2005 Honda Accord Hybrid Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Daimler, Toyota, BMW to lead $10-billion hydrogen investment

Daimler, BMW, and Toyota are leading a group of 13 companies pledging to invest more than $10 billion during the next five years to spur enough infrastructure-building and technology advancements to get more of the general public to buy hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The automakers, which also include Honda and Hyundai, as well as companies such as Shell, AirLiquide, Linde Group, and Total SA, are part of what they're calling the Hydrogen Council. The group made its announcement in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. The Hydrogen Council will pledge to accelerate its rate of hydrogen-related investments, which currently stand at about $1.5 billion annually. The coalition says its work represents a continuation of the 2015 Paris Agreement, in which many of the companies agreed to address the issue of climate change. The group says that hydrogen, which emits water vapor when used in fuel-cell vehicles, "can play an important role in the transition to a clean, low-carbon, energy system." The Hydrogen Council also vowed to push global governments to accelerate public investment in hydrogen-related infrastructure. Relative to other drivetrain technologies, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are in their relative infancy in terms of adoption because of the high cost of both building fuel cell vehicles and setting up a hydrogen-refueling infrastructure. Toyota is the only automaker that sells a production fuel-cell vehicle in the US. The Japanese company, which introduced its Mirai domestically in late 2015, sold 1,034 of them in the US last year. Daimler subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz, used Tuesday's announcement to remind people that it would start selling its GLC plug-in hydrogen fuel-cell crossover this year. There are only 33 publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations in the US, including 30 in California, and one each in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and South Carolina, according to the US Department of Energy. By comparison, there are more than 15,000 electric-vehicle charging stations with almost 40,000 outlets in the US. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 News Source: Daimler/Hydrogen Council via Bloomberg, Automotive News-sub.req. Green BMW Honda Hyundai Mercedes-Benz Toyota Hydrogen Cars infrastructure mercedes f-cell

Honda, Acura recall Ridgeline, Accord, MDX, TLX for various fuel pump issues

Honda and Acura have issued two separate fuel pump-related recalls for Ridgeline pickups, as well as Accord and TLX sedans, and MDX SUVs. Affected Ridgelines could have an increased risk of fire, while the Accord, TLX, and MDX could potentially stall out while driving. According to NHTSA campaign No. 19V053000, Honda is recalling 106,683 2017-2019 Ridgelines because the fuel pump feed port could crack when exposed to certain acids, including car wash soaps. If it cracks, it could leak pressurized fuel, which could catch fire. Vehicles with this defect are subject to a free fuel pump replacement, as well as an extra fuel pump cover. The second recall, campaign No. 19V060000, affects 437,032 2016-2018 MDX, 2015-2019 TLX, and 2015-2017 Accord models equipped with 3.5-liter V6 engines. According to Honda, fuel particulates could stick to internal components of the fuel pump. This could potentially slow down the fuel pump and hinder performance, which could cause the engine to sputter and stall. Honda dealers will update the fuel injection engine control unit software and/or replace the fuel pump, if needed. If you want to know if your vehicle is included in one of these recalls, contact your Honda or Acura dealer, call the NHTSA hotline at 1-888-327-4236, or visit safecar.gov. Related Video:

Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes also under diesel emissions scrutiny

The controversy over Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal isn't limited to the US. In Europe, where diesel engines are far more popular, the issue is shining a harsh light on the NEDC emissions test. As already known, the evaluation does a poor job of reflecting real-world production of NOx, and it appears a significant number of automakers are affected. The Guardian in the UK has been reporting on real-world test results from a company called Emissions Analytics. After the latest round of checks, vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi were found to generate far more NOx than they should. The newspaper also published similar results for Renault, Nissan, Hyundai, Fiat, Volvo, Jeep, Citroen, VW, and Audi. On average, the figures are about four times over the limit of producing the pollutant. Unlike VW and its defeat device, these automakers aren't actually breaking the rules. The vehicles perform up to the NEDC lab test for emissions, but those results simply aren't translated to the street. "The VW issue in the US was purely the trigger which threw light on a slightly different problem in the EU - widespread legal over-emissions," Nick Molden from Emissions Analytics said to The Guardian. A big fight to decide the future of this issue appears to be on the horizon. Automakers claim that they can't meet the next round of tightening emissions regulations and are asking for compromises. Although, spokespeople for Mercedes and Honda told The Guardian that the brands would be in favor of the stricter rules. Meanwhile, some European governments began backtracking their support of diesels well before this scandal came to light. The added scrutiny certain hasn't helped the future of the oil-burner. Related Video: