Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Interview With Jay Rogers Part II: The Rally Fighter

Posted: 06 Jan 2010 12:43 PM PST

This is Part Two of a three part interview with Jay Rogers, CEO of Local Motors. They recently displayed their Rally Fighter at the 2009 SEMA show and look to change the way cars are designed, and built. Read Part One here.

On Monday we covered how Jay Rogers, CEO of Local Motors, had a vision for a new kind of car company. He wanted the people to design and vote on the car they wanted. That is how the Rally Fighter came to be.

Of course, drawing a car is a lot easier than building one. This is the same reason concept cars rarely make it into production unscathed. The Rally Fighter evolved substantially from Sangho Kim’s first rendering, though the resemblance to the famous World War II P-51fighter plane (where the Ford Mustang also got its name, before going to the equine imagery) remained intact. What came next was actually building a car, based on Sangho’s design, without the benefit of a factory or an army of robots.

This meant it was time to make some hard decisions. But Jay would get help from his community of designers for that too.

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Tata Motors May Launch Nano In America: Special Editions In The Works

Posted: 06 Jan 2010 09:24 AM PST

Efficient, light, and affordable. That is the philosophy behind the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, and one of the smallest as well. Launched earlier this year in Tata’s home market of India, the Nano is a lesson in minimalism, with a trunk that doesn’t open, a single wiper blade, and a number of other cost cutting features that keep its price down to just $2,160. Yes, you can buy a brand new car for just over $2,000 American dollars in India.

In fact, you might be able to buy one here in the good old U.S.A. in a few years. Reuters is reporting that Tata is considering selling the Nano right here in America. The question is, would Americans buy it?

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Baby Prius to Debut Next Week in Detroit

Posted: 06 Jan 2010 08:56 AM PST

Teaser image of the baby Prius concept Toyota plans to introduce in Detroit next week.

At next weeks Detroit show Toyota will reportedly debut a baby Prius, a subcompact version of the Prius hybrid that comprises 75% of Toyota’s hybrid sales.

Up till now, Toyota’s additional hybrid sales have been split between an assortment of bigger and frumpier hybrids like the Highlander, or the luxury hybrids in the Lexus line. But all seven of those models together only account for the remaining 25% of sales.

So, perhaps wisely, the company is changing direction.

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