2007 Cadillac Escalade Esv Base on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Free chargers for Canadian ELR buyers, Renovo gets funding for EV supercar

Chevrolet offers versions of its Express passenger van with B20 biodiesel and E85 capability. Customers can buy the van with the Duramax turbodiesel V8, which is compatible with the 20-percent biodiesel blend. There is also a FlexFuel V8, which can use the 85-percent ethanol gasoline blend. It's a great option for shuttling the whole soccer team to practice using renewable fuels. Read more at Domestic Fuels. Early buyers of the Cadillac ELR in Canada will get a 240-volt charger installed at their home for free. It should help convince some buyers to adopt the range extended luxury EV. Cadillac's Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus says, "Professional installation of the fastest home-charging unit is a natural way to mark the introduction of ELR to the luxury market." Read more in the press release below. Renovo has received venture capital funding from California-based True Ventures to build its Coupe electric supercar. The impressive EV, with its 500 horsepower and 1,000 pound-feet of torque, is an inspiring vehicle built by a promising company, according to its financial backers. Toni Schneider of True Ventures says that Renovo has "created incredibly advanced technology and a beautiful machine that is well positioned to disrupt the automotive market." Read more in the press release below. Renault says it will build its Fluence ZE electric car in China for an unnamed brand, pending government approval. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn announced the plan at a test drive event in France on Monday. Renault has a partnership with Dongfeng Motors to build and sell its cars in China. Read more at Reuters. Germany has lifted its ban on Uber. While the German court believes the ride-hailing service is operating illegally without proper licensing for drivers, it says Taxi Deutschland waited too long to file the case against Uber. The taxi association plans to appeal the decision soon. See more in the video below, and read more at The New York Times. A new report from UC Davis claims that a global expansion of public transit could save 1,700 megatons of carbon dioxide yearly and over $100 trillion by 2050. A "high-shift scenario" would be necessary, wherein governments invest in rail and clean buses, expand biking and walking infrastructure and shift focus away from projects that encourage car use. This shift to public transit would especially be important in the US, China and India. Read more in the press release below.

Cadillac upgrades ATS sedan to match new coupe

The big news when it comes to the Cadillac ATS for 2015 is surely the addition of the new coupe model, but that doesn't mean that Cadillac has forgotten about the sedan as well. In fact GM's luxury brand has rolled out a few choice enhancements for the four-door to bring it more in line with the new coupe.
Among those changes that we spotted a couple of weeks ago is a new front fascia that incorporates the brand's new wreath-less emblem, and a sleeker front bumper. The interior has been upgraded as well with new trim options as well as some new tech including Siri Eyes Free functionality, dictated text messaging and optional inductive smartphone charging.
Though the ATS Coupe does away with the base engine, sedan buyers can still opt for the 2.0-liter four with 202 horsepower and 191 pound-feet of torque. The 3.6-liter V6 carries over unchanged at 321 hp and 275 lb-ft, but the 2.0-liter turbo four gets the upgraded torque rating of 295 lb-ft (the highest in the range) to go with its 272 hp. Some new color choices are also among the upgrades you can read more about in the press release below.

Cadillac's CEO on Apple CarPlay: ’extremely clunky’

In this new world of advanced in-car infotainment and connectivity, car and tech companies alike are creating interfaces with mixed success. Apparently one system has annoyed Cadillac CEO Johan de Nysschen enough he's openly griping about it. In an interview with our friends at Yahoo Finance, the CEO had a number of complaints about Apple CarPlay, a system that, along with Android Auto, is rapidly becoming a staple of automotive infotainment. Though he acknowledged the system's potential, de Nysschen said CarPlay "is extremely clunky." He highlighted issues he's had with Apple Maps reacting too slowly for turn-by-turn navigation on the highway, app transitions that weren't smooth, and some quirks he found when using voice commands. While we won't say Apple CarPlay is perfect by any means, we're also not so sure it's deserving of such high-profile criticism, particularly from Cadillac. This is because Cadillac's own infotainment system CUE, has not been loved by those of us at Autoblog. And while Cadillac has announced it has a new version of CUE that might fix our issues with it, it's not exactly rolling it out expediently. So before ripping on other infotainment, de Nysschen, maybe make sure your own system in order. Related Video: