Tesla Motor’s highly anticipated charging network has finally been unveiled to the public with the revelation of it first six supercharger stations. According to Tesla, the stations will safely deliver up to 4.5 times more electricity to the battery giving approximately half a charge in half an hour. It will do this by using special cables that connect directly to the battery, bypassing any on board charging equipment. The most unique thing about these charging stations is that many will be equipped with solar cells mounted on the weather canopy that will generate more energy over the course of a year than is consumed by Tesla vehicles using the supercharger stations, resulting in a positive transfer of power back to the electricity grid. Current active stations in California can be found in Barstow, Hawthorne, Lebec, Coalinga, Gilroy and Folsom. By 2015, Tesla hopes to expand their supercharger network to over 100 stations.
Last years Los Angeles Auto Show focused on the electric car with the debut of the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf. Throughout the year, other automobile manufacturers continued to release electric hybrid and electric cars, but sales were poor even with government rebates and perks. This years LA Auto show still has its share of electric vehicles, but the 2012 Green Car of the Year shows that there is no single solution to efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles.
Some of this years contenders included the Ford Focus Electric, Mitsubishi i, Toyota Prius V and Volkswagen Passat TDI, but the six judge panel decided to award the Honda Civic Natural Gas version the 2012 green car of the year award. According to Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal, “The new generation Civic Natural Gas features greater fuel efficiency, a more attractive and roomier design with tailpipe emissions lower than any other internal combustion produced vehicle. There is no other vehicle like the Civic Natural Gas on American highways, and this recognition has been a long time coming for Honda.”
The Civic Natural Gas is the only natural gas passenger vehicle to be mass produced. It was first introduced as a fleet vehicle in 1998, and is in its fifth generation. It offers 110 horsepower and has a range of about 240 miles on a full tank. It is reasonably priced at just over $26,000, and is available at 200 Honda dealers in 36 states.
Nissan is recalling some 2011-2012 Infiniti G37 Coupe and 2011 Nissan 370Z vehicles for a problem with the power windows. According to the report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) the power window switch controller may be manufactured out of specification making the auto reverse feature inaccurate. If a body part should become trapped by a closing window, a pinch injury could result before the window reverses. Owners wanting more information on the recall can contact Nissan at 1800-647-7261 or Infiniti at 1-800-662-6200.
According to a court ruling on Monday, drivers in California who use their non hands free cellphones while stopped at a red light or in a traffic jam will be ticketed if caught. This ruling comes after Richmond driver, Carl Nelson, received a ticket from an officer who saw him using his phone at a stop light in December of 2009. He argued he was not driving because the car was stopped while he made the call. Nelson referred to a 1991 Supreme Court ruling that said the term “drive” requires proof of “volitional movements”. In this case, a man suspected of drunk driving, was found asleep behind his running vehicle while parked on a residential street. Court threw out the case saying that there was no “volitional movement.”
In a 3-0 ruling, judges said that even though Nelson was paused at the time, he was driving on the road in the midst of other moving traffic, and distractions in this situation could create hazards to other drivers on the road. Nelson’s attorney said he plans to appeal to the state’s high court.
On July 1, 2011 the state of California decided to revoked carpool privileges for hybrid and electric vehicles. They were hoping to decrease traffic congestion in these High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes as the amount of hybrid and electric vehicles on the roads increased. According to a study done by researchers at UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation, the additional vehicles in the regular traffic lanes has slowed all traffic substantially.
Using traffic flow theories and six months of data from roadway sensors measuring speed and congestion along all freeway carpool lanes in the San Francisco Bay Area, researchers found that the slower traffic in the regular lanes made it more difficult for the carpool drivers to migrate in and out of the HOV lanes. The result was an increase of traffic congestion in all lanes. The study suggests that the state should reconsider their decision, and allow the hybrid and electric vehicles back in the carpool lanes.
In an unanimous vote on Wednesday, Los Angeles City Council has decided to terminate the city’s controversial red light camera program. According to council members, loop holes in the laws governing the program resulted in only about 60% of the tickets being paid, failing to generate enough income to keep the program going. Both the Police Commission and the Los Angeles Superior Court felt the program could not be enforced and should be canceled. Critics of the program felt that the city was using the program only for revenue and accused them of putting up the cameras at intersections that would generate the most income and did little to improve safety on the roads. Camera programs have been canceled by many cities and towns across the country and the viability of programs still in affect are being questioned.
