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Honda, GM fuel-cell partnership wants to reduce hydrogen refueling costs

To paraphrase the old political adage, it's the cost, stupid. Dollar signs are what's prompting Honda and General Motors to partner up to accelerate development of a hydrogen fuel cell system. With about half the cost of a fuel-cell system tied up in its fuel-cell stack, GM and Honda are looking to help each other drive costs down, according to a presentation by GM fuel cell research and development director Mark Mathias said in a presentation at the SAE 2014 Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Technologies Symposium. According to Green Car Congress, Honda and GM are looking to reap the fruits of their collective labor by 2020. As with other automakers, the high cost of producing fuel-cell vehicles is the fly in the ointment of a powertrain technology that combines the same range as gas-powered vehicles but with zero emissions. In the meantime, Honda, which makes the very limited production FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle, is slated to start selling its own mass-market fuel-cell vehicle in 2015. The two automakers made their partnership announcement last summer and said they contribute to expanding hydrogen fuel infrastructure in California during the next few years. Earlier, Ford, Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and Nissan also said they would work together to speed up fuel-cell technology development.

Ford tumbles to second worst in Consumer Reports reliability survey, list dominated by Japanese [w/video]

It's no secret that MyFord Touch has had its share of problems since being introduced, but the most recent reliability survey from Consumer Reports shows just how much this infotainment system has affected Ford. Just two years ago, the automaker was in the top 10 for the institute's reliability rankings, but since then, it has tumbled to the second-lowest rung just above dead-last Jaguar. In addition to MyFord Touch, CR also attributes a handful of new products that have had issues right out of the gate.
Compiled from 1.2 million subscriber surveys, this year's auto reliability survey heavily favors Japanese automakers, with eight of the 10 spots hailing from Japan. Toyota brands grabbed the top three spots (Scion, Toyota and Lexus - in that order) with Mazda, Subaru, Honda and Acura filling the next four spots. The only non-Asian automaker cracking the top 10 was Audi at number eight.
Audi climbed a total of 18 spots from last year, and Cadillac and GMC round out this year's top gainers breaking into the top 15. Helping Cadillac's upward movement, the CTS Coupe was named the most reliable domestic car. Lincoln, Volvo and Chrysler join Ford on this year's biggest loser list.

Finalists for 2014 Green Car of the Year announced

The list of finalists for the 2014 Green Car of the Year has been announced, and in a genuinely bizarre twist, there's only one hybrid and no electric vehicles among the five contestants, despite the arrival of cars like the BMW i3 and Tesla Model S. Taking the place of the EVs are a pair of diesels, repping a technology that last won a Green Car of the Year award in 2009, when the Audi A3 TDI took the title. No diesel was in the running for last year's award.
Naturally, both of the diesel finalists are fielded by the Germans - with BMW's 328d and Audi's A6 TDI getting the nod. In the case of the 3 Series, BMW installed a 2.0-liter, turbodiesel, capable of delivering 180 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, while returning 45 miles per gallon on the highway. Audi and its larger, 3.0-liter, V6 turbodiesel produce quite a bit more grunt, with 240 hp and 428 lb-ft of grunt, but net a very impressive 38 mpg on the highway in the A6.
Finalists for this year's awards include two diesels, three gas-powered cars and a plug-in hybrid.