2005 Ford Excursion Xlt Sport Utility 4-door 6.8l on 2040-cars

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Holy crime-fighting Ford F-150, Batman!

What would Batman drive for his weekly trips to Home Depot for the bits and pieces needed to keep his lair deep below Wayne Manor in tip-top condition? Certainly not the Batmobile - there's no way a 4x8 sheet of plywood will fit between the wheel wells, not to mention the fact that jet turbine engines have an unfortunate tendency to set trailers on fire when towing...
No, what Batman needs is a pickup truck. The boys from Ford teamed up with Galpin Auto Sports to build just such a machine, and it has just debuted at Comic Con. Designed by Jared Barris, grandson of the legendary kustomizer George Barris, the 2012 F-150 pickup you see here, dubbed Crime Fighter, is painted Tuxedo Black with Ferrari Red highlights and is affixed with fins on each side of the truck bed. It's nothing if not unique.
Well, it's at least unique for now. According to Ford, Galpin in Southern California is willing to take orders for customers looking to don a cape and hit the town for a night of crime-fighting action. Or trips to Home Depot. Check out our high-res image gallery and then scroll down for the official description from Ford. We're waiting for details such as pricing and build time from Ford, and we'll update this post if and when we hear back.

8 automakers, 15 utilities collaborate on open smart-charging for EVs

We're going to lead with General Motors here. GM is one of eight automakers working with 15 utilities and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) at developing a "smart" plug-in vehicle charging system. Why did we start with GM? Because it's the first automaker whose press release we read that mentioned the other seven automakers. Points for sharing. For the record, the collaboration also includes BMW, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Ford. The utilities include DTE Energy, Duke Energy, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. The idea is to develop a so-called "demand charging" system in which an integrated system lets the plug-ins and utilities communicate with each other so that vehicle charging is cut back at peak hours, when energy is most expensive, and ramped up when the rates drop. Such entities say there's a sense of urgency to develop such a system because the number of plug-in vehicles on US roads totals more than 225,000 today and is climbing steadily. There's a lot of technology involved, obviously, but the goal is to have an open platform that's compatible with virtually any automaker's plug-in vehicle. No timeframe was disclosed for when such a system could go live but you can find a press release from EPRI below. EPRI, Utilities, Auto Manufacturers to Create an Open Grid Integration Platform for Plug-in Electric Vehicles PALO ALTO, Calif. (July 29, 2014) – The Electric Power Research Institute, 8 automakers and 15 utilities are working to develop and demonstrate an open platform that would integrate plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) with smart grid technologies enabling utilities to support PEV charging regardless of location. The platform will allow manufacturers to offer a customer-friendly interface through which PEV drivers can more easily participate in utility PEV programs, such as rates for off-peak or nighttime charging. The portal for the system would be a utility's communications system and an electric vehicle's telematics system. As the electric grid evolves with smarter functionality, electric vehicles can serve as a distributed energy resource to support grid reliability, stability and efficiency. With more than 225,000 plug-in vehicles on U.S. roads -- and their numbers growing -- they are likely to play a significant role in electricity demand side management.

Watch this lead sled go rallying in Finland

Custom cars generally fit into neat little boxes in terms of how they are used. For example, you're unlikely to see a modded Corvette going rock crawling; it's just not what it's made for (though we bet it'd look awesome, for a minute). In the same way, chopped, channeled and customized '50s hot rods aren't really meant to go racing. They look great and go fast, but they are generally more cruisers than sports cars.
However, if this video is any indication, the people of Finland don't adhere in these stereotypes, because this rodder is happy to play in the dirt with his lead sled.
According to the video, the driver is a member of the Ford-Freak Club of Finland, and he clearly knows how to have some fun. Possibly inspired by his country's great rally drivers, he gets the tail way out going around this gently curving gravel track. The stunt is somewhat reminiscent of the stock cars races on the sand at Daytona Beach, and this is probably close to what it sounded like too. Scroll down to watch a very cool Finn getting his hot rod a little dirty.