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Recharge Wrap-up: EV torque secrets, UC Davis maps future of biofuels

A UC Davis white paper maps out "Three Routes Forward for Biofuels," balancing investment risk with carbon benefits. The first option is "incremental," in which we tinker with the existing biofuel manufacturing infrastructure for small improvements over time. The "transitional" plan suggests integrating cellulosic production and other innovations with existing operations. The third route, called "leapfrogging," would mean building refineries based on new technology such as cellulosic and algae-based biofuels. The paper suggests ways the US could use these three routes together in different areas, and predicts the payoffs in terms of carbon emissions could be significant if the right people are willing to risk the capital. After all, financial advisers are always telling investors to diversify their portfolios to manage risk and rewards in the same way. Read more over at the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. The Formula E Long Beach ePrix will offer free admission. The seventh round of the inaugural all-electric race season, which was moved from Los Angeles to the streets of Long Beach, will offer fans free grandstand and general admission. The race, which takes place on April 5, 2015, will use a 1.6-mile portion of IndyCar's Grand Prix of Long Beach. Read more at LA Times. Polaris is now offering its 2015 GEM electric vehicles, including the new street-legal eM1400 LSV. The passenger and utility vehicles come in two- to six-passenger configurations, many of which are street legal on roads with posted speed limits of up to 35 miles per hour. The eM1400 LSV utility vehicle seats two, offers 1,250 pounds of payload, 1,250 pounds of towing capacity, a top speed of 25 mph and a range of up to 45 miles. Its on-board charger plugs into any standard 110-volt outlet. Read more at Hybrid Cars and check out all the different configurations yourself at the Polaris website. In EVs, more torque does not always equal faster. Green Car Reports found this out when driving the Fiat 500e (with 147 pound-feet) against the similarly weighted Chevrolet Spark EV (with 400 pound-feet). The secret is, at least in part, in the gearing. The Fiat has a 9.6:1 reduction gear, making it quicker at lower speeds despite having far less available torque, while the Chevy uses a 3:1 ratio. The trade-off though, is in top speed. Furthermore, Chevy electronically limits the torque delivery at low speeds, as 400 pound-feet is a lot of launch for the little Spark EV to handle.

GM to build next-gen Chevy Cruze in Mexico

As one of its global products, General Motors builds the Chevy Cruze for local consumption at assembly plants around the world: in Australia, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, China, India, Kazakhstan, Russia, Brazil and Ohio. The automaker is expected to trim those locations for the next generation of its compact sedan, but its latest announcement has it adding a new site to the list: Mexico. As part of a $350-million investment, GM's plant at Ramos Arizpe in Coahuila will gear up for production as one of several sites that will be charged with building the next-gen Cruze. The General has yet to announce just which plants those will be, but it has confirmed that the Lordstown, Ohio, site will once again be among them. The plant in St Petersburg, Russia, which has produced the current Cruze, is being shut down, as is the Holden plant in Elizabeth, Australia. The Ramos Arizpe assembly plant currently puts together the Chevy Sonic and Captiva as well as the Cadillac SRX, but has over the course of its 34-year history handled a variety of models for the Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, Saturn, Opel and even Saab brands. The site handles a quarter of GM's production in Mexico, and exports 87 percent of its capacity to other markets. Invertira GM 350 mdd en Ramos Arizpe para fabricar siguiente generacion de Chevrolet Cruze 2015-03-23 - Se consolida GM de Mexico como el sexto productor global de vehiculos para General Motors Company Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila - General Motors de Mexico anuncio este dia que invertira 350 millones de dolares en su Complejo de Manufactura Ramos Arizpe, para fabricar en estas instalaciones la siguiente generacion del modelo Chevrolet Cruze. "Esta inversion, que forma parte de los 5 mil millones de dolares anunciados en diciembre pasado para todo el pais, fortalecera la presencia de GM Ramos Arizpe en la produccion de nuestra compania a nivel mundial y, por supuesto, consolidara a Mexico como el sexto productor de automoviles para GM Company, con el 7% de la produccion global", informo Ernesto M. Hernandez, Presidente y Director General de GM de Mexico. En una reunion de trabajo en la que participaron Ruben Moreira, Gobernador del Estado de Coahuila y Rogelio Garza, Subsecretario de Industria y Comercio del Gobierno Federal, el Presidente de General Motors en el pais aseguro que el Complejo GM Ramos Arizpe se ha consolidado como un iman para las inversiones de la compania a nivel global. Adicionalmente, Ernesto M.

GM extends vehicle production cuts into mid-March due to global chip shortage

DETROIT — General Motors said on Tuesday it was extending production cuts at three North American plants until at least mid-March due to the global semiconductor chip shortage, while vehicles at two other factories would only be partially built. GM, whose shares dipped 1% after the announcement, did not disclose the impact volumes or say which supplier and vehicle parts were affected by the chip shortage. But it said it would focus on keeping production running at plants building its highest-profit vehicles, full-size pickup trucks and SUVs. GM said it intended to make up as much lost production as possible once the shortage chip eased. "Semiconductor supply remains an issue that is facing the entire industry. GM's plan is to leverage every available semiconductor to build and ship our most popular and in-demand products," GM spokesman David Barnas said. GM said it was extending downtime at its U.S. plant in Fairfax, Kansas, its Canadian factory in Ingersoll, Ontario, and its Mexican facility in San Luis Petosi until mid-March when it would reassess the situation, he said. In addition, GM would build but leave incomplete for final assembly vehicles at Wentzville, Missouri, and its Mexican plant at Ramos Arizpe. GM vehicles affected by the idled plants include the Chevrolet Malibu sedan, Cadillac XT4 SUV, Chevy Equinox, and GMC Terrain SUVs. Vehicles to be left incomplete for now included the Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon pickups and Chevy Blazer SUV. This week, GM had said it was idling the three factories where it has now extended downtime and said it would halve production at a plant in South Korea. The chip shortage has affected many automakers, including Toyota, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Ford, Renault, Subaru, Nissan, Honda and Mazda. Asian chipmakers are rushing to boost production but say the supply gap will take many months to plug. German chipmaker Infineon said the shortage would get worse in the near term. The chip shortage is expected to cut global output in the first quarter by more than 670,000 vehicles and last into the third quarter, IHS Markit said. AutoForecast Solutions estimated total lost production this year could reach 1 million vehicles. Honda and Nissan said on Tuesday they would sell 250,000 fewer cars in total this financial year due.