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Anyone even vaguely familiar with the European auto market knows that diesel-fueled vehicles take up a huge portion of the roads there. A combination of high fuel efficiency, useful torque in tightly packed cities, low CO2 emissions and tax incentives all contribute to the popularity. However, ever the iconoclasts, the French government wants the oil burners off its roads in the coming years.

“In France, we have long favoured the diesel engine. This was a mistake, and we will progressively undo that, intelligently and pragmatically,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a speech, according to Reuters. Under his plan, the country would begin ranking vehicles by the pollution they create next year, and cities would be free to limit access from the worst offenders.

In addition, Valls plans to use taxation to push drivers to other options. Part of the plan includes raising the tax on diesel by two cents per litre in 2015. Also, drivers who trade in their oil-burner for an electric vehicle are eligible for up to 10,000 euros ($14,200), according to Reuters. The only problem with that, though, is that France’s network of nuclear power plants might not be able to take the added load of so many EVs charging.

The country’s environment minister suggested a similar tax hike on oil-burners in 2013 to improve public health. While the fuel has its advantages, diesel emits more nitrogen dioxide than gasoline. One report claimed that the substance could cause 420,000 premature deaths in Europe each year.

The move could rankle the roughly 80 per cent of French drivers who own diesel-fueled cars, but it’s the latest attempt to lower pollution levels in France. A proposed plan earlier this summer could cover much of Paris with an 19-mile-per-hour speed limit (30 km/h). There was also a very brief attempt to limit cars from entering the capital by their license plate number.

Continue reading France says diesel cars a ‘mistake,’ announces phase-out plans

France says diesel cars a ‘mistake,’ announces phase-out plans originally appeared on Autoblog Canada on Sun, 07 Dec 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consumer Reports is crunching the numbers from its annual owner-satisfaction survey, and part of that process is finding out how attached drivers are to their cars. CR simply asks readers of models up to three years old if they would buy the same vehicle again in light of their entire ownership experience, and tallies the results. After looking at the responses for about 350,000 vehicles, it turns out that people really love a certain California-built, electrically powered luxury sedan.

That’s right, this year’s the overall winner was the Tesla Model S with a whopping 98 per cent of owners saying they would purchase another one (the Model S also won this award last year, with 99 per cent satisfaction). The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray came in a close second with 95 per cent of drivers hoping to park another one in their garage.

A few models weren’t quite so favoured, though. The Nissan Versa Sedan was the least loved model among its owners; a mere 42 per cent said that they would purchase another. The aging Jeep Compass didn’t do much better, with just 43 per cent of drivers willing to buy the softroader again.

On average, about 70 per cent of owners say they would buy their car again, and only four cars ranked below 50 per cent in CR’s findings. Check out the video above to see some of the winners and losers in a few of CR’s categories. If you’re a subscriber, you can check out the full list on its website.

Continue reading Consumer Reports declares most and least loved cars [w/video]

Consumer Reports declares most and least loved cars [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog Canada on Wed, 03 Dec 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: GM, Technology, Safety, Ownership and Repair

Cars Will Warn Of Failures Before They Happen

Soon, OnStar will be used to mine your car’s systems and compare its findings against vast pools of data in the cloud.

We’ve all become accustomed to our cars’ dashboards warning us of an impending calamity, be it low fuel, low tire pressure or even the dreaded nonspecific “check engine” light. But what if your car could tell you specifically that your alternator is going, or that your water pump is about to fail? That technology is coming, says General Motors‘ executive vice president of global product development, Mark Reuss. In a Thursday media luncheon, Reuss confirmed to us that GM is working on the technology using cars equipped with its OnStar communications network. According to Reuss:

“Being able to predict about when that [a failure] is going to happen prevents walk homes. If there’s a problem with a brake rotor, if there’s a problem with a brake system or a steering system – being able to predict that [failure] and inform the driver that they need to go to a dealer and have that service performed before it happens, that’s really good R&D.”

Today, OnStar is best known for its subscription services that help drivers deal with inconveniences and problems, from turn-by-turn navigation to automatic emergency services notifications in the event of an accident. But soon, OnStar will be used to mine your car’s systems and compare its findings against vast pools of data in the cloud. If it finds variations in the performance of your vehicle’s systems that are indicative of impending failures, OnStar will then be able to automatically notify you of the potential problem utilizing in-car screens, either via the infotainment system or gauge cluster display. OnStar presently has the ability to notify owners of vehicle maintenance intervals using email, so conceivably notifications could be delivered in this way, too.

So, will this be yet another subscription-based service for GM? Not necessarily. Reuss says:

“We’re figuring out the business model right now. But theoretically, we’d like to offer that to all of our customers. We already give away a ton of money on that equipment of OnStar in the car that nobody really pays for. So we’re going to use it.”

So, is this pie-in-the-sky technology? No, Reuss says. “We’re testing the system now with our employees,” he says, which suggests it’s coming soon.

Now, how long will it be before OnStar checks to make sure your preferred dealer has the required replacement part in stock and reserves a service appointment for you?

Continue reading How GM’s OnStar is building a better Check Engine Light

How GM’s OnStar is building a better Check Engine Light originally appeared on Autoblog Canada on Sat, 22 Nov 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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