A bit of odd news out of the cold, cold north.  It seems that Minnesota has decided that it might be a good idea to ban smoking in cars when a child is in the vehicle.  The law is not a new idea, other states have adopted similar measures already.  According to http://www.forbes.com/ the matter will come before a vote in the future:

“The Minnesota bill comes before legislators about a year and a half after a statewide smoking ban took effect. The ban prohibits smoking in just about every workplace, including company cars carrying more than one person.”

What do you think about this legislation?  Do you live in a state that already follows such a policy?  Is this to much of an intrusion into our personal lives by the government?  I often find that I wish smoking was banned in all cars, when I am cruising down the boulevard and that little ball of flame shoots out the window of the car in front of me,  or when I am driving behind someone smoking like a chimney and I can actually smell the smoke in my car.  Those situations aggravate me a good deal, but does the government have any right to tell drivers that they can’t smoke in their own vehicles?  Certaily it could be considered to be protecting the lives of the children who otherwise would not be able to get out of the smoke, but I must admit I have mixed feelings?  Where do you stand on this issue?

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When you think about the future of the automotive industry the first name that comes to mind might not be Kia (of course looking at things as they stand currently you might not be thinking Ford, Gm, Chrysler, or Toyota either).  Kia, however, may be looking to change your conceptions with a new Euro concept model.  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ has all the latest info on a car that seems to be making some serious waves in the automotive industry:

“Currently dubbed the No. 3 Concept Car, the multipurpose vehicle features a striking glass roof canopy that extends the windshield almost all the way over the roof of the vehicle, interrupted only by a diagonal support. The Korean automaker plans to unveil the vehicle at the Geneva auto show, which opens March 3.”

The Kia really is pretty interesting to look at.  Picture a Ford Focus with an F-16 canopy and you are pretty much on target.  Not much is said about the fuel economy of the Kia, but from the looks of the vehicle you can guess that the model is most likely based around getting good gas mileage.  Will the Kia make a big splash?  Hard to say, if gas prices kick back up and people get the fever to purchase more small cars then it seems likely that this concept could easily find a niche, assuming of course that it comes in at a price that seems reasonable to consumers.

For more information about how to rent a car during 2009, contact Triangle Rent a Car today!

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Are you the kind of guy (or gal…I don’t want to leave anyone out) who wears black plastic thick rimmed glasses?  Do you drive a VW?  How about that thing you are looking at right now, is it a Mac?  Do you consider yourself to be an “intellectual,” the kind that can tell you what is going on in the world of politics while at the same time describe the same in the Klingon language?  In short, are you a tech nerd?  Well if you said yes to any or all of the above indulge in the ultimate nerd accessory: an iPhone run car.  

According to boston.com the car is made by a Swiss company and based around that favorte tool of image concious nerds everywhere:

“An array of automotive-themed iPhone applications – accelerometers, parking reminders, racing games – are little more than cute amusements for waiting in the dentist’s office. But the most innovative and useful auto app isn’t available for download - it controls a concept car made by Rinspeed, the wild Swiss company responsible for last year’s submersible Lotus Elise. “

Boston.com does mention the troubling questions of what might happen if your iPhone freezes or is low on battery.  Apparently there is no response as of yet from the automaker.  I had an ipod…I hated it.  It always froze on me and never worked well.  My girlfriend has an ipod, it works equally poorly, and her replacement ipod worked poorly as well.  I’ll stick with my crappy keys, thanks.

For more information about how to rent a car during 2009, contact Triangle Rent a Car today!

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It may not be the vehiclefrom the Jetsons, but Aptera’s new ride sure looks more then just a little like the cartoon spaceship.  Aptera is looking to take a piece of the electric car market with their new vehicle which can go 100 miles on a single charge.  Not that 100 miles is any great feat, that won’t even take you all the way to New York City from Albany.  Despite the less then impressive charge (in my opinion) the vehicle may have some advantages over it’s competitors.  One advantage may be the price tag.  While the Tesla Roadster and the Chevy Volt are impressive to look at they are also demanding on the wallet.  While Aptera’s new cars aren’t exactly cheap, 25 to 40 thousand dollars depending on model specs, you still may be better off then with the competition. 

According to uk.reuters.com the company is angling at rising fuel prices to push them in the market:

“”It doesn’t matter if gasoline is $2 or $4 a gallon, you are still going to be buying a lot less when you buy our vehicle,” Wilbur said.

Aptera will begin shipping its all-electric vehicles to customers in the fourth quarter of this year. The electric version has a 100 mile range per charge and can be recharged by plugging into a regular electric outlet.”

The car is said to be roomy, in terms of leg room anyway, but is also a pain to get in and out of.  The doors open at an angle and don’t provide a great deal of “get out” room, but if you are looking for fuel economy, you might be willing to overlook such issues.

