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An auto review world of continuous heaps of praise on the DSG gearbox is precisely why the manuals are likely not to be offered on cars like this in the US. Please, stop . jerseydevil : June 29th, 2009 at 1:10 pm … At risk of starting a Hybrid -vs-Diesel slapfest, this is where a hybrid does really well. In city, you get the full torque swell from zero, which is nice. But I agree that a diesel really is the engine of choice for long-haul, high-speed work. …

Not to mention California will then no longer have to consider the needs of the auto industry and will then be free to set auto policy for the rest of the country and it will be someone else’s jobs to lose or problem to solve. … California is still the nation’s largest market for new cars . California is the largest market for hybrids (damn those environmentalists and their demands for clean air and water!): 67923 hybrids sold in 2008 (NY was second with 15435). …

The LA Times reports that The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted California the right to set its own, independent CO2 standards for car and truck emissions. The controversial waiver comes with a proviso: they can’t toughen the tailpipe regs—de facto mpg requirements—until 2017. Which is no big deal, ’cause the feds have adopted California’s

The NYT dug through Abrams Consulting Group data on car rental prices, and it seems the cost of part-time wheels has gone up considerably in the last year. By how much? In May, the average rate for a weekly airport rental of a compact car booked seven days in advance was $345.99, up a whopping 73

This isn’t just me whingeing [Ed.: That's "whining" for our non-Brit English speakers] about another Italian stallion that’s inherently qualified for Wrecked Exotics’ Lamborghini section. The “normal” Gallardo is a fairly benign beast. This one . . . maybe not so much. What say you? Meanwhile, here’s a “methinks they doth protest too much” spot-the-euphemisms

Tesla, the darling motorcar company of the EV set, promises to have the Model S sedan on the road by 2011. So what does the S bring to the table besides more seats and less cost than the Roadster? The brass answer that question in a video explaining the Model S. Tesla makes a big deal of a point many automotive designers have made about electric vehicles — the drivetrain is easier to package than a conventional engine and transmission, giving designers much more freedom in executing their ideas . In Tesla’s case, that idea is room, room and more room. Company CEO Elon Musk notes, for the zillionth time, that the car will seat seven people (though few believe those two rear-facing seats waaaaay in the back will ever see production). He claims you can fold the seats down and cram a big-screen TV, a surfboard and a mountain bike in the car, though he wouldn’t let us try it when the car was unveiled in March . In any event, talking up the space of the S is quite shrewd, given the preconception that EVs are cramped and Americans love cars big enough to play basketball in. Since there’s no engine up front, there’s loads of storage space up front to go with the storage space at the back. Like Aptera , Tesla is making the car slippery through the use of too-clever-by-half gadgets like retracting door handles and surface detailing and a flat floor for reduced underbody drag. With all this fawning over aerodynamic detailing, it’s almost a shame to point to them that the wheels on the passenger side point the wrong way. Tesla promises the S will have performance and range. The Model S will use a liquid-cooled motor with a peak output of 300 kilowatts, or about 402 horsepower, and offer at least 160 miles of range. We’ll believe it when we get a loaner for a 200 mile blast down the P.C.H. Tesla loves the huge, portrait oriented 17-inch touch-screen monitor that dominates the dash. The company can’t say enough about how cool it is, calling itself “the iPhone of the car world.” As for the styling by Franz von Holzhausen — who designed the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky, then worked for Mazda before joining Tesla — the car has drawn comparisons to the Jaguar XF and the Maserati Quattroporte. Not bad. Not bad at all. The Model S, and Tesla’s business plan, was impressive enough to convince the Department of Energy to loan Tesla $465 million to help build the car. Tesla is promising a lot with the S. Now it’s time to deliver. Photo: Jim Merithew / Wired.com

In honor of Canada Day we bring you news from the Canadian capital, where a suburban service station has become the first in the world to sell a blend of gasoline and cellulosic ethanol biofuel. As part of a month long trial, drivers who fill up their Nissan X-Trails or Acura CSXs at a Shell station in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean have the choice of “CE-10″ blend — a mixture of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent cellulosic ethanol from Ottawa-based Iogen ’s nearby demonstration plant. If the test goes well, Iogen hopes to have a full-scale plant running in Saskatchewan within the next few years. Before you dredge up the usual complaints about biofuel, be forewarned: this ain’t just any old ethanol. This is the so-called “second generation” ethanol that until now was never available to consumers. The CE-10 in Ottawa was produced  from an agricultural residue that otherwise would have been discarded. Unlike ethanol produced from corn or sugar, nobody’s converting a potential food source into fuel. Even better, there aren’t any of those pesky nitrous oxide emissions associated with the production of other biofuels, and Iogen estimates that lifecycle CO2 emissions of cellulosic ethanol are 90 percent less than gasoline with no decrease in power or fuel economy. What’s not to love? Well, the fuel isn’t yet ready for full-scale commercial production, but Iogen is hoping the demonstration project will change that. “Building a demo plant is one thing but you then need to go through the process of operating the new technology at scale, learning, modifying and lowering costs,” Iogen CEO Brian Foody said in a statement (PDF). “With the volumes we’re producing today, we’re confident about the future.” We’re pretty confident, too. We were in the area last week and decided to be part of biofuel history by filling up at this very station. Our mileage didn’t decrease, our car didn’t explode and our wallets didn’t get any lighter — though we did get some funny looks from the other folks filling up when we started taking pictures of a gas pump. See Also: More Corn Ethanol Could Boost Cellulosic Ethanol Cellulosic Ethanol: One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil Another Argument Against Ethanol Photo: Flickr/ jsloss

Although the final product promises to be sportier than its hybrid counterparts, work on the Volt’s suspension is far from over. Farah says GM engineers continue to work on the car’s ride height and spring rate. ….. Leftlane is the leading source for automotive industry and vehicle news, new car research, future vehicle information, and reviews. Read by car shoppers, driving enthusiasts, autoworkers, executives, and investors, the website is updated throughout the day …

This trend is evidenced by the accelerated race to create new energy solutions for the automotive industry , including more efficient gasoline engines, advanced clean diesel and biofuels, hybrid and electric cars , and hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. … The evidence so far suggests that Japan, which already has a 90% market share in the nickel-metal-hydride technology used in today’s hybrid vehicles, is in a position to corner the lithium-ion battery market as well. …

Hundreds of previous-generation Prius owners have filed complaints with the U.S. Transportation Department, claiming the hybrid’s headlights prematurely expire, leaving owners with enormous repair costs. ….. Leftlane is the leading source for automotive industry and vehicle news, new car research, future vehicle information, and reviews. Read by car shoppers, driving enthusiasts, autoworkers, executives, and investors, the website is updated throughout the day with the …