The 405 freeway will be closed this weekend for about 53 hours as highway crews demolish the Mulholland Drive bridge. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villarigosa, urges residents to “stay home” as the work threatens to impede traffic near the Interstate, making some roads almost impassible. Motorists intent on commuting will see 61 buses added to the city’s transit system, and the subway systems will be prepared for higher ridership traffic. Other services offered include nonstop flights, offered by JetBlue, from Long Beach Airport to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, promoted as the “Fly Over the 405 promotion”, and Briles Wing and Helicopter Inc, will have charter flight services offering trips from Van Nuys Airport to either Los Angeles International or Santa Monica airports. For people or groups planning unauthorized runs of the closed freeway, the Los Angeles Police Department will be on hand to intercept this traffic. The closure, labeled as ‘Carmageddon’, hopes to lessen Los Angeles traffic in a $1.03 billion freeway widening project that will accommodate new carpool lanes by building a bigger bridge 200 feet to the south of the Mullholland bridge.
A new dealership group know as “California Superstores” is buying up former Chrysler dealerships in California as a way to beat the high cost of real estate and rebuild Chrysler’s slow market in the United States. Complaints from existing Chrysler dealers say that the alliance between Chrysler and the New York Hedge fund is leading to an unfair advantage for existing dealerships. They have alleged that Chrysler is providing below market rent subsidies that have not been offered to them. Peter Welch, president of the California dealers association, said he is unfamiliar with the terms of the California Superstores venture, but has heard many concerns among existing Chrysler dealers.
California Superstores has already opened six stores in California, and plans to open eight more in areas where Chrysler has done poorly. The plan is to eventually open stores on the East Coast, according to Carlos Hoz de Vila, managing partner of California Superstores.
In an unrelated situation, the state dealers association has brought forward complaints against Chrysler, saying that they are operating an illegal factory owned store at Motor Village L.A. in downtown Los Angeles. The California New Motor Vehicle Board has asked the state Department of Motor Vehicles to investigate the complaint.
The Express Park program is a year long program aimed at making parking easier for Los Angeles downtown motorists. The LA Department of Transportation has begun installing high tech parking meters throughout the city that will allow motorists to pay with credit and debit cards as well as the traditional coin method. This network of meters will also be used to keep track of parked cars in real time, and will eventually be able to alert motorists to empty parking stalls. The program will feature adjustable parking rates, which will increase and decrease rates according to demand. The experimental programs goal is to encourage public transit and reduce pollution and congestion caused by motorists cruising the block in search of a parking place.
Los Angeles is developing ExpressPark in partnership with Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, using $15 million in grants from the federal Department of Transportation and $3.5 million in city funds. The program is similar to one recently launched in San Francisco and will cover 5,500 on-street metered spaces and 7,500 unmetered public parking spaces in off-street, city-operated facilities. The areas you will see these meters popping up includes Civic Center, the central business district, Chinatown and Little Tokyo.
The summer holidays are just about here and everyone is looking forward to vacations and summertime activities. Unfortunately this also means an increase in accidents and injuries. Inexperienced teen drivers will be spending more time on the roads, children out of school will be spending more time outdoors, there will be an increase in RV’s, bikes, and motorcycles on the roads, and in general, a greater hub of activity everywhere.
Safe driving practices are the best way to deal with increased traffic. Try to stay calm, drive at a safe speed and be courteous to other drivers. Speeding, tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic and not yielding the right-of-way can lead to collisions.
Make sure everyone in your vehicle is buckled up, and babies and young children are in car seats or booster seats. Proper use of seat belts and child car seats is the best way to reduce vehicle-related injuries and fatalities.
Summer also brings increased construction on roads and highways. Keep road workers safe by being prepared to stop and slow down in construction zones. Keep your gas tank full, in case you need to change your route or are caught in traffic along the way.
People driving RV’s and trailers are usually inexperienced with such a large load. Take extra precaution while driving these vehicles, and give them the room they need to maneuver. Don’t let items block your view of the road, make sure loads are securely tied down, and slow down.
Make sure your vehicle is in good running condition before your go. Always keep a roadside emergency kit and a first aid kit for emergencies.
Plan your route before you go. If you don’t have someone to read the map or GPS for you, pull over if you need to review your route. Distractions behind the wheel greatly increased your chance of an accident.
Give yourself plenty of time to get where you’re going and if you become tired, stop to rest and stretch your legs. It’s better to arrive late than not arriving at all.
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