Four new car models

• Dodge Dart:

As part of the Fiat takeover of Chrysler Group during bailout negotiations, the company agreed to build a small, high-MPG model in the U.S. Reopening the Belvidere plant in northwestern Illinois created 1,800 jobs. The Dart is a revival of a Dodge nameplate from the 1960s and 1970s. But the Dart's design is based on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, much praised in Europe for its road manners and sprightly handling. (Fiat also owns Alfa Romeo.) 

On sale next month, the compact Dart will start at $15,995 for its base model. It comes with three engine choices: 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter four-cylinder options and a 1.4-liter turbocharged four. The turbo version has an EPA rating of 27 MPG in city driving and 39 on the highway. As a compact, it will compete against the Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, among other highly rated vcars.

 • Ford Focus:

The Ford Focus Electric, going on sale this month, as well as the gasoline versions of the Focus comes from Ford's renovated, flexible plant in Wayne, Mich. Ford says this flexibility keeps down costs because it can produce only as many of the expensive electrics, which run $39,500 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, as it can sell. 

 The gasoline-powered Focus, which went on sale last year as a 2012 model, won praise from reviewers for its pleasing styling and crisp handling. Like some competitors, the Focus also offers comfort and technology features not previously available in small cars. Its 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine is rated at 26 MPG in city driving, 36 on the highway. List price ranges from $16,500 for the base model up to $22,700.

 • Chevrolet Sonic:

GM boasts that the Sonic is the only subcompact manufactured in the U.S. The Sonic is being built at the 1,750-employee Orion Township plant outside Detroit. Reviewers have praised the Sonic as a major upgrade in looks, performance, and comfort from the Aveo model it replaces. Available with the same choice of 1.4-liter and 1.8-liter four-cylinder engines as the bigger Chevrolet Cruze, the Sonic ranges in list price from $13,865 for the base model to $18,625.

 • Buick Verano:

This Buick compact is built at the same Orion Township plant as the Chevy Sonic. Producing a small car is part of Buick's shift away from being perceived chiefly as a maker of land yachts for elderly buyers. Reviewers say the Verano works for shoppers looking for a small car with decent power and a comfortable, upscale interior. With a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, the Verano is rated at 21 MPG in city driving, 32 highway. List price ranges from $22,585 to $26,809. 

2012 Best 5 Cars

School buses add cameras to catch drivers endangering kids

School districts nationwide are trying out video cameras as a way to deter drivers from passing buses that are loading or unloading children.

Districts in Dallas County, Texas, Montgomery and Frederick counties in Maryland and Cobb County, Ga., are among the latest to test the cameras on some school buses in their fleets.

Michael Warner, associate director of fleet maintenance for the Cobb County School District, says an incident there in December 2009 prompted them to install cameras on two of their buses last spring.

“A bus was stopped, unloading students, and a car behind the bus stopped and a second car behind that car swerved, went around the right side of the bus and ran over a kindergarten girl and killed her,” Warner says.

Warner says the stop-arm cameras were added to a digital video system already on the buses. “The digital video system runs between $1,500 and $1,800, and we pay an extra $200 for the stop-arm camera,” he says.

Warner says the school district works with the local police department concerning violators, and the police have conducted stings where violators have been caught.

“A couple of months ago, they were able to catch five violators that they pulled over,” Warner says.

Montgomery County’s cameras were installed last summer. Lesli Maxwell, spokeswoman for Montgomery County Public Schools, says they are on 96 of about 1,200 buses.

“It’s very much a pilot program at this point,” she says. The cost, she says, is $500 per bus to install the equipment.

Although the cameras have captured video of drivers bypassing a stopped bus, Maxwell says no Maryland law allows that video footage to be used for ticketing drivers.

Nissan’s Two-Seat Electric Car

Nissan Motor Co. released pictures today of an electric concept car called the New Mobility Concept. The tall, two-seat car that resembles a Smart Fortwo, is part of a broad transportation program the car maker is studying, which includes car-sharing and raised mobility for older drivers.

Nissan, which is about to start selling its Leaf electric sedan later this month, says it is looking closely at the possibilities presented by electric vehicles. The car maker says one proposal under development involves sustainable, efficient and convenient transport tailored for elderly and single households.

Mitsubishi's electric vehicles to be tested in Canada

Transport Canada is joining with Mitsubishi Canada to test two of the Japanese group's i-MIEV (innovative electric vehicles) in government facilities and also in real-world situation.

Road handling, performance and range results will help experts to assess the environmentalbenefitsof e-vehicle technologies in Canada.

Mitsubushi said it already has test agreements with Hydro-Quebec, the city of Boucherville, BC Hydro and the city of Vancouver, and federal government support is an important step toward achieving a cleaner environment.

