American Electric Power (AEP) chose to delay its plans to build a wind farm in Indiana when the heavily indebted utility found its cost of capital had soared because of turmoil in the corporate-bond market.

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Both acts would, of course, slow progress and delay the arrival of cheap solar power and electric cars.

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And "advances" such as automatic electric doors, compared to slam doors, can add crucial "delay seconds", says Ford.

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Mash the pedal in Auto EV mode and, after the electric motor pulls you off the line, there's a brief delay before the gasoline engine comes to life and the CVT raises the RPMs to maximize efficiency.

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