(June 30,2014) General Motors is increasing its renewable energy use with three acres of new solar arrays at two Michigan facilities. The company’s processing center in Swartz Creek and engine plant in Flint will feature 150-kilowatt ground-mount solar arrays expected to generate a combined 400,000 kilowatt hours of renewable energy per year to the facilities’ grids. That is equivalent to the annual energy use of 25 homes.

(June 30, 2014) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A pair of Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) technologically advanced MiEV Evolution III all-electric prototype race cars placed first and second within the Electric Vehicle division in the 92nd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) on Sunday, June 29th.

They were driven by six-time PPIHC motorcycle champion Greg Tracy and two-time Dakar Rally winner Hiroshi Masuoka.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(June 29, 2014) First, Ford stunned the industry with the announcement that its mega-successful F-150 pickup would be shifting from steel to aluminum body construction. (Ford doesn’t break out specific models like the F-150, but a good rule of thumb is that it accounts for about 2/3, or about 534,000 units, of Ford’s 800,000-unit F-Series sales volume.)

(June 28, 2014) DETROIT — General Motors has announced four safety recalls covering 428,211 vehicles in the United States. Most of the recalls deal with air bag deployment and transfer case control module software.