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Recharge Wrap-up: Control Tesla Model S from your wrist, NASCAR's E15 milestone

Tesla Model S owners can now control their car with Android Wear. A new, free app for the Android wrist devices, called Tesla Command, allows the user to control car functions such as the locks, horn, and sunroof from outside the vehicle. The developer promises more features are coming soon. Watch the video below for a demonstration, or head over to 9 to 5 Google to read more. NASCAR drivers have raced 6 million miles on E15 fuel. The stock car series reached the milestone on July 20 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR has been using Sunoco Green E15 gasoline since the start of the 2011 season, which the group credits with increasing horsepower and reducing emissions. The US Department of Energy notably approved the 15-percent corn ethanol blend after 6 million miles of testing. Read more at Domestic Fuel. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has decided to continue its incentive program for alternative fuel vehicles. Buyers of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids with batteries larger than 10 kWh will continue to get a $2,000 rebate (until December 31 or until 500 are sold, whichever comes first). Various EVs with batteries less than 10 kWh, as well as natural gas, propane and hydrogen-powered cars, will get $1,000 back. Electric motorcycles and scooters are offered a $500 rebate. Get more details at ABC 27. Toyota subsidiary Primearth EV Energy is set to expand production of nickel metal hydride batteries for hybrid cars. Due to high demand, production capacity will ramp up from 300,000 to provide batteries for 500,000 vehicles at its Miyagi prefecture plant. The company eventually plans to be able to produce batteries for 1.4 million hybrids per year. Primearth EV Energy currently supplies batteries for the Toyota Prius and Yaris hybrids, as well as Mazda's Axela (AKA Mazda3 in the US) hybrid. Read more at Economic Times. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery Tesla Model S View 24 Photos News Source: 9 to 5 Google, Domestic Fuel, ABC 27, Economic TimesImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Drew Phillips / AOL Green Plants/Manufacturing Tesla Toyota Ethanol Electric Hybrid Racing Vehicles recharge wrapup e15 android wear

Toyota Camry could lose No. 1 sedan spot next year [w/video]

Eleven months after Toyota claimed the 2012 sales crown a couple of months early thanks to the Camry, the headlines this year have been quite a bit different to last. Even though the Camry remains the best selling car so far in 2013 and its volume has increased year-on-year, it has lost market share due to the 20-percent sales explosion in the midsize segment. That means people are buying more of the competitor offerings like the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and Ford Fusion - the Altima, in fact, outsold the Camry by 100 units in March.
In July it was reported that Toyota was upping Camry incentives and fleet sales to keep its lead and that dealer inventory was climbing as, again, competitors got better at fighting the champion. In August Ford doubled down on production of the Fusion, adding a line in Flat Rock, MI to keep up with demand.
Bloomberg has a report looking at the numbers behind the Camry's dominance, as well as what appears to be a recorded group interview with Toyota USA CEO Jim Lentz, and wonders aloud whether the Camry will be able to hold its top spot in 2014. Barring catastrophe it has this year locked up, being more than 30,000 sales ahead of the next-best seller as of the end of August, but it has done so with higher incentives and lower transaction prices than its competitors. According to Strategic Vision the Camry's consideration rate among consumers has also declined by a percentage point, while the consideration rate for the Accord and Fusion has increased by one point and two points, respectively.

Toyota, Mazda form electric car technology venture

TOKYO — Toyota has established a new venture to develop electric vehicle technology with partner Mazda, seeking to catch up with rivals in an increasingly frenetic race to produce more battery-powered cars. Policymakers in key markets like China are pushing a shift to electric cars over the next two to three decades, while relatively new rival Tesla is gaining momentum and diesel cars are going through the fallout of the Volkswagen diesel scandal, pressuring traditional automakers to crank up plans for fully electric vehicles (EVs). At the same time, declining battery costs are enabling more power to be packed into cars, making an electric car future easier to imagine. Toyota said in a statement the new company will develop technology for a range of electric cars, including mini vehicles, passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks. Toyota will take a 90 percent stake in the joint venture, called EV Common Architecture Spirit Co Ltd, while Mazda and Denso Corp, Toyota's biggest supplier, will each take 5 percent. The plans build on a partnership announced in August when Japan's biggest automaker agreed to take a 5 percent stake in Mazda and two said they would jointly develop affordable electric vehicle technologies. Although Toyota is providing most of the financial firepower and existing EV know-how, Mazda's engineers have gained the admiration of the industry with breakthrough technologies such as its compression ignition engine announced last month. Shares in Mazda surged to end the day 3 percent higher, while those in Denso rose 1.8 percent. Toyota shares were flat. Both automakers are somewhat behind rivals, with neither having a fully electric passenger car on the market yet. After years of focusing on bringing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to the market, Toyota last year set up a division to develop electric cars which is led by President Akio Toyoda, and said it plans to introduce EVs in China in the coming years. Toyota has also announced it will bring a game-changing solid-state EV battery to market by 2022. That division would continue as a separate entity from the new joint venture, a Toyota spokeswoman said, while adding that the two teams would co-operate on technology development. Mazda has an R&D budget a fraction of Toyota's, which has made it difficult to develop electric cars on its own. Even so, it has said it plans to launch EVs in 2020.