DETROIT - The next Honda hybrid to join the company's lineup may be a gas-electric version of the new Fit subcompact. A report in Japan?s daily newspaper, the Nihon Keizai, suggests that Honda will adapt the Fit to hybrid power, while keeping the price under $12,000 in its home market. At that price the Fit
DETROIT - The U.S. Transportation Department has awarded a $2 million grant for the creation of a nationally focused University Transportation Center, which will be led by Leo Hanifin, University of Detroit Mercy Dean of the College and Engineering and Science. Other Michigan consortium members include NextEnergy and Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids.
DETROIT ? NextEnergy has partnered with Wayne State University to open the National Biofuel Energy Lab at WSU's TechTown accelerator in downtown Detroit. The first-of-its kind biofuel technology development lab is made possible through a $2 million Energy Department grant. The lab is part of NextEnergy?s Biodiesel Value Chain Initiative, an approach to researching and
DETROIT ? NextEnergy on Feb. 8 signed an agreement with BP to establish a hydrogen refueling station at NextEnergy's new facility in TechTown. The station, expected to be completed in the summer of 2006, will be BP?s third in Southeast Michigan and one of several funded and operated by BP worldwide. The BP hydrogen station
DETROIT - Cadillac will get its first hybrid vehicle in 2007 as the brand adds an Escalade Hybrid to its lineup. GM CEO Rick Wagoner confirmed the addition to Automotive News at a press conference to open production of a new transmission that will be team with GM?s new dual-mode hybrid system. The two-mode transmission
DETROIT - The revised 2006 Honda Accord Hybrid will be priced from $31,540 in dealerships nationwide as it rolls out in updated form. The facelifted Hybrid gets additional equipment, including standard stability control, to go along with the mild facelift applied to the front and rear ends. A rear decklid spoiler and new wheels are
ANN ARBOR - Using building blocks that make up ordinary plastics, but putting them together in a whole new way, University of Michigan researchers have created a class of lightweight, rigid polymers they predict will be useful for storing hydrogen fuel. The trick to making the new materials, called covalent organic frameworks (COFs), was coaxing
DETROIT There?s a lot less hype from automakers at the 2006 North American International Auto Show about alternative energy-powered vehicles, but David Cole, Chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor said not to worry, the focus now is on action, not talk. What?s happening now is Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler are
DETROIT General Motors unveiled two new SUV hybrids Sunday at the North American International Auto Show, including the Saturn Vue Green Line, which goes on sale this summer priced under $23,000. The other GM hybrid announced Sunday was the Chevrolet Tahoe, powered by a hybrid engine developed jointly by GM, BMW of Germany, and DaimlerChrysler.
DETROIT NextEnergy, Michigan?s alternative energy business accelerator in downtown Detroit, has appointed four new members to its board of directors. Michael Boulus, Executive Director of Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan. Boulus has held positions with Michigan?s Department of Treasury, Epylon Corporation, Middle Cities Education Association, Michigan Schools Energy Corporation, Michigan State University and the