On Wednesday, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn presented Pope Benedict XVI with a pair of all-electric vehicles based on the Renault Kangoo Maxi Z.E.
The first is white with the Papal coat of arms depicted on the doors. It will be used when the Pope is travelling at his summer residence. The second, featuring a blue livery with a white and yellow stripe along each flank, is intended for the Pope's security personnel.
Both vehicles can seat up to four people and are fitted with two separate rear seats. They are powered by a 44kW (60hp) electric motor and a lithium-ion battery which ensures an average range of 170 kilometres.
These green Popemobiles will only commute within the Vatican unlike the official, armoured Popemobile which is used for foreign travel.
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| Photo Renault |
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| Photo: Renault |
Montreal's 10th annual “In town without my car!” event will take place on September 21-22, 2012. Unlike previous years, St. Catherine Street won't be closed as most of the activities will move to the Old Port.
Sébastien Plante returns as the spokesman for a sixth time.
''From 2003 to 2011, annual sales of monthly public transit passes have increased by 30% and incentive parking usage has gone up 40%. The subway is also 14% more popular now,'' says Paul Côté, interim CEO of the
Agence Métropolitaine de Transport (AMT). ''After all these years of advertising and education, inspiring campaigns and events like ''In town without my car!'', we need to keep the ball rolling.''
For the first time this year, residents will have the opportunity to take part in TranspoCamp, a year-long public forum on new technologies in urban transportation.
Source: amt.qc.ca
The new GP3/13 car was revealed to the world's media in the paddock of the Monza circuit, home of this weekend's Grand Prix of Italy.
As previously announced, the second generation car has a naturally-aspirated 400hp engine compared to the current 280hp and the recent development tests have shown that the car is expected to be at least three seconds faster.
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| New GP3 car (Photo: GP3 Series) |
The GP3/13 also enjoys a new nose, sidepods and engine cover. The modifications will raise the expectations of the series and it will provide an even more manageable step to progress up between GP3 and GP2, as said in a press release.
“I am very proud of this new generation car. Our main objective was to make sure that GP3 remains the best way to prepare young drivers for the next steps, GP2 and F1, which is why we designed a more powerful and more selective car that - among other things reduces, the gap between GP3 and GP2,” said GP3 Series CEO Bruno Michel.
“Even if the car has evolved quite a lot, the costs will be almost similar to what they were before. That was key. The teams will not have to buy a new car. We will provide them with a development kit. It was quite a challenge seeing how the aerodynamics and the engine are different. And speaking of the engine, we go from 280 to 400hp for the same price,” Michel added.
Series officials will be selecting the nine teams for the next three seasons with at least two cars per team, three maximum to have a top figure of twenty-seven cars on the grid.
Plans for a merger of the two major North American endurance series -
Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) - were unveiled Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway and details have started to emerge.
According to Grand-Am founder Jim France, a name for the series has yet to be decided upon.
"We do not have a name," France declared during the press conference. "We have got some ideas of how to come up with a name for a new combined series."
Which cars will be allowed to race in 2014? The new group refused to discuss the new class structure of the series, but Don Panoz, founder of the American Le Mans Series kind of confirmed that the LMP1 prototype class would not be part of the new series.
"In our situation we are not thinking about an LMP1 class," Panoz explained. "We are thinking about prototypes, advanced prototypes. We are American based and this series we are putting together is an American sportscar series and we need to take care of our own market."
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| Ford Riley, Grand-Am. (Photo: Grand-Am.com) |
That statement from Don Panoz supports speculation that Grand-Am's Daytona Prototype category will be the top division of the new North American sportscar series from 2014.
It is understood that the new group is working on how to incorporate LMP2 cars, which are presently faster than DPs, as a secondary class.
American Le Mans series' boss Scott Atherton, who will be on the board of the new organisation, stated that the GTE class, known as GT in the ALMS, would be part of the new series.
The 2014 calendar of the new series is likely to incorporate 12 races. That number will include the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring.
UAW President Bob King, defending the 2009 auto industry bailouts before a national television audience, said the government-financed bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler weren't 'universally popular" but were "absolutely right.
Vehicle sales in Canada rose 6.4 percent in August boosted by demand for Japanese and other imported brands as the Detroit 3, traditionally the mainstay of the market, put in a mixed sales performance.
When one thinks of Los Angeles, the near future and police vehicles, one particular conveyance comes to mind and#8212; the Syd Mead-designed Spinner from Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic, Blade Runner.
AutoNation said new-vehicle sales to retail customers in the United States rose 28 percent in August -- well ahead of the overall industry sales gain of 20 percent. Total new-vehicle sales rose to 23,213 units, the company said.
Ford Motor today issued a third recall of its newly launched 2013 Escape, saying an improperly installed part could cause a fire in the engine compartment.
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Newly-installed Saab owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), says it will fill positions from the top down as it gradually ramps up to full production at the Trollhattan site, which it says is in good shape.
If General Motors Europe's new Astra-based Opel/Vauxhall Cascada convertible is built and drives as well as it looks in teaser photos released today (5 September), Volkswagen's recently launched Golf cabriolet, its folding tin top Eos sibling, and even the Audi A5 and BMW 3-series could all be in for some serious competition.
Sales by South Korea's five domestic carmakers in August dropped 22.4% year on year although Hyundai-Kia posted strong overseas production and sales.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR ROGER HART: This 2012
Russian sources in the Kremlin have confirmed to just-auto Russian Railways has addressed the issue of whether it intends to purchase a major stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen's Gefco logistics division.
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