Mazda tops EPA fuel-efficiency rankings for fifth year in a row

2016 Mazda 3Pick-ups and SUVs are rapidly taking over the American automotive landscape, but there's at least one measure in which it benefits an automaker to sell fewer of those vehicles. In the Environmental Protection Agency's latest "Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends" report, Mazda was named as the...

Ferrari, Infiniti: Even laggards, skeptics come round to electric cars

Sergio MarchionneBack in 2013, Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo proclaimed, "I don’t believe in the electric cars"—all but solidifying the automaker's position for the future. Even as recently as 2016, current Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne called the possibility of an electric Ferrari "an obscene concept." Now the purveyor of some of the...

CAFE proposal coming March 30: automakers hope national rules survive

Gas pumpIt's been hanging out there in limbo for more than six months: the answer to the question of what happens to gas-mileage rules under Trump. Given the daily political turmoil emanating from Washington, D.C., the fate of corporate average fuel economy rules may have gotten lost in the noise. But for automakers and consumers, the fate of current CAFE...

New 2019 Chevy Silverado pickup: planned for all powertrain types

2019 Chevrolet Silverado, 2018 Detroit auto showVehicle launches at auto shows include a dance between automakers, which only want certain information revealed, and journalists, who want to put specific news items into a bigger and broader context. For the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado pickup unveiling Saturday night, Chevy's executives and engineers stayed ruthlessly on message. The company said...

Carbon fiber from plants close to carbon-neutral? Scientists hopeful

McLaren Monocage II carbon fiber monocoque structureWhen it comes to materials with the most promise in automotive applications, carbon fiber and graphene each rank high on the list. Unlike graphene, however, real-world carbon fiber applications exist today—and they're helping automakers reduce the weight of cars coming tomorrow. There's one big, unfortunate, and somewhat ironic problem with...