Tesla push for 5,000 Model 3s per week left many unfinished

Tesla Model 3 all-wheel drive Performance rolls off a new assembly line in a temporary structureAt the end of June, Tesla pushed hard to finish 5,000 Model 3s a week. It may have pushed too hard. New internal documents acquired and reported by Business Insider show that of the 5,031 cars produced in the last week of June, 4,300 had some problem that required rework. In auto industry terminology, the percentage of cars that pass company...

2019 Chevy Cruze’s upcoming CVT rated at 33 mpg combined

2019 Chevrolet CruzeFuel economy estimates posted to the EPA's website for the redesigned 2019 Chevrolet Cruze show some changes—plus a big surprise. The latest ratings reveal that the EPA has certified a gas-fueled Cruze with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) that boosts city fuel economy estimates by 2 mpg compared with the 6-speed...

Volkswagen fires six managers over diesel emissions cheating

Volkswagen TDI diesel vehicles owned by Phil Grate and family, Seattle, WashingtonVolkswagen plans to fire six engineers and managers implicated in the diesel emissions scandal, German media reports noted Wednesday. The dismissals are because prosecutors have recently unsealed evidence of the employees' involvement in the wide-ranging Volkswagen scandal, according to a report by The Associated Press. German prosecutors have...

2019 Honda Insight hybrid earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award

2019 Honda InsightIn its latest round of safety tests, the IIHS has awarded the 2019 Honda Insight hybrid its Top Safety Pick+ award. The Top Safety Pick+ is the Institute's highest award, given to cars that perform well in a wide battery of crashes, headlight evaluations, and automatic emergency braking tests. The 2019 Insight aced all of the insurance...

Ford recalls Focus Electric, Fusion Energi, and C-Max Energi charge cords

charging cord for 2012 Ford Focus ElectricFord announced a recall on Wednesday of the 120-volt charge cords supplied with nearly all of the plug-in hybrid and electric cars it built through 2015. The cars affected include the 2012 to 2015 Focus Electric, the 2013 to 2015 Ford C-Max Energi, and the 2013 to 2015 Ford Fusion Energi. Ford says that if the included charge cords are plugged...

Gas guzzling now A-OK, Trump administration says

Oil well (photo by John Hill)Following news that the EPA dropped plans to keep boosting fuel-economy standards, it quietly dropped another bombshell: It's now fine to guzzle gas. Burn as much as you want. According to an AP report carried by the Detroit News, the Energy Department quietly released the news online in a memo in July in support of freezing fuel economy...

Lots of Teslas spill all over Northern California

Tesla factory, Fremont, CaliforniaWatching Tesla—and Teslas—has become practically a spectator sport, especially for those who live near the factory. As production of the company's most popular car, the Model 3, has ramped up that sport has become easier—at least for people in the San Francisco Bay Area. It seems all that production has outstripped the company's...