Category Archives: Automotive News

Biofuel Choices At The Pumps In Oakland

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Last Tuesday, Oakland opened its first bio fuels station offering fill ups for cars that can run on renewable alternatives to gasoline. The station, operated by Propel Fuels, not only offered each new customer five free gallons of fuel, but had a marketing team on hand to assist customers who were not sure whether their vehicle was bio fuel compatible. (Those wondering whether their cars can run on bio fuels can visit Propel’s online guide).

Propel has been expanding its California operations rapidly since entering the state in January 2009. Stations similar to this one opened in Fremont and San Jose this summer, and a Berkeley station is expected to open soon. Emily Shellabarger, Propels marketing specialists says, “our focus is now on California. We are interested in building a California-wide network .” And this network will soon be a reality with an $11 billion grant from the Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission. With this money, they will build and operate 75 self serve alternative fuel stations across the state over the next two years. Propel said it will match the grant funding with $16 million in private investment to speed up building of Propel’s network of fueling stations.

In addition to luring drivers to its stations, Propel has tried to widen its customer base through social networking. The company communicates with customers and seeks out new ones online by means of both a blog and a page on Facebook.

Easier Parking In Los Angeles

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The Express Park program is a year long program aimed at making parking easier for Los Angeles downtown motorists. The LA Department of Transportation has begun installing high tech parking meters throughout the city that will allow motorists to pay with credit and debit cards as well as the traditional coin method. This network of meters will also be used to keep track of parked cars in real time, and will eventually be able to alert motorists to empty parking stalls. The program will feature adjustable parking rates, which will increase and decrease rates according to demand. The experimental programs goal is to encourage public transit and reduce pollution and congestion caused by motorists cruising the block in search of a parking place.

Los Angeles is developing ExpressPark in partnership with Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, using $15 million in grants from the federal Department of Transportation and $3.5 million in city funds. The program is similar to one recently launched in San Francisco and will cover 5,500 on-street metered spaces and 7,500 unmetered public parking spaces in off-street, city-operated facilities. The areas you will see these meters popping up includes Civic Center, the central business district, Chinatown and Little Tokyo.

Webasto Recall For Defective Sunroofs

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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), almost 300,000 aftermarket sunroofs are being recalled because the bonding between the glass and the frame may loosen, resulting in the glass becoming detached from the vehicle.

The sunroof is produced by Webasto Product North America of Fenton, Mich. The models being recalled are the 2002-2009 Hollandia 600 and 700 series as well as the 2007-2010 Hollandia TVS 900 series. Because these sunroofs are aftermarket, usually installed by dealers, they may be on a wide variety of vehicles.

Webasto will notify any recorded owners and installers will repair the sunroofs free of charge. The safety recall is expected to begin during September 2010. Owners may contact webasto at 1-888-749-8632 or for more information CLICK HERE.

Los Angeles Gridlock About To Get Worse

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In Los Angeles, the intersection of Interstate 405 and Sunset Boulevard is well known for its traffic delays and has just gotten worse with the recent $1.3 billion highway reconstruction project. The project, which is expected to take about three years, will bombard local residents with closed exit ramps, shut and narrow lanes, noisy night time construction and detours that will send traffic through residential neighborhoods.

People in Los Angeles often complain about traffic, but this construction project has an unusually broad reach. Not only does it make it almost impossible for commuters to get where they are going, it will also hurt any local businesses in the area as well as make it dangerous in residential neighborhoods due to the increased traffic.

This project is intended to complete a nonstop car-pool lane on the 405 from the 10 on the south side of Santa Monica to the 101 in the Valley. “If we didn’t do this, it would continue to be a nightmare,” said Michael Barbour, who is directing the project for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “I think that message has gotten across to the locals. They understand it. They are sucking it up over the next three years.” But the car pool lane is seen by some as taking a lane of traffic away from all commuters, since it is rare to find people in Los Angeles who are on the same schedules.

New Design For Gas And Brake Pedal

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Masuyuki Naruse, a Japanese inventor in southwest Japan, says he has revolutionized the brake and accelerator pedals of automobiles, to make it safer for drivers. Naruse says the side by side pedal arrangement that exists today, makes it easy for drivers to mistakenly floor the accelerator, instead of brakes, when under stressful situations. His solution? A single pedal that accelerates the vehicle when pressed with the side of the foot, and brakes when the pedal is pushed down. Mr. Naruse’s pedal has been around for two decades, but until recently, his design has not been takes seriously. About 130 cars are equipped with Mr. Naruse’s pedal, mostly owned by friends and acquaintances. He holds patents for the Naruse Pedal in Japan, the United States and six other countries.

