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Toyota Motor Corporation has been slow to adopt electric vehicles (EVs). As a matter of fact, it was only a few weeks ago when the Japanese automaker decided to unveil a plethora of EVs. To make matters even more interesting, Toyota, along with Volkswagen, did not sign the Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans, which aims to put an end to fossil-fuel cars by 2040.

Over the coming decade, several automakers have already pledged to transition to electric vehicles. As the industry now makes this shift to EV’s, Mercedes Benz is also taking a forward-thinking approach.

With the German automaker set to become an electric-only marque by 2030, the company has already halted the development of new combustion engines in order to devote more resources towards the shift to electrification.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed that the company’s headquarters will be relocated from California to Texas at the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders event. The famed EV automaker was previously based in Palo Alto, in Silicon Valley. However, last year, Musk vowed to relocate the company’s headquarters to Texas in response to the closing of its primary facility in Fremont outside, San Francisco. He was dissatisfied with the factory’s temporary closure owing to Covid restrictions.

The Georgia Super Speeder Law (also known as the HB160 law) has been in effect since January 1st, 2010 in the state of Georgia, and as some of us learned the hard way, it will poke a hole in your wallet if you’re caught speeding. The Super Speeder fee is, in fact, used to fund the state’s public hospital system, where 60 percent of all trauma-care patients come from crash-related events. Stick with us as we tell you everything you need to know about the Georgia Super Speeder Law.

It looks like Volvo knew something when it announced that all its new cars would be limited to 180 km/h or 112 mph by 2020 because it seems all cars are going to be forced to obey the speed limit in the near future. At least that’s the plan announced by the European Union after it reached a provisional agreement to mandate that automakers fit their cars with speed limiters that won’t allow the driver to go over the speed limite when the situation would require it.

If we are to believe some recent developments coming from Germany, the days of the no-limit sections of the famed Autobahn highway system might be numbered. However, there is an initiative for a new way to reduce emissions in California: by adding extra lanes with no speed limit imposed on two major strips of highway. We’re intrigued!

You’ll have a field day on the internet if you start searching for video of people going amok on Germany’s Autobahn. That’s because Germany’s Autobahns, while no more the Nirvana of fast driving they once were, still offer many strips of highway devoid of speed limits where each and every one of us can go and test the limits of our rides. Those with faster cars are usually inclined to film their top speed attempts on the public roads, and that’s how you get thousands of videos of fast Porsches, Ferraris, BMWs and anything in between blitzing towards the German horizon at ludicrous velocity - while still staying away from the effects of the law.

In the near future, we might see similar videos emerge from motorists in California if Senate Bill 319 passes. Why? Well, here’s what the bill’s text says: It "requires the department to initiate a project to construct two additional traffic lanes on northbound and southbound Interstate Route 5 and State Route 99, and would prohibit the imposition of a maximum speed limit for those traffic lanes." Let’s dig in further.

Given how governments of many countries are pushing customers to opt for EVs by giving subsidies, it looked like the running cost of EVs would be very low. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with the California state government. Since the lawmakers are not earning the gasoline taxes from EV owners anymore, they have come up with a ‘solution’ that may require you to pay a mileage-based fee. How does that sound?

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he urged the EPA to increase the sales of corn-based ethanol which would allow the year-round sale of E15 gas, which up by 5 percent over the blends that are now being sold in the U.S. Currently, the Clean Air Act restricts the sale of E15 gas during the months of summer. E15 gas is a mix of fuel that contains 85% gas and 15% ethanol.

Ford has released the Police Interceptor Utility, considered by the Michigan State Police as the fastest police car available for 2019. The new Interceptor is based on the yet-to-be-unveiled Explorer SUV. It replaces the outgoing Explorer-based Police Interceptor Utility model and the Taurus-based Police Interceptor sedan. The new Police Interceptor Utility is more than just a fast law enforcement vehicle; it’s also loaded with state-of-the-art technology the likes of which the production version of the new Explorer won’t have. That comes with the territory of being a cop car.

