2009 Toyota Tacoma Base Extended Cab Pickup 4-door 2.7l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Recharge Wrap-up: LA Auto Show may feature updated Cadillac ELR, Uber expands Chicago HQ

A Kentucky man has converted his 1939 Dodge pickup to an electric vehicle. Al Gajda of Lexington built the electric truck, which he now uses as his daily driver. "I take advantage of any excuse to drive it; just banging around town, errands, short runs on the interstate, delivering my granddaughter to school in the morning," he says. It is powered by a lithium-ion phosphate battery, which is mounted in a wooden box on the truck bed, and gets about 100 miles per charge. Read more at the Lexington Herald-Leader. Elon Musk will speak at the Automotive News World Congress in January. The Tesla CEO is a featured speaker for the program, "Setting the Pace in a Thriving Market." The event takes place in Detroit, which could lead to an interesting mix of people in the audience, and Musk will speak on January 13. Read more at Automotive News. Production of the Toyota Rav4 EV has ended. The shipment of the final Toyota EVs concludes Toyota's deal to source batteries from Tesla. Of the 2,600 Rav4 EVs to be produced, there are probably just a few hundred left to be sold, most of which are likely to be gone by the end of October. Read more at Inside EVs. Cadillac will likely show an improved version of the ELR at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. The 2016 ELR will include unspecified "engineering enhancements," according to Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell. There will be no 2015 model, as the 2014 model will be sold until the 2016 ELR goes on sale in the first half 2015. Read more at Edmunds. Uber executives, along with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, have announced a major expansion of the ride-hailing company's Chicago headquarters. Uber also plans to add 420 jobs by the end of 2016. "Uber's new expanded headquarters will allow the company to continue its rapid growth and serve its riders and drivers throughout Illinois," says Governor Quinn. Last month, Quinn vetoed legislation that would have put restrictions on companies like Uber in the state. Read more in the press release below. Governor Quinn and Uber Announce Major Chicago Headquarters Expansion Innovative Ridesharing Company to Add 420 Jobs by End of 2016 CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Pat Quinn and Uber executives today announced that the ridesharing giant is moving forward with creating 420 new jobs by the end of 2016 in a major expansion of its Chicago regional headquarters.

Recharge Wrap-up: Q50 Hybrid video, Iran's biodiesel weed

A new video from Infiniti showcases the Q50 Hybrid's kinetic energy recovery technology, borrowed from Formula One. The video details what is going on inside both the Q50 Hybrid and the racecar when it gathers energy to store for later use, offering better performance than an internal combustion engine alone. In the Q50 Hybrid, that electric energy helps the car accelerate from 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. The video also serves to highlight the relationship between racing innovation and performance and efficiency improvements in production vehicles. See the video above. The 2015 Toyota Prius C has been named a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The compact hybrid, updated for the 2015 model year, has been upgraded from a "poor" to "acceptable" rating in the small overlap crash test, placing it on the Top Safety Pick list. Beginning in the 2016 model year, cars will have to score a "good" rating on the test to make the list, which means further improvements will be necessary if Toyota wants the Prius C to maintain its safety status with the IIHS. Read more at Green Car Reports. A couple in Tennessee have been found guilty of scamming the state in a fake biodiesel scheme. John and Lisa Brichetto's Northington Energy LLC received a state loan to produce biodiesel in 2011, but the facility never started production and was later foreclosed upon. In addition to the $142,215 the Brichettos defrauded from Tennessee, the state also invested in utilities and roads, while the US Department of Agriculture also paid for site improvements. Read more from the Times Free Press. Researchers in Iran have developed a way to make biodiesel from a weed. Scientists at the Islamic Azad University have created two liters of biomass for biofuel from flixweed. Flixweed, also called herb-Sophia and tansy mustard, is a non-edible weed that grows in various climates with little to no effort. It was found to contain 22 percent oil and fatty acids, and the biomass contains oxygenated chemical components. "This issue is important because the atomic oxygen in the fuel of a car directly cuts exhaust and the dangerous carbon monoxide and cancerous particles suspended in air," says Mehdi Alami, a chemistry graduate working on the project. Read more at Press TV.

Toyota expanding Aichi's test EV infrastructure in Japan

OK, now we're really confused. In the US, Toyota has been telling anyone who cares to listen that the future of advanced-powertrain technology is hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, not electric ones. In China, a Toyota joint venture is looking at EVs. Over in Japan? They've just decided to pony up a little more for testing electric-vehicle technology. Maybe something's lost in translation. Toyota has been running an electric-vehicle charging station trial project in Japan's Aichi Prefecture during the past couple of years and is now ready to expand that program, adding 43 new charging stations to the 104 already present. Many of the EVSEs are in municipal-owned properties or in mountainous areas (where EV batteries drain the fastest). Toyota's expanded program started running in Kariya City, Toyota City, Toyohashi City and Nagakute City this month, and testing will extend until the end of next March. There's more in Toyota's press release below. Toyota's electric-vehicle presence is limited here in the US, as the low-production RAV4 crossover is the only model sold here. Toyota executive Craig Scott was recently quoted as saying that the company questions whether there is sufficient demand in the US for pure electric vehicles. With that in mind, Toyota will debut its hydrogen fuel cell model in the US in 2015. Toyota to Test Expansion of EV and PHV Charging Infrastructure in Japan Toyota City, Japan, October 31, 2014-Toyota Motor Corporation announces that it will be testing electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Aichi Prefecture from November 1 until March 15, 2015. The tests will involve standard chargers for use with vehicles such as plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). The tests will be conducted jointly with four municipalities (Kariya City, Toyota City, Toyohashi City, and Nagakute City) and two companies (Toyota Industries Corporation and UNY Co., Ltd.), all of which are located in Aichi Prefecture. Toyota conducted similar tests in FY2012 and FY20131. In addition to targeting commercial, tourist, and accommodation facilities as in past tests, this year's tests will also involve cultural and social service facilities (including some in hilly and mountainous areas). Multiple chargers will be installed at certain commercial facilities where charger use was heavy in last year's tests. The aim will be to ascertain the optimal number and location of charging stations and their ease of use.