Feeling the political pressure from opponents and the always unpopular spike in gas prices President Obama has fired back at Republicans.

“A lot of the folks who are running for a certain office who shall go unnamed, they’ve been talking down new sources of energy,” he said during a speech to students in Maryland. “They dismiss wind power. They dismiss solar power. They make jokes about biofuels. They were against raising fuel standards. I guess they like gas-guzzlers.”

In particular Obama targeted Republican nominee and House Speaker Newt Gingrich who has mocked the President’s support for biofuels, calling him “President Algae”. In the face of rising gas prices that have spiked 15 percent this month, Gingrich has made $2.50 a gallon gasoline part of his campaign, something Obama says simply isn’t within the control of politicians.

Instead, President Obama continues to push on with a mandate for more alternative fuel vehicles as well as more fuel efficient cars and trucks through increase CAFE standards, in search of a 54.5 mpg average by 2025.

[Source: DetroitNews]

In 2008 when President Barack Obama was a senator, he pledged a goal of having 1 million electric vehicles on U.S. streets by 2015. Four years later, that goal seems far away at best.

In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama said “with more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.” Even though there is the capacity to build 1 million EVs by 2015, sales and overall demand for electric vehicles will keep that goal out of reach.

The Chevrolet Volt, for example, hasn’t done as well as anyone hoped, with production stopping at times to help match supply and demand. In fact, the Volt is selling at about 10 percent of the Department of Energy’s projected 120,000 units per year. The Nissan Leaf, despite its selling better than the Volt, won’t meet 100,000 sales until 2014.

Rather than admitting the goal is out of reach, the White House changed the wording in its “Blueprint For A Secure Energy Agenda” from aiming to have 1 million EVs on the streets to saying “by 2015, the United States will be able to produce enough batteries and components to support one million plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.”

Even without the fire fiasco of the Volt, the million EV goal by 2015 would be a challenging one. Electric vehicles will continual to fight an uphill battle until the technology is widely accepted and is convenient.

[Source: Left Lane News]

With the EV-Everywhere initiative, President Obama is looking to spur the creative minds of business men, engineers and scientists across the country to make electric vehicles more affordable to own and drive in the next 10 years.

One of the biggest challenges pressing car makers and buyers today is the price of gas. President Obama’s latest EV pushing strategy is meant to help the American public from having to rely on gas powered vehicles. The goal of the project is to have 5-passenger affordable American electric vehicles that will pay themselves off in five years or less and be capable of getting the average American to and from work without worrying about range. Obama said he would like to see these five vehicles on the road by the year 2022.

“The EV-Everywhere Challenge is focused on advancing electric vehicle technologies and continuing to reduce costs, so that a decade from now, electric vehicles will be more affordable and convenient to own than today’s gasoline-powered vehicles,” Secretary Chu said yesterday at an event at a Daimler Truck factory in Mt. Holly, N.C.

The initiative will bring together the ideas from several offices at the Department of Energy and aims to find ways to bring down costs of the various parts of electric vehicles.

This process will involve reaching out to Universities, laboratories and businesses. Additionally, to recruit more bright minds, workshops called EVerywhere will take place across the country in the next few months.

The EV-Everywhere challenge is the second challenge issued by the Department of Energy as part of their “Grand Challenges” model. Their last challenge involved finding a way to make solar power directly cost-competitive with electricity from fossil fuels by the end of the decade. More challenges are expected over the next few months to find better ways to harness clean energy.

A decision expected today regarding a new rule that may make backup cameras mandatory for all new cars and light trucks sold in the U.S., is delayed until the end of the year — at the earliest.

Part of a law signed in 2008 by George W. Bush required the mandate be issued by the end of 2011, but has been delayed twice at this point. The issue is how much money such a rule would cost automakers if it passed.

“While the department has made progress toward a final rule to improve rearward visibility, it has decided that further study and data analysis, including of a wider range of vehicles and drivers, is important to ensure the most protective and efficient rule possible,” the agency said to Bloomberg.

Should it pass, the mandate would be one of the five most expensive pending U.S. regulations, costing $2.7 billion. That cost would fall first to the automaker and most likely to the consumer.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said last week that it would cost between $58 to $203 per vehicle to install such systems, depending on whether or not the car already has a video screen in place.

That cost is something Obama reminded House Republican leaders of on Aug. 30 in a letter. Backup cameras aren’t explicitly required by the law, but it’s the only technology currently capable of meeting the requirements.

[Source: Automotive News]

As we head towards another presidential election, it seems the Republican nominees can’t seem to get enough of criticizing the way in which the Obama administration handled the financial bailout for Chrysler and General Motors.

