Cars | Grist

The Grist List: From Underwear to Underwater

Change the world by changing your underpants, and more 1
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
We'll be brief: Want to change the world? Start with your underpants.
General Musings

GM: Innovators or crackheads? 5
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Hot on the heels of last week's news about the 230-mile-per-gallon Chevy Volt comes word that GM will build a $4,000 compact. Brilliance or desperation?
But is it working?

Surprisingly popular Cash for Clunkers program raises hopes—and questions 2
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
The sight of car buyers back in showrooms these past two weeks has raised hopes that U.S. consumers are ready, primed by government stimulus, to spend again. But questions remain.
Clunk You, Detroit!

Cash-for-Clunkers returns from the dead ... until Labor Day 0
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
The Senate celebrated the imminent arrival of the annual August recess by confirming Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination and ponying up an additional $2 billion for the highly successful (though dubiously green) cash-for-clunkers program.
Tour de fab

Would you trade your car for a bike? 3
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Would you trade your car for a bike? That's what the folks behind the Tour de Fat want to know. The cycle celebration is pedaling to Seattle and they'll be taking a car off the hands of one (lucky?) local driver and handing him a cool commuter bike in return.
The Grist List: From Lob to Lorax

That smarts! Dutch pranksters go car-tipping, and more 3
Posted 4 months ago
Forget cow-tipping. Dutch pranksters are all about car-tipping these days, dumping dozens of lightweight Smart cars into Amsterdam's canals. What tossers!
Three minutes in a Tesla 1
Posted 4 months ago
On EV street

Tesla speeds past financial troubles, opens retail stores across country 11
Posted 4 months ago
Tesla Motors has rebounded from recent financial troubles and is starting to launch retail stores across the country. This weekend, they opened the doors of their Seattle showroom -- and their all-electric Roadsters.
Radiant Cities: Drive Through This

Can we really make the drive-thru a source of power? 3
Posted 4 months ago
Drivers drooling as they wait for Big Macs and Whoppers could be a promising energy source, if one company has its way. Find out whether the latest scheme will work -- and who's trying to stand in its path.
Going Topless

Ask Umbra on buying a convertible 6
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
A college-bound student with muy generous parents wonders which convertible car she should buy. Umbra, somewhat agog at the question, manages to uncover an answer.
Waiver hello

EPA affirms California’s right to set tougher automobile emissions standards 1
Posted 5 months ago
The EPA announced on Tuesday that it will grant a waiver for California and 13 other states to set automobile emission standards that are higher than national ones. The move is important symbolically, even though it isn't likely to lead to emission reductions in the next few years.
Frontpage Falsehoods

The New York Times sells its integrity to ExxonMobil 0
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
The NYT simply can't give up precious front page space for this kind of disinformation, which is utterly misleading to the public.
Radiant Cities: Driving It Home

One man’s plan to re-create suburbia, sans cars 1
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
If Sherman Lewis has his way, he and 950 other homeowners will soon be living in a car-free California paradise. But can he shift his vision into high gear, or will it stall out?
Calling all hoopties!

Congress gives green light to “cash for clunkers” bill; Obama to sign 6
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
After the Senate passed the "cash for clunkers" bill on Thursday, it's now headed to President Barack Obama's desk, and he's expected to sign it enthusiastically.
Ray (and Shaun and Lisa) of Hope

Feds get cozy for sustainable communities 3
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
A new partnership will promote affordable housing, public transit, and walkable neighborhoods. Pinch us, we're dreaming.
Point A to Point Whee!

The best U.S. transit systems you never knew existed 15
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Certain cities are public transit all-stars: New York, San Francisco, D.C. But what about the rest of the country? As cities rethink how their residents get around, we take a look at transit innovations gaining speed in unexpected places.
Chu & Obama are right to kill the program, Part 1

Hydrogen fuel cell cars are a dead end from a technological, practical, and climate perspective 6
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
I wanted to once and for all lay out the case against hydrogen as a transport fuel, starting with an excerpt of almost my entire Energy Policy piece. I think it is worthwhile reading for anyone interested in understanding the challenges facing alternative fuels.
The Grist List: From Bikes to Books

Bikers seeking good ride get naked, and more 4
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
The best part about World Naked Bike Day: No awkward spandex shorts. The worst part about World Naked Bike Day: No awkward spandex shorts.
Cashing in

House approves “Cash for Clunkers” bill, enviros unimpressed 12
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
The House approved a measure on Tuesday that would give Americans a cash incentive to trade in their old, gas-guzzling automobiles for slightly more efficient models. The "Cash for Clunkers" bill passed through the chamber with a 298 to 119 vote, and the Senate could vote on similar legislation later this week.
Next, In Car Nation

Slideshow: The plug-ins and electric vehicles of 2009 8
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Check out these electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that are either on the market now or will be by the end of 2009.