Archive for the ‘Fun Stuff’ Category

The ZOE Z.E. concept car stems from a curious collaboration between French automaker Renault and luxury skincare company Biotherm (a division of L'Oreal). The ZOE Z.E. offers the usual complement of EV conceptual goodness -- it's battery-powered, boasts zero-emissions, is quickly rechargeable, and makes use of solar power -- but it also has a handful of spa-like amenities, including a hydrating a/c system.

Our fave feature, however, would have to be the car's aromatherapeutic element:  "An electric system diffuses essential oils, exclusive active substances adapted to the needs of the driver: dynamic in the morning, relaxing coming home...

Toyota's floor mat safety issue is rapidly turning into a public spectacle, as the NHTSA yesterday said statements made in a letter to customers about the floor mats were "inaccurate and misleading." The worst part? The NHTSA says the letter was inaccurate and misleading about the existence of defects in the 3.8 million vehicles at issue. Catch the full story at Motor Authority.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, traffic keeps getting safer and safer: fatalities are at an all-time low. Just 1.15 fatalities occur for every 100 million miles driven, down from 1.23 in mid-2008. The rates are also at their lowest since the U.S. government...

Chrysler's 7-hour press conference yesterday to announce its five-year product plan yielded many interesting tidbits, and even a few surprises, all of which we've broken into brands and put in plain English in our coverage at the link below. But that's not all that's happened over the past 24 hours.

Suzuki also released pricing of the new Kizashi sedan, and starting at $18,000, it's sure to make the big-name players in the segment take a cautious look at their own offerings. Talk of raising the gas tax is back on the table, unfortunately, and all of us that put fuel in a car ought to be paying attention.

On the sportier side of things,...