According to a recent Gallup poll around 51 percent of Americans still view the bailout in a negative light. Nonetheless the Obama administration is fighting back, one avenue being a patriotic TV commercial that’s set to air tonight. Called “Made in America,” the commercial declares, “for generations of Michigan autoworkers it’s more than a slogan; it’s a way of life,” yet it typical political rhetoric it also says, “but when a million jobs were on the line, every Republican candidate turned their back.”

In perhaps a canny political move, the commercial will only be seen in Michigan, which is, amusingly enough the next location for the Republican primaries, where the likes of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich will battle it out in an effort to increase their chances in becoming the next Republican nominee.

The ad also points the finger at Romney, citing his 2008 New York Times article which declared “Let Detroit go bankrupt,” yet conveniently avoided the fact that the bailout was initially put together while a Republican was in the White House; namely George W. Bush, whose administration allocated the original $25 billion in federal loans. Some things never change. Click below to view the ad.

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Smug journalists across the internet are poking fun at the possibility that President Barack Obama might have referred to the 2013 Shelby GT500 Mustang as “sick” during his visit to the Washington D.C. Auto Show.

True or false, his remarks about the muscle car don’t really matter. What’s slightly more significant is the speech he made to herald General Motors’ return to the throne as the world’s highest volume automaker.

While it isn’t surprising that the President would want to talk about something like that, it is a good chance to point out that GM is doing more than taking the Costco approach to selling cars.

In fact, GM is leading more than just the number of vehicles sold. They’re also the industry’s top innovator, according to The Patent Board. This is actually the fourth consecutive quarter that the Detroit giant can claim that title. An impressive 1,123 U.S. patents were granted to the company in 2011 for global product engineering, global powertrain engineering, global research and development and OnStar organizations.

It’s interesting because we don’t always think of GM when imagining who will come out with the latest breaking tech or engineering feats, yet they emerged victorious over 183 other firms. It seems like most of the automotive wizardry starts overseas in Europe and makes its way to domestic vehicles a little while later.

Blind spot detection is a great example of that. Volvo was the first to introduce it, but companies like GM and Ford are on board with the bandwagon.

Among GM’s recent patents, there is technology for quieter brakes, better OnStar voice recognition and something called eAssist Thermal Management which controls engine shutoff to ensure occupant comfort in extremely hot or cold weather.

That begs the question: what’s next from some of the greatest minds in Michigan?

A truck containing a teleprompter and audio gear used by President Barack Obama was stolen in Virginia, prompting questions about security lapses.

The gear, estimated at about $200,000, was parked in a van at a Virginia hotel parking lot ahead of Obama’s visit to the area.  The van was said to be carrying audio equipment, podiums and even the Presidential seal, which only Obama is allowed to stand behind. The truck was eventually recovered, but details about the equipment’s status has not been made public.

The truck was said to be unmarked but wearing government tags, and observers are questioning whether this was simply a random vehicle theft that happened to be carrying important cargo, or whether the goods were specifically targeted by thieves.

[Source: NBC12.com]

Last week President Obama announced his new ‘Green Fleet’ plan that would see all of the government’s 600,000 vehicles be either hybrids, plug-in electrics or flex-fuel models by 2015. There are, however, a few exceptions – most notably ‘The Beast’.

The nickname for the President’s armored Cadillac limousine, also referred to as Cadillac One, it is exempt from the new rules. Secret Service Special Agent Robert Novy confirmed as much to Fox News, commenting that, “certain specialized vehicles with law enforcement and security specifications are not subject to this directive.” Included in that list is ‘The Beast’, which features 5-inch thick reinforced walls, it’s own oxygen system and a blood bank in the trunk is reported to get just 8-mpg.

[Source: FoxNews]

In a bid to get inventory moving out of showrooms in a hurry, Chrysler has decided to offer a new incentive program that would double the value of the government’s cash-for-clunkers program.

Chrysler will offer $4,500 off (or 0 percent financing for 72 months) on most of its 2009 inventory – excluding the Dodge Challenger, Sprinter, Jeep Wrangler and all SRT products. The $4,500 incentive is even available on vehicles that do not meet the requirements for the cash-for-clunkers program, which was recently signed off on by President Obama.

Cash-for-Clunkers, or CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) gives a $4,500 rebate on a new car when it gets 10 mpg or more better fuel mileage than the one traded in. The rebate is $3,500 on vehicles that get 4 to 9 mpg better or trucks that get 2 to 4 mpg better.

Chrysler, now under new leadership from Italian automaker Fiat is hoping the incentive will help sales rebound. Chrysler has been hit particularly hard this year with sales down 45.7 percent for the first six months.

When combined, these two offers mean a $17,090, Dodge Caliber SE could leave showrooms for as little as $8,090.

Chrysler’s “Double Ca$h for Your Old Car,” incentive starts tomorrow and runs through August.

[Source: Automotive News]