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GM program sees dealers taking on way more loaner cars

Given the volume of vehicles we're talking about, this is a significant development for GM's bottom line. Bring your car into the dealership for service, and you may need a loaner car in exchange. And with so many recalls being carried out, that means a lot of loaners – especially at General Motors dealerships. That could be one of the reasons why GM is massively expanding its loaner fleet program. While many Chevrolet and Buick-GMC dealerships have an on-site rental car location operated by a third party like Enterprise (which may or may not provide a GM vehicle), others manage their own loaner fleets. But while the range of dealerships operating such fleets was once small, reports Automotive News, the number has been growing rapidly: from the locations responsible for only 20 percent of those brands' sales two years ago to about 90 percent today. The impetus for that growth comes down to a massive expansion of GM's Courtesy Transportation Program. The initiative encourages dealers to ramp up their loaner fleet to a maximum size determined by GM, with a mix determined by the dealer itself, so that a showroom in Texas can be bolstered with a fleet of pickup trucks and a dealer in California can employ more Volt and Camaro Convertible loaners. The dealership gets a $500 credit for each vehicle its puts in its fleet, and can use those vehicles as loaners for service customers, as multi-day test drivers or to rent out separately. The vehicles remain in the dealer's fleet for 90 days or 7,500 miles, then they can be sold as used, but with new-car incentives. The dealer gets a fleet of loaners, customers get to use the loaners, try out a new car overnight or buy a barely used car with attractive incentives, and GM gets to clock more sales. But therein lies the kicker: the automaker counts the dispatch of the loaner new vehicle to the dealership as a new-car sale, which could end up distorting its sales figures. Counting loaner vehicles as sold vehicles is something of an industry-standard practice, but given the volume of vehicles we're talking about, this is a significant development for GM's bottom line. One dealership - Paddock Chevrolet in Kenmore, NY, for example - had no loaner fleet two years ago, but now runs a fleet of 50 vehicles. Multiply that by the 4,000 or so dealers GM has across America and you're talking about the potential for hundreds of thousands of these sorts of sales.

Recharge Wrap-up: BYD unveils 60-ft electric bus, Honda sticking with hybrids in Europe

BYD has debuted a 60-foot electric bus at the American Public Transportation Association Expo in Houston, TX. The Lancaster bus, as it is called, has a 120-passenger capacity and can drive over 170 miles on a single charge. The articulated bus features low floors and no steps, thanks to in-wheel hub motors. BYD also displayed a 40-foot electric bus that drove the 1,500 miles to the show under its own power (recharging along the way, of course). Read more in the press release below. Honda says it will continue to sell hybrids in Europe, despite the fact that it has stopped selling the CR-Z and Insight due to slow sales. "Our focus at the moment is on our 1.6-liter diesel but we haven't forgotten about hybrid technology," says Honda Europe's Philip Ross. Honda will sell the next-generation Fit (badged as the Jazz) in Europe when it launches next summer, and will sell the next-gen hybrid version beginning in 2016. Honda sold 4,500 of the Jazz hybrid in Europe last year. Read more at Automotive News. XL Hybrids is selling its XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System in California. The news comes after the California Air Resources Board issued an executive order allowing the aftermarket hybrid conversion for 2012-2014 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans. The XL3 Hybrid regenerative braking conversion increases real-world mpg by about 25 percent. Read more in the press release below. NRG eVgo has finished installing 60 charging stations at the Sony Pictures Entertainment studio lot and offices in Culver City, California. The Level 2 chargers, which will be managed by NRG eVgo, allow employees to charge their EVs during the workday. An average of 90 EVs and PHEVs park at the studio headquarters every day, thanks in part to Sony Pictures' Alternative Vehicles Incentive program for its employees. Learn more in the press release below. Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission will allow operators of EV charging stations to set prices based on kilowatt hour usage. This change ensures that drivers pay for the actual energy they use, rather than the time they spend charging, since different cars can charge at different speeds. Car Charging Group has already begun using the per-kWh fee structure at its charging stations throughout the state. Other states that allow kWh pricing are California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington. Read more in the press release below.

Ford Police Interceptors dominate Michigan State Police testing

Once again, Ford Motor Company builds the fastest police vehicles. The Blue Oval touted the news in an official release following Michigan State Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department testing. Ford did very well. Except for one acceleration metric – zero to 10 miles per hour – the Blue Oval's Taurus and Explorer-based cop cars were the quickest, with particular praise coming for the EcoBoost-powered models, which bested Chevrolet and Dodge's V8-powered variants. Dearborn's products also posted the fastest average times around MSP's vehicle dynamics course. But it wasn't all positive for Ford. The only four-cylinder in the contest, the 2.0-liter, EcoBoost Ford SSP Sedan, had both the lowest top speed, 120 mph, and the slowest acceleration figures. It was also the slowest in track testing. Ford's products also failed to match the braking and top speeds of its rivals from Detroit and Auburn Hills – the rear-drive Charger Pursuit posted the best braking stats of the entire test, while the V8-powered Chevrolet Caprice hit the highest top speed, at 155 mph. Ford did score a top speed award, among SUVs, but at 132 mph, the naturally aspirated Police Interceptor Utility had to share its award with the equally fast, rear-drive Chevrolet Tahoe. The LA County Sheriff's timing isn't publicly available, but according to Ford, the EcoBoost-powered police cars put on a similarly impressive show for cops on the West Coast. We've assembled a spreadsheet on Google Docs that offers an easy to browse comparison of the different stats assembled by the Michigan State Police, and divided the vehicles between standard V6-powered sedans, high-performance sedans (EcoBoost and V8 models), and SUVs. You can check it out here. Related Video: