Zoomi Life

Worried that $78/hour UAW workers would be out of a job, President George W. Bush agreed to bypass Congress’ decision and give Ford, Chrysler, and GM $17.4 billion in bailout money from the $700 billion earmarked to “save” the financial industry. No word on how the money will be split amongst the three pigs, but the money’s been dumped in the trough, so I guess we’ll soon find out.

The bailout also allows the government the option of becoming a stockholder in the companies, which reeks of nationalization. The government can’t even take a profitable whore house in Nevada and keep it running profitably. How’re they gonna do it with huge businesses like this? The answer: they’ll screw it up even more and probably spend more of our money to do it. (Money we don’t have.)

Chrysler, of course, has been quicker than the other two to try to make some green cred for themselves. The company announced on CNN that they’ll be rolling out EVs based on current vehicles. In an earlier article, we talked about the EV Town and Country minivan and Jeep. Supposedly this will lower Chrysler’s cost as the same production line, with few modifications, can make both version of a vehicle: the gas engine and the electric.

Makes sense, in a way. It wasn’t long ago that I lauded Mercedes-Benz for the same idea, though theirs was a little more…well, engineered. Oh, and don’t plan to see any of these Chrysler EVs before 2012. I’m sure by then they’ll have burned through their share of that $17.4 billion and be asking for more to “bring these to market.”

On the other hand, at least Chrysler has delivered a realistic plan to begin producing EVs and hybrid vehicles. So far, all Chevy has is the Volt and Ford has…well, canceled most of their hybrid lines, so they’ve got bupkiss.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go fill out this application for United Auto Workers and get me a government job.

Sources: 1, 2

GEM, a subsidiary of Chrysler, unveiled a new electric car yesterday. The GEM Peapod is the first of a new generation of GEM electric vehicles that will be more user-friendly and efficient.

“We have evolved the GEM design language to better reflect its ecofriendly performance and its upbeat, positive image,” says Chrysler chief innovation officer Peter Arnell, who led the design process. “These vehicles use no gasoline and emit no pollutants. So whether it’s a trip around the neighborhood or the drive to school or work, the GEM Peapod is the ideal way to contribute to a greener planet and a healthy lifestyle.”

The GEM Peapod is fully enclosed and designed to be more aerodynamic, unlike it’s GEM predecessors. Also, unlike previous models, the GEM is set to have some premium driver comforts - a built-in interface in the dash for your iPod or iPhone and and interface to the iPhone for hands-free calling. The seats will be made of a mesh material to allow better air circulation and will be made of ecofriendly and recycled materials.

GEM hopes to have the Peapod into production in 2009 and will follow it with more new models.

Via Motortrend and Dvice

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KCBS) — Chrysler is expected to unveil its own version of a mainstream electric car, giving drivers one more option if they want a plug-in vehicle.
Tesla Motors, Silicon Valley’s own electric car company, welcomes the competition from the big automakers. Tesla is not threatened, said Diarmuid O’Connel, Tesla’s vice president for business development.

Last week, General Motors revealed its electric car, the Chevy Volt, which is expected to hit the market in 2010. O’Connel says unlike the Tesla Roadster, the Volt is not an all-electric car since it has a small gasoline engine.

Read More at KCBS.com…

By DAN STRUMPF 09.19.08, 1:57 PM ET

NEW YORK - Chrysler LLC said Friday it is preparing to reveal some of its future plans to its dealers next week, and one dealer said they’ll get a look at the next-generation electric vehicles the automaker is developing.

Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers across the country will get “insight into our business strategies” Tuesday via videoconference at about 100 movie theaters across the nation, Chrysler spokesman Stuart Schorr said.

Although Schorr declined to reveal the contents of the presentation, Alan Helfman, vice president of River Oaks Chrysler Jeep in Houston, said Chrysler told him the event will show off the plug-in electric cars that the automaker has been working on.

“This new generation of cars, from what I’ve been hearing, are the next generation of electric cars,” Helfman said. “They should be great sellers.”

Schorr said Chrysler CEO and Chairman Robert Nardelli, Vice Chairman Jim Press, Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda and Steven Landry, executive vice president of North American sales, would participate in Tuesday’s program and answer questions from dealers.

“There’s a lot going on inside Chrysler that’s very exciting, and our dealers need to be up to speed on some of the great things that are happening here that will help grow our business going forward,” Schorr said.

A similar presentation is planned for dealers in Canada, Mexico and international locations, he said.

Read More at Forbes.com…