2005 Subaru Forester Xt on 2040-cars

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Strange iPhone discovered in guy's Subaru sparks internet mystery

Things can get pretty crazy on the internet, and even the smallest thing can catch people's attention and blow up in an instant. A lot of it is totally bogus or blatant attention seeking, but that's what makes the internet great. Well, that and cat videos. Recently, a story popped up on the internet that is both cool and real. It's the story of a mysterious iPhone, some pro-tier internet detective-ing, and the Takata airbag recall. The story started innocently enough. A guy named Alex Tom took his trusty '09 Subaru Forester into the shop to replace a faulty passenger side airbag under the Takata recall. When he picked the car up, there was a white iPhone 4s sitting on his dashboard. Thing is, the phone wasn't his. The phone was stone dead, but took a charge and booted right up. To complicate matters, it was locked and stuck in airplane mode. When he asked the shop about it, they said they found it behind the dash under the airbag. So now he had a mysterious phone that he couldn't get into to identify. So, like any modern tech-savvy individual, he turned to the internet for help. He posted a picture of the phone on Facebook along with a message asking for help tracking down its owner. What followed was a long, rambling, often hilarious collection of facetious advice, earnest help, photoshops, dumb memes, weird off-topic screeds, and everything else you might expect in a comments thread. Eventually, after getting a name from the phone and enlisting the help of an online dating site, the owner was found and the mystery solved! I'm not going to spoil the ending for you here, because you really need to read the whole saga for yourself. Lets just say that our man Alex had the answer with him all along, and the real treasure was the friends they made along the way. Related Video News Source: The Huffington Post Auto News Humor Subaru iphone Takata airbag recall mystery

Recharge Wrap-up: Mazda, Subaru and Toyota PHEV, Nomadic Power grant

The next generation of the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid looks to be important for Mazda and Subaru as well. Toyota will likely need to sell more of the new plug-in hybrid to meet stricter ZEV standards in California. That means it will get more extra electric range, as customers have been asking for. Subaru and Mazda will also have to adhere to the California standards beginning in 2018. Those two smaller automakers will likely license a plug-in hybrid powertrain from Toyota in order to fulfill compliance. Read more at Green Car Reports. Tesla is partnering with Dalhousie University to improve battery technology. Tesla signed a five-year research agreement with Dalhousie's Jeff Dahn, a lithium-ion battery researcher. Dahn and the 25 researchers in his lab will work with Tesla's Director of Battery Technology, Kurt Kelty, to increase capacity through improved materials. The collaboration could be important both for Tesla's automotive and stationary batteries. "Our research group's goal is to increase the energy density and lifetime of Li-ion batteries, so we can drive down costs in automotive and grid energy storage applications," says Dahn. Read more from Dalhousie University. Nomadic Power is receiving a European Commission grant worth ˆ2 million (about $2.26 million) for trailer-mounted mobile batteries. Nomadic Power's mobile batteries, called Nomads, have incorporated photovoltaic systems and can be used to extend the electric driving range of a plug-in vehicle, or to provide backup power to a home. The Nomads use an intelligent energy management system to learn and predict user behavior and manage the solar system based on weather forecasts. "We see a strong future in electric-powered mobility and an increasing use of renewable energy, photovoltaic power in particular," says Nomadic Power CEO Dr. Manfred Baumgaertner. "Our mobile batteries have great potential in these markets that recently got a significant shot in the arm by Tesla's announcements." Read more from Nomadic Power, and at Green Car Congress. Related Gallery 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In: First Drive View 24 Photos News Source: Green Car Reports, Dalhousie University, Green Car Congress, Nomadic PowerImage Credit: Nomadic Power Government/Legal Green Mazda Subaru Tesla Toyota Technology Electric recharge wrapup

Subaru is America's third most off-roaded brand

When you think of iconic off-road brands, where does Subaru fall on your radar? Somewhere in the middle? Perhaps near the bottom? Don't worry, you're not alone. Until recently spending some time in Bend, OR, where we drove the all-new 2015 Subaru Outback, we never really pegged the Japanese automaker to be a highly lauded brand among off-road enthusiasts, despite many of the company's products actually being quite capable when the going gets rough.
But the data says we're wrong. According to a 2013 J.D. Power study, Subaru vehicles have some of the highest use off road compared to other brands - of course "off road" here just means anything not on a paved road, so even gravel trails and tame two-tracks count in these statistics. Nearly 29.5 percent of its cars are used on trails and dirt roads, with only the Ram and Jeep brands besting that statistic, at 30.2 and 31.0 percent, respectively. Said another way, Subaru sold 424,683 vehicles in the US in 2013, meaning that some 125,281 saw off-road use. Mainstream brands like GMC, Ford and Chevrolet all trail Subaru, and even Land Rover comes in at less than 20 percent.
Some 34.7 percent of Outbacks are taken off paved roads, according to J.D. Power data.