2001 Cadillac Seville Sts on 2040-cars

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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.

A pair of different but awesome Hondas star in the latest Forza Horizon 3 car pack

Forza Horizon 3's ever-expanding car list grows again with its latest downloadable car pack. This time it packs a pair of Hondas from opposite ends of history. In fact they use opposite drive wheels, too. The first, representing the modern day and front-wheel drive, is the previous generation, 300-horsepower, 2016 Honda Civic Type R. From the early days of Honda automobiles, and with rear-wheel-drive, is the 1970 Honda S800. It has substantially less than 300 horsepower. The Civic Type R isn't the only hot hatch in the pack either. The Vauxhall Corsa VXR provides a European counterpoint to the Honda, albeit a bit smaller. It features less power – about 200 hp in all – but should be an excellent match to the Fiesta ST. The pack also features a couple of high-dollar, high-horsepower machines in the form of the 2017 Aston Marin DB11 and the 2016 Cadillac ATS-V. Plus, for fans of older cars, there's the rear-engined Renault Alpine GTA Le Mans, and a Holden with a really long name: the 1985 HDT VK Commodore Group A. View 7 Photos As usual, the pack is included with the Forza Horizon 3 Car Pass. Or, if you don't have the pass, the pack can be purchased on its own. Related Video: Image Credit: Turn10 Studios / Playground Games Toys/Games Aston Martin Cadillac Honda Videos aston martin db11 cadillac ats-v forza horizon 3 vauxhall corsa

GM recalling 524k vehicles over hood latches and toe link nuts

Just hours after confirming to Autoblog its intention to recall 97,540 vehicles in the US (117,651 in North America) for a possible manufacturing defect in the chassis control module of several models, General Motors is issuing two more campaigns that affect another 379,401 units in the US (524,384 in North America).
One campaign covers 290,107 US examples of the 2010-2015 Cadillac SRX and the 2011-2012 Saab 9-4X because the "rear toe link adjuster lock nuts" may be improperly torqued. If not up to spec, the toe adjuster link could separate and allow the wheel to shift while driving, making the handling unstable. GM says that it knows of three crashes and two injuries as a result of this problem. Dealers are inspecting the nuts and installing a new link assembly, if necessary. Autoblog first reported about this potential issue when it showed up on a list of recalls from Transport Canada.
The second recall is for 89,294 examples of the 2013-2015 Chevrolet Spark in the US manufactured from January 17, 2012, through July 29, 2014. According to GM, "corrosion can cause the secondary hood latch striker to stick in the open position." If this happens, and the primary latch also isn't engaged for some reason, the hood could fly open while driving. About 13,000 of these affected Sparks are at dealers and are being held until repaired. The fix requires replacing the hood striker. GM isn't aware of crashes, injuries or fatalities caused by this problem.