In most of the countries, the trucking sector dominates the commercial transportation industry, and the U.S., of course, is no exception, as previous studies reveal that more that 83 percent of all transportation is made by trucks. They deliver everything from food to clothes and bicycles to motor vehicles.
In the U.S. alone, there are a total of 3 million registered class-8 trucks (18 wheelers), meaning a total of 54 million individual truck tires are required by all of them. These trucks travel about 11,609 miles a second, meaning that each year the 3 million trucks go around the Earth about 14.7 million times. That’s a whole lot of hauling!
On average, a class-8 truck needs 9.3 gallons of fuel per hour, while driving at speeds of 65 mph. By doing a little math you will see that the trucking industry requires 52,300 million gallons of fuel per year.
While it requires lots of resources, the trucking industry is paying a total of $35 billion just in Federal, State and Highway use taxes alone. Needless to say, just these statistics show just how necessary the trucking industry is.
Click past the jump to read the full infographic on the trucking industry and the impact it makes.
In the European market, the Seat Ibiza is one of the most successful hatchbacks, so is no wonder why the model is already at its fourth generation. Mhairi Steele has created a very cool infographic for Seat UK that presents the evolution of the Ibiza and combined that with a number of events that occurred during this period.
The first-gen Ibiza was launched onto the market in 1984 and lasted until 1992. The second generation arrived in 1993 and stayed on the market until 2002 and it was equally impressive. The third generation was built between 2002 and 2008, and the current generation followed that up. During its lifetime, the model received numerous updates and many engines have been added to the lineup.
Ibiza was witness a number of unrelated innovations through its lifespan, including the launch of the first personal computer, Tom Hanks winning his second Oscar for the movie “Forest Gump,” the launch of Facebook in 2004, the release of first iPhone, Barack Obama becoming the first black president of the U.S. and much, much more.
We are also pretty sure that the history will continue, at least for another 30 years...
The electric vehicle revolution – if you can call it that – has been long in the making. Actually, the EV predates the internal combustion engine, but unstable power grids and dangerous charging stations effectively rendered it a deadly venture. It then saw a brief revival in the late 1990s with the colossal failure that was the EV1, which cost GM $1 billion dollars to research, build, market, and sell 1,117 models at a deflated price of $33,000 each.
Now in 2012, we have a plethora of full electric vehicles from the big automakers – Ford Focus Electric, Nissan Leaf, Chevy Spark, Honda Fit EV – and even a full-line EV builder in Tesla. There are some people that are completely against EVs, because they are driving up the cost of cars and power, but then there are the ones that are 100 percent for EVs. Other than those two groups, you get all of us folks in the middle.
We middle-ground buyers will ultimately be the ones that make or break the EV revolution and we need to know truly what impact the EV has on the world and our Eco system. We have managed to get an infographic that really puts into perspective exactly how the EV will affect the world over time.
A key point on this graphic is the actual environmental saving. On a dirty grid – coal or oil-powered – you’ll see that the CO2 footprint is still pretty high, as you are creating CO2 indirectly while charging the vehicle. For clean grids – dare we say “nuclear” power – the environmental savings are significantly higher. The big task at hand on the clean-grid side is finding a safer alternative to nuclear, which scientists are working on every day.
So open up your mind a little, regardless of where you stand on EVs and have a look at the actual impact it will have. It may ultimately change your stance or reaffirm where you stand right now. Either way, you have become a more educated EV buyer.
The 2012 Summer Olympics are in full swing now and medals are quickly adding up. We started wondering what about the varying cars of the world? There is no auto racing in the Olympics and a love of awesome cars is one thing that is shared throughout the entire world. So why not include them?
Here at Topspeed, we felt it was time to give our 4-wheeled friends a fair chance and display the top supercars from each of the countries participating in the 2012 Summer Games – those that produce supercars. So let’s have a look at what these countries have to offer. You may be surprised to find out what countries produce some awesome supercars and what ones don’t produce any at all.
We stand to learn a lot about the world of supercars while putting this piece together, so we are certain you will learn a ton right along with us.
Click past the jump to read our entire list and check out our full infographic.
We love infographics, as they are a quick and fun way to educate your customers or readers. We also love how Ford has let its automotive hair down in recent years and become a little more cheeky, for lack of a better word, with its commercials and other advertisements. Combine the two together and you have some really good stuff.
Ford did just that combination, as it pits its SVT Raptor, which has a $43,970 MSRP, against the Mars Rover Curiosity, which is costing the tax payers a total of $2.5 billion. Really, there is no comparison between the two in a literal sense, but Ford has used its recently discovered sense of humor to compare the two in a sharp iconographic.
Things like the 35-gallon fuel capacity of the Raptor against the 10.6 pounds of plutonium-dioxide fuel aboard the Curiosity Rover are the types of goofy comparisons made. Or how about Ford’s punchy 6.2-liter V-8 pitted up against the nuclear radioscope thermoelectric power generator strapped to the Rover? Simply no competition, but Ford definitely gives us a good chuckle with this one.
We have provided the full infographic after the jump, so you can see exactly what we’re talking about.
