This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place every weekday morning. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?
1st Gear: One Order Of Magnitude Away From Dr. Evil Territory
If you add up all the lawsuits against GM over the 2.59 million cars recalled for an ignition issue, GM says the amount is somewhere around $10 billion. That's a lot of money.
Of course, as Melissa Burden points out, that's the maximum of all the lawsuits and requires a bankruptcy judge to allow "New GM" to be sued for "Old GM" actions and many other twists and turns in the legal wrangling over the issue.
In reality, the amount that GM eventually forks over for the recall is expected to be much lower.
2nd Gear: Is GM Going To Far In Response To Recalls?
That's a headline in the Freep this morning in response, to, uh, the 15.2 million cars it has recalled worldwide!
Is this a knee jerk reaction? Some of it is, probably, but what's the other alternative?
"Obviously, GM does not want to have lots of recalls going on indefinitely," said Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book.
Well said. Maybe they just get it over right now.
3rd Gear: Can California Make Hydrogen Cars Happen?
Toyota is going to be a little late to the hydrogen party in California as Hyundai juuuuuuuust beat them to it and Honda has actually been there for a while.
But why is this happening? Let Bloomberg explain:
Plans by the U.S. state to provide about $47 million for 28 new stations selling hydrogen for fuel-cell cars, along with 10 already in operation and 16 more in development, will be enough to support at least 10,000 vehicles in California, Toyota's Jim Lentz said in an interview yesterday at a Fortune conference in Laguna Niguel, California. He declined to give a price or volume goal for the sedan Toyota is bringing to market.
That's right, California is putting up their own dolla dolla bills to make fuel cells happen. This makes sense since one of hydrogen's biggest faults is the lack of infrastructure.
4th Gear: Pug To Review Mitsu EV Deal
Carlos Tavares seems like a ruthless mutha fucka, which is exactly what PSA Peugeot Citroen needs to survive.
According to Reuters, the planned Mitsubishi/Peugeot EV tie up could, uh, not happen.
"It's a strategy that will be rebuilt in the next 12 months, and we will consider whether we develop them alone, in partnership, and where we will build them," the CEO said, adding that the strength of the yen was an important factor.
Does that mean it has to be done on their terms?
5th Gear: Norwegian Bus Drivers Hate EVs
The government of Norway has made a big push for electric cars, causing the Tesla Model S to be one of the most popular cars for sale in the country.
Buuuuuuuuut there's a catch.
It turns out they give EVs the ability to drive in bus lanes, but with so many electric cars they're now clogging them and slowing everyone else down.
Electric-car owners sense a change is coming.
"When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is," Erling Kagge said while driving his Tesla through Oslo the day before Mr. Haugstad criticized drivers like him during his morning route. "On the other hand, as soon as EVs get back into the normal car's lane, that's going to be worse for everyone," Mr. Kagge said.
Even if the special lane closes to him, Mr. Kagge—a polar explorer and publisher—hopes that other incentives (such as exemption from Norway's 25% sales tax and punishing emissions-related charges) remain.
This gets back to the problem with electric cars being a solution to every environmental problem. They aren't and, in fact, could be worse for congestion as they make people think they can skip mass transit.
Reverse: A Sad Day Indeed
On this day in 1901, Connecticut becomes the first state to pass a law regulating motor vehicles, limiting their speed to 12 mph in cities and 15 mph on country roads.
Neutral: How Much Should GM Have To Pay?
$1 billion? $100 billion? $0 billion?
Photo Credit: Getty Images/AP