GM Announces Plug-In Hybrid SUV

Let's use their facilities to overhaul America's transit

(NEWSER) - The end of General Motors is an opportunity for an America that now owns 60% of the company, writes Michael Moore. Let’s take advantage of the death of a firm that built poor cars, battled environmental rules, and shipped jobs away by using its facilities to implement a new system of transportation in America. Moore presents nine suggestions to the president on HuffPo: More»

(NEWSER) - Despite predictions of its demise, the SUV is alive and well at the New York auto show this year, Dan Carney writes for MSNBC. Sure, more fuel-efficient models of classic 4x4s make up the majority of the cars on display, but reports that the gas guzzler is passé, emanating from “literary critics, Broadway choreographers, and other practitioners of the bedrock industries that built this country” are greatly exaggerated. According to one website that tracks such things, half of Americans shopping for new cars are looking at crossovers and SUVs. More»

14 companies want $1B from feds to help catch Asian rivals

(NEWSER) - Fourteen US technology companies are joining forces to speed development of electric car batteries, asking for $1 billion in federal aid to help catch up with Asian firms that have a long lead, reports the Wall Street Journal. Electric vehicles are now considered so important to help wean the US from foreign oil that some are calling it a national security issue. More»

Plug-in electric car finally unveiled today; production model too ordinary for some fans

(NEWSER) - GM offered its first official look today at the plug-in Chevrolet Volt, CNNMoney reports, the electric car slated to go on sale in 2010. Its tame appearance drew the ire of gearheads hoping it would look more like the futuristic concept version. "A lot of people are saying they're very disappointed and 'take me off the [waiting] list,' " said one blogger. More»

Yes, it's obnoxious; that's why we need it

(NEWSER) - Sure, the Hummer is more of a "cartoon" than a vehicle, a ridiculously over-the-top gas-guzzling monstrosity. But the unbridled optimism it takes to manufacture it—and to fill up the tank—is what makes it uniquely American, writes Matthew DeBord in the Washington Post. If GM axes it, or, heaven forfend, takes it hybrid, we’ll lose yet another chip off the American soul. It's just too cool to die. More»