Green Options

I’ve posted in the past about a possible hybrid LeMans car and performance diesels, but today there is some actual news on some non-gasoline race cars from Audi. As reported by AutoBlogGreen, Audi recently took second place in their first showing with the diesel-powered cars in the European LeMans (this is after having raced these cars since 2006 outside of Europe).

Photo Source: marinebiology.edu

In case you didn’t know, the “dead zone” isn’t just a novel by Steven King or an old TV show, it’s an area about the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico that during the summer months is incapable of supporting sea life. The dead zone is created when fertilizer run off promote algae growth, which in turn throws off the oceans equilibrium by using all the available oxygen, killing everything else. So, good for algae perhaps, but bad for the sea life in general.

Carectomy recently reported that ethanol production for passenger vehicles could be responsible for a growth in this dead zone. In their words:

Corn is the biggest culprit in creating these environments, and now that the U.S. is looking to biofuels as a solution to its energy needs, the problem’s only getting worse. Bush signed legislation at the end of 2007 that will triple the amount of corn ethanol produced over the next several years.

More after the jump!

Image source: Nordvik

According to AutoBlogGreen there is currently a bit of buzz surrounding the possibility that Toyota will enter a hybrid into the 2009 LeMans race. They’ve already missed the deadline if they wanted to enter a hybrid in 2008, but since they’re in it to win it, it appears that they will wait until 2009 in order to enter a vehicle with every chance of winning.

There are various ways to travel the sea in style. One of the most environmentally friendly ones would certainly be using sails alone. I mean, wind is free, right?

Well, a Japanese man named Kenichi Horie is attempting to be just as environmentally friendly but without the sails.

How does he do it? With a wave-powered boat. Wave power has been discussed quite a bit recently, with a lot of applications including traditional grid energy generation. However, Kenichi is taking things to the next level by powering his ocean going vehicle with the very thing it bobs atop.

Engine Repower is a new service that gives car owners the option of replacing their old, worn out engine with a rebuilt engine of the same vintage instead of simply buying a new car or repairing specific problems. When a first saw this page, I was very interested, as I am a proponent of keeping your car as long as possible to reduce wasteful manufacturing processes, even in the face of promises of lower emissions made by newer cars.

There’s been a lot in the news recently about the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, which also has a lot of green features. However, just recently, Tara International announced that it will be selling two electric vehicles for even cheaper than the Tata Nano.

These two cars will be priced at approximately 99K Rupees (2,475 USD), and are built in partnership with a Chinese company named Aucma. To compare, the cheapest Tata Nano comes in at just about 100k Rupees. Not much of a difference on the face of it, but the Tara vehicles being electric compared to the Tata’s gasoline powertrain would make you think the Tara would be much more expensive.

More after the break!

ABG recently reported on the fact that the new Subaru R1e has recently been spotted tooling around the streets in New York City as part of an official trial in the US, which is an extension of the 40 (soon to be 100) car trial currently taking placing in Japan.

In light of this new development, I thought it would be prudent to show off some of the most exciting features of theR1e, beginning with the fact that it is an all electric version of a production car made by major manufacturers to be affordable and useful to average citizens (though these needs might be a bit different depending on the market).

It’s exciting enough in and of itself to see a major initiative from a major manufacturer (yeah yeah, the Volt, sure), but this car is pretty sweet on its own.

More after the break!

Recently Darin at EcoModder dug up a Car and Driver article from the middle of the US gas crisis in 1974. It may be a little dated, but considering recent gas price increases these kinds of DIY hacks are becoming relevant once again.

The material prices may be a little different, the cars may be a lot different, but surprisingly little has changed in terms of fuel economy and gas prices. The Car and Driver article is interesting because not only is it old, but it’s still relevant today.

As someone who has been around ecomodding for a while, I can vouch for the efficacy of many of these modifications, and have done some of them myself. So, if you’re really interested, I encourage you to get out there and do some yourself. None of them are engine modifications, or particularly difficult, so don’t feel intimidated by them. Some of the biggest fuel economy gains can come through aerodynamics and rolling resistance modifications.

Read about the modifications after the break.

Have you ever wondered what amazing new technology would beat hybrids in the “green” category? Plug-ins, electric cars, fuel cells, carbon-capture cars? Turns out the next step forward could be a step backward.

Enter the Toyota iQ: small, sleek, roomy, and possibly with lower CO2 emissions than Toyota’s ubiquitous Prius. Why do I call the iQ both a step forward and a step backward? It’s because the iQ isn’t a hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or anything else that’s been hyped up in the news recently. The iQ represents simplicity and good design — showing that a small car with some innovation can still go pretty far.

Forget the Tesla Roadster, there’s a new electric badboy in town.

The Lightning GT is perhaps the least talked about of any of the new electric car concepts out there. But why? From the looks of the website the GT should be a fast, sexy, and expensive electric car. If the recent hubbub over Tesla or the impassioned love of Ferrari is a guide, then people should be really excited about a car that incorporates all of these characteristics.

The Lightning GT has some sweet features, like full regenerative braking, 0-60mph in 5 seconds (4 seconds projected for the sport version), and even claims to charge up to 250 miles of driving in just 10 minutes.

More after the jump!