mpg-o-editor, Author at mpgomatic.com

Orrin Hatch – Plug-In Electric Vehicles 2008

June 15, 2008 by mpg-o-editor

As the author of the 2005 Clear Act that provides incentives for hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) clearly understands and articulates clean energy independence. After knuckle bumping Brookings’ conference chair David Sandalow as he took the stage at the start of the second and final day of the conference, Senator Hatch … Read more

Lamar Alexander – Plug-In Electric Vehicles 2008

June 15, 2008 by mpg-o-editor

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) began his remarks with a comparison between Ross Perot’s first claim to fame and fortune (utilizing unused bank computer time after hours to manage Medicade data) with the unused electrical capacity that is presently available on the grid each and every night. This unused electrical capacity holds remarkable potential … the … Read more

Jim Woolsey – Plug-In Electric Vehicles 2008

June 14, 2008 by mpg-o-editor

Jim Woolsey, of Vantage Point Venture Partners (and formerly the head of the CIA) got the conference off to a roaring start in the opening session, as he remarked that “spending hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars every year for oil, much of it from the Middle East, is just about the … Read more

Imagining the Plug-In Future – Plug-In Electric Vehicles 2008

June 14, 2008 by mpg-o-editor

Vijay Vaitheeswaran co-author of Zoom, and corresponent for The Economist, moderated the first panel of the conference marvelously. A world filled with electric vehicles might seem like blue sky to many, but certainly not to the members of the panel, with whom it is an inevitability, as the term blue sky retakes its literal meaning. … Read more

Living With (and Without) Microsoft Sync

August 30, 2008June 9, 2008 by mpg-o-editor

You’ve probably seen the commercials for the Microsoft Sync audio system that can be found in a number of 2008 Ford vehicles. The advertisements made quite a splash when they first appeared, teasing viewers into envisioning exactly how the Microsoft Sync system works. For all those folks who were tickled by the Sync commercials, but were hesitant to venture into a Ford dealer, I’ve got you covered.

Over the last month, I’ve spent a week with three different Fords, each equipped with the Sync system:

Ford Focus review
Ford Edge review
Ford Fusion review (upcoming)

It’s almost embarrassing to say how much I dig Sync … embarrassing, because I’ve never been a Microsoft fan boy.