Free Republic

An innovative new combustion engine eliminates half the guts of a traditional engine, and uses a fascinating internally-rotating piston and sleeve arrangement, making it lighter, simpler and more efficient while still making strong power and torque. Michael Arsenaeu designed the Avadi engine 20 years ago in the hopes of creating an entirely new engine design to be efficient as well as reduce emissions. In 2015, Avadi began the build and development. Rotary might be a good name for this sort of engine, if the name wasn't already taken. Everything inside the crankcase rotates, but unlike a Wankel-style rotary engine, this...

... Forty-six percent of Americans say they are "not too likely or not at all likely to purchase" an EV, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press -NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Earlier this year, luxury German automaker Mercedes delayed its electrification plans by five years, with CEO Ola Kaellenius telling investors the company was still committed to producing combustion engine cars. Last month, Toyota executives announced its engineers were developing smaller, next-gen engines that can run on alternative fuels like liquid hydrogen. Industry insiders are calling...

Picture this: a bright yellow contraption adheres to your windshield like a determined barnacle on a ship’s hull. But this isn’t marine life—it’s the Barnacle, a high-tech parking deterrent that’s turning heads (and immobilizing wheels). With suction cups boasting a whopping 1,000 lbs of force, it secures itself to your car, rendering any escape futile. No more clunky wheel clamps; the Barnacle is sleek, efficient, and, dare I say, oddly captivating. But fear not—there’s a QR code escape hatch for those who’ve crossed the parking law abyss. Welcome to the future of parking enforcement!

It’s not just the political class. America’s fleet of cars and trucks is also getting long in the tooth. Last month a study by S&P Global Mobility reported the average age of vehicles in the U.S. was 12.6 years, up more than 14 months since 2014. Singling out passenger cars, the number jumps to a geriatric 14 years. In the past, the average-age statistic was taken as a sign of transportation’s burden on household budgets. Those burdens remain near all-time highs. The average transaction price of a new vehicle is currently hovering around $47,000. While inflation and interest rates are...

New vehicles sold in the US will have to average about 38 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2031 in real-world driving, up from about 29 mpg this year, under new federal rules unveiled Friday by the Biden administration. The final rule will increase fuel economy by 2% per year for model years 2027 to 2031 for passenger cars, while SUVs and other light trucks will increase by 2% per year for model years 2029 to 2031, according to requirements released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The final figures are below a proposal released last year. Administration officials...

The Biden administration on Friday tightened vehicle fuel mileage standards, part of its strategy to transform the American auto market into one that is dominated by electric vehicles that do not emit the pollution that is heating the planet.The new mileage standards announced by the Transportation Department are among several regulations the administration is using to prod carmakers to produce more electric vehicles. In April, the Environmental Protection Agency issued strict new limits on tailpipe pollution that are designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids...

This announcement out of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin's office yesterday is pretty cool news. In 2021, under the benevolent eye of uber-prog Democratic black-face aficionado Gov Ralph Northam, the completely Democratic-held VA legislature decided to commit the state to follow the California emission standards, which, as everyone knows, are tougher than the federal ones. Progs of a feather flock together. In 2022, doubling down on their infinite wisdom, VA lawmakers saw fit to impose what's known as CA's Advanced Clean Car II regulations on their fellow Virginians. In essence, what that was going to do was impose a 100% EV...

For a politician, nothing concentrates the mind like an upcoming election. New York Governor Kathy Hochul isn't up for reelection this year but she seems to remember the 2022 race in which Republicans flipped three House seats. This year she's trying to avoid that happening again. So this morning she suddenly announced she would do a 180 degree turn on New York's congestion pricing plan.“I have come to the difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers this time,” Hochul said in a pre-taped statement released to reporters...“Once the congestion pricing...

Gov. Kathy Hochul ditched the MTA congestion pricing plan indefinitely Wednesday — saying it’s not the right time as New Yorkers face a cost-of-living crisis. Hochul announced plans to delay the $15 toll’s June 30 start date, citing the “undue strain on already stressed New Yorkers” grappling with inflation. “Let’s be real: a $15 charge may not mean a lot to someone who has the means, but it can break the budget of a working- or middle-class household,” she said in a pre-taped video announcement. “It puts the squeeze on the very people who make this city go. “I cannot...

