is exhibited outside a company display trailer; Below, "The Cat in the Hat" at a NASCAR event).

A recent press release out of the UK reminded us, once again, of how big and far-flung the Roush Empire is (and we don't think he'd mind his company being called an "Empire"). It seems that Roush, in conjunction with a UK outfit called ITM, are working together on a project to not only develop commercial vehicles with internal combustion engines which will run on hydrogen, producing few emissions and no CO2, but they are also going to create new and improved ways to actually make their own hydrogen fuel. Imagine that: Not only could a company use hydrogen as the main fuel for their (now) low-polluting fleet, but they can also make the fuel for their cars and trucks wherever there's access to water and electricity. Not bad, eh?

Hydrogen fuel used in an internal combustion (IC) engine of any type is not the "be all, end all" answer for the world's transportation problems; far from it. We first saw hydrogen used as an engine fuel and displayed for the public by Mazda, used in a rotary engine, at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show. There are many problems to be overcome, including making the fuel, storing it in some central location, transporting it to other locations by truck, train, pipeline or some new method not yet developed, and then, finally, delivering it to the vehicles which will "burn" it in their IC engines. Once on-board the vehicle which will use it brings up another set of tough problems; storing it safely is just one of them. A given amount of hydrogen does not deliver the same amount of mileage which the same amount of gasoline can produce. But hydrogen as a fuel has a lot going for it: It is the most prevalent element in the universe, and when used in an IC engine, very few pollutants are created. So it's definitely worth looking at it closely, and good to see an American company, Roush Technologies, apparently among those in the lead of this particular race. So here's the latest on Roush, their UK partner, and their corporate plans. So here's some of what Jack Roush is doing when he's not busy promoting Ford and saying nasty things about the Toyota teams in NASCAR. We'll even leave-in the quaint misspellings for those of you who enjoy that sort of thing (as we do) as "proof" that the release did originate in the UK (someone once suggested that Disney should simply buy the UK and turn it into a giant theme park ... Don't laugh; it's still possible!).

2008 Roush and ITM to Collaborate on Hydrogen Vehicles

ITM Power plc & Roush Technologies Limited

Collaboration agreement with Roush Technologies Limited to accelerate the arrival of hydrogen vehicles
ITM Power plc is pleased to announce a collaboration agreement with Roush Technologies Limited in a unique project to realise hydrogen-powered, emission-free vehicles on UK roads. Roush Technologies is one of the world’s foremost automotive design, engineering and development groups and the collaboration agreement is expected to accelerate CO2-free, hydrogen-fuelled commercial vehicles operating in Britain. (Photos --- Below left, artwork for the Roush and ITM collaborative hydrogen project; Below right, one of Roush's Ford Fusion NASCAR race cars after a victory).

Roush Technologies, which already has extensive experience in the commercial vehicle sector, will be responsible for both adapting existing internal combustion-engines in vehicles and researching the development of new power units to utilise hydrogen fuel.

ITM will provide the breakthrough refuelling solution by enabling vehicle operators to generate their own hydrogen fuel. Using a patented electrolyser, due to enter production at ITM’s special facility in Sheffield later this year, it is possible to make hydrogen fuel wherever there is a source of electricity and water. The advances in electrolysis technology that ITM has achieved elegantly address the hydrogen infrastructure issue by using the already developed electricity and water distribution network.

The electrolyser can produce hydrogen from water and any source of electricity including off-peak or renewable energy --– electricity generated by wind, wave or solar power. Unlike petrol or diesel, when hydrogen burns, it releases no CO2, merely water vapour.

This agreement will enable both parties to jointly offer a complete package of hydrogen refuelling systems and hydrogen vehicles to customers. It is anticipated that first sales will be to large commercial or local government organisations that wish to demonstrate a commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Marketing to third parties will commence as soon as possible.

