Free Republic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- All 1,600 employees of the brand new electric vehicle battery plant in Kentucky will be laid off before Ford converts it to manufacture batteries for data centers and other utilities. Ford will turn the Glendale factory into a battery-storage business for customers such as utilities, wind- and solar-power developers, and massive data centers that train artificial intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. And Ford announced Monday it plans to begin shipping the battery energy storage systems from its Kentucky and Michigan plants in Late 2027, a shift to "higher-return opportunities." In total, the company said...

In California, it’s almost expected for people to appear younger than they are. But what about your car? According to Carfax, the number of vehicles on the road with rolled-back odometers is rising, up 14% from last year. “It’s especially concerning because, if we compare the year-over-year rate, it’s dramatically higher than years prior,” Em Nguyen of Carfax told KTLA’s Chip Yost. And of the about 2.45 million cars with rolled-back odometers on the road, the largest percentage of them — nearly 22% — are in California, with the Golden State’s 532,200 cars far outpacing second-place Texas and third-place Florida...

DETROIT (AP) — Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration for what they say is the unlawful withholding of over $2 billion in funding for two electric vehicle charging programs. A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Seattle is the latest legal battle that Democratic-led states are pursuing over funding for EV charging infrastructure that they say was obligated to them by Congress under former President Joe Biden, but that the Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration are “impounding.” “The Trump administration’s illegal attempt to stop funding for electric vehicle infrastructure must come to an...

The EU looks set to scrap a landmark 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars on Tuesday, as part of a package of reforms aimed at supporting Europe's embattled auto industry. Carmakers and their backers have lobbied hard for Brussels to relax the ban over the past year – in the face of fierce competition from China and a slower-than-expected shift to electric vehicles (EVs). Set in 2023, the ban was a cornerstone of the EU's environmental Green Deal, which has come under increased pressure from businesses and right-wing politicians as the EU seeks to bolster its industry.

Just four years after it was launched, the Ford Motor Company has pulled the plug on its electric F-150 Lightning truck. The company instead will reportedly be focusing on hybrid vehicles and a future lineup of smaller and more affordable electric vehicles. In a call with reporters on Monday, Andrew Frick, the president of Ford Blue and Ford Model E, the company's commercial and electric divisions, said, "The American consumer is speaking clearly and they want the benefits of electrification like instant torque and mobile power. But they also demand affordability … rather than spending billions more on large EVs...

Ferrari is exploring radical oval pistons that could shrink engines, boost efficiency, and reinvent how high-performance gas motors are designed for the next generation. =============================================================== Key Points * Ferrari patents oval, or "stadium-shaped," pistons to replace traditional circular designs. * The design could significantly shorten engines while maintaining displacement and cylinder count. * Oval pistons could also lower frictional losses, improve combustion efficiency and lead to engines that "breathe" better. =============================================================== Breaking Away from Tradition For as long as internal combustion engines have existed, pistons have been round. This wasn’t necessarily because circular shapes were optimal for performance. It was...

DELIVERING A WIN FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES AND AUTOMAKERS: Today, President Donald J. Trump is delivering major relief to American families by resetting the Biden Administration’s costly and unlawful Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.President Trump is returning CAFE standards to levels that can actually be met with conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles. The Biden Administration standards imposed unrealistic fuel economy targets that effectively resulted in an electric vehicle (EV) mandate.The Trump Administration’s reset of the CAFE standards ensures the program’s fidelity to the legal restrictions set forth by Congress.The Biden standards broke the law by going far beyond the requirements...

According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the fire was reported at 9:20 a.m. on Foothill Boulevard, just below the 210 Freeway overpass. No children were aboard at the time, and the driver was transported to a local hospital for minor smoke inhalation injuries. Aerial footage showed a large plume of smoke emerging from below the underpass. The smoke led to the closure of the Osbourne Street offramp, according to Caltrans. Fire crews were at the scene but appeared to keep their distance from the flames. Experts say fires involving lithium-ion batteries, commonly used in electric vehicles, are typically controlled...

Waymo is hitting the brakes on its robotaxi software and issuing a voluntary recall after school bus safety concerns came to light earlier this year. The recall won’t necessarily pull cars from the road but will instead see them updated. It comes after an investigation by Nexstar’s KXAN found the company’s driverless vehicles illegally passed school buses with their stop arms out in Austin, Texas. The Austin Independent School District said similar incidents occurred at least 19 times this school year, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation in October. In November, cameras captured a Waymo...

Hundreds of Porsches in Russia were rendered immobile last week, raising speculation of a hack, but the German carmaker tells The Register that its vehicles are secure. According to reports, local dealership chain Rolf traced the problem to a loss of satellite connectivity to their Vehicle Tracking Systems (VTS). This meant the systems thought a theft attempt was in progress, triggering the vehicle's engine immobilizer. Porsche HQ was unable to help or diagnose the nature of the problem. It's understood that systems like VTS are operated by local Porsche subsidiaries or dealer networks. But following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and...