For more information about how to rent a car during 2009, contact Triangle Rent a Car today!

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It seems that Tesla motors, makers of the very expensive Tesla electric roadster, might be starting up some new factories in California.  Tesla currently manufactures in a Lotus plant overseas but the company is looking for a 450 million dollar “loan” from Uncle Sam to start up operations in the United States. 

Tesla has had success with the aforementioned roadster which has sold well (it actually has a waiting list that stretches quite deep) but the new factories in the US will be aimed at production of a new car model as well as batteries.  This seems like a coup for the US government, who is selling this loan under the energy program, but which will certainly have fringe benefits for the auto bailout.  That benefit will likely come in the form of the batteries that Tesla produces.  Batteries have been a problem of sorts with the big three US makers. 

For their part the people at Tesla seem enthusiastic about the likelihood of getting the government, our, money, according to http://www.mercurynews.com/:

“I am excited to report that the Department of Energy informed Tesla last week that they expect to disburse funds … within four or five months,” Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive and chairman, wrote in a newsletter distributed to customers Wednesday.

Tesla, based in San Carlos, stopped short of saying its loan application had been approved. Indeed, an Energy Department spokeswoman said Wednesday that her agency “has made no final decisions for specific applications for the auto-loan program.”

We will just have to wait and see if the money comes through.

For more information about how to rent a car during 2009, contact Triangle Rent a Car today!

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Mustafa Mustafa, a sometime resident of Chicago, lead Los Angeles police on a three hour low speed car chase while driving a white Bentley luxury car.  It seems that Mustafa owned a business that rents luxury cars to drivers on a day by day basis.  Mustafa’s company had apparently fallen on hard times and this in turn might have lead to his breakdown.  It seems that Mustafa was wanted for assaulting his girlfriend, which lead the the low speed chase.  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ has the full details:

“Police sources said Mustafa was suspected of assault with a deadly weapon on his girlfriend. They also suspected from the start of the chase that he was armed. The chase began shortly before 8 p.m. Monday, Los Angeles police Officer Karen Smith said. Driving less than 40 mph, the man behind the wheel of the more than $100,000 car began leading officers southbound on the 101 Freeway through Hollywood, and kept heading south on different freeways nearly to the coast, then headed back north before stopping on Lankershim Boulevard near a well-lighted Toyota dealership.”

Once Mustafa parked a woman with dark hair approached the vehicle and attempted to talk to the driver, apparently to no avail.  At this point Mustafa’s trunk opened causing police to take close aim and prepare for what was to come.  After 90 minutes of sitting in his car, Mustafa apparently decided to take his own life with a gunshot to the head.  Another sad story from these economic hard times.

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More or less dangerous?

It seems that Mary Feeney, 80, was leaving the hair salon when she had a bit of driving trouble.  According to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ Ms. Feeney clipped more then her hair that day:

“IFD says Feeney was leaving a hair salon when she veered back towards the salon building, shearing the gas meter and striking the building. From that point, Feeney drove through a bush, hit a fence, turned her car and hit four cars on her way out of the parking lot.

Feeney then drove across Ferguson Ave. and struck DEA Inc., an architecture firm across the street. According to the report, Feeney backed up but went forward, hitting the house for a second time and striking two additional vehicles on Ferguson.”

IFD is the “Indianapolis Fire Department,” a group that must have been quite busy that evening.  So, now that you have read the story, is there any chance that you might be starting to agree with the statement that I started this blog with?  Now I know that not all elderly people are bad drivers, but the ones that hit 6 cars and 2 houses certainly are.  No offence to Ms. Feeney, but I hope for her sake (and ours) that that was her last hurrah on the roads.

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It seems that the Feds have decided to give you a little bit of cash back when you decide to buy a new car.  The reason is of course the slumping car market.  Since sales have declined so much for not only the Big Three auto makers, but really for all makers globally, our government has decided to give the people a little incentive to buy.  That incentive will be a tax break on interest from new car loans.  This is of course stealing from Peter to pay Paul since someone has to pay that interest, but best not to think about it.  According to http://www.freep.com/ the loan grace period will last around a year but will not apply if you are making too much money:

“Mikulski’s proposal would grant a tax credit for vehicles bought between Nov. 12 of last year and Dec. 31 of this year. The tax break would only go to families making less than $250,000 a year, and would only apply to interest on loans up to $49,500.

“Everyone wants to save auto manufacturers, but no matter how much government aid we give to the Big Three auto makers, they can’t survive if consumers don’t start buying cars,” Mikulski said.”

Will the interest plan help?  Hard to say, but it is ironic to note that this isn’t new.  We actually already gave Chrysler 1.5 billion so they could give out no interest loans.  So, at least for Chrysler, this is really a meaningless bit of legislation.  If however you are in the market for a new car, pick one up now…it’s on us!
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