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eBay find of the day: Ed Begley's Toyota RAV4 EV

You might know Ed Begley, Jr. from his Emmy-nominated role on St. Elsewhere or as one of the dead drummers in This Is Spinal Tap, his appearances on Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, and Battlestar Galactica, his reality show Living With Ed or from his years as an environmental activist (or, better yet, from previous coverage of him on AutoblogGreen). Ed Begley, Jr. has been advocating on behalf of our planet for several decades now, and the man walks the walk, too. He has done loads of work with environmental organizations. He's got his own line of environmentally friendly cleaning products. Begley is even in a long-standing rivalry with his friend Bill Nye (yes, The Science Guy) to have the lowest carbon footprint. Since 2002, he's been driving the drive as well. That's when he purchased a Toyota RAV4 EV, which is now up for auction on eBay. This car has 119,000 miles on it, but it had its battery replaced in early 2011, and it should have another seven years or so left in it. It's white with a charcoal interior, and has a little bit of cosmetic wear and tear, the normal sort of stuff for a vehicle with over 100,000 miles on it. It was in one accident back in 2003, but doesn't show any other issues. All service history is available from the dealer that sold it in the first place and maintained it since. Additionally, this RAV4 EV comes with a White Clean Air Decal, which allows the driver use of the HOV lane in California. Mr. Begley will even autograph the inside of the hood if you want him to, but it's doubtful the car comes with a Cinco-Fone. The buyer will also get to meet Begley is person and get some photos. Back in 2002, the car sold for $42,000. The current bid is $4,650 with six days to go, and the reserve has not yet been met. Check out the auction for more details.

2013 Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Practice Day 4

The fourth and final practice day of the 91st Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is complete. Tomorrow everyone will make any last-minute adjustments and get their cars, their bits and bobs lined up in the pits for Sunday morning's this-time-it-counts run.
The Unlimited runners took on the top section of the course today, Sébastien Loeb and his big-mouth Peugeot acing the practice test again with a time of 2:11. Rhys Millen's team proved its got the engine issues of two days ago in the Hyundai PM580T sorted out, posting the next-best time at 2:27.16. The reason we had to dip all the way into the hundredths for his time is because he nipped Romain Dumas by just .31 of them, the Frenchman in the Norma M20FC PP running the course in 2:27.47. In fourth came the Frenchman in the monster Mini, Jean-Philippe Dayraut six seconds back at 2:33.
Time Attack competitors, also on the upper section, were led by Paul Dallenbach in the Hyundai Genesis Coupe with a time of 2:36, Porsche pilot Jeff Zwart crossing the line six seconds later at 2:42, fellow Porsche driver David Donner coming in another six seconds back at 2:48. Dallenbach has topped three of the four practice-day sessions, sliding into the second spot behind Donner only on Practice Day 2.

Mazda ad showing Facebook updates while driving criticized by Senate committee [w/video]

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, held an all-day summit on Thursday to discuss the dangers of using modern technology while driving, during which an ad that Mazda aired during the Super Bowl was used as an example of the worrisome future towards which we're headed. While seemingly innocuous at first glance, the ad, which can be seen below, shows a brief glimpse of a driver using the Mazda Connect infotainment system in a Mazda3 to check/update his Facebook page while driving down the road.
Officials from major communications companies like Samsung, Google and Apple attended the summit, as well as representatives from automakers including General Motors and Toyota. A representative from Mazda was not present despite the company's own currently available technology being used as the poster child for the issues being discussed.
According to Automotive News, Senator Rockefeller warned the automaker and communication execs on hand that he will propose legislation to regulate the use of technology while driving if they don't work together to implement their own standards more quickly. Michael Robinson, GM's vice president of sustainability and global regulatory affairs, argued that his company has had distracted driving guidelines in place for 15 years since the advent of its OnStar system, noting that the technology in question has also helped the automaker save lives through automatic crash detection and calls to 911.