Auto blog

Honda Smart Home, NJ dealer show the power of solar

Car dealerships are not usually thought of as "green" enterprises. They sell, after all, the fossil fuel-powered vehicles that account for about 18 percent of the CO2 emissions created in the US each year. As demonstrated by Rossi Honda in Vineland, NJ though, it doesn't have to be that way. Sure, the franchise still sells cars - lots of them - but they power the entire operation with sunlight in a way that provides ancillary benefits. The franchise has installed over 900 solar panels to become electric-grid neutral. Owned and operated by the seemingly indefatigable Ron Rossi, the franchise has installed over 900 solar panels to become electric-grid neutral. They aren't plastered across the roof of the showroom and service center, though. Instead, the array is mounted on canopies over his inventory, protecting them from sun, snow, and hail. Costing about $1.3 million to install, Rossi expects the system to save twice that amount in electricity bills over its 25-year life expectancy. Not bad, right? It makes us wonder why all dealerships don't do this. Honda itself recently completed its own solar project. The super-efficient Honda Smart Home is equipped, not only with its own beefy 9.5-kW solar array, but also with a 10-kWh lithium battery-based stationary storage system to buffer the building's electricity. Amongst its many party tricks, the home incorporates a DC-to-DC charging set up that allows the complimentary Fit EV to charge with half the efficiency losses of a typical home charging unit. While the installation is quite impressive and will serve as a "laboratory" of sorts for different groups involved with the project at the University of California, Davis, we can't help but wonder if the Japanese automaker couldn't get a bigger bang for its environmental buck elsewhere. A program, perhaps, to help its many franchise dealers to take up the Rossi challenge and go grid neutral. You can watch Rossi show off his array and other increased efficiency efforts by scrolling below for a pair of videos: one from Honda and one produced by Automotive News. As a bonus, we have time-lapse footage of the Honda Smart Home going up accompanied by press releases discussing both efforts. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party.

Honda accused of not reporting all airbag problems

The Takata airbag recall that has afflicted a number of automakers may have just taken a very bad turn for Honda, which has already recalled over one million vehicles. Clarence Ditlow and the Center for Auto Safety have accused the Japanese manufacturer of failing to report two "injury-and-death" incidents. To determine just what happened, the company has initiated a third-party audit.
According to Bloomberg, CAS claims Honda failed to report fatalities in 2009 and 2013, a point Honda doesn't seem to contest, indicating that it didn't report so-called "verbal claims."
"It is our understanding that some manufacturers choose to include these types of verbal claims, and that these constitute the majority of the injury-and-death claims that they report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," the company told Bloomberg via email. "We believe this practice accounts for the vast majority of the difference between the total number of injury-and-death claims reported by Honda compared to certain other manufacturers."

1991 Acura NSX Luggage Test: Will a Motocompacto fit in the trunk?

I know I know, the wait has been killing you. From the second the Honda Motocompacto electric scooter/suitcase was introduced, you've desperately been begging the universe to answer the following question: "Will the Honda Motocompacto fit in the trunk of a 1991 Acura NSX?" Believe me, the suspense was killing me, too. Well, rest assured, your answer is finally here.  I stumbled upon old friend Tyson Hugie and his predictably pristine 1991 Acura NSX at Radwood Socal two weekends ago. While chatting about my/his old Acura TSX finding a new home with a collector in North Carolina, a gentleman on a Honda Motocompacto whizzed by and finally pulled up to a stop among the small group of people gathered around the NSX and an Integra Type R. We initially thought it had been brought by the Honda PR rep who was attending Radwood (he did in fact have one in his trunk, an Acura 2.3 CL), but it actually belonged to the person riding it. Patrick Vidal had only just got his Motocompacto the previous Monday, but had already put it to work as his last-mile transport. He says it fits behind his seat in his Toyota MR2 Spyder, as if this story couldn't get more rad. As I stood there with Tyson and Patrick chatting about life with Honda's latest creation, I started staring at the back end of Honda's finest creation. Then I looked back at the Motocompacto ... and back again at the NSX.  "Um, do you think that would fit in the NSX's trunk?" I asked, turning to Tyson. "Oh, that's happening," he quickly replied. We asked Patrick if he'd be game, and no shocker, he was. Tyson cleared out the trunk and Patrick started the process of transforming the Motocompacto from a scooter into luggage.  The transformation is certainly not a seamless process. There's lots of steps, and Patrick said that he's still getting the hang of remembering all the bits and pieces. Again, though, he'd only had the thing for five days.  Initially, I doubted the Motocompacto would fit, but as it got smaller and NSX trunk got emptier, I got a lot more confident. "OK, let's do this," said Mr. Luggage Test, rubbing his hands together.  Officially, the 1991 Acura NSX was listed as having 5 cubic-feet of trunk volume. That's actually the same as my 1998 BMW Z3's trunk, but when you're talking about such a small amount, the shape of the space really matters and in this case, the NSX trunk is basically a big rectangular cavity with a protrusion from the engine bay.  OK, let's get to the bags.