Manufacturing

  • Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California

    We don’t hear “death of Detroit” stories as often now as we did a year ago. When GM and Chrysler plunged into bankruptcy and the entire U.S. industry laid off tens of thousands of workers in one year, the effects on an already battered Detroit region were dire. And they led to a rash of stories that Detroit was done with. Many predicted that the new, green auto industry of the future would be built around the electronics expertise of Silicon Valley. EV hub? A June 2010 piece in the San Jose Mercury News, "Silicon Valley becoming a hub of electric vehicles," argued that...

  • Assembly of Think City electric cars, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
    Electric Car Factory: Think Sets Up Shop In Indiana, RV-Land

    Quick, name the electric cars currently on sale. Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, and ... ummmm ... oh, yeah, Smart Electric Drive. Now name the ones built in the States. Hmmmm. Volt, right? Think about it Yes, but you've missed out on one--in both categories. It's the Think City, which is now being...

  • M. Allen Swift with his 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Picadilly Roadster
    Cars That Last And Last: Driving The Same One For 77 Years

    We've all heard the stories about people who hang onto their cars for decades. Irv Gordon's 1966 Volvo P1800 is one; he's got more than 2.6 million miles on it now, after buying it new for $4,150. Then there's Rachel Veitch, who at 91 has logged 562,000 miles--and had no fewer than 18 batteries and...

  • Ford Rouge Assembly Plant, Michigan, where Ford F-150 pickup trucks are built
    Greening The Rouge: Ford's More Sustainable Pickup Plant

    A green roof is not at its most photogenic in a Michigan winter. In fact, it's hardly green at all--more like gray and brown--though it still insulates the building below just as well. But while some of the green aspects of Ford's showcase Rouge assembly plant have succumbed to the January weather...

  • Nissan Smyrna Tennessee
    Nissan Will Build Leaf Electrics Among Altima, Maxima Gas Cars

    It's one of the most radical cars ever to be built in this country, the first all-electric vehicle to go on sale in many decades. So you'd expect that when the Nissan Leaf enters production in Smyrna, Tennessee, late in 2012, it would have its very own production line, right? Nope. Not at all. Far...

  • 2011 Buick Excelle for China and North America
    2012 Buick Verano, Based on Cruze, Coming From Michigan

    The new compact sedan from Buick is expected to be built in Michigan, and General Motors is preparing to announce the vehicle tomorrow at a press conference in its home state. The 2012 Buick Verano will be an upgraded version of the Chevrolet Cruze sedan, which is new for 2011. The Verano exists...

  • 2010 Ford Flex

    The overall carbon footprint of a vehicle is more than 90 percent composed of the fuel used to move it around, but manufacturing plays a role too. Many automakers are quietly working to include more renewable materials into a product that's largely made of metal, plastic, and glass. The latest example comes from Ford, which reinforces plastic storage bins and door panels with wheat straw--made from the wheat-plant biomass you see waving in the air when you drive past the Midwest's prevalent wheat fields. The research leading to the new material was jointly funded by the Canadian government's...

  • 2011 Ford Explorer
    Ford Saves Scrap Steel, Stamps Explorer Parts From Pickup Leftovers

    A century ago, Henry Ford was known for insisting that parts be shipped to his factories in wooden crates whose slats were sized so they could be reused to build parts of the Model T body. Now a similar spirit of saving scrap is being used to stamp fender baffles for the new 2011 Ford Explorer out...

  • 2011 Coda Sedan prototype - front
    So What Exactly Is An American-Made Car? You May Be Surprised

    We wrote about the 2011 Coda Sedan and Coda's EV cost calculator not too long ago, and described the cars as a "Chinese-built sedan" with a battery pack "containing Chinese-made lithium-ion cells." The Coda, we said would be "the first Chinese-manufactured passenger car sold in the U.S. when it...

  • 2011 Chevrolet Volt
    The 2011 Chevy Volt: Made Alongside GM's Gas-Guzzling V8s

    Think of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and very little seems conventional about it. With a range of 40 miles per charge and a range-extending gasoline engine used to provide extra power when the battery pack is depleted, Chevrolet is keen to push the car’s green credentials. Built at the Hamtramck...

  • First 2011 Chevrolet Volt built on production tooling at Detroit Hamtramck plant, March 31, 2010
    BREAKING: GM Boosts 2011 Chevrolet Volt Production 50 Percent

    There's no better time to make a public announcement than when you have the President of the United States with you. Today,President Barack Obama visited the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where GM is building its 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle. And the company took full advantage of...