"WORLD GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR" --- BMW 118d AT 2008 NY AUTO SHOW

BMW does so many things so well, that it's getting difficult to pin down exactly where the company excels and where it might be somewhat lagging. In every motorized category, excepting the one in which the company actually began, making spare parts for piston-powered aircraft engines, BMW not only makes "world class" parts and whole assemblies, they actually set the standard for "world class" in motorcycles and automobiles. It's not unusual, when at a new vehicle introduction for the media, for company executives to speak at length about how and why they "benchmarked" BMW for one, or several, aspects and/or systems of their own new car. BMW makes their eponymous brand of car, as well as Mini and Rolls-Royce. Is there any other company, in any manufacturing discipline, whose corporate pendulum swings a swath so wide from one side to another? From Mini to Rollers, with their BMW cars located somewhere in the middle, this company is truly remarkable. Now, an award for BMW in a new, somewhat unexpected, arena --- That of the "World Green Car of the Year." (Photos - Top, BMW 118d, named "World Green Car of the Year" at the 2008 NY Auto Show, Below, Chevrolet Tahoe SUV at the late-2007 Los Angeles Auto Show, named "Green Car of the Year" ... Hey, now! Wait a minute!).

Allow us a laugh, at Chevrolet's expense, because Chevy's full-sized, gigantic Tahoe SUV, was named "Green Car of the Year" by a magazine called Green Car Journal at the most-recent Los Angeles Auto Show. We supported the choice at the time, and we still do, and not only because Green Car Journal's editor, Ron Cogan, is an old friend of ours. Cogan, and several others on the voting panel, saw Tahoe as a good choice because, 1) The huge SUVs are going to be produced and purchased for the foreseeable future in the US, and, 2) The revolutionary "dual-mode hybrid automatic transmission," developed by GM, BMW and Daimler, doubled Tahoe's in-town mileage. But a small-ish BMW diesel (!), something we're not used to seeing in the US, winning "World Green Car of the Year" is a no-brainer which doesn't need a five-minute explanation, like the Tahoe's win does. And it usually takes me a bit longer than five-minutes when explaining (defending?) the magazine's choice of the Tahoe. Now, "here's the rest of the story," as radio old-timer Paul Harvey might say, directly from BMW, with, as always, all the fun "Euro-isms" kept intact:

BMW’s award-winning EfficientDynamics programme has been honoured with a global brand. A jury consisting of 47 motor journalists from 24 countries has awarded the BMW 118d, a model that displays all facets of what BMW terms EfficientDynamics, with the “World Green Car of the Year” at the New York International Auto Show 2008. (Photo - BMW 1-series, just reaching BMW dealerships in the US; no plans announced as yet for the second-generation direct-injection diesel 118d to come to the US).

Judges of the World Car of the Year Awards praised BMW and its 118d for offering buyers a model with a range of innovative technologies that reduce fuel consumption and cut CO2 emissions as standard. The three- and five-door BMW 118d record an impressive 62.8mpg on the combined cycle with CO2 emissions of just 119g/km – putting it into the Band B category for Vehicle Excise Duty. The BMW 118d now costs just £35 (USD $70)a year to tax.

To help it achieve these impressive figures, EfficientDynamics technologies such as Brake Energy Regeneration, Auto Start-Stop and Electric Power Steering are employed to cut fuel bills and emissions. An optimum gearshift change indicator is included to encourage economical motoring.

NY AUTO SHOW: THE DIESELS ARE COMING! THE DIESELS ARE COMING!

Right now, more than 60% of all vehicles sold in Europe are diesel-powered. Got that? 60% of ALL vehicles, cars and trucks alike, are diesel-powered. These modern-day direct-injection turbo-diesels are fast, quiet, comfortable, responsive and in many cases cleaner than even their gasoline variants. Many of these same diesels are heading for the US, and several car-makers (VW, M-B, Audi, Peugeot and several others) are just beginning their marketing campaigns to educate Americans about these new-generation engines and the cars and trucks which they power. Audi and Peugeot using diesel engines in their endurance race cars is part of that marketing; Audi dominated the major endurance races last season, in the US and Europe, Audi winning the "12 Hours of Sebring", the "24 Hours of LeMans" and many other events. (Photo - Mercedes-Benz M-class ML63 AMG, one of the new "high-performance" diesel-powered SUVs).

