has initiated a recall for some diesel-powered 2011 X5 sports activity vehicles. The German automaker says that faulty welds in the power steering belt tensioner could have “incipient cracks” that could lead to a malfunction over time. If that occurs, the vehicle could lose its power-assisted steering, increasing the risk of a crash.

The recall involves 923 diesel-fueled X5 models manufactured from March 31
The safety-related recall is expected to begin in early July, with BMW dealers replacing the belt tensioners free of charge. Owners of affected vehicles are urged to contact BMW’s customer relations division with any questions or concerns. Hit the jump for the official recall notice from the National Highway Traffic Safet

At first glance, the white “Eco” needle over an all-green background on the 2012 Buick LaCrosse with eAssist feels wrong. The needle sits at the 12 o’clock position and there’s green on either side, which tells the driver nothing. Well, nothing until you understand what the needle is telling you, and then you realize that what GM has done here is reinvent the dashboard to now include the best possible and simplest green driving tutor. Here’s how it works:

When you’re stopped, the needle remains pointed perfectly upwards. This is the needle’s rest spot, and it matches the “auto stop” indicator over on the tachometer (the speedometer and tachometer are, in our opinion, on the wrong sides of the cluster, but that’s another story). When you gently accelerate, the eco needle doesn’t move, or maybe it moves a tiny bit off to the right. If you step on the go pedal hard, the needle goes past the green and into the black. Anyone who’s driven a car with an instant eco-driving gauge will find all this terribly familiar, even if you might expect there to be a red zone at some point. What’s much more interesting – and why the newhen you hit the brakes, a dashboard indicator will tell you that you’re now regenerating energy. This is true, but it’s not all that accurate, because often there is energy being wasted because the driver didn’t coast/decelerate enough before the stop light. In the LaCross eAssist, the paradigm is shifted. If you hit the brakes hard, you don’t get a happy fluctuation into the “recharge” zone. Instead, the needle goes into the black on the other end of the spectrum. Hypermilers should recognize this as a great visual example of spending too much energy to get going and then needing to burn some off just to come to a stop. If you drive the LaCrosse with eAssist in the most efficient manner possible, you will never need to slam on the brakes and that eco needle will never leave the green zone. Brilliant.

Apparently, Buick engineers spent a lot of time discussing whether or not this kind of information display was the right thing to tell the drive. A similar system is used in the Chevy Volt, where you’re trying to keep that digital ball floating, but the LaCrosse is intended to be a mass-market vehicle (one reason why the eAssist 2.4L version costs the same as the V6 3.6L model) and that means a different type of driver. For this broader audience, leaning to keep the needle in the green will automatically teach them be a more efficient driver.

This isn’t to say that the system is perfect. We’d like it to be bigger and more noticeable, for one thing. Also, it’s not entirely clear exactly how or when the needle moves far from “normal,” and it would be wonderful if you could adjust the sensitivity to be harsher or more gentle, depending on how
you want to be about your driving style. In general, though, we noticed that the needle reliably stayed in the green when we drove in what we thought was a sensible manner, both in the city and at highway speeds. The combination of effectiveness and simplicity while focusing on the deceleration side of the equation – and not just the acceleration – is completely laudable and we hope to see similar gauges used in other vehicles. Once peopleedle is such a good driving instructor – is what happens when you brake

fans like to point out that Chevy’s plug-in hybrid can go 25 to 50 miles without using a drop of gas. Then, the Volt shifts seamlessly into its “range-extending” mode. Not everyone is impressed by this. CNN Money recently had the audacity to call the Volt’s technology “obsolete.”

Here’s a rundown of the reasoning behind CNN Money’s bold claim: The Toyota Prius Plug-in has an estimated range of 13 miles in electric-only mode. Then, the plug-in Prius switches over to Toyota’s fuel-sipping hybrid mode. In the non-plug-in Prius, that system is good for 51 miles per gallon in the city and 48 mpg on the highway. Meanwhile, after the Volt switches over to its gasoline-burning mode, most road tests have shown it’s not that fuel efficient. In fact, Popular Mechanics found their Volt got just 32 mpg in the city and 36 mpg highway. As we all know, 51 > 32. Thus, CNN Money concludes:

On trips of 13 miles or less, the Prius plug-in and Volt deliver the same all-electric mpg: zero. On trips between 13 miles and 35 miles in length, the Volt beats the Prius. But after 35 miles, the Prius handily outscores the Volt.

But it all boils down to price. Stickered with a base price of $ the Volt ain’t cheap. Pricing for the Prius Plug-In, though not officially confirmed, is expected to start at approximately meaning thatwill likely undercut the Volt’s MSRP by more than . Yes, rebates alter that number, but CNN finds it difficult to justify the hefty premium for what amounts to less than 30 miles of added electric-only range

at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the company claimed its new badge would begin to appear on U.S.-bound models soon. In fact, Kia promised that its eco-friendly moniker would be attached to several models sold worldwide. Now, Orth Hedrick, director-product planning at Kia Motors America, tells Ward’s Auto that the company has nixed plans to introduce the EcoDynamics name in the U.S. Hedrick cited cost issues as the primary reason for the company’s reversal, stating:

The issue is it’s yet another brand. And given the fact we’re trying to allocate our resources to other areas that make the most sense, does it make sense to introduce another brand out there?

The U.S. automotive market, in its still-depressed state, simply cannot support additional brands. The Detroit Three have pared down by axing Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Mercury, so Kia’s move to drop EcoDynamics fits the trend. Jim Hume of Phire Branding Co. says Kia’s decision makes sense. Hume told Ward’s:

My guess is that they realized the concept of EcoDynamics created not only another brand, but also created the need to educate consumers - an expensive proposition. In this particular case the delineation is tricky. Kia setting apart Earth-friendly vehicles via a sub-brand may have taken away from any Earth-friendly story in Kia-branded vehicles. It is better to highlight everything Kia is doing under one strong brand umbrella.

Though the EcoDynamics badge will not adorn Kia’s U.S.-bound models, the fuel-saving innovations and other elements that were to be featured under the new sub-brand are already appearing on some Kia models headed to dealerships across the natio