2011 Nissan Versa 4h on 2040-cars

Auto blog

St. Louis man charged in killing of Illinois college student

A St. Louis man has been arrested and charged with murder in the slaying of a 19-year-old Illinois college student who went missing while trying to sell his sports car on Craigslist, authorities said. Capt. Tim Fagan of the Florissant, Missouri, police department said at a news conference Wednesday night that 24-year-old Michael Gordon was taken into custody Tuesday and was being held at the St. Louis County jail in lieu of $1 million bond. Gordon has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Taylor Clark, a sophomore engineering student at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Fagan, the deputy commander of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis and lead investigator in the case, said police arrested Gordon after his name was found in emails Gordon traded with Clark about the car Clark was trying to sell. Investigators said the two did not know one another before they met. Police say Gordon is an employee of a truck driver training center in the St. Louis suburb of Hazelwood, Missouri, not far from where Clark's 2007 Nissan 350ZX and body were found Tuesday. It was not immediately clear whether Gordon has an attorney. Clark, who is from the southwestern Illinois town of St. Jacob, was reported missing by family members on Monday. Authorities say he was last seen by his girlfriend. "Our hearts and minds are with Taylor Clark's family and friends as they cope with this tragic loss," SIU-E Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe said in a statement issued Wednesday. "At a time of the year when the new spring season brings the promise of brighter days ahead, and commencement provides unending potential for so many of our students, it is truly sad that Taylor had his bright future taken away." The Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat reported that Clark worked at a convenience store in Troy, where a candlelight vigil was scheduled for Wednesday night. A similar vigil was held Tuesday night on campus. Clark's death comes during the same week as a Monday court hearing in St. Charles County in which a 23-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing a 45-year-old St. Louis man during an encounter and planned robbery in 2012 that was set up through a Craigslist ad. On the same day of the hearing, Fairview Heights, Illinois, police unveiled a "safe exchange zone" on its parking lot, complete with security cameras, to help citizens safely broker online transactions with strangers.

Recharge Wrap-up: Indianapolis to switch 425 fleet vehicles to EVs, Chevy Corvette provides bat habitats

Indianapolis will deploy 425 battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles as part of its municipal fleet by 2016. The fleet will include such cars as the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and Ford Fusion Energi. The city will also reduce its overall fleet by 100 vehicles. In all, the revised group - called the "Freedom Fleet" - will save $8.7 million and 2.2 million gallons of gasoline over 10 years. Read more at Hybrid Cars. EVs with longer range would make vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid energy management systems more practical for the US. The idea of using EVs as energy storage for emergencies or times of high grid demand is currently being tested in Japan with Nissan's Leaf-to-Home system. The US is also interested in such capabilities, but the higher average energy use of American households would make larger batteries in EVs ideal for grid storage applications. Read more at Green Car Reports. LG Chem has broken ground on its EV battery plant in Nanjing, China. The factory, when constructed, will have a capacity of producing batteries for 100,000 cars per year according to the Korean company. The plant will supply batteries for Chinese automakers such as SAIC and Qoros. Construction is expected to be finished by the end of 2015 and LG Chem expects revenue of more than $933 million by 2020. Read more in the press release below. General Motors is using adhesive used in the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray to create habitat for threatened bat species. Artificial bat caves could help alleviate white-nose fungus that leads to diminished bat populations. Leftover adhesive is used to create stalactites in the artificial caves, allowing them more structure to hang from. GM has also provided Volt battery covers to create nesting habitats for bats, which eat harmful insects and help pollinate plants. See the videos and read more in the press release below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. LG Chem officially breaks ground for China EV battery plant Seoul, Korea - Oct 30, 2014 – LG Chem, Korea's leading manufacturer of advanced batteries, held a ground breaking ceremony for the construction of electric-car battery plant in Nanjing, China, to meet growing demand in the world's biggest car market.

West Coast labor dispute hampers Japanese automakers' US plants

The ongoing labor dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and port owners along the West Coast is starting to affect more Japanese automakers building vehicles in the US. The issue already forced Honda and Subaru to take the expensive option of airlifting some parts into the US weeks ago, and according to USA Today, Toyota and Nissan have begun doing so, as well. The choice hasn't been cheap, though, and Subaru's chief financial officer estimated that the decision cost around $60 million more per month than sending components by cargo ship. The effects continue to radiate, according to USA Today, and shortages of some models are possible. Honda is slowing production at its factories in Ohio, Indiana and Canada because the automaker doesn't have enough transmissions and electronics for some vehicles. Toyota already cut back on overtime at some factories. Nissan has only seen a small effect from the issue, though, because of its local suppliers. Dock workers and port owners have been negotiating on a new contract since last year, and the union has organized work slowdowns in response. According to USA Today, the automakers could move shipments to Canada or Mexico, but it would take longer for parts to arrive. News Source: USA TodayImage Credit: Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty Images Earnings/Financials Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Honda Nissan Subaru Toyota shipping port labor dispute