GM has announced that the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will offer one-pedal driving. GM states “One-pedal driving combines the highest available level of regenerative braking, which captures otherwise lost energy from deceleration and sends it back to the Bolt EV battery pack for the greatest total vehicle range.” The [highlight style=”default”]regenerative braking has four levels[/highlight] the driver can choose from. The first level is the lowest and requires the use of a brake pedal to stop the vehicle completely. The second through fourth levels are progressively stronger and in specific circumstances, the driver can stop the vehicle without using the brake pedal. The vehicle is estimated to provide 200 miles or more of range.
The Government Fleet Expo and Conference (GFX) is now accepting applications for presenters for next year’s sessions. Topic ideas and abstracts, providing a [highlight style=”default”]summary of an unbiased session idea[/highlight], can be provided to the planning committee. Next year’s event will be held in San Antonio, TX, June 12-15. The abstracts should be submitted to kaity.matsubara@bobit.com and are due on October 21.
The California legislature passed AB1613, which includes provisions for [highlight style=”default”]clean energy vehicle rebates[/highlight]. $133 million is available for the program. The cap for how much a person can earn has been lowered as there was criticism the program was funding EV purchases by wealthy citizens. Now individuals can earn up to $150,000 and joint filers have a cap of $300,000. The funding is now available, but the earning caps go into effect on November 1.
Ford is introducing a 2017 Ford F-150 full-size pickup truck with a new [highlight style=”default”]10-speed automatic transmission[/highlight] and orders can be placed in October. The truck’s transmission is the first of its kind in a production vehicle and was co-developed with General Motors. The vehicle will have an upgraded 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V-6 engine. This option is standard on the Limited and Raptor models. The 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine is expected to produce the same 365 horsepower prior version but increases the torque to 450 pound-feet. Chevrolet will debut the transmission in the2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
[highlight style=”default”]Ford announced a door latch recall[/highlight] at the beginning of August and announced that the recall has been expanded. Now there are 2,383,292 affected vehicles. The pawl spring tab in the latches may break, which could prevent the door from closing properly. As a result, the door could open while driving.
The following vehicles are affected:
2013-2015 Ford C-Max and Escape
2012-2015 Ford Focus
2015 Ford Mustang
2015 Lincoln MKC
2014-2016 Ford Transit Connect