Okay, so there are two things that I really love, besides my family and close friends, of course. Those two things are cars (obviously) and football. With my love of football comes my love of fantasy football, much to my wife’s chagrin.
Well, the folks over at Shopautoweek have taken both of my loves and put them together in the form of automotive fantasy football. They chose a lineup of cars to make up the offensive side of a football team.
The team consists of a full assortment of offensive linemen, which you actually don’t have in most fantasy football leagues: a quarterback, fullback, running back, tight end, and two wide receivers. They even went as far as putting out a scouring report listing why they selected each car for these respective positions.
We do disagree with some of their selections, but overall it is a good effort. So check out the full infographic after the jump and let us know in the comments section what cars you would put on your team.
In the latest installment of our Car Infographics series, we have a very special image with all the information you could ever want about the Top Gear test track. This infographic takes an in depth at the fastest cars to have ever lapped the Lotus-designed test track, whose layout “is designed to push a car to its limit and really show the strengths and weaknesses of each car tested.”
Additionally, a number of awards help to conclude the informative infographic with the illustrious award of “Most Affordable Speed” going to the incredible Ariel Atom 2 which managed to lap the Top Gear test track in just 1:19.50 when it aired in Season 5, Episode 9.
Before you head over the jump to check out the infographic in detail, keep in mind that the initial illustration may take a bit of time to understand and may require flipping your computer screen upside down. It may even seem as if you’re trying to lick your shoulder when trying to read the upside down writing!
Formula One has always been about one thing: To be the world’s largest racing series where up and coming technologies can be previewed, developed, and tested before eventually funneling down into everyday production cars.
However, tracing the history of Formula One has always been a challenge. Until now. Thanks to the creative mind of Ruf Blacklock, we can now see the 62 year history of Formula One compressed into a short, yet extremely sweet, 60 second video.
Showcasing basic 3D outlines of the vast majority of F1 designs, the video helps to capture the rapid changes which the series has undergone in the past six decades, with major advancements including the addition of rear wings, and the varying capacity of engines also been demonstrated throughout.
In addition to this, Blacklock also put together an awesome infographic for our enjoyment capturing the development of Formula One, with the legendary Monza circuit being the basis for this extensive circle of F1 development.
Follow the jump to see the infographic in high-definition!
According to the FBI, we’re coming up to a couple of the hottest months of the year, and we’re not talking about the weather. Turns out, July and August are the top two months for vehicle theft, and LoJack and the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) are doing their part by holding their 6th annual National Vehicle Theft Protection Month. For this year, they have come up with an infographic that provides a few details and stats about car theft, as well as some helpful hints to ensure you are not a victim.
First, the facts. In 2010, there were 737,000 vehicle thefts and only 56% of those vehicles were ever recovered. The average loss per vehicle was $6,152. Not exactly a small number by anyone’s standards. What’s worse is that, if you own a Honda Accord, Honda Civic, and Toyota Camry, you are more likely to be a victim because these were the top three vehicles stolen in 2010. The Ford Mustang made up a total of 9,116 instances of car theft in 2010, so we can only imagine how many of the top three vehicles were stolen during that time.
Where you live is also a factor. Nine out of 10 areas in numbers of stolen cars are in California and Washington State, with seven of the areas belonging to The Golden State.
Being the trusting - or rushed - souls that we are, 68% of people have left their car running when they aren’t in it or have left their car unlocked, while 64% of people have their home address programmed into their GPS system and 32% have left an electronic device or personal documents in plain view.
So what can we do to protect ourselves and our vehicles from theft? The number one protection aid is to use COMMON SENSE. Hey, they said it, we only repeated it. The second and third are to use theft protection products and a tracking and recovery system.
Check out the rest of the infographic after the jump to get more helpful information and remember to check back with us for the next installment in our Car Infographics series.
Ken Block has accomplished many things in his career, including being a professional rally driver with the Monster World Rally Team, one of the co-founders and recently appointed Chief Brand Officer of DC Shoes, and a major competitor in skateboarding, snowboarding, and motocross races. All of those accomplishments aside, the one thing Block is mainly known for is being the man behind Gymkhana.
For those living under a rock, Gymkhana is an automotive sport that requires drivers to skillfully maneuver using their car around obstacles using extreme acceleration, braking, and drifting. The definition on its own sounds cool as hell, but seeing it in action is way better, which is why Gymkhana has become such a viral phenomenon in recent years. As of 06/01/2012, the Gymkhana franchise has raked in 135 million views on YouTube, surpassing even the most watched TV broadcast ever - 2012 SuperBowl - which received 111 million views this year. Gymkhana even took the title of the most shared viral ad of 2011 with over two million shares of Gymkhana 4.
This infographic breaks down Gymkhana to explain why it has become such a phenomenon, including a few details about Ken Block, details behind the Gymkhana car, and an explanation of the Gymkhana livery. Take a look and learn how it took only seven seconds to burnout the tires during the final spin of Gymkhana 4. This will definitely not be a time-waster.
Hit the jump to check out the full Gymkhana infographic and stay tuned for the next installment in our Car Infographics series.
