Nutson's Nuggets: Last Week's (Aug 8-14) Automotive Factoids - In Case You Were Not Paying Attention

Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel Chicago Bureau Chief will give you some automotive news you may have missed.

* Honda Motor Co. announced a massive recall of three models late last week. Complaints of engine stalling and vehicles that shift out of park are the issues. The recall covers 2.5 million worldwide; 1.51 million vehicles are in the United States. Included are the 2005-10 four-cylinder Accords, 2007-10 CR-Vs and 2005-08 Elements.

* Toyota will produce the RAV4 in-house in Canada next year rather than having partner Tesla Motors Inc. assemble the model at the plant it acquired from Toyota in California. The companies said that Toyota's Tesla-powered EV will be produced in Woodstock, Ontario, where Toyota already makes the gasoline-powered RAV4 crossover. Although it makes sense to produce all RAV4's in the same plant, some have wondered if there is any political rationale behind not building in the U.S.

* Ford's plan for the launch of the Focus EV became confused earlier in the week because of a statement appearing on the www.myfocuselectric.com forum by Ford's electrified-vehicles marketing manager David Finnegan. Ford has clarified that the Focus EV remains on schedule with the first few months of production concentrated in California and New York. Other markets in the launch roll-out, such as Chicago, Detroit and Seattle, will receive cars by Spring 2012.

* The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the NHTSA (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration) jointly announced a proposed fuel mileage standard for medium- and heavy-duty trucks yesterday. This first of its kind proposal calls for medium and heavy-duty trucks to reduce fuel consumption from 10-20%, depending on the type and purpose of the vehicle. The rules go into effect in the 2014 model year and continue through 2018 and are supported by the industry.

* Audi has revealed details of an electric city car that will debut at next month's Frankfurt Auto Show. The concept is a 1+1 seat vehicle and is intended to demonstrate a car for congested big city/urban spaces. The concept is driven by two electric motors powered by a lithium-ion battery and has free standing 21-inch wheels.

* Ford Motor Company together with solar energy system developer SunPower of San Jose, Calif., have announced a program called "Drive Green for Life". The program will offer a rooftop solar system that will allow owners of EVs such as the Ford Focus Electric to offset the cost of electricity needed to recharge the vehicle. The SunPower system consists of a 2.5 kilowatt SunPower E18 Series solar panels that produce an average of 3,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. The system is estimated to cost $10,000 (after federal tax credits) and is sized to provide the energy needs equivalent to driving 1,000 miles per month. The system offsets the electricity required to charge the vehicle at night.

* Goodyear has said it is developing a tire that needs no air pump. Goodyear's Air Maintenance Technology will keep tires inflated to the proper pressure. The tire will contain an internal air pump that is actuated by the rolling action of the tire. Stay tuned.

* If you're planning to go car shopping soon you might want to wait. Don't expect a big Labor Day sale either. Japanese car companies impacted by the tsunami are expected to be up to full availability by year end. They'll be going after market share lost to the D-3 and Hyundai/Kia. Good deals should make for good December car shopping.

* A Volkswagon Toureg TDI running low-sulfur clean diesel fuel, driven by adventurer Tainer Zietlow and his team, has set a new record for traversing the entire PanAmerican Highway nonstop. Their time of just under 12 days for the 16,000-mile from the southern tip of Argentina to the end of the road in northern Alaska drive beat the existing record by about 3 days.

* You can now get a distinctive new Camaro package from aftermarket performance specialists at Lingenfelter. With the twin-turbo LS7 package on the 7.0-liter V8 you'll be the talk of the neighborhood in the bright yellow screemer with dramatic black trim.

* Dodge previewed this week the new Challenger SRT8 392 for 2012. With 470 horsepower, 470 pound-feet of torque and a zero-to-60 time of just 4.8 seconds. It will smoke the tires with the best of them while managing 22 mpg on the highway.

* Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn announced that they will be introducing new models on a pace of one every six weeks over the next five years - globally, that is. Certainly, it's time for a product thrust by Nissan.