Saying electric and hybrid vehicles need to pay their own way for the wear and tear they put on Wyoming roads, legislators are resurrecting a bill to tax fast-charging stations. The Wyoming Legislature wants electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle users to pay their fair share, and for the second straight year is considering a fuel tax for EV owners fueling up at high-speed charging stations in the state. The tax of 4 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) would only apply to Level 3 DC fast chargers, such as the Tesla Supercharger stations. It would not include Level 2 public charging...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was asked on CBS News' "Face the Nation" about the $7.5 billion taxpayers have been levied for a nationwide EV charging station network. In the over two years since the funding was announced, the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) has managed to produce only seven, despite the announced plans call for a half million stations being built six years from now by 2030. Buttigieg was unfazed when asked about the numbers.

More than one fifth of all crashed cars are now totaled by insurance assessors. Proportion of new vehicles written off has increased due to high repair costs. The cost of fixing ADAS systems designed to prevent accidents is often deemed not worth it. The rocketing cost of repairing crashed cars means 21 percent of wrecks now result in a vehicle being totaled by insurance firms, a five-fold increase versus 1980. And some experts think that number could jump to a staggering 30 percent as cars become even more complex. Ironically, it’s the same ADAS driver aids designed to save us...

Flames from an electric vehicle that caught fire overnight damaged some power lines and scorched a home in the Granada Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. The fire was reported around 2 a.m. on Rinaldi Street near Haskell Avenue. Firefighters found flames engulfing a Mercedez-Benz, which proved to be difficult to put out. The electrical nature of the fire made it so intense that firefighters requested additional resources, Stringer News Service KNN reported. Flames from the burning vehicle spread to a nearby home and burned some power lines in the area. It was unclear if power was affected at any of...

Ford and GM have both suspended well cancelled plans to build a couple new facilities for battery and Eevee assembly, no changes to their internal combustion engine vehicle plans ...cleanest state is California they are still 50% fossil fuel energy and they lie about their statistics because they say they don't know what the mix is for the power that they're importing from the rest of the country which is something like a third of their total demand and the stuff that comes say from the Phoenix area in Arizona to the LA Basin which is something like 10 gigawatt...

Yes, we mean something other than the Tesla Cybertruck.You can’t really go wrong with a pickup truck. They’re like the Swiss Army Knives of the automotive world. Wanna haul or pull some crap? There’s a bed and you can tow. Wanna carry people? There’s a number of cab configurations to suit your needs. Want one with luxury features that rival a BMW 7 Series or Genesis G90? You can drop six figures for a truck that’ll coddle you. This isn’t to say that they’re all good. Take the Hyundai Santa Cruz, for example. It was first shown as a concept...

Imagine a world where gas stations are replaced by charging stations. Does that sound weird or cool? Well, that’s the future 12 U.S. states are hurtling towards by phasing out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles. California pioneered this ambitious plan to fight air pollution by encouraging residents to buy electric cars. A domino effect has begun following California’s lead, with 11 states lining up to follow suit. In August 2022, California decided to ban the sales of gas-powered cars by 2035. It’s a big step in fighting climate change since ICEs constitute a significant cause of air pollution. However,...

“We’re facing an unfunded, $1 trillion mandate that carries enormous consequences for the American consumer.” At least that’s what Chris Spear, American Trucking Associations President and CEO has to say about one D.C. diktat coming down from on high in particular, and that is the one mandating that the American trucking industry bend to EPA rules requiring all electric fleets and production lines.Here’s the context, from March of this year:On March 29, 2024, Good Friday, Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled out its new electric truck mandate, which will require that electric semi-trucks make up an increasing share of manufacturer...

High purchase prices are a major barrier to the wider adoption of electric vehicles. A significant portion of this cost comes from expensive batteries. However, in recent years, automakers have been employing an advanced manufacturing technique known as gigacasting. This method helps offset the high cost of batteries, simplifies production, and reduces the weight of EVs. Nissan will follow Tesla, and several other carmakers like Toyota, Hyundai, and Ford, in adopting this technology. The brand aims to reduce the costs of EV parts by 10% and slash weight by 20%, Automotive News reported. Nissan's EVs using gigacasting are expected to...

A recent study from the University of Michigan has shed light on a critical challenge facing the global transition to electric vehicles: the inability of copper mining to keep pace with the growing demand. Engineering & Technology reports that copper, a crucial component in electricity generation, distribution, and storage, is fundamental to the successful implementation of policies aimed at promoting the adoption of EVs. However, a recent study from the University of Michigan, titled “Copper mining and vehicle electrification,” has revealed that the current rate of copper production is insufficient to meet the projected demand for the metal in the...

If some California legislators have their way, your car could soon scold you if you exceed the speed limit. On Tuesday, the state Senate passed SB 961, a bill sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener. The bill requires passive speed governors to be added to all new cars manufactured or sold in California by 2032. Speed governors would alert drivers with “audible and visual signals when they exceed the speed limit by greater than 10 miles per hour,” a press release from Wiener’s office said.