the 'yada' is in reference to one of the old Seinfeld episodes in which they start talking and then end their conversations saying "yada, yada, yada". posting here is going to be looking at current events, tech and whatever other items i want to document and keep track of!
Actually, the Genesis is impressive looking especially when you see the $ price and the photos Depreciation might be a killer but let's see what Hyundai does in the next 10 years.
The Plug-in Stella Concept has a four-passenger capacity and will travel up to 50 miles on a full charge. Top speed is 50 mph thanks to the car’s 54 horsepower electric motor that develops 110 lb-ft of torque instantaneously. The car stores energy in a lithium ion battery pack. The quick-charging battery can be topped up to 80 percent of full capacity in just 15 minutes but, curiously, a full charge takes eight hours.
Toyota announced on Friday that it is seriously considering raising the prices of its passenger vehicles in the near future. Although U.S. drivers are already suffering at the pump, the sharp increase in raw materials may soon find buyers paying more at the dealership too.
The news of the possible price hike comes just weeks after Toyota announced mid-year price increases for its Toyota and Lexus brands.
Although Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco says that no decision has been made yet, he says Toyota “won’t be able to avoid thinking about price hikes in the future considering a recent jump in raw materials costs.”
The decision will likely come down to which automaker flinches first. Just last week Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told Automotive News that Nissan will likely raise its prices, but that “It’s very, very difficult to move in a market without somehow the leader of the market (making a) move.”
Toyota is expected to make a decision on the matter by next month.
Mercedes exec says Big Oil conspiring to kill U.S. diesel market June16
Mercedes-Benz has accused profiteering oil companies of ripping off diesel buyers and fears such action may kill the U.S. diesel passenger car market in its infancy. While oil prices have hit new highs, the pump price of diesel has surged to be more than a dollar a gallon higher than gasoline in some U.S. states, even though it is cheaper and less energy intensive to produce.
And Mercedes-Benz, which introduced its E320 BlueTEC diesel passenger car into the U.S. in 2006, is fighting back, with Daimler board member, Dr Thomas Weber, insisting there was no demand-driven reason for diesel prices to be so high.
“We knew this surge was coming in the U.S.,” Dr Weber, who heads up the Mercedes-Benz Research and Development division, told Leftlane.
“I believe there is definitely optimization of earnings by oil companies to take advantage of the higher usage of diesel today. There is not another plausible or economic explanation.”
While diesel sales are up in Europe, the economic downturn has lowered volumes in the U.S., where it is primarily a heavy transport fuel.
Even so, the U.S. Government’s Energy Information Administration reveals that diesel users have suffered more than double the gas price rises in the last year. Once cheaper, diesel is now significantly more expensive than gas everywhere in the United States.
The EIA’s data shows that while gas costs 443 cents a gallon in California, diesel there costs 499.2 cents and, in a nationwide trend, it is 72 cents more expensive on the East Coast and 63 cents more expensive in the Mid West.
While gasoline has risen 113 cents a gallon in California in the last 12 months, diesel has surged by 199.5 cents in the same period and its pump price surge has outstripped gasoline by 95.7 cents on the East Coast and 95.3 cents in the Mid West.
“The most important driver is a huge trend in diesel use in Europe, but that doesn’t explain it,” Dr Weber insisted.
“There are limitations on capacity on the refining sites, but that’s not it, either, really.
“Diesel production costs are less than the gasoline production costs so the only idea you can find is that these companies are in the business of making a profit, so that is what they do now.”
The EIA’s pump price breakdowns seem to confirm Mercedes-Benz’s allegations. While the cost of the basic crude oil accounts for 73 percent of the pump price of gasoline, it only accounts for 61 percent of the diesel price.
Instead, the EIA figures show oil companies are slugging diesel buyers by more than double diesel’s refining costs compared to gasoline. Only 10 percent of the gasoline price is in refining, while that figure leaps to 21 percent for diesel.
Nevertheless, Dr Weber predicted the massive gap between gasoline and diesel prices in the U.S., Australia and Europe would soon come to an end and, even in the meantime, they would not affect Daimler’s upcoming plans to hit the U.S. market in force with its diesel engines.
“For the customer, if they experience the advantages of diesel, they will stay with diesel anyway,” he insisted.
“The technology is 20 to 30 percent more efficient than gasoline and has more torque at lower rpm and that’s what most buyers actually use.”
Benz will launch BlueTEC diesel versions of its R-, GL and ML-class SUVs in October after receiving 50-state registration approval for the technology in March this year.
German man torches his BMW in protest against high gas prices
June 27, 2008 By The Associated Press
BERLIN - A German man doused his BMW with gasoline and torched it today in protest at skyrocketing fuel costs.
The unemployed 30-year-old man drove the black 1995 BMW sedan onto the lawn outside Frankfurt's convention centre grounds at about 7:30 a.m. He then jumped out, emptied a canister of gas over the vehicle, and set fire to it.
The Bavarian man, whose name was being withheld because he has not been charged with a crime, told police that gas prices were so high he could no longer afford to drive the vehicle.
Jun. 13 - Japanese company Genepax presents its eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water.
The car has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water that is poured into the car's tank. The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car. Genepax, the company that invented the technology, aims to collaborate with Japanese manufacturers to mass produce it.
Acura TSB 00-014
-
Acura Service Bulletin 00-014 Date: April 24, 2000 Applies To: 1999 Acura
3.2TL – ALL 2000 Acura 3.2TL – From VIN 19UUA5…YA000001 through YA008807
Squeak o...
Ford shoots down latest rumor of a Fiesta RS
-
Filed under: Ford,Hatchback,Future,Performance
Design executive says Fiesta ST is powerful enough.
Continue reading *Ford shoots down latest rumor of a Fi...
-
*Your Goat*
*Is In*
*My Seat*
*A Book By Mike McCarville*
*Chapter One*
Guatemala City's airport baked in the morning sun as we clamored aboard a
doorles...
So Called Prayer At Obama Day, Today
-
Based on this so called prayer by this so called Rev. today claiming white
people do not know what is right, is just plan stupid! What would have
happened ...
The Porch Is Closed
-
UPDATE - My New Blog:
lifeaftertheporch-----------------------------------------------------The
End.My final post to this blog.I began posting to this blog...
More Truth Project video promos
-
What is Truth? Truth Project promo video 6:21 min
What is WorldView ?
Additional Truth Project promo videos
4:11 min
2:15 min
