Automobiles

The American Petroleum Institute said gasoline with 15 percent ethanol could cause millions of car engines to stop working.

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's campaign commercial about Chrysler moving Jeep production to China is still untrue, according to a fact-checker that originally gave the clip "four Pinocchios."
 
The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler said he re-examined the commercial, which repeated a disputed claim that Chrysler was considering producing Jeeps in China, at the post-election request of the Romney campaign.

Kessler gave the Romney commercial its highest rating for untruthfulness when it aired in the closing days of the presidential campaign in Ohio, and he stood by the ruling when he re-examined the clip.

"The Fact Checker received a letter earlier this week from Stuart Stevens, chief strategist for the Mitt Romney campaign," Kessler wrote. "He asked us to reconsider a Four-Pinocchio ruling for Romney’s ad on Chrysler and China, which aired in the campaign’s last week. Stevens said his note was prompted by Chrysler’s announcement that it would begin building Jeep models in China."

Former President George W. Bush sold the pickup truck he used on his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for $300,000.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says a controversial high-speed rail proposal in California has reached a couple of key milestones.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu has been tapped to give a speech at the Washington Auto Show next month.

An ad by Japanese automaker Honda has been named the most memorable television advertisement for an automobile in the last 25 years.

A person was nearly seriously injured filming an airplane stunt.

Rep. Lee Terry is worried that the president’s inaugural pledge on climate change will lead him to reject the pipeline.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A Japanese airline is considering resuming flights that had been taken on the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" using 777 airplanes.

Southwest Airlines is introducing a $40 early boarding fee for its passengers. 

Toyota's Prius hybrid automobile is the top-selling car in the state of California.

Car owners are expressing dissatisfaction with onboard GPS navigational systems, opting instead to use their phones.

Detractors and backers of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline released separate reports Thursday designed to cement public support for their respective sides.

Green groups said the pipeline’s projected greenhouse gas emissions have been underreported, and that the Keystone project would greatly expand oil sands production.

And a coalition of oil companies and groups representing energy consuming industries, such as trucking and chemical manufacturing, said the pipeline would pump $1.8 billion into Nebraska’s economy between this year and 2029.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

New House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) has scheduled his first meeting to organize the panel for the 113th Congress.

Alternative transportation supporters are holding an "Anti-Auto" show in Detroit to counter the North American International Auto Show.

A Polish airline is beginning to use 787 "Dreamliner" airplanes after other airlines have halted service and the FAA has launched an investigation.

American Airlines is hinting at a redesign of its airplanes' exteriors amid speculation that a merger with U.S. Airways is likely.

President Obama will place Washington, D.C. license plates on his limousines beginning this weekend, the White House announced Tuesday.

The decision is being seen as a victory by advocates of D.C. statehood because they read "taxation without representation."

Obama's limos have previously had license plates that steered clear of the D.C. statehood debate.

The White House said Tuesday that Obama understood the concerns of statehood supporters, however.

“President Obama has lived in the District now for four years, and has seen first-hand how patently unfair it is for working families in D.C. to work hard, raise children and pay taxes, without having a vote in Congress," the White House statement said.

Washington D.C.’s Mayor Vincent Gray (D) thanked President Obama on Tuesday for changing his license plates in a symbolic move to show solidarity with the District.

Have spoken to White House & want to thank @barackobama for agreeing to place "Taxation w/o Representation" DC tags on his limo. #FreeDC

— Vincent C. Gray (@mayorvincegray) January 15, 2013