Mazda announced that it will debut two new models at the Detroit auto show next month, one of which is a redesigned version of its RX-8 sports car that the company says has been "heavily revised." There aren't any photos of the RX-8 yet, but the automaker did release a teaser shot of the Furai concept sports car, which rides on a platform used in Mazda’s American Le Mans Series racing effort. The Furai is powered by a 450-hp rotary engine running on E100 ethanol.

Honda to Unveil New Pilot at Detroit

Honda plans to show off its new, more-space-age Pilot at the auto show in Detroit next month. This may be just in time, as sales of the Pilot dipped to 106,743 vehicles this year, according to Autodata, a drop of about 22%. With the onslaught of two- and three-row crossovers onto the marketplace, Honda needs a Pilot that can compete against newer models with tons of features. Honda hopes the revamped three-row SUV can regain some of that ground, although in the age of increasingly prized fuel efficiency, that may be difficult.

2006 L.A. Auto Show: 2007 Kia Rondo

In a press conference that spouted oddball terms dubbed “Rondoisms,” the North American public was introduced to Kia’s new SUV/minivan/wagon/we-don’t-know-what called the Rondo. The big deal with this thing is that there‘s room for seven people with a third row of seats wedged into the back. That’s about all the Rondo can do.
In a rare auto show move, the company announced the starting price along with the model itself. The four-cylinder Rondo LX will start at $17,985 and get 21/29 mpg city/highway. A V-6 Rondo will also be available with a minimal gain in horsepower, from 162 hp in the four-cylinder to 182 hp in the V-6. Keep reading for more photos of this auto oddity.

Checking Out the Tesla Electric Roadster

One of the cool things about the auto show this week has been the chance to see all the cars that debuted overseas, or at other much smaller events, we were unable to get to. One of them is the Tesla Roadster, which is completely electric. GM may be promising a plug-in hybrid in the future, but this plug-in, totally-electric car is here now.

OK, so it’s not produced yet, but Tesla’s chief technical officer, JB Straubel, says the company is in the middle of crash and durability tests of the car right now and will start filling its orders in the early fall of 2007. The company has 250 orders in hand that have been paid in full at $100,000 per car. Straubel pointed out that’s $25 million in funding right there.

My initial thoughts of an alternative-fuel repeat of Tucker went out the window when I heard that figure.



The Tesla has a range of 250 miles on one charge, and it takes 3.5 hours to recharge the battery with a home charging station, which Tesla will install after the car leaves the still unmaterialized showroom. There’s also a portable charger that makes road trips possible, if a bit limited. Check out the cable from the recharging station here. It blinks yellow as it’s charging and will glow green when the battery is completely charged, kind of like a cell phone.



Straubel was also the one who gave California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a ride in the Tesla earlier this year when it debuted to a much smaller crowd. The quote of the day around here was Schwarzenegger calling the Tesla “hot.”



Anyone interested in buying a Tesla should be prepared to wait — the company plans to fill 200 orders in 2007 and 800 in 2008 – and cough up $98,000 — the new sticker price. So far, buyers have been a mixed bag of environmental and performance-­oriented folks, many in the technology business.

A Tesla sports sedan is planned for the future — think 2010 — but by then batteries like the huge cell in the back of the current Tesla should be smaller and carry a longer charge. Straubel said he expects battery size to shrink by half — while the total charge doubles — in the next 10 years. I don’t doubt it, given my cell phone has shrunk that much in just the past few years.



The interior is a bit sparse and the design a bit too Lotus-like, but I’m pretty intrigued but this all-electric sports car. Anything that can hit 60 mph in four seconds deserves praise. It just won’t be able to rev its electric motor at a stoplight.

Tesla Motors Website