The new presidential limousine, loosely similar in appearance to the Cadillac CT6, is finally in service and was first seen in public in New York earlier this week where the UN General Assembly gathered. It is the first new presidential limousine in almost a decade.

No other president’s means of transportation is as famous as that of the president of the United States. Commonly known as ’The Beast’. The introduction of the automobile as the president’s means of transportation didn’t happen right away, though, the first president to have a fleet being William Howard Taft in the early part of the last century.

As time went by, the limousines grew in both size and weight when it was decided that bulletproof glass and bodywork is a necessity. Nowadays, the presidential limousines, codenamed ’Stagecoach’, run on truck underpinnings and their specifications are secret.

The fact that President Donald Trump was getting a new limousine was, though, an open secret with the car having been seen testing in camouflage back in April. The previous state car, which debuted back in 2009 under President Barack Obama, was also a Cadillac-badged vehicle.

Keep reading to find out more about President Trump’s new limo.

Automakers rely heavily on global trade. Cars built here in the U.S. are exported into other markets while cars built in other parts of the world are sent here. In a perfect world, things would balance out but our world isn’t so perfect is it? Never has that been more evident than now with Donald Trump preaching a potential tariff war, all of which started with the suggestion of taxing imported steel and aluminum. Now, according to a recent tweet, he has his mind set on taxing European vehicle imports as a way to retaliate against any further increase in Tariffs toward U.S. companies in Europe.

President Donald Trump believes that increasing gas and diesel taxes by 25 cents would go a long way in helping the administration achieve its goal of generating $1.5 trillion for its new infrastructure plan. The ambitious plan was presented in a bipartisan meeting at the White House. As expected with all things related to politics, the specific details on the proposed increase in fuel tax vary depending on who you ask.

In the ongoing effort to curb emissions amid growing concern over pollution and air quality, London is looking to enact expanded ultra-low emission zones (ULEZ) that will fine older-model vehicles to travel through the city. Some analysts estimate the move could force upwards of 1.6 million motorists into a more modern automobile, which is a huge shift in just three years’ time.

Continue reading for the full story.

California Assemblyman Phil Ting is putting his money where his mouth is after telling Bloomberg his plans to introduce a bill that would effectively ban vehicles powered by fossil fuels by 2040. Ting’s efforts to ban cars using internal combustion engines is similar to moves that are being done in China, France, and the United Kingdom. “Until you set a deadline, nothing gets done,” he told Bloomberg. “It’s responsible for us to set a deadline 23 years in advance.”

Memorial Day is all about celebrating our Armed Forces and remembering the high cost of freedom. Countless American lives have been lost in the continuing fight for freedom and independence. Today, we honor them in the best way we know how – by taking a look at the U.S. Military’s current mobile hardware.

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle is built by Lockheed Martin as a “lightweight” vehicle designed for widespread use throughout the military. It serves as an armored troop carrier that’s resistant to light arms fire and roadside IEDs commonly found on today’s front lines. Unlike up-armored Humvees and the heavy MRAPs, the JLTV doesn’t suffer from poor driving dynamics and off-road performance. This helps keep our boys protected while on the move, regardless of terrain or outside conditions.

Despite the JLTV’s 14,000 pound curb weight, the vehicle is light enough for both the CH-47 Chinook and CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters to airlift, giving the vehicle an added level of transportability. Also adding to the JLTV’s list off accolades is its relatively low cost and good fuel economy, along with its reliability and low logistical support costs.

Sure, the JLTV might not have as memorable a name as the Humvee, but this bad boy is one of the best solutions to keeping our troops safe while keeping them on the move.

