2014 Gmc Yukon Denali on 2040-cars

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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.

GMC teases Hummer EV's removable roof panels

Today was supposed to be the day that GM took the wraps off its GMC Hummer EV. We were told as much during the Super Bowl commercial, but GM revised it to an undecided future date, citing the coronavirus as the reason. Instead of the big reveal, we have a teaser.  The Hummer EV is going to feature removable roof panels, and now we get a better look at them. There are four roof panels and a front T-bar that come out of the truck. You can see what that looks like in the video at the top of this post. Comparisons to Jeep are obvious as the open-air experience is likely similar to the Gladiator and Wrangler with their hardtop roof panels removed. That zero-limits slogan makes a bit of sense from this respect. With the sheer number of roof panels, we suspect a single person will be able to remove them alone. In addition to the video of the roof, we get a small peek at the massive digital screens the Hummer will be sporting. Check them out at the bottom of the photo below. They appear to be two large slabs, separate from each other. Other details are scarce on the ground. We’re not sure when the Hummer will make its grand entrance at this point, but are still excited to see the 1,000-horsepower truck hit the road. GMC is still advertising the 0-60 mph time of just 3 seconds, too. The latest tidbit of news suggests that further teasers might be coming, so we could be in for a rather drawn out reveal process. Our senior green editor John Snyder got to see the GMC Hummer in person earlier this year at GMÂ’s EV Day and described it like this: “ItÂ’s a big, off-road-ready pickup complete with giant all-terrain rubber and tow hooks. It features removable roof panels for access to the open sky, which appears to be depicted in the teaser above. It features sail panels behind the C-pillars, similar to those on the Chevy Avalanche and Honda Ridgeline. Its bed was concealed with a tonneau cover, but it sported GMCÂ’s MultiPro tailgate that we first saw on the Sierra Denali. Interior photos showed a spacious interior with blocky shapes, squared hourglass vents that mirror the look of the taillights and a lunar theme that incorporates the topography of the Sea of Tranquility into things like the floor mats and speaker covers. It also has a large infotainment screen as well as a digital instrument panel.” Related video:

GM 6.2L EcoTec V8 rated at 21 mpg by the EPA

General Motors is already laying claim to best-in-class power for its new 6.2-liter V8 that will be offered in the 2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra this fall, and now it has released fuel economy numbers for the big engine. Available as an option on the Silverado LTZ and High Country (shown above) models as well as the the Sierra SLT and Denali trims, the 6.2L EcoTec3 V8 will return 15 miles per gallon in the city and 21 mpg on the highway on rear-wheel-drive trucks; these numbers drop by one mpg each on four-wheel-drive models.
These estimates are in addition to the engine's 420 horsepower, 460 pound-feet of torque and max trailering capacity of 12,000 pounds, and considering all that power it's not terribly far away from the fuel economy of GM's equally new 4.3-liter V6 and its rating of 18 mpg city and 24 mpg highway. This announcement comes just days after a report indicated that GM is unable to keep up with the demand of the 5.3-liter V8 in the fullsize Chevy and GMC trucks due to supplier issues. GM's official press release for the 6.2-liter V8's fuel economy is posted below.