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Texas teen is 10th Takata airbag victim

A 17-year-old high school senior from Richmond, Texas, died in a 2002 Honda Civic on March 31 after the Takata-supplied airbag inflator ruptured. This is the 10th fatality linked to the faulty parts in the US. Honda and US regulators confirmed that the airbag exploded, according to Reuters. The fatal incident occurred when the Civic's driver rear-ended a Honda CR-V. The teen was wearing a seatbelt and wasn't speeding. "Everybody should have walked away from this," Fort Bend County Sheriff's Deputy Danny Beckwith told Reuters. However, a piece of shrapnel from the inflator cut the driver's carotid artery, and the person died. With this latest fatality, there have been 10 deaths and over 100 injuries in the US from exploding airbag inflators. Nine of the deaths have happened in Honda vehicles. The other was in a Ford Ranger pickup. Investigators at the Independent Testing Coalition placed the cause of the explosions on a combination of the inflator's chemical, design, and the weather. The ammonium nitrate propellant can explode with additional force when exposed to moisture, like in high humidity areas. The part's construction is also part of the problem because it allows this humidity to access the chemical. Takata has recalled roughly 24 million airbags in 19 million vehicles in the US. The latest tally from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that as of March 11, 2016, about 7.5 million inflators have been replaced. All the parts with ammonium nitrate inflators may need replacing someday, which could affect 100 million vehicles. Related Video: Statement from Honda Concerning Confirmed Texas Rupture Statement from American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Re: Confirmed Rupture of Takata Airbag Inflator in Fort Bend County, Texas Statement date: April 6, 2016 During an inspection today, accompanied by representatives of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Sherriff's Department of Fort Bend County, Texas, and Takata, American Honda confirmed that the Takata driver's airbag inflator ruptured in the crash of a 2002 Honda Civic on March 31, 2016, in Fort Bend County, Texas, resulting in the tragic death of the driver. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family of the driver during this difficult time. Honda has shared all available vehicle history information collected to date with NHTSA and will continue to cooperate with NHTSA throughout the process of investigating this crash.

Recharge Wrap-up: Elon Musk in Reddit AMA; Honda releases annual environmental report

Elon Musk will answer questions in a Reddit AMA tonight. The "Ask Me Anything" event will begin at 9:00 pm EST, and will last one hour. Musk will answer as many reader questions as he can in the allotted amount of time. Reddit's /r/TeslaMotors board is selecting official questions from users to pose to Musk as well. If you have any aching inquiries for the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, you probably don't want to miss this. Read more at Clean Technica, or at Reddit. Powertree Services plans to build solar-powered EV charging at San Francisco apartment buildings. The group will rent parking spaces at apartment buildings and put solar panels on the roof. Tenants with EVs can pay a monthly fee to charge their cars at their own apartments and Powertree Services parking spots around town. It takes the responsibility of building and maintaining the chargers off the building owners, but provides them with some revenue from renting the space to Powertree. Read more at Treehugger. The market for environmentally friendly cars will remain strong despite cheap oil prices, according to IHS Automotive Advisory Services. James Chao, director of the company's Asia-Pacific region, says his clients are still very focused on fuel economy. IHS has predicted green car production to triple by 2020 from 2014 figures. Hyundai and Kia, who are clients of Chao, have new EVs, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles on the way - a seemingly "unfocused" plan that Chao defends. "Especially at times when uncertainty is dominant, it could well be referred to as being prudent," he says. Read more at The Korea Herald. Honda has released its annual North American Environmental Report. In the report, Honda notes environmental progress it has made over the last year in a number of areas. It points out the introduction of the 2014 Accord Hybrid and the FCV Concept. It enumerates reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in transportation, use of its products and even from Honda's suppliers (however, there was a 0.7 percent rise in CO2 emissions during manufacturing due to, or rather "despite a significant increase in production"). Honda is using less water, and producing less waste - only 0.8 kilograms are sent to the landfill per car manufactured. Honda also worked with SolarCity to get solar panels on 1,650 rooftops in the US. Read more on Honda's website. Marco Andretti will race in the Formula E Buenos Aires ePrix.

Honda is first Japanese carmaker to be a net-exporter from US

Over the last decade or so, many foreign automakers have challenged the idea of what defines an "American car," but Honda took things a step further last year by exporting more cars out of the US than it imported in. Reuters is reporting that in 2013, a total of 108,705 Honda and Acura models were exported from the US with only 88,357 being shipped in. This gives Honda a net exporter status here, and makes it the first of such among the major Japanese automakers.
Honda's US imports have been dropping over the last five years while its exports have been steadily increasing. In 2008, the report indicates that Honda shipped 187,000 vehicles to the US and exported only 20,000, and even by 2012 Honda still favored imports with 136,000 imports and 74,000 exports. The article says that US-made Honda and Acura vehicles were exported to 50 countries with most ending up in Mexico, but the big news is that the Honda's US production set a record in 2013 with 1.3 million units built.