Continue reading for the full run-down

In honor of Memorial Day, we’re taking a look at a selection of military hardware and vehicles, including some of the latest technology deployed on the modern frontlines. The iRobot Warrior is one great example. Designed as a multi-mission, unmanned ground vehicle, or UGV, the Warrior is a flexible utility robot capable of tackling dangerous situations without placing U.S. soldiers in direct danger. It’s produced by the Massachusetts-based iRobot Corporation, which just so happens to be the same company that makes the Roomba, that vacuum disc you see cats riding around on the Internet. But the Warrior isn’t a joke – this machine is a highly versatile battlefield asset capable of saving lives.

Developed in part thanks to a multi-million dollar contract with the Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, there are multiple iterations and configurations of the iRobot Warrior, including the 710 and 710 Kobra. Read on for the details on this modern slice of combat-ready tech.

Continue reading to learn more about the iRobot Warrior.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, also known as FCA, has issued a statement in response to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division over alleged diesel vehicle emissions cheating. The suit claims FCA pursued “a deliberate scheme to install defeat devices to cheat U.S. emissions tests,” similar to the dieselgate scandal that’s plagued the Volkswagen Group since 2015. In response, FCA is offering up a software fix that will hopefully quell the problem without affecting individual vehicle fuel economy.

In the recent statement, FCA says it has collaborated with the EPA and California Air Resources Board (CARB) for the past several months to rectify the issue, testing diesel emissions for 2014 through 2016 model years of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500. Back in January, the EPA and CARB accused FCA of diesel cheating via “defeat devices” that alter engine programming during emissions tests, providing cleaner results than those returned during normal operation. It’s estimated that roughly 100,000 vehicles are affected. The suit has already dinged FCA’s stock price, which hovers at 10.57 as of this writing.

Continue reading for the full story.

While Trump made several big promises during his run for the White House, one of the biggest was a blanket repeal of any and all regulations ushered in by the Obama administration affecting big energy and the environment. Although the rhetoric was initially met with open arms, it now looks as though Trump’s idea of sweeping change is mismatched with corporate interests, including those of the auto industry.

According to a recent report from Axios, the big makes are now backpedalling on their support for thorough deregulation, instead favoring a milder approach: “The auto industry has lobbied the Trump administration to redo a review of Obama-era fuel efficiency standards, but they don’t support throwing out the standards altogether. Top industry executives have also urged the administration not to revoke a waiver for California to issue more aggressive standards,” says Axios. The reason? According to our friends over at Jalopnik, who spoke with Therese Langer, Transportation Program Director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Trump’s proposed deregulation could create industry-wide instability. While sweeping changes might offer a short-term boost, it could also create long-term uncertainty if it’s not permanent. And in an industry where product cycles take years to play out, a clear picture of the future is necessary for success.

Continue reading for the full story.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to remove the Gas Guzzler Tax, according to a tweet he made today. Having called global warming a hoax in the past and promised to take the U.S. out of the historic Paris climate agreement, Trump now thinks that the Gas Guzzler Tax is also a hoax that must be eliminated.

"Just like global warming, the gas guzzler tax is a total hoax. It must go and I will take care of it," he said on his Twitter account.

Granted, a short statement on social media doesn’t necessarily mean that Trump will actually remove the tax, especially given that he has changed his mind and denied his most controversial affirmations on many occasions, but he did sign an Energy Independence Executive Order that will reverse Obama’s Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon emissions. Compared to that, eliminating the Gas Guzzler Tax is child’s play.

Needless to say, Trump’s tweet is far from surprising. In 2012, he used social media to claim that the concept of global warming "was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," while in 2013 he called it "a total, and very expensive hoax. At some point he even went as far as to call global warming "bullshit" simply because the U.S. had "record low temps" and the "coldest weather in years" in 2014. His aggressive diatribe toward global warming continued in the presidential campaign. As soon as he was elected, he named a climate change skeptic to lead the EPA and announced plans to revisit fuel standards. Trumps administration also said it plans to cut funds for climate research because it is "a waste of money."

All told, eliminating the Gas Guzzler Tax seems like something Trump may want to do in the near future, but it remains to be seen whether he will find enough support to actually turn yet another tweet into law.

Continue reading for the full story.