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Werner Lang fathered the Trabant and spent his life insuring the East Germany car's history would be preserved.

European automotive executives are optimistic about the future of self-driving cars but at the same time they are realistic that it will take time for government regulations to catch up with advances in technology.

With federal regulators considering rules or incentives to make pedestrian accidents more survivable, Honda and Volvo have led automakers making design changes that bring safety advances to the outside of vehicles.

The technology creeping into the modern car contains millions of lines of programming code, some of which is open-source -- a free license to a software's blueprint.

German supplier Robert Bosch, aiming to develop an advanced lithium ion battery that can power electric vehicles much longer than today's batteries, has dumped its South Korean battery partner for a Japanese one.

Chevrolet's inability to establish a foothold in Europe is the only real blemish on an otherwise sharp, decade-long global expansion for GM's largest brand. GM CEO Dan Akerson is making key strategic moves to change that.

European automotive executives are optimistic on the future of automated driving but at the same time they are realistic that it will take time for government regulations to catch up with advances in technology.

The Panamera S E-Hybrid shows how fast alternative powertrain technology is improving. Porsche executives refer to the car as a 'chameleon' because it can travel emissions free in the city then blast past rivals on the highway.

The head of Nissan global planning says Infiniti's electric car has been delayed because the premium automaker wants to incorporate more advanced charging and battery technology into the vehicle.

Tesla Motors wants to sell its cars directly to consumers without going through an independent dealer network (as stipulated by state franchise laws), and has so far collected more than 105,000 names on a petition asking the U.S. government to allow this business model in all 50 states.

Started by one Tesla supporter on June 5th, the petition required at least 100,000 signatures in a month to be presented to the House of Representatives. Mission accomplished.

You're probably aware that dealer associations in several states have been fighting Tesla's factory stores for quite some time now. Heck, the North Carolina Senate even went as far as to propose a new law that would make it illegal for Tesla to e-mail its customers and answer their questions on the phone.

The saga continues...

Source : www.greencarreports.com

Photo: Sébastien D'Amour

The Red Bull German driver set the fastest time in front of his public on Friday, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was on top in the morning.

Photo: WRi2

The two Mercedes W04 had dominated the first free practice session in the morning, Lewis Hamilton leading Nico Rosberg. Mark Webber was third in his Red Bull, while Fernando Alonso was unable to complete a single lap. Due to an electrical problem, the Ferrari driver had to stop twice and wait in the garage.

Photo: Williams F1 Team

Rodolfo Gonzalez (Marussia) was the only reserve driver in action in the morning, driving the car of Jules Bianchi. The young Venezuelan covered 21 laps.

For the second free practice session, Sebastian Vettel quickly placed his Red Bull at the top, with soft tires. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) is second again, just as Mark Webber third again, ahead of the two Lotus and the two Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton ranks eighth with the other Mercedes.

Sebastian Vettel. (Photo: WRi2)

German Grand prix - Nurburgring
Friday, July 5, 2013

Free practice session 1 - Results*
1 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'31"754 - 25 tours
2 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'31"973 - 25
3 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'32"789 - 22
4 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'32"822 - 22
5 - Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'32"956 - 18
6 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'33"065 - 18
7 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'33"139 - 24
8 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'33"213 - 20
9 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'33"260 - 27
10 - Sergio Pérez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'33"456 - 18
11 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'33"493 - 18
12 - Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'33"810 - 20
13 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'33"901 - 23
14 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'33"976 - 26
15 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'34"025 - 20
16 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'34"200 - 22
17 - Esteban Gutiérrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'34"437 - 24
18 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'35"674 - 23
19 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'35"987 - 19
20 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'36"078 - 23
21 - Rodolfo Gonzalez (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'37"459 - 21
22 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - no time - 2

Photo: WRi2

Free practice session 2 - Results*
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'30"416 - 39 laps
2 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'30"651 - 38
3 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'30"683 - 41
4 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'30"843 - 32
5 - Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'30"848 - 27
6 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'31”056 - 39
7 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'31"059 - 41
8 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'31"304 - 35
9 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'31"568 - 37
10 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'31"797 - 40
11 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'31"824 - 34
12 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'31"855 - 42
13 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'32"055 - 39
14 - Sergio Pérez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'32"086 - 36
15 - Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'32"495 - 39
16 - Esteban Gutiérrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'32"762 - 44
17 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'32"879 - 35
18 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'32"880 - 36
19 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'33"695 - 38
20 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'33"804 - 40
21 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'34"017 - 10
22 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'34"667 - 39

* Un-official timings

From GMM

Paul Hembery on Friday insisted Pirelli can not take all the blame for the tire-exploding chaos of last weekend's British grand prix.

