When it comes to battery packs for plug-in hybrids, smaller is better, according to new research from Carnegie Mellon University. Led by engineering professor Jeremy Michalek, the study authors found that plug-ins with battery packs large enough for only about seven miles of all-electric range can s...

After reading about Chrysler and GM tonight, I couldn't help but recall the warnings that were posted on this web site in 2005. I wrote about this and referenced this article in July of 2005, but it bears repeating.  The American people are DIRECTLY responsible for the decline of the American a...

Here's some depressing news — not even rental car companies — the largest purchasers of automobiles, are buying cars this year, says CNNMoney. Pat Farrell, a vice president at Enterprise Rental Car, said the company started trimming its purchases last summer as the slowdown in the econom...

Here's a sad little saga. After convincing our government that it was responsible enough and commercially viable enough to deserve a multi-billion-dollar bailout, Chrysler spent some of the money taking out full page ads in The Wall Street Journal and USAToday, thanking America for its money. They a...

General Motors plans to invest $30 million into building a plant for assembling Chevy Volt battery packs, the automaker said today at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, Reuters reports. GM revealed earlier this month that it would manufacture the packs in Michigan with lithium-ion cells ...

The past week saw once mighty General Motors and once scrappy Chrysler accept a government handout to keep the two auto manufacturers solvent until a new Administration takes office. Nobody expects the money to last past the first quarter of 2009. Everybody expects GM and Chrysler to return for more...

Download | Play    Download | Play From Late Edition Dec. 21, 2008. Ed Rollins slaps Bush pretty hard for the damage he's already done to our economy. BLITZER: David Gergen, did President Bush do the right thing by bailing out Chrysler and GM? GERGEN: Yes. He had backed himself into a...

President-elect Obama has issued a statement on this morning's announcement of the $13.4 billion loan to the beleaguered auto industry: Today's actions are a necessary step to help avoid a collapse in our auto industry that would have devastating consequences for our economy and our workers.  W...

Cross-posted from Congress Matters. The Hill: Armed with a new Treasury Department report, conservative Democrats on Monday said they want the economic stimulus package to call for the creation of a new commission on the nation’s long-term fiscal health. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) a leader of t...

Cross-posted from Congress Matters. First hint from the White House on its terms for bailing out the auto makers with TARP money: Q Hi, Dana. Two topics, please. On auto legislation, from the White House perspective, how important is it that concessions be part of any prospective deal -- concessions...