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Ford and Microsoft say they are going to roll out a system that will tell electric car owners the optimal time to recharge their vehicles. The system was announced at the New York Auto Show.
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Ever since the Chevrolet Malibu was redesigned a few years ago, people have loved it.
What's not to love?
It's stylish, gets great gas mileage and is a very affordable mid-size sedan.
The 2010 Malibu doesn't get a whole lot of changes from Chevy, thankfully.
It still comes with the very efficient (22 mpg city, up to 33 highway) 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine or an also fine 3.6-liter V-6.
And it still manages to stand out in an increasingly competitive field that includes the redesigned Hyundai Sonata, the Ford Fusion and of course, the Toyota Camry.
The 2010 Malibu comes in four trim levels: LS, LT 1LT, LT 2 LT and LTZ.
You can pick from three transmissions.
The Malibu ranges in price from around $21,900 to $27,000.
For the 2011 model year, Infiniti has unveiled a fully redesigned M sport sedan that is hitting dealerships, carrying a sticker price of $47,085 for the M37 version with a V-6 engine, and $57,550 for the M56 model with a V-8.
There are also all-wheel-drive models: the M37x starts at $48,400, and the M56x at $60,050.
The M's prices have not gone up substantially even though it has more standard features.
The Beat recently got to take a look at and drive the new M at its unveiling in San Diego, including on some scenic twisty mountain roads just north of the Mexican border. And as if Infiniti were trying to emphasize the M's athletic ability, the base for each driving route was at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
The M37 is quite an athlete. Its 330-horsepower, 3.7-liter engine is powerful and yet manages to get 18 mpg city, 26 highway.
The M56 would take the gold medal in a sprint, though, thanks to its 420 horsepower and 417 pounds-feet of torque. And it doesn't gulp much more than the V-6, rating at 17 city, 24 highway.
The M, which first came out in 2004, is a formidable competitor in the sedan market
A California Highway Patrol officer helped slow a runaway Toyota Prius from 94 mph to a safe stop on Monday after the car's accelerator became stuck on a San Diego County freeway, the CHP said.
Prius driver James Sikes called 911 about 1:30 p.m. after accelerating to pass another vehicle on Interstate 8 near La Posta and finding that he could not control his car, the CHP said.
"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny... it jumped and it just stuck there," the 61-year-old driver said at a news conference. "As it was going, I was trying the brakes...it wasn't stopping, it wasn't doing anything and it just kept speeding up," Sikes said, adding he could smell the brakes burning he was pressing the pedal so hard.
A patrol car pulled alongside the Prius and officers told Sikes over a loudspeaker to push the brake pedal to the floor and apply the emergency brake.
"They also got it going on a steep upgrade," said Officer Jesse Udovich. "Between those three things, they got it to slow down."
After the car decelerated to about 50 mph, Sikes turned off the engine and coasted to a halt.
The officer then maneuvered his car in front of the Prius as a precautionary block, Udovich said.
In a statement, Toyota said it has dispatched a field technical specialist to San Diego to investigate the incident.
The 2011 Hyundai Tucson gets a new look, and last week, The Beat got a look at its new look.
Hyundai has done an outstanding job of giving the Tucson a more dramatic, curvy design, and getting away from the boxiness that is becoming less popular among small and mid-size SUVs.
The front features an inspired two-part grille that references luxury.
The rear seems to follow the design language of other Hyundai's, most notably the Veracruz.
Stay tuned for a full review of the Tucson coming soon.
The Kia plant has produced the Sorento SUV since October. If it gets the Hyundai work, it might be employing as many as 3,500 people a year from now.
Kia and Hyundai are not announcing the production shift yet. But two Hyundai auto-parts suppliers are reportedly planning to cut workers or move them to West Point.
The Alabama Office of Workforce Development confirmed Thursday that one of the companies, Jay Mid-South in Gadsden, will lay off 75 employees because of the production shift, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Jay Mid-South is basically doing what they need to do based on projected scenarios, but there won’t be any official announcement until July,” Robert Burns, a spokesman for Hyundai in Montgomery, told the AJC.
Hyundai has built autos in Alabama since 2005. Kia began production last October in West Point, about 80 miles from Hyundai and just across the Georgia state line. Both are owned by Kia Motors Corp. of South Korea.
Hyundai has done quite well with the Santa Fe, posting a 53 percent rise in sales from February 2009 to February 2010. Kia's redesigned Sorento is the brand's top seller, with 8,200 units moved in February.
The Kia plant employs 1,200 in West Point.
The brake pedal recall affects 179,000 vehicles in the U.S. and about 26,000 in the Middle East, Canada, Russia and several other countries.
A pin in the pedal assemblies on certain 2008 to 2010 Nissan Titan pickups, Infiniti QX56 and Nissan Armada SUVs, and some 2008 and 2009 Nissan Quest minivans can come loose and cause reduced braking force, Nissan said Tuesday in a statement.
READ MORE:
http://www.ajc.com/business/recalls-to-fix-nissan-342645.html