Some teams had hit back at their Italian supplier, after Pirelli pointed the finger at those running extreme tire pressures, wheel cambers and swapping rear tires left to right.

"Just to be clear," McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh told Britain's Sky on Friday, "we always ran within the correct pressures and the correct cambers and everything we did was agreed with Pirelli."

It's on Whitmarsh's last point that Pirelli boss Hembery does take some blame -- the tire-swapping, which teams reportedly discovered could add 20 per cent to the tires' lifespan.

"That's our fault," Hembery is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport. "Early in the season we had a request from McLaren and saw no reason why we shouldn't allow it. We thought it was harmless."

Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team

But according to Pirelli, the practice ultimately caused most of the harm at Silverstone, with the internal steel belt no longer properly spreading the load in the fast corners.

As for the camber and pressures, Hembery added: "We could not verify the data, because the teams were not always open with us. But with the camber, you can tell just by looking that some were going over the top."

And he said he is "sure" some teams ignored Pirelli's recommendations about pressures.

Andretti Autosport frontrunner Marco Andretti was the fastest amongst the 24 drivers that took part in the open IndyCar test at Pocono that will host the series next event this coming week-end.

Andretti had his best lap clocked at 220.963mph lap during the afternoon while Indianapolis 500 winner and Triple Crown contender Tony Kanaan (KV Racing) was second-fastest ahead of points leader Helio Castroneves (Team Penske).

Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. (Photo: IndyCar)

IndyCar officials made a late change to its aero specification for the weekend, with the teams now having the option to run an underwing strake to create more downforce.

Firestone, meanwhile, used the day to test solutions to track-specific tyre wear problems that were detected last week.

Cars will now run Indianapolis-spec tyres on the left of the car, and more durable Texas-spec tyres on the right side for Sunday's race.

Pos  Driver  Team/Engine  Time Gap
1. Marco Andretti  Andretti/Chevy  40.7308s
2. Tony Kanaan   KV/Chevy  40.9460s +0.2152s
3. Helio Castroneves  Penske/Chevy  41.0729s +0.3421s
4. Ed Carpenter  Carpenter/Chevy   41.1357s +0.4049s
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay  Andretti/Chevy   41.2290s +0.4982s
6. Scott Dixon  Ganassi/Honda   41.2425s +0.5117s
7. Sebastien Bourdais  Dragon/Chevy  41.2448s +0.5140s
8. James Hinchcliffe   Andretti/Chevy  41.2484s +0.5176s
9. Will Power  Penske/Chevy  41.2521s +0.5213s
10. James Jakes  Rahal/Honda   41.3221s +0.5913s
11. Simon Pagenaud  Schmidt/Honda  41.3280s +0.5972s
12. Charlie Kimball  Ganassi/Honda  41.3330s +0.6022s
13. Justin Wilson  Coyne/Honda   41.3594s +0.6286s
14. Ryan Briscoe  Panther/Chevy  41.3742s +0.6434s
15. Dario Franchitti  Ganassi/Honda  41.3757s +0.6449s
16. Alex Tagliani  Herta/Honda  41.3794s +0.6486s
17. Josef Newgarden  Fisher/Honda  41.4211s +0.6903s
18. EJ Viso  Andretti/Chevy  41.4274s +0.6966s
19. Takuma Sato   Foyt/Honda  41.4386s +0.7078s
20. Tristan Vautier  Schmidt/Honda  41.5274s +0.7966s
21. Simona de Silvestro  KV/Chevy  41.7007s +0.9699s
22. Graham Rahal   Rahal/Honda  41.7654s +1.0346s
23. Pippa Mann  Coyne/Honda  41.7928s +1.0620s
24. Sebastian Saavedra  Dragon/Chevy  41.8603s +1.1295s

From GMM

GPDA director and German Sebastian Vettel back-pedalled on Friday, after the drivers' union earlier threatened to boycott his home race this weekend.

Pirelli and the FIA's reaction since the Silverstone chaos, allied with the vastly different characteristics of the Nurburgring, meant that Friday was a smooth day of practice, hosting no noteworthy tire problems.

