2006 Hummer H3 on 2040-cars

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How a New York cabby can get an MV-1 taxi for just $11k

AM General – the same company that's behind the Hummer – is making it easier for taxi drivers to buy one of its wheelchair accessible cabs in New York. Between the factory's own incentives and those offered by the city, the new MV-1 Empire Taxi can cost as little as $11,200. Unlike other vehicles that can be converted after production for handicapped mobility, the MV-1 is designed by AM General from the get-go as a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. Mobility Ventures LLC – the AM General subsidiary responsible for the MV-1 – displayed a yellow cab version at the New York Auto Show in 2012, and is now bringing it to market as the MV-1 Empire Taxi. Pricing has been announced, and it is rather competitive, to say the least. Mobility Ventures charges $33,000 for one of its wheelchair-accessibly taxis. But the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission is offering a $14,000 grant toward the purchase of a wheelchair-accessible cab, bringing the purchase price down to $19,000. Of course, the Commission will offer the same incentives towards the purchase of any wheelchair-accessible vehicle, but converting an existing van for the purpose generally costs a good $10-20k. So while a Nissan NV200 Taxi of Tomorrow, for example, might start at under $30k, add in the cost of mobility conversion and you're looking at a lot more – a solid $10k more, according to Mobility Ventures. If the $19k purchase price isn't enough to get New York cabbies on board, the manufacturer and the commission are offering further incentives for some customers. For every wheelchair-bound passenger a driver picks up, the city will pay the cabby 50 cents – that may not sound like a lot, but it adds up over time. What's more, Mobility Ventures will match the incentive for the first 25 customers who buy an MV-1 Empire Taxi, which combined can come to as much as $7,800 in payments over the course of a year. Work that into the equation and the end cost of the new Empire Taxi could come out to just $11,200. Mobility Ventures is working with other cities to offer similar incentives, with negotiations currently under way in Washington with the DC Taxi Commission. Mobility Ventures Unveils New "MV-1 Empire Taxi" for NYC - More Legroom and Luggage Space Than any Other Taxi or Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle - Innovative Program will Match TLC Payments to Drivers for Every Ride in a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle, Along with Special MV-1 Purchase Discounts NEW YORK, Jan.

Team Miller Fisher finishes the 20th Anniversary Rallye A"icha des Gazelles

Team Miller Fisher finishes the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles - Click above for high-res image gallery
Team Miller Fisher has crossed the finish line of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles - in a Hummer H3 driven off a Parisian dealer's lot - and battled from 51st to 12th out of 98 teams after a mistake on the first leg. The Rallye Aïcha, a six-stage trek through the desert, allows no use of GPS, no pace notes, no cell phones, and no binoculars. Pilots and co-pilots find their way between checkpoints with maps, compasses and pencils, and whoever completes the journey in the shortest distance, wins.
The race was made even harder this year by using not the 1:100,000-scale maps of years past, but scraps of paper with increasingly less route information as the race went on. Olympic skier and co-pilot Wendy Fisher wrote to say, "This continues to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. An unbelievably tough event. Days were SO long, almost impossible to get all of the checkpoints."

Electric Cadillac Lyriq, Chevy Bolt EUV and more GM electric cars are on the way

GM’s murky and somewhat secretive electric car plan is falling into place, as the company dumped a massive amount of information about whatÂ’s in the pipeline at an event at its Warren, Michigan campus today. New EVs are going to be popping up across the GM brand lineup, with new entries from Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick in progress. We also learned some big news about GMÂ’s new Ultium battery tech today, but check out this story for all of those nitty-gritty details. The electric vehicle onslaught will begin with the Cadillac Lyriq, an electric SUV thatÂ’s already been teased out. Naming it the Lyriq is the news today. No explanation for the name was provided, so weÂ’ll have to wait for April to learn more. GM didnÂ’t specifically say if the Lyriq would be launched at the NY Auto Show, but that show (assuming coronavirus doesnÂ’t cancel it) will begin on April 8 this year. Next up in the order of events is the GMC Hummer electric truck that we know will be launching on May 20. This truck will use GMÂ’s modular Ultium battery technology. However, the wait to buy a GMC Hummer will be a long one, as the truck isnÂ’t going to dive into production until fall 2021 at GMÂ’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant. GM revealed that its new modular Ultium batteries can be configured anywhere from a 50 kWh pack to a 200 kWh pack depending on the application. Range is estimated to be about 400 miles on the upper end with the largest battery pack, and GM continues to boast about a 0-60 mph acceleration time of three seconds. Charging estimates for the Ultium battery-equipped Hummer EV were also provided. GM says its truck platform will have 800-volt battery packs and be capable of 350 kW fast-charging. Time estimates werenÂ’t given, but those numbers suggest the truck will be a rapid charger. The Hummer truck on hand, which was the same that previously starred in GMC's Super Bowl spot, showed off removable roof panels that store in the frunk, as well as what appeared to be a version of GMC's Multi-Pro tailgate. It also featured sail panels on the sides, similar to those in front of the bed of the Chevy Avalanche. In addition to the Hummer, expect to see a couple Chevys launching. GM says the refreshed Bolt EV will be launched “in late 2020” with a refreshed interior and what appear to be thicker front seats.