While less prevalent these days, it’s hard to not appreciate the sound of a high-revving naturally aspirated engine. The team at Boreham Motorworks just pulled the cover off their new 2.1-liter, inline-four cylinder engine. This small-displacement powerplant puts out an impressive 325 horsepower and, as the name suggests, screams all the way to an astonishing 10,000 rpm. It may be small, but innovative engineering is significantly pushing the boundaries for what a street-driven engine can be.

What It Is The Chevrolet Camaro was originally created as a Ford Mustang foil. History now appears ready to repeat itself as Chevy prepares to reintroduce the Camaro nameplate to the market. This time, we're hearing from our sources that we should expect the Bow Tie to resurrect the Camaro not as a coupe but as a fastback SUV aimed squarely at the Mustang Mach-E. That is, unless General Motors president Mark Reuss has his way and the Camaro makes its comeback as an electric car. But if it's an SUV, here's what we believe you can expect: Why It...

Sealed beneath a pyramid for 50 years, a forgotten American car has just been unearthed—and it’s nothing like what experts expected. Once mocked, this buried relic has stunned a small town and reignited a national obsession. On Independence Day 2025, a sealed concrete vault beneath a small-town pyramid in Seward, Nebraska opened to reveal an unexpected relic: a 1975 Chevrolet Vega, untouched for 50 years and preserved in striking condition. The unveiling drew thousands, offering a rare collision of automotive history, American nostalgia, and small-town spectacle. The car emerged from what is now being recognized as the largest time capsule...

The European Commission could announce a package to support the local automotive sector, including a possible watered down version of its 2035 combustion engine phase-out, on December 16, an industry source briefed on the matter said. Brussels is so far planning to announce the package on December 10, but EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said earlier this week that the package could be delayed until January. The source said that December 16 was a target but could still change. A spokesperson for the European Commission declined to comment on the new date, which was first reported by Germany's Tagesspiegel Background.

The future is now along a stretch of Texas highway as driverless semi-trucks begin their commutes within an Austin-area corridor. The "Smart Freight Corridor" is a 21-mile stretch of State Highway 130 in the Austin area - the fastest highway in Texas - covering the highway region from Georgetown to Mustang Ridge.

President Donald Trump on Friday celebrated his decision to permit U.S. automakers to manufacture so-called "tiny cars." "I have just approved TINY CARS to be built in America. Manufacturers have long wanted to do this, just like they are so successfully built in other countries," Trump posted on Truth Social. "They can be propelled by gasoline, electric, or hybrid. These cars of the very near future are inexpensive, safe, fuel efficient and, quite simply, AMAZING!!! START BUILDING THEM NOW! Thank you to the DOJ and the Departments of Transportation and Environment." So-called "tiny cars" are popular in Japan and other...

For years now, manufacturers have been beholden to "CAFE" fuel standards that force them to increase the average fuel efficiency of their fleets. This has forced automakers to make engines needlessly complex (ie, expensive to fix). Ironically, to avoid regulations imposed on smaller vehicles, it has also led automakers to make their trucks larger and larger, and/or abandoning entire production lines, like Ford did with its sedans.

VA pulls the plug on Biden’s $77M EV-charger earmarkVA will instead ensure money is used to improve care and services for VeteransWASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced it has terminated a Biden-Administration mandate to spend $77 million on electric vehicle charging stations at VA facilities. The money will instead be redirected to critical health care construction projects. In fiscal year 2023, the Biden White House forced VA to divert $77 million from its construction and technology budget to build solar powered electric vehicle charging stations at VA facilities. The Democrat-controlled Congress approved this funding diversion, but the...

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump will eliminate fuel standard regulations imposed by President Joe Biden when he signs an executive order on Dec. 3 in the Oval Office. His directive will reduce the number of miles a vehicle must travel on a mile of gasoline, a move that will mitigate car price increases of about $1,000 and save Americans approximately $109 billion, according to administration officials. Representatives from Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis are expected to join the president for the signing ceremony. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a division of the Department of Transportation, oversees the Corporate Average Fuel Economy...

WASHINGTON — The US Postal Service’s promised all-electric fleet is still woefully behind schedule, with more than $3 billion in taxpayer funding out the door and just 612 of the expected 35,000 battery-powered delivery trucks built, according to a letter sent to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and obtained by The Post. Former President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) set aside $3 billion for what Ernst has since ripped as a green “boondoggle” that saw almost all of that amount paid to Wisconsin-based defense contractor Oshkosh to build the environmentally friendly mail trucks. Ernst, who chairs the Senate’s DOGE...