Pedro de la Rosa, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association president, began the day in Germany insisting the word 'boycott' should not be used.

The GPDA's Thursday statement warned that drivers "shall immediately withdraw from the event" if more tyres fail this weekend.

But Pedro de la Rosa said: "Boycotting is not the word at all, it is about being safe."

Red Bull's Vettel - another GPDA director - was also back-pedalling at the Nurburgring.

In his 100-word quote in the team's post-practice summary statement, 74 of them were dedicated to clarifying the 'boycott' threat.

"The circumstances that we raced under in Silverstone were not what we can accept, but I don't think we will see those issues again," Red Bull quoted him as saying.

Speaking to British broadcaster Sky, Sebastian Vettel even pointed a finger at the media for calling the GPDA's position a 'threat'.

"It wasn't a threat, you must have got it wrong," he said. "We didn't say 'we won't race'. Yes, we came together but the point was not to threaten."

The Nurburgring track.

Chrysler Canada is recalling 20,895 Ram 1500 full-size pickup trucks from 2013, all of which are equipped with four-wheel drive.

In some cases, the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) module was incorrectly configured during the manufacturing process. This could lead the ESC to malfunction, triggering the ESC warning lamp and increasing the risk of a crash.

Dealers will therefore reprogram the ESC module with updated software.

Source: Transport Canada

Photo: Lesley Wimbush

From GMM

Kimi Raikkonen declined to hit back at Niki Lauda on Friday, despite the F1 legend calling him a "wimp".

Told that triple world champion and Mercedes chairman Lauda has been talking about him, Raikkonen said at the Nurburgring: "Huh? To me? He (Lauda) hasn't spoken to me."

The 2007 world champion was then told by the interviewer for Tagesspiegel newspaper that Lauda had said ignoring Red Bull's offer of a 2014 seat would make him a "wimp".

"I don't care what he says," said the Finn. "He likes to talk a lot and that doesn't concern me. He's not being nasty, I know him well enough to know what he's thinking."

The 33-year-old insisted he only returned to F1 in 2012 to win again, so the interviewer is curious as to why he would apparently hesitate to join Red Bull -- the dominant team of the past few seasons.

"There are many reasons," answered Raikkonen. "Nothing is as clear as it seems.

"At the moment I have nothing for next year. If there is a decision, I will tell everyone," he added.

Photo: WRi2

Asked if a great car, lots of money, or lots of free time are most important to him, Raikkonen admitted: "Everything. The whole package.

"I've been in a lot of teams and so I know what I want. I'll make the best choice for myself, and if it's wrong and I regret it, at least I made the decision for myself."

Asked if the likely friendly pairing with Sebastian Vettel next year could sway things in Red Bull's favour, Raikkonen insisted: "That doesn't matter. I know what you mean, but having jokes and laughs with friends is not why I'm here."

Ferrari announced that the F12berlinetta will make its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next weekend (July 11-14). Visitors will also get to see a bespoke Ferrari FF, a “Tailor-Made” 458 Spider, and Eric Clapton's SP12 EC, all of which were produced by Ferrari's “Special Projects” division.

The F12berlinetta is the newest generation in Ferrari's great lineage of 12-cylinder sports cars. Producing 740 horsepower through a 7-speed, dual-clutch F1 transmission, it sprints from 0-100 km/h in 3.1 seconds and reaches a top speed of 340 km/h. Yet, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are 30% lower than those of the previous generation.

In addition to the road-going Ferraris, the car that F1 driver Fernando Alonso used to win 4 races in 2010 will be on display.

Photo: Ferrari

Volvo has revealed a number of user-friendly safety and support technologies that will be introduced in the all-new Volvo XC90 at the end of 2014.

The groundbreaking technologies are:

• Pedestrian Detection in darkness. A world first that makes the detection and auto brake technology work effectively also when driving in darkness. The technology includes detection and auto brake for other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.

• Road edge and barrier detection with steering assist. A feature that detects if the car is about to drive off the road and autonomously applies steering torque to bring the vehicle back on track. Being able to monitor where the physical road ends (even without side markings) is a world first.

• Adaptive Cruise Control with steering assist. A technology that helps the driver stay in the lane and follow the rhythm of the traffic. The new system automatically follows the vehicle ahead.

At a later date, the new Volvo XC90 will introduce Collision mitigation for animals (works both in daylight and in the dark), Car 2 Car communication (which enables vehicles to communicate with each other and with the traffic environment), and Autonomous Parking allowing the XC90 to find and park in a vacant space by itself after the driver left the vehicle at the entrance to the parking lot.

