Green Options

Mazda, one of the few manufacturers to stay out of the hybrid car craze, has announced they will raise over $1 billion for hybrid research by issuing 315.2 million shares of their stock. As someone who questions the practicality of hybrids, this news is rather disappointing to me personally. You might call me a “hybrid hater.”

But what about hydrogen, Mazda? Le sigh…

Any Top Gear fans here? (editor’s note: ME!!!) In case you don’t know, Top Gear is a British television show where the three hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May embark on odd and hilarious adventures involving automobiles. One segment places “Stars in a reasonably priced car”, having them compete for track times in an economy car.

Jay Leno is using this idea for his new show on NBC, “The Jay Leno Show,” but putting a twist on it. Rather than putting stars in a Chevy Lancetti like Top Gear, Leno will have his guests racing in the “Green Car Challenge.” The vehicle of choice?  The upcoming all-electric Ford Focus BEV.

Editor’s Note: This is a guest contribution by Nancy Gioia, Ford’s Director of Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Vehicle Programs.

It’s clear electric vehicles (EVs) will be part of the transportation mix of the future.

President Obama has set ambitious goals for wide-scale adoption of EV technology. Advances in battery technology will help bring more electrified vehicles to market for consumers and the desire to reduce CO2 emissions has increased attention on transportation alternatives like electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

To many Americans, India is just another one of those countries with LOTS of people in the general vicinity of China where they sometimes get routed when they call customer support with questions about why the new HP they just bought won’t turn on.

And that’s a shame, really, because India has so much to offer. From excellent food to the funky movie scene, India has some pretty great stuff. And now we can add another bean to India’s basket — the country has been stealthily gaining a reputation with auto manufacturers as the place to build fuel-efficient, small cars for export to the rest of the world.

I love trucks. To me they represent everything America does (or at least used to) stand for. Rugged, capable, the workhorse of the working man. So much praise to heap on a very basic and oft-uncomfortable vehicle. But where do those gas-guzzling, stump pulling, trucks with all the aerodynamics of a brick fit in the future?

Electric Motor Corporation has an idea, and is teasing photos of their F-150-based “Flash” pickup truck. The name could use some work; but how does the rest of the truck shape up?

Total US hybrid sales jumped 48.6% in August from last August, buoyed up by Cash for Clunkers.

We Americans did the right patriotic thing with our clunker money last month, it turns out. We bought more American. And we bought more hybrid cars.  Ford was the big winner, making a big dent in Toyota’s hybrid sales.

Consumer reports tells us that 80% would rather buy US cars and 46% of us now prefer fuel efficient cars.

If you are thinking about going vegetarian, here is a list of things that should help you to actually do it,… and to stick to it once you’ve started.

Scanning the week’s news of the leading fleet magazine, more than half the headlines are focused on automotive manufacturers including Toyota, Ford, Nissan and their commitment to greening of their fleets by moving to electric vehicle technologies.

For example, Nissan plans to use a $1.6 billion U.S. loan to rework a Tennessee factory so that battery-powered cars can be manufactured there. Ford Motor Company said it has developed an intelligent vehicle-to-grid communications and control system for its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that “talks” with the nation’s electric grid.

Indeed it is exciting to read on a daily basis how much closer we are to the reality of EV’s for consumers and fleets.  Fleets will be the first mass adopters of EVs and PHEVs. We are already seeing businesses, government agencies, cities and countries across the world that are making significant and meaningful steps to reducing their fuel costs, our nation’s dependence on imported fuel, and our carbon footprint by converting their gas guzzling and polluting fleets to eco friendly EV’s…but what about the infrastructure needed to support such vehicles?  Is there different technology needed to support EV fleets vs. consumer EVs?  Just what are the needs of fleet managers when it comes to EV fleets?

No doubt many of you have read or heard about David Nichol’s woodgas F-150. I came across it during a media hailstorm a few months ago (which has since petered out). But while I was doing research on the One-Gallon Challenge, I saw that David’s truck was going to be participating. I gathered up my camera and notepad and my best friend (who I sort of tricked into coming) and took the drive to Greenfield Mass. last Wednesday night to get a look at this truck, and other fuel-sippers in person.

I learned a whole lot more than I bargained for.

Since its humble beginnings in the 19th century, the sparkplug has been a mainstay of the combustion engine.

Some engineers at Ford, in collaboration with Liverpool University researchers have decided to modernize spark plug technology. Since we’re in the 21st century, that replacement is going to be lasers.

Yes, I said lasers.

17-year-old Andrew Loader from Lindsborg, Kansas has amazed his parents by building his very own electric car (Video) from nothing more than a clapped-out Ford Escort, some batteries and an old forklift motor.

Tired of paying last summer’s high gas prices, Andrew decided to take matters into his own hands and build the street-legal vehicle after researching the idea on the internet.

To begin with, Mom and Dad were less than impressed with the scheme. “Mom told me not to, and dad did too. I had to write a letter to Mom and her friend convinced her not to ground me or kill me,” said the industrious teenager.