GM, Ford and Chrysler represent to a large degree the Industrial Age legacy of manufacturing in the U.S. “What was good for General Motors was good for the United States” was, for decades in the 20th century a very true statement. The manufacturing might of America post WWII was an economic miracle and the apotheosis […]
The fact that you know what I mean when I write the two words “Big Three” points to the power of Detroit and U.S. automotive marketing in the last half of the 20th century. The fact that they are no longer the big three in terms of sales in the U.S. points to the reality […]
When I wrote my first column on the electric car early in 2007 it was triggered by the announcement that GM was going to bring the Chevrolet Volt to market in 2010. As stated then, this was a significant event in that this was going to be the first plug-in car produced in significant volume […]
In the last post I suggested that the U.S. learn from Europe in the use of high speed trains as a core component of a national transportation system. Trains are more energy efficient than cars, give off far less greenhouse emissions than airplanes, rarely get cancelled or delayed due to ‘weather’ or ‘flow control’ and […]
There were three reported news stories last week that taken together point to clear trend lines. In a court ruling, the state of Vermont won the right to set auto emissions and MPG standards that are stricter than those of the Federal government. The dollar reached an all time low against the Euro and oil […]
The news out of Detroit last week was that GM had given up the title of the world’s number one auto company to Toyota. This was a development that had been expected, but when both companies reported first quarter sales last week, the numbers made it official. Toyota sold 2.35 million cars and trucks, about […]
In the prior post I gave a general definition and overview of peak oil for those that have yet to track this development. Until recently, the brightest minds unencumbered by vested oil interests have strongly suggested, and with good documentation, that the world could well run out of extractable petroleum sometime around the mid twenty-first […]
In my last post I wrote about GM and the presentation it made to some of us in the media about the new battery technology they are developing along with several other companies. At the end of that post I highlighted the two distinct lines of challenging questions that have come up in response. I […]
One of the most important research and development efforts in the world today is the quest for the perfect battery to power electric cars. We all know that there is global warming, air pollution, and an increasing dependence on imported oil. We know that petroleum is a finite resource that will be depleted in this […]
It was great to meet with a number of the top executives at GM prior to the Chicago Auto Show to learn about the Chevrolet Volt, the company commitment to developing battery technology and to really find out how committed this company is and will be in the area of cleaner automobiles. However there is […]