  • 2010 Toyota Prius
    Next Toyota Prius To Be Built in U.S.--But Not Until 2016

    The convoluted twists and turns of possible Prius production in the U.S. have taken another unexpected bend. A Toyota executive has now told Reuters that the company intends to build the quintessential hybrid in the States, but not until its next generation is launched. That would be in 2016, since...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf

    Cutting-edge technology never comes cheaply. Automakers routinely subsidize it in new cars in new markets to gain a foothold, or even a competitive advantage--and still can lose money on innovation.Does Nissan plan to lose money with its upcoming electric car, the 2011 Leaf? "We don't," says Nissan director of product planning Mark Perry. On hand to make a major announcement about Leaf sales at Plug-In 2010, an electric-vehicle conference in San Jose, Calif., Perry says that Nissan is uniquely positioned to grab the lead in the race to build and sell electric cars on a mass scale with the...

  • 2011 Honda CR-Z
    Honda To Launch Plug-In Hybrid Car in 2013, A Year After Toyota

    It's been a time of turmoil for Honda lately, with the company doubling down on hybrids and pulling back on its clean-diesel efforts. Now, according to a Reuters report, the company will introduce both a plug-in hybrid and a fully electric car for the 2013 model year. The electric car will be...

  • 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
    2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Could Hit 40 MPG

    The 2011 Hyundai Sonata has been a huge sales hit for the Korean car company, outpacing the Chevrolet Malibu and Nissan Altima in recent months. The news could get better for Hyundai later this year, as the new sedan gets a greener version that could hit a class-best fuel economy target. Hyundai's...

  • Tesla Motors and Toyota logos
    WSJ: No Tesla-Toyota Joint Venture, Yet

    They may have struck a deal to transfer control of the old NUMMI manufacturing facility, but as of yet, Toyota and electric-car manufacturer Tesla have no firm deal to produce vehicles together. The Wall Street Journal says a recent stock filing reveals the companies haven't yet inked a deal that...

  • Raging Grannies Protest Tesla
    Raging Grannies Protest Tesla's Possible Use of Toxic Dump Site For Future Model S Plant

      A group of concerned activists is raising questions about one potential location for Tesla's future Model S assembly plant. The Raging Grannies spent last Saturday in front of the Tesla dealership in Menlo Park, California, asking why the electric vehicle company might build their future plant...

  • Flower developed by Toyota to offset emissions from its Prius facility
    Toyota Creates New Flower Species To Cut CO2 From Prius Production

    You may already associate the 2010 Toyota Prius with flowers, courtesy of its "Harmony Between Man, Nature, and Machine" ad campaign, complete with human flowers in the "Harmony" TV spot. Now Toyota has taken flower power one step further, creating two new species specifically to help reduce the...

  • Fisker Karma at Laguna Seca

    There's nothing like a little old-fashioned reporter shoe leather, especially when few other automotive media outlets bother to make the trip. Our colleague Gary Gastelu of Fox News traveled down to Delaware yesterday, to cover the official announcement of Fisker Automotive's $18 million purchase of the former GM plant that build the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. During a speech extolling the benefits Fisker would bring to his home state, Vice President Joe Biden asked the crowd to “imagine when this factory ... is making 100,000 plug-in hybrid sedan, coupes and crossovers every single...

  • GM Recycling
    Your New Car Is Made Of Old Carpet, Milk Jugs, and Ripped Jeans

    When you think of a brand-new, gleaming, 2010 model car rolling out of your driveway, what materials come to mind? Steel, chrome, soft-touch interior plastics, maybe even supple leather upholstery? Well, how about some old carpets, ground-up milk cartons, and shredded, faded, raggedy blue jeans?...

  • Panasonic Lithium-Ion Batteries
    Panasonic Linking PC Batteries Together To Power Cars

    If Panasonic gets its way, your average laptop battery could be the electric vehicle power source of the future. The Japanese consumer electronics company announced Thursday that it has developed a method of binding standard lithium-ion batteries together (Tesla Motors style), for use in...

  • Tesla Model S Sedan
    More Tesla Turmoil? Executive Turnover Continues

    Executive turnover continues at Silicon Valley electric-car startup Tesla Motors, with three executives leaving in nine months and two more hired. The turnover comes both in Vehicle Engineering--the group that must executive and deliver the 2012 Tesla Model S electric luxury sports sedan--and in...

  • Nissan LEAF
    Will 20,000 U.S. Buyers Order 2012 Nissan Leafs Within A Year?

    The 2012 Nissan Leaf hatchback, the first all-electric car from a major manufacturer to be offered in the U.S. since GM's late lamented EV1 two-seater a decade ago, won't go on sale nationally for more than two years. Nonetheless, Nissan is hoping to accumulate 20,000 U.S. advance orders for the...

  • Mike Donoughe
    Tesla Engineering and Manufacturing Chief Resigns

    The revolving door of Tesla Motors leadership keeps turning. Today, executive vice president of vehicle engineering and manufacturing, Mike Donoughe, is calling it quits, just over a year after he started the job. Formerly employed by Chrysler, Donoughe was charged with overseeing engineering...

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