Honda Will Become Aston Martin F1 Team's Engine Partner
Honda Motor Co. will return to Formula One racing by supplying engines to Aston Martin's F1 team starting in 2026 and competing as Aston Martin Aramco Honda. Honda officially withdrew from F1 in 2021 but the automaker has continued to provide engines to current world champions Red Bull, who have already announced a deal with Ford from 2026. The start of the partnership will coincide with new F1 rules that require engines to be up to 50 percent electric and for cars to use fully sustainable ethanol as fuel, reports Automotive News. Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said F1's push for sustainability is in line with the company's carbon neutrality goals. "The key for winning will be a compact, lightweight, and high-power electric motor with a high-performance battery capable of handling high and swift power output, as well as the energy management technology," he said. "We believe that the technologies and know-how gained from this new challenge can potentially be applied directly to our future mass production electric vehicles, such as an electric flagship sports model, and electrification technologies in various areas," Mibe added. Click here for the full story.
The Coming Battle Between Americans Who Want to Go Electric and Their Landlords
When Jake Douglas moved into his new apartment in North Bend, Wash., in 2021, he asked his landlord if the building could install electric vehicle chargers. Douglas had an electric car and wanted to make sure he’d be able to refill the battery at home. The landlord said that EV charging was in the works, and Douglas tried to help by researching different vendors and prices, reports The Washington Post. “He just kept saying it was going to happen, and after a year and a half, two years — nothing,” Douglas said. Douglas is one of a growing number of Americans who want to lower their carbon footprints — but are stymied by their landlords. About one-third of the country’s households live in rented apartments or houses. These nearly 110 million Americans are more likely to be Hispanic or Black; they are also more likely to be in the bottom half of income and net worth. And they generally do not have the spare cash — or the permission from their landlords — to make environmental upgrades. Click here for the full story.
Mercedes-Benz Shows Off 8 New Vehicles to Dealers: Electric CLA And GLC Coming to U.S. in 2024
Mercedes-Benz’s annual North America dealer meeting was themed “Beyond” and offered an early look into how the nearly century-old inventor of the gasoline-powered vehicle will pivot to an electric century. Over two days in Vancouver, British Columbia, late last week, Mercedes treated more than 350 U.S. and Canadian retailers to a product and technology show-and-tell. “We are in the middle of a transformation,” Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Dimitris Psillakis told Automotive News. “We showed how products and technology support the strategy.” Mercedes’ Chief Software Officer Magnus Östberg delivered a deep dive into the bespoke operating system underpinning the automaker’s next-generation software-defined vehicles. Britta Seeger, Mercedes sales and marketing chief, expanded on the digital strategy, where software apps and subscription services will deliver recurring revenue streams for the factory and its retailers. At the meeting, Psillakis told dealers fresh product and improved supply should lift U.S. sales by 5 to 10 percent this year. The German luxury marque delivered 286,764 vehicles in 2022. Limited supplies and robust gross margins helped drive return on sales to a record 7.2 percent last year. Click here to learn more about the meeting.
California Seeks EPA Approval to Ban Sales of New Gasoline-Only Vehicles By 2035
California has asked the Biden administration to approve its plan to require all new vehicles sold in the state by 2035 to be either electric or plug-in electric hybrids, a landmark move that could speed the end of gasoline-powered vehicles, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The California Air Resources Board (CARB), which approved the plan in August, asked the EPA to approve a waiver under the Clean Air Act to implement its new rules that set yearly rising zero emission vehicle rules starting in 2026 and would end the sales of vehicles only powered by gasoline by 2035. "These vehicles will permanently displace emissions from conventional vehicles," wrote CARB Executive Officer Steven Cliff, adding that motor vehicles and other mobile sources are the greatest source of emissions in California. The Biden administration has repeatedly refused to endorse setting a date to phase-out the sale of gasoline-only vehicles. EPA spokesperson Tim Carroll said, "as with all waiver requests from California, we’ll follow an open public process in considering it, as the agency routinely does." Click here for the full story.
151 House Republicans Call on EPA to Roll Back Proposed Vehicle Emission Rules
More than 150 Republicans in the U.S. House asked EPA Administrator Michael Regan to roll back the agency's proposed emissions standards that are expected to further push the auto industry to EVs. EPA's new emissions standards are "unworkable and impractical" and would force the auto industry into "complete vehicle electrification under the guise of mitigating climate change," the members wrote in a letter led by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington. In April, EPA unveiled what it called the "strongest ever" tailpipe emissions standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles made during model years 2027 to 2032. EPA estimated the proposed changes would push electric vehicles to 67 percent of new car sales in 2032 and would prevent around 10 billion tons of carbon emissions, twice the total U.S. carbon emissions from 2022, reports The Detroit News. Environmental and consumer advocacy groups celebrated the proposed rules. But the leading auto industry advocacy group questioned whether it would be possible to meet the new goals even as automakers invest heavily in switching to EVs. Click here for the full story.
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Electreon Wants to Break EV Record with 1,500km Wireless Charging Trip in RAV4 PHEV [Carscoops]
Giorgetto Giugiaro Wants to Help Design More Hyundais [Carbuzz]
The Best New Cars for Teens According to Consumer Reports and IIHS [Fox News]