Photo: Volvo

With the help of Boeing, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other partners, Ford has developed the Ford Freeform Fabrication Technology (F3T), which aims to enable the delivery of a sheet metal part within 3 business days from the time the CAD model of the part is received.

With the current technology, parts are delivered anywhere from 2-6 months using conventional methods.

Through the F3T process, a piece of sheet metal is clamped around its edges and formed into a 3D shape by two stylus-type tools working in unison on opposite sides of the sheet metal blank. Similar to a digital printer, after the CAD data of a part are received, computer-generated tool paths control the F3T machine to form the sheet metal part into its final shape to the required dimensional tolerances and surface finish.

F3T is also expected to have broad applications outside of the automotive industry, including use in the aerospace, defence, transportation and appliance industries.

From GMM

F1's tire-gate saga has taken another dramatic twist, as drivers formally threaten to boycott the German grand prix.

The Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), led by Ferrari tester Pedro de la Rosa, warned at the Nurburgring that drivers will pull out of the Nurburgring round if there are signs the tire-exploding crisis seen at Silverstone has not been solved.

"The drivers have decided if similar problems should manifest themselves during the German GP, we shall immediately withdraw from the event," read the statement.

The GPDA said it believes the entire problem has been "avoidable", which is surely a dig at F1 and Pirelli's deliberate move to supply tires designed to degrade quickly.

Photo: WRi2

At the very same time, leading F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were expressing their intention to stay away from the forthcoming Silverstone test.

"I have absolutely no intention of attending," Ferrari's Alonso is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport says teams will only be able to field race drivers on one of the test days, with rookies needing to drive at other times as originally intended.

And speculation about a fourth test day was ruled out.

Alonso, however, insisted he doesn't want to test at all. "Ferrari will have to force me," he said.

"I'm not a Pirelli test driver. The decision to test experimental tires at the track where there was a tire problem is a decision that I believe is extremely dangerous," Alonso said.

"This season the tire supplier hasn't made the best decisions," the Ferrari driver, who said being hit by the shards of metal tire debris last weekend at Silverstone "would be like a bullet or a knife", added.

McLaren's Button agreed that he doesn't want to run at Silverstone.

"Only one type of tire is going to be tested, which - for me - is not a tire test."

Alonso's teammate Felipe Massa, however, told Brazil's O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper he wants to do the test.

"I think it's important," he said. "I'm always in favour of testing, and I think it's important to have experienced drivers (there)."

Photo: McLaren F1 Team

Drivers and teams are also hitting back at Pirelli's claims it was the practice of using extreme tire pressures and cambers that caused the problems at Silverstone.

"McLaren stuck within the correct boundaries of what Pirelli told us to do and we had two failures on our car," said Button.

Mercedes' Ross Brawn has said the same, and Spain's Marca newspaper reported that Sauber also followed Pirelli's guidelines but had a failure.

Felipe Massa, meanwhile, said the fact rear tires have been fitted the wrong way around may also not be an explanation.

"I had problems in Bahrain and they (the tires) were mounted right," he said.

Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez said: "Not just Pirelli is to blame, and not just the teams are to blame. I think we have to work together rather than blaming one another."

But Jenson Button also questioned Pirelli's decision to supply new tires this weekend in Germany, before switching to yet another construction in Hungary.

"I don't know why it is necessary (to change again in Hungary) if these tires are fine," said the 2009 world champion.

Pirelli prototype tire. (Photo: McLaren F1 Team)

Watching the tire crisis from the outside, former Mercedes director Norbert Haug sympathised those who are trying to fix the problem.

"Modern formula one is ungovernable," he told Bild newspaper. "People only care if they see an advantage for themselves."

Former F1 driver Mika Salo also observed: "Silverstone was really unsafe, but the rules were the cause of it -- Pirelli wanted to change (tires beforehand) but they couldn't," he told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

Whatever the case, it is possible the move to kevlar-belted tires at the Nurburgring will shuffle the pecking order.

"Possibly," admitted Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, while teammate Nico Rosberg said a shakeup is "very likely".

Mika Salo agrees: "Change always favours someone."

Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, has the final word.

"At the moment, the priority isn't about the performance of one team or another," he said. "The most important thing is that everyone gets back to their own bed safely on Sunday night."