The Mitsubishi e-vehicle seats four people and has a 330-volt lithium-ion battery powering a 63-horsepower electric motor. The battery can be recharged on standard household 110-and 220-volt sockets or commercial quick charger. Its maximum range is 120 kilometres on a single charge.

Commercial electric cars replace transport pods plan

Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Government's clean energy company, has put its plan for futuristic transport pods on the back-burner and will instead turn to commercial electric cars, executives said yesterday.

The personal rapid transport (PRT) system, a network of driverless electric vehicles, is in use at the Masdar Institute, the first stage of the city that was completed last month. But the technology would require further development to meet the needs of later stages of the city, said Dr Sultan al Jaber, the chief executive of Masdar.

"We're big believers in this technology," he said. "But today does it meet our requirements moving forward? No, not as it is today. "Has the PRT matured over the past three years? Absolutely. But the way to get it from where it is today at the Masdar project to where we want it to be, is going to take a little bit more time than our own design."Today we have access to electric vehicles that have developed very quickly over the past three years."

The emerging electric vehicle industry has accelerated, with the release of two battery-powered cars, the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf, due before the end of the year. Dr al Jaber confirmed that Masdar had begun talks with Daimler to co-operate on electric cars and said it would make use of developments by other UAE-based companies focused on clean technology, including Aabar, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, known as Taqa, and IPIC. Alan Frost, the director of Masdar City, said the project ought to make use of these mass-market technologies instead of developing its own networks. "For Masdar to be a true learning experience it needs to be innovative but it also needs to be tapping into what's available in all the rest of the world," he said.

Vehicle safety bill moves ahead

A private member's bill that would amend and strengthen the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and give Transport Canada the power to recall vehicles received a boost from all federal parties Wednesday night.

The Conservatives, Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois unanimously voted to send Bill C-511 to the standing committee on transport, infrastructure and communities.

The bill would also force companies to submit more safety-related information to Transport Canada in the form of quarterly reports and would spell out what constitutes a defect — a definition that is lacking in the present legislation.

Liberal MP Joe Volpe, the bill’s author, said the parties came together to support the bill because consumer safety trumps politics.

“I’m hoping that now that we’ve got all-party agreement on the principle of the bill that it will move along quickly and that everybody will see the wisdom of putting this legislation into effect as quickly as possible,” Volpe said. “It’s about consumer protection. And I can’t imagine that the government of Canada will not want to be associated with a bill that says consumers are first.”

How to Sell Cars Online

When you wish to sell car or cars, it is best to find your own buyers than selling it directly to dealers since you can earn more money in doing private transactions. Here are the things that you must do to be able to sell cars and generate more money out of it.

Clean the cars

If you are selling cars, you must see to it that you present it well. What you need to do is wash it then vacuum and wax it in order for it to look better. If there are some minor problems, you can have it fix by a mechanic.

Appraise its value

Before posting your car or cars for sale, you have to hire a mechanic to check the cars for you, with this, you can identify if there are any problems and you can easily appraise the value of the cars.

Do your search

You have to come up with asking prices for the cars. You can go online and look into the similar cars like yours in order for you to have idea on the prices. In doing this, you can have the basis on coming up with reasonable asking prices.

Post an ad

Of course, in order for your cars to be sold, you have to post ad about it. You can use the internet in posting ad on your cars for sale. You can create website or blog site to advertise your cars for sale. See to it that you post photos and descriptions of the cars for potential buyers to see what you have to offer them.

Auto Transport

Since you are selling cars online, you also have to take into account the auto transport that you will need to deliver the car to your buyer. You can ask the buyer to shoulder the shipping or you can let them take care of the auto transport after buying a car from you, this depends on what you have agreed.

Major two-vehicle crash just north of Kingston

It's believed two people are dead in a devastating two-vehicle collision in Kingston.

The wreckage of the car and transport truck is being removed this morning near the intersection of Battersea Road and Kingston Mills Road.

The vehicles collided around 6:15 p.m. Monday, but Kingston Police have still not released any information about the crash.

It's believed the victims are two teenage sisters.

They were in a car going west on Kingston Mills Road that was struck by a transport that was southbound on Battersea Road.

The force of the crash sent the car hurtling into a nearby cornfield where it came to rest upside down, about 15 metres from the road on the west side. The truck, separated into two pieces, ended up on the east side of the road.

The truck driver was apparently not injured.

Battersea Road remains closed but is expected to be reopened by noon.

The Future Of Personal Transport

If researchers from Kyoto University have their way, then this could be the future of personal transport, a vehicle that runs on electricity and is made from bamboo. The car has been named the Bamgoo is a single seater, weighs in at just sixty kilos and has a range of thirty miles on just one charge.Bamboo is very versatile material, which is highly sustainable too. However, there has to be some concern over the safety issues related to driving around in a car like this.

Source : http://keetsa.com/blog/auto/the-future-of-personal-transport/