Ririko Takeuchi, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman for Toyota, said the company could not comment on Mr. Naruse’s pedal design. But she said Toyota “listens to ideas received from the public, because we believe there’s always room for improvement.”

Vehicle Weights and Vehicle Overload

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Overloading can significantly impair the stability of a vehicle. Not only is it dangerous, but the extra weight causes excessive wear to your automobile and the roads it drives upon. In addition, overloaded vehicles are illegal, and can affect your safety and insurance coverage.

It is not difficult for a weights and standards officer to determine if a vehicle is overweight. If a vehicle is sitting low or crooked, the tires look strained or flat, or even if it seems excessively packed, the officer can stop you and weigh the vehicle using portable scales under each axle. If the weight exceeds the gross vehicle weight (GVW), a ticket will be issued, and you may be prevented from carrying on with your trip until the problem is corrected.

So how do you know what the weight capacity of your vehicle is? A vehicle specific certification/tire label is usually indicated on your DMV registration and also attached to the rear edge of the driver’s door. The label will show the ‘Gross Vehicle Weight Rating’ (GVWR), which includes the weight of the vehicle, occupants, fuel, and cargo. This label will also tell you the maximum weights for the front and rear axles. Other weight information that is good to know when loading a vehicle is the ‘Curb Weight’. This is the actual weight of the vehicle with standard equipment and all necessary operating fluids, including a full gas tank. It does not include passengers or cargo. You should be able to find this in your owners manual, or online auto sources. Keep in mind that the weights include ‘standard equipment’ only and weight for additional equipment should be added.

Remember, the loading of the vehicle is the driver’s responsibility. Ensuring that tire pressure, load distribution, and total weight of the vehicle is within specifications will help to make your trip safe and trouble free.

2010 Los Angeles Auto Show

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The Los Angeles auto show is one of the most anticipated auto shows in the world. It attracts thousands of media from around the globe to view new vehicles from top car manufacturers. This year’s show will feature a record of debuts. Twenty world debuts and another twenty North American premieres bringing the grand total to forty.

The LA Auto Show will provide a look into the industry’s present and future as it transforms to meet the changes in economic conditions, environmental factors and changing consumer preferences. The large variety of innovative vehicles, from high end sports cars, ‘green’ concepts, to minivans and sedans, will feature advanced technologies in fuel economy, safety and telematics.

Two of the highly anticipated debuts are the introduction of the Chevrolet ‘Volt’ and the Nissan ‘Leaf’, the electric cars that will be offered to the general public later this year. As well, there will be a number of other manufacturers showing their electric vehicles, due to come out in 2011.

The show will be held this fall at the Los Angeles Convention Center. November 17-18 will be opened for the press (Media registration opens in September), and on November 19-28 the doors will be opened to the public.

Air Or Nitorgen In Tires

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We have been told that maintaining the correct tire pressure of your vehicle helps optimize the performance and fuel economy of the car as well as stabilizes the tire’s structure giving better responsiveness, traction and handling. Nitrogen has long been used in aircraft tires and in race cars and has recently become controversial on whether it would be beneficial to be used in tires of the average road cars.

Proponents of nitrogen argue that studies show that less than 60 percent of drivers check the inflation of their tires regularly so the use of nitrogen can offer drivers many benefits.

  • Because the nitrogen molecule is larger than oxygen, it will not leak out of the tire as quickly.
  • Nitrogen does not expand and contract as much as oxygen, so tire pressure will be maintained at an optimal level.
  • Nitrogen contains no water vapor, so it is less likely to degrade the interior rubber of the tires and corrode the rims of the vehicle.

As for the cons of using nitrogen, the air around us is already 78 percent nitrogen, with 21 percent oxygen and 1 percent other gases, so going to pure nitrogen reduces the amount of oxygen a small amount.

  • A Nitrogen filling station is more difficult to find, and as soon as oxygen is used, all the benefits of nitrogen will be lost.
  • The biggest factor, the price. Filling your tires with air is free, so will the price of using nitrogen outweigh the benefits claimed by using it? That could be difficult to prove.
  • Finally, the claim that nitrogen reduces the degradation of tires and rims, is questionable, since tires wear from the outside from use and road conditions, so the protection offered by nitrogen from the inside is quite minimal.

Whether nitrogen is better than oxygen is difficult to prove. The best defense in keeping your tire pressure at the right level is to check your tire pressure regularly. Many new vehicles have tire pressure monitoring, and many after market tire monitoring kits are affordable, so monitoring your tire pressure is easier than ever. Regular maintenance and care is usually the best for keeping your vehicle running optimally.