1958 Chevrolet Corvette 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.

Subprime financing on the rise in new car sales, leasing too

We all remember the financial crisis that began several years back. At its core was a splurge of subprime lending for housing loans. The housing bubble burst, triggering a collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market. Apparently, those types of loans still exist in the automotive industry, and the market share for these types of "nonprime, subprime, and deep subprime," loans has grown 13.6 percent compared to the third quarter a year ago.
According to an Automotive News report, high-risk lending expanded to 24.8 percent of total loans in Q3, up from 21.9 percent for this time last year. As this level increased, average credit scores of borrowers dropped to 755, down from 763 a year ago. In that time, the average financing amount increased $90 per vehicle, to $25,963.
At 818, Volvo maintains the highest per-owner credit score, while Mitsubishi has the lowest, at 694. The highest rate of borrowers was at Toyota, with 14 percent of the market, followed by Ford with 13.1 percent and Chevrolet at 11.1.

GM tells 2021 Chevy Express and GMC Savana owners to park vans outside due to fire risk

GM is telling owners of certain 2021 Chevrolet Express and 2021 GMC Savana work vans to park them outside and away from other vehicles and structures due to a fire risk. Additionally, the company is recalling 10,154 of the vans it believes to be at risk of catching fire. The breakout is 7,891 for Chevy and 2,223 for GMC.  Only vehicles equipped with the 6.6-liter V8 (the new-for-2021 engine option) are included in the recall, and it’s limited to vans produced on or prior to December 7, 2020. The problem stems from some anti-rotation tabs on the positive battery terminal that are too close to a fuse block assembly attachment post. This lack of clearance could cause the tabs to come into contact with the fuse block, causing a short circuit. GM points out that a short-circuit of this nature could cause battery drain or lead to a fire under the hood. Your warning for the time being will come in the form of a low battery voltage warning, or you might just wake up with an unexpected dead battery. GM says that it first opened an investigation into this problem on January 26 this year after it was notified of an underhood battery fire on a 2021 Express. The investigation found three other underhood fires and concluded that these fires were originating from the positive battery cable attachment near the fuse. This recall was officially posted on March 11 this year, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just sent a notification out to the media yesterday. The fix is a relatively simple one. Dealers are going to remove a portion of the anti-rotation tab on both positive battery cable terminals near the fuse block assembly attachments. This increases the clearance and eliminates the risk of fire, GM says. The job will be done under warranty, and GM says it will begin contacting owners for recall work on May 3 this year. Recalls Chevrolet GMC Safety Minivan/Van Commercial Vehicles