Escaping Carmageddon in a Flying Car

Perhaps you bought a new car last month or over the July 4th weekend. What did you pay? Well, the average vehicle transaction topped $30,000 in June, or almost $850 more than the same month last year. We love to talk about gadgets in cars, and those gadgets and infotainment systems are what's pushing prices higher.

Even as prices rise, auto makers are always looking for new incentives. GM's latest is free car insurance, but only in Oregon and Washington and only for Cadillac buyers. That won't benefit Midwestern car buyers, who tend to be the most loyal to U.S. brands.

Are you a patriotic buyer?

Patriotism isn't in play for electric car buyers, with Nissan Leaf sales topping Chevrolet Volt sales. The local Independence Day parade illustrated that. There were about 10 Leafs, and no Volts.

Those Leafs glided past quietly, and that has regulators concerned. They are seriously considering adding "pedestrian warning sounds" to electric and hybrid vehicles.

Something else that worries regulators, cellphones and driving. But the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) urges states to hold off on banning the practice until more research is done to gauge the effectiveness of such laws.

Even though his fortune and his job depend on selling cars and trucks, Ford Motor Chairman Bill Ford wants more efforts into developing alternative modes of transportation.

Los Angeles area residents are probably going to be abandoning their cars next weekend when a much-hyped construction project closed the 405 for an entire weekend. The expected traffic jam is being called Carmageddon.

Perhaps the expected gridlock will make the roads safer for men and women. Well, maybe more for women. A new study of 6.5 million car crashes found that women crashed into other women more often than expected.

Finally, a flying car has received clearance to take to the roads. Good luck finding enough runway to go from highway to the sky.

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The Podcast That Could Have Helped You Buy a Car Yesterday

The most wonderful podcast of the month: Car sales. They rose in November, except for Toyota, which is still suffering from the aftereffects of its unintended acceleration.

Deals are to be had for car buyers.

Most surprising data point: The week between Christmas and New Year is the busiest time for new-car sales. But the best auto deals are usually at the end of November, and for 2010 it was November 30th. And KBB has its list of the vehicles with the best resale value.

The Volt is just rolling off of the factory line, and the EPA finally got around to slapping a sticker on Chevrolet's extended range electric vehicle. GM, which is on a small roll, was able to pay back some of its debt.

Also, a new study says the auto industry bailout saved over 1 million jobs.

Too bad those working stiffs still had to sit in traffic, particularly in New York City and around Washington D.C.

Finally, Sony released Gran Turismo 5 for the PlayStation3 after years of development and Autoblog's review doesn't have us revved up to buy it.

GetThisShowOnTheRoad, December 2, 2010.mp3

Volt Gets Fuel Economy Ratings From EPA and an Unreadable Sticker

Chevrolet Volt EPA Sticker

GM is touting the fuel economy ratings of the extended-range electric hybrid gasoline engine plus battery powered Chevrolet Volt in a press release.

And I'm sure the company is thrilled with the number 93 - as in combined mileage of the electric-only driving system, which relies on power from the grid rather than gasoline.

As a public relations effort the Volt is already a success and I think they will have an easy time selling all they can make initially. But the complexity of the label, which GM references in the release and is illustrated in the mammoth explainer the EPA has attached to the label, may be a negative as these kinds of vehicles become more mainstream.

Still, as we have seen with the Prius, perception is as important as reality for car shoppers.

Drinking and Driving Without a Helmet to Celebrate GM's IPO (and Mathew's Birthday)

GM is going big with its IPO, hoping to cash in on strong demand by raising the price and increasing the size.

The Chevrolet Volt is just about ready to hit the streets. The one thing missing: A fuel-economy sticker from the EPA.

Perhaps the Volt will help continue the trend of higher fuel economy across the industry, and lower emissions.

Watch out. Wear a helmet.

One company pushing efficiency is Hyundai and they are expecting gains the overall auto sales and their sales in 2011.

Tweeting to drive sales might help, as Toyota and some other car makers are experimenting with.

In Los Angeles, some new designs and cool concepts are on display at the auto show. Autoblog has some excellent coverage from LA.

Perhaps a new Meter Maid car is what you might want to drive. WSJ has a fun piece on a mini-trend of people buying retired parking patrol machines.

