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the longest over sea bridge ever is open in China what a mavel

Shanghai,China -Xinhua/The Daily Mail (London,UK) -2nd May 2008: — … The £550million span opened to traffic on a trial basis at midnight, shortening travel time between Shanghai and Ningbo, two key port cities in China’s prosperous Yangtze River Delta, to two-and-a-half hours from four… Trucks, overloaded vehicles and vehicles carrying dangerous chemicals will be barred from the bridge during the trial period… The bridge is China’s first major public infrastructure project to receive investment from the country’s private sector, which funded almost 30 percent of the cost, the report said… China, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is spending heavily on infrastructure to maintain its double-digit rates of economic growth. It began construction of the bridge in November 2003… (PHOTO: Over the horizon: The record-breaking bridge connects the port of Nangbo with Shanghai)

China opened the world’s longest cross-sea bridge yesterday, linking the financial hub of Shanghai with the booming port city of Ningbo, the official Xinhua news agency said.

 

A ceremony in the middle of the 22.4 mile cable-stayed structure, which spans Hangzhou Bay in Zhejiang Province south of Shanghai, marked the official opening before several hundred spectators.

 

The £550million span opened to traffic on a trial basis at midnight, shortening travel time between Shanghai and Ningbo, two key port cities in China’s prosperous Yangtze River Delta, to two-and-a-half hours from four.

Over the horizon: The record-breaking bridge connects the port of Nangbo with Shanghai
Enlarge the image
Celebration: Fireworks are set off as Chinese officials celebrate the opening of the bridge

Trucks, overloaded vehicles and vehicles carrying dangerous chemicals will be barred from the bridge during the trial period, Xinhua said.

 

“We haven’t decided how long the trial operation period will last. That depends … on the bridge condition, and we need time to improve management about its operation,” said Jin Jianming, deputy chief commander of the bridge construction project, as saying.

 

The bridge is China’s first major public infrastructure project to receive investment from the country’s private sector, which funded almost 30 percent of the cost, the report said.

 

China, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is spending heavily on infrastructure to maintain its double-digit rates of economic growth. It began construction of the bridge in November 2003.

Handy: The 22.4 mile cable-stayed structure spans Hangzhou Bay

the new show room of Tesla Motors IN LA

Tesla Motors LA Showroom exterior

Most of the conversations I overhear at car events sound something like, “So then we iteratively ran the variables in Simulink and found the optimum regen rate to be, blah, blah, blah,” instead of “Oh, how nice to see you, Daryl!” As in Daryl Hannah. Quincy Jones was holding court in a corner — as a jazz fan, I recognized him, but honestly, I have no idea who Jenny McCarthy is and believe she was standing nearby only because somebody told me. And, I must say, these people don’t appear to be buying their clothes at J.C Penny’s, either. Next time, Angus or Art — guys in the know — really need to accompany me to these Tesla Motors events to point out the celebrities, tell me their names, and what movies they’re in. Me, I’m a tech guy. Burt Rutan, I’d recognize. The last movie I saw was a documentary about how Steinway makes grand pianos (it takes a year!). Still, being there made some sort of sense, I guess, because, after all, this was the grand opening of Tesla’s new Los Angeles showroom on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Tesla Motors LA Showroom interior

Tesla’s new store represents quite a milestone. Think about it: When was the last serious car dealership dedicated to selling a genuine electric car? Detroit Electric or Rauch and Lang, about 90 years ago? Beginning May 6, you’ll be able to amble into 11163 Santa Monica Blvd., check out the Tesla Roadsters, watch videos of it in action, stare at the service area that looks like the living room of a Malibu beach house, and if you place an order (or have placed one), go for a test drive (otherwise, there’d be a line down the street, fretted a Tesla spokesperson). So far, about 300 Californians have ponied up deposits, of the roughly 1000 orders so far.

The showroom’s ambiance, according to the architect, is to contrast the building’s wood and concrete against the car’s glass and metal (or carbon fiber). Salespeople will be genuine consultants who will teach you about the ins and outs of electric-car ownership. Next door is a convenient Starbucks where you can sip an espresso, pencil at a New York Times crossword puzzle, and muse on the possibilities of snaking down PCH with the wind in you face, the whine of an electric motor in your ear, and the Ferraris downshifting with acceleration envy next to you. Just like Tesla chairman Elon Musk, who already has his Roadster. Yours, though, will possess even more power: 300 hp, 280 lb-ft of torque, and a 14,000-rpm redline — once they’re all upgraded - compared with Elon’s measly 248 hp and 211 lb-ft (this was a big last-minute tear-up to meet the 3.9-second zero-to-60 target with a reliable one-speed transmission).

Tesla Roadster

All of this raises the important question of what sort of hand greeting Tesla Roadster owners are going to use when they meet at the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard. Spock’s split-finger, Vulcan symbol would be a serious option. But I’d suggest a sort of hula hand motion to represent alternating current.

There’s no doubt though about the gesture they’ll be offering the gas station just down the street past that Starbucks — which is currently charging $3.99 9/10 per gallon. Yup, for regular.

Some auto execs say expensive gas might be a good thing

Picture the following scenario: as soaring gas prices force consumers to tighten their belts even further, dealer lots begin piling up with unwanted gas guzzlers, and the large SUVs that were once such cash cows become so unpopular that used models lose all value. Clearly automakers would view this as bad news, right? Well apparently not — in a surprise response to proposals that the federal gas tax be suspended to help consumers, several auto executives including Chrysler big wigs Bob Nardelli and Jim Press argued that prices at the pump should stay high.