For many of today's Americans, the first diesel-powered cars they ever saw (or smelled) were Mercedes-Benz diesels from the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s; apart from those cars, big-rig trucks and busses of all sorts carried the "diesel" banner in the US. In the late-'70s and early '80s, General Motors went on a diesel binge which most American car-buyers still remember, or, if they are too young to remember, they've heard about the near decade-long debacle from older friends, relatives and car enthusiast magazines. Between 1978 and 1985, GM used engine blocks made for gasoline engines in building diesels; the idea was to allow Americans to enjoy the lower prices of diesel fuel and the higher mileage and longer engine life which diesels were said to offer. If an American had traveled in Europe, they they might even be more likely to buy one of the new GM diesel-equipped cars; mostly available in Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs. How serious was GM about diesels? In 1985, there was talk inside of GM about making a diesel engine available for the Chevrolet Corvette!

$10 MILLION AUTOMOTIVE X PRIZE ANNOUNCED AT NY AUTO SHOW

In the same week in which futurists and all people across the globe (and who-knows-where-else) said goodbye to the incredible Sir Arthur C. Clarke, age 90, it was on March 20th at the New York International Auto Show, that the X PRIZE Foundation and Progressive Insurance jointly announced the $10 million dollar Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. "Let the race begin!" said X PRIZE Chairman and CEO Dr. Peter Diamandis. Sir Arthur was no doubt pleased, wherever he was when the announcement was made. (Photo - Tesla, their roadster pictured here, and whose cars went into production this week, according to the company, have entered the X Prize competition for autos).

Long after the Raptors, the Corvettes and Challengers and Murcielagos and those ubiquitous Hemi engines (doesn't the newly-private Chrysler Corporation make any other engines?) at this week's New York Auto Show are forgotten (like, next week), it's quite possible that the winning vehicle, and those who created it, in the $10 million Ansari X-Prize competition for vehicles, will be well-remembered many decades from now. Here's the basics, taken directly from the prize's website:

    The Ansari X PRIZE was modeled after the $25,000 Orteig Prize, offered in 1919 by wealthy hotelier Raymond Orteig, to the first pilot who could fly non-stop between New York and Paris. The prize was finally won in 1927, by an unknown airmail pilot named Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh won the hearts of a nation, and his world-changing achievement spawned a $300 billion aviation industry.  (Photo - Richard Branson has been active in the X Prize contests on land and in the air, well, in space, actually).

    The X PRIZE Foundation began a revolution in private spaceflight with the $10 million Ansari X Prize.On October 4, 2004, the Mojave Aerospace Ventures team, led by famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, captured the Ansari X PRIZE. The world took notice of this great achievement and the winning SpaceShipOne is now hanging in the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum.

     The X Prize Foundation, best known for its competitions promoting space flights, is offering $10 million to the teams that can produce the most production-ready vehicles that get 100 miles per gallon or more.

     More than 60 teams from nine countries have signed up for the competition so far, including California electric carmakers Aptera Motors and Tesla Motors, German diesel carmaker Loremo and a team
from Cornell University (where Carl Sagan studied and taught for many years).

   Teams will be able to sign up through mid-2008, when applicants will be narrowed to those who can prove they would build production-ready, consumer-friendly cars. Those that qualify will race their vehicles in cross-country races in 2009 and 2010 that will combine speed, distance, urban driving and overall
performance.

    The purse will be split between two categories: mainstream and alternative cars. Mainstream cars must carry four or more passengers and have climate control, an audio system and 10 cubic feet of cargo space. They also must have four or more wheels, hit 60 miles per hour in less than 12 seconds and have a minimum top speed of 100 miles per hour and a range of 200 miles.

   Alternative vehicles will be required to carry two or more passengers and five cubic feet of cargo, have a top speed of at least 80 miles per hour and have a range of at least 100 miles.

The Santa Monica, Calif.-based X Prize Foundation, which was founded in 1995, gained fame in 2004 when it awarded $10 million to the first private vehicle to fly into space. The foundation since has launched a $10 million prize for rapid human genome sequencing and a $30 million prize for sending a robot to the moon.