Those three-wheelers don't need a helmet, but the NTSB is saying there should be mandatory motorcycle helmet laws across the U.S.

MADD is looking to force drivers to prove to their cars they aren't drunk to get the engine to start. Really.

Finally, more old people are getting behind the wheel. Mainly because people are just getting older.

GetThisShowOnTheRoad, November 18, 2010.mp3

This Is a 100% Electric-Powered Podcast and We Don't Lie About It

Who cares whether the gas-engine powers the wheels or the electric motors if you get 127 miles per gallon. The controversy about the Volt powertrain has put Chevrolet in the hot seat this week, but it probably won't hurt GM's stock price next month. Still, it's nice to inject some truthiness into your marketing.

Will GM's bad marketing doom the Volt?

Best Buy is betting on electric vehicles and planning to install charging stations at some of its stores. Probably a good way to kill some time in the store while getting some juice in the batteries. But remember the eitiquette rules of the charger that All Cars Electric has composed for would-be electric car owners.

More corn is coming to your gas tank. The EPA is getting ready to allow more E15 fuel (up from 10% ethanol to 15%) to reach consumers.

It used to be that the design or style of vehicle you bought was determined by what you did with the vehicle. The increase in alternative fuel powerplants means drivers need to know how they drive to determine the right engine, writers Joe White.

Ford has worked with Ideo to come up with design principles around dashboard and interfaces to ensure drivers keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.

Need an electronic babysitter to stop from texting in the car? A new app will pay you to keep your hands off the smartphone while you drive.

I care about the color of my car and silver is the right color. I'm not alone. According to PPG, 31% of new cars in the U.S. and Canada are silver or some shade of grey or charcoal.

GetThisShowOnTheRoad October 14, 2010.mp3

Steal This Podcast! (Auto Sales Thrive, David's New Ride)

The calendar has rolled around to another month so that means car sales are here. Our favorite story line. Last year's numbers were skewed by the hugely successful Cash for Clunkers program. Even so, July auto sales were fairly strong with larger vehicles getting a boost and small car sales slipping compared with last year.

Cadillac sales topped the list in terms of percentage gains but buyers of the giant Escalade beware, the Highway Loss Data Institute says it gets the highest rate of theft claims. But Volvo's S80 doesn't get stolen much, no surprise.

China's 3D Express Coach 

If you are looking for something safe, and probably less desirable for thieves, then check out Consumer Reports' list of ideal vehicles for teens and senior citizen drivers.

We know that teens like the Internet and they may be helping Nissan's Leaf win the search battle over the Chevrolet Volt. The all-electric Leaf is still getting most of the attention from Web searchers.

China is considering a cleverly designed bus that is jacked up to ride over traffic. Smart yes, realistic, probably not.

Finally, David is getting a new set of wheels. Listen in for the details and check back on the blog for photos and reviews.

GetThisShowOnTheRoad August 4, 2010.mp3

Ford's Facebook Launch May Be More Efficient Than Podcasting With a Glass of Water

GM's Chevrolet is all set to let the cat out of the bag with the pricing for the Volt extended-electric vehicle. We'll update the site with the details as soon as possible.

Mike Rowe and Alan Mulally launch the Ford Explorer

But can they trump the big news from Ford, which virtually pulled the wrapper off it's 2011 Explorer via Facebook this week. And garnered some big coverage and big kudos for trying something new. We're still absorbing the news and critiquing the design, but Mathew may put it on his list.

In looking for ways to get people to improve their fuel economy even more, Toyota has launched a site that encourages drivers to hit the streets as if they had a glass of water on their dashboard. Not a real glass of water, but they do have an iPhone app that we will test out.

We are also going to test out the Nation of Go, a new Web community designed to get drivers to share their favorite routes.

GM may have hit a speed bump with its plan to buy a portion of lender AmeriCredit and get back into the auto-lending business. But one senator is wondering whether GM should have paid back the U.S. Treasury first.

Finally, Audi unveiled its A7 Sportback, a gorgrous new design that slot below the big A8 sedan and has the look of some much higher-end sport sedans from Jaguar and Porsche.

GetThisShowOnTheRoad July 28, 2010.mp3