It may seem confusing that members of the company currently trying to sell 300s, Challengers, and Grand Cherokees wouldn’t be in favor of cheap gas, but the reasoning is simple: if the new interim CAFE fuel-economy standards proposed this past Earth Day go into effect, automakers will be forced to build smaller, more efficient vehicles. But if gas is cheap, consumers won’t have much incentive to buy them. Mike Jackson, CEO of Auto Nation, agrees, saying “I’ve never heard of a plan that says ‘I want you to use less of something but I’m going to reduce the price.’”

Chrysler CEO Nardelli has said he empathizes with drivers struggling to fill their tanks, and suggested the government create incentives encouraging consumers to buy fuel-efficient cars made in the U.S. Federal tax credits currently exist for hybrid cars, while equally efficient cars with traditional powertrains don’t get any break from the IRS.

Though GM and Ford haven’t commented on the current situation, in the past both Bill Ford and Bob Lutz have said that raising gas taxes made more sense than increasing fuel-economy standards, because forcing automakers to build small cars will have little effect if the public isn’t interested. Meanwhile, with gas prices continuing to rise, in March small car sales rose by 3.4 percent, and sales of subcompacts getting over 30 mpg increased by a whopping 32 percent.

With CAFE rules forcing automakers to build more efficient cars (though some more than others), lowering gas prices back to the levels that made Hummers and Escalades so popular would seem to make little sense. Maybe a system like Europe’s, where heavily-taxed gas means that small economy cars rule the road, would work here. Of course if gas on the continent were cheaper, that wouldn’t necessarily mean drivers would suddenly ditch their Fiat 500s for Camaros and Mustangs (or E55 AMGs, for that matter).

Nardelli, Jackson, and the other auto executives may be right: keeping gas expensive could be the only way to truly move America away from its dependency on foreign oil. Then again, if prices dropped by 50 cents tomorrow, here’s guessing that not many drivers would be too upset about it.

Source: The Detroit Free Press

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The laggest Auto Exhibition in china 2008

Auto China 2008 also known as the 10th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition will be held during April 22-28 at  New China International Exhibition Center of Shunyi distinct of beijing,.

With the theme of “Dream, Harmony and New Vision”, the auto event is jointly organized by China Machinery Industry Federation (MIF), China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH), China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), and co-organized by CCPIT Automotive Sub-council, China National Automotive Industry International Cooperation, China International Exhibition Center Group Corporation and Society of Automotive Engineers of China.

According to Wang Xia, secretary general of Auto China 2008 Organizing Committee Secretariat, Auto China has become one of the most famous auto exhibition brands all over the world since the first auto show was held in 1990. The bi-annual auto event has been listed one of the international A-class auto shows together with Frankfurt, Geneva , Paris , Tokyo and Detroit shows.

In 2007, the number of auto output and sales in China reached 8.8 million units and the numbers are expected to exceed 10 million this year. China is expected to become the second largest auto manufacturing country and second largest auto market in the world. The rocketing growth of the Chinese auto market has aroused attentions from multinational auto giants, who injected great enthusiasm and investment into the participation of Auto China 2008.

•  Characteristics

•  Large scale

With a total exhibition space of 106,000 square meters of indoor space in eight halls and an additional 80,000 square meters (60,000 for suppliers and 20,000 for commercial vehicles) of outdoor space, Auto China 2008 stands to become Asia’s and China’s largest automotive exhibition, featuring a total of 2,100 exhibitors (1,800 from home and 225 from abroad) from 18 countries and regions and seven world premiers. For the first time, the show displays PV, CV, auto parts and aftermarket products in a single exhibition.

•  World-class exhibition facilities

Located in Beijing Shunyi Tianzhu Airport Industrial Zone, the New China International Exhibition Center includes eight modernized exhibition halls, each occupying 12,500 square meters.

The new exhibition center alleviated the problem of insufficient display areas and laid solid foundation for Auto China to become a world-class trade event.

3. Active participation

For passenger vehicles, nearly all the domestic and foreign PV brands are scheduled to participate in Auto China 2008. There will not only be Asian and Chinese debuts, but also world premieres and concepts. Auto China 2008 has made a record in terms of the number and types of vehicles to be displayed.

4. Exhibitor

Treating Auto China 2008 as one of the international A-level trade events, nearly all of the multinational automakers registered to attend the show; leading automakers such as Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG, and Toyota all considered Auto China 2008 as the most important event outside their respective home countries.

A lot of major state-owned groups, including FAW, Dongfeng, SAIC, Chang’an, BAIC, GAIC and China Aviation Industry Corp. II and China North Industries Group Corp., will attend the expo with their full line-ups. All the independent carmakers and commercial vehicle companies will display their models here.

5. Luxury auto brands

Global super-luxury brands will showcase products in the E4 area, including Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Ferrari, Maserati , Aston Martin, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Spyker and refitted luxury vehicles.

6. Visitors

Presidents and CEOs of Volkswagen, Audi, General Motors, Toyota , Renault Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and other multinational auto companies will attend and deliver speeches.

It is expected that over 600,000 people would visit the exhibition, including 30,000 foreigners. More than 8,000 journalists and 1,000 media personnel will come and report, including 100 from foreign media.

 Schedule

Dates:

Whole vehicles: April 22 - 28, spare parts: April 22 -25.

Press days: April 20-21, exhibitors and media staff with ID cards only.

Industry days: April 22-23

Public days: April 24-28

Time:

April 22-25: 9:00-17:00, April 26-27: 9:00-19:00, April 28: 9:00-17:00

Community and charity performance: 7:00-22:00, April 20

Opening ceremony: 10:00, April 22, South entry hall

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