2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 2lz on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM seatbelt recall affects over 1m Silverados and Sierras

The Basics: General Motors will recall 895,232 examples of the 2014-2015 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups in the US. The campaign will also affect the trucks in markets worldwide, and the total number the company will recall is 1,037,982. The Problem: A steel cable connects the seatbelt to the vehicle, but over time repeated bending can cause the part to fatigue and separate. Injuries/Deaths: None reported. The Fix: Dealers will enlarge the side shield opening and install a pusher bracket on the tensioner. Technicians will also replace the entire tensioner assembly if necessary. If You Own One: GM will contact owners about the recall. The company hasn't said when those notifications would begin. More Information: There are still about 3,000 new examples of these older pickups at dealerships. Until mechanics fix the problem, these vehicles are subject to a stop-sale. Similar problems have affected the General's vehicles in the past. In 2015, the company recalled over 400,000 units of the 2011-2012 Chevrolet Malibu for fatiguing cables. It also hit over a million Lambda platform crossovers in 2014. GM Recalling Certain 2014-15 Pickups to Repair Seat Belts DETROIT – GM is voluntarily recalling 895,232 model year 2014-15 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups in the United States because the flexible steel cable that connects the seat belt to the vehicle can fatigue and separate over time as a result of the driver repeatedly bending the cable when entering the seat. This issue was discovered through warranty data, and there have been no reports of crashes, injuries or fatalities related to this issue. For trucks in the field, dealers will enlarge the side shield opening, install a pusher bracket on the tensioner, and if necessary, replace the tensioner assembly. The recall in the United States includes a stop-sale of approximately 3,000 new 2014 and 2015 model year pickups still on dealer lots. Dealers will repair the vehicles prior to delivering them to customers. Customers will be notified by General Motors. They also can look up their vehicle identification number (VIN) at either https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/ website or at https://my.gm.com/web/portal/ownercenter to see if their vehicle is part of the recall. GM also will voluntarily recall and repair these models in other countries where they are sold, including Canada, Mexico, and several countries in Latin America and the Middle East.

Recharge Wrap-up: 'Racing Extinction' Tesla, Wards praises 3 hybrids

The makers of Racing Extinction used a tricked out Tesla Model S for their movie. The artists and activists used the electric car as a platform to project images from nature in various cities to raise awareness about imperiled wildlife. In addition to a the high-powered projector, the Model S features a electroluminescent paint job that emits light to mimic creatures found in the wild, such as bioluminescent sea life. It also has a thermal imaging camera in the front of the car with a filter to view CO2 emissions. Check it out in the video above, and read more at Ecomento. WardsAuto has named the 2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug-In Hybrid's powertrain to its list of 10 Best Engines. As the first plug-in hybrid to make the list, WardsAuto World Editor-in-Chief Drew Winter praises Hyundai engineers for their "impeccable job blending fuel efficiency with refinement and daily usability." Wards notes the car's smooth transitions between electric and hybrid modes, and a well-connected six-speed automatic transmission. Other electrified vehicles to make the list are the 2016 Chevrolet Volt and 2016 Toyota Prius. Read more from Hyundai, at Green Car Reports. FEV's plug-in hybrid battery pack has gone into vehicle series production. The 10-kWh battery pack, developed by the German development services provider, offers an all-electric range of about 30 miles. FEV says its battery management algorithms are just as important as choosing the right battery hardware. "The core system for the battery development is our own mature battery management system (BMS), now in its third generation, that together with optimized algorithms allows a very reliable and stable control of the battery," says FEV's Dr. Michael Stapelbroek. Read more at Green Car Congress, or in the press release from FEV below. Hybrid Vehicle Goes Into Series Production FEV development competence consists of batteries, controls, as well as complete drive systems FEV has demonstrated competence in the development of alternative drive concepts for almost twenty years. Most recently, yet another plug-in hybrid vehicle has gone into series production with technology provided by the Aachen-based developer. In addition to using an innovative transmission concept which is based on a FEV patent, FEV also developed the battery technology of the plug-in hybrid vehicle to series production readiness.

Can Fernando Alonso win Indy? Here's why and why maybe not

SPEEDWAY, IN – The month of May has been a joy ride for Fernando Alonso at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The two-time Formula 1 champion came to Indy having never turned left in a race car without also turning right. But he acquired such a feel for Indy's 2 1/2 -mile rectangle during a month of practice and qualifying that he's considered a strong contender to win the 101st Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, rookie or not. "You're not trying to bring somebody on who has very little experience driving very high-performance cars," said 2003 Indy 500 winner Gil deFerran, who this month has helped Alonso learn the nuances that make the speedway such a tough place to conquer. "I suppose it would be a little bit different if you were dealing with a younger, much less experienced person." Driving a McLaren Honda from the potent Andretti Autosport team, Alonso was consistently near the top of the speed charts in practice, he qualified fifth fastest at 231.300 mph, and he handled runs in heavy traffic like a driver who'd done it many times before. But those were the prelims. The race is another creature. "The car felt the best (it has) in the last two weeks. I was making some moves, taking some different lines. I am extremely happy." Other drivers say the speedway looks different on race day when the crowd, expected to top 300,000, fills the grandstands and makes an already narrow track seem even tighter. The three-wide rolling start is something Alonso has never experienced, and he will see the green flag from the middle of the second row between Takuma Sato and J.R. Hildebrand. And the space he'll be given by his competitors in the first 180 laps may disappear In the last 20 when it's every driver for themselves. Can a rookie like Alonso win this race? Absolutely, as Andretti driver Alexander Rossi showed last year when his team used a fuel-mileage strategy to win in his first taste of Indy. We're talking about Fernando Alonso here, who easily could show his rookie stripes to the rest of the field most of the day. His best lap in Friday's final practice, 226.608, was fifth fastest in the field and, more important, he said the car felt comfortable in heavy traffic. "The car felt the best (it has) in the last two weeks," Alonso said. "I was making some moves, taking some different lines.