Students from West Philadelphia High School have built a diesel-hybrid race car that goes from 0-60 in four seconds. While the car currently gets 60+ mpg, they hope to soon break 100 mpg.
Called the Hybrid Attack, the car was built by kids from West Philly’s Academy of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering. And if that alone doesn’t make them cool, they are the only high school team competing out of 90 different teams from the U.S. and overseas.
Reva, and India-based car company known for the manufacturing of small, eco-friendly commuter cars is about to release two new vehicle models that will offer the benefits of efficiency that aren’t mutually exclusive of style. The new cars will create more option for those looking for a greener alternative for making their daily commute, with small cars better suited for any lifestyle. Along with these two new efficient car models, Reva will be unveiling a new charging technology, which will address skeptical consumers’ fear of “range anxiety”; a common worry of those considering a purchase of increased efficiency vehicles.
With this investment of $550 million worth, Ford continues the track to deliver its promise to bring four new electric vehicles to the U.S. by 2012 and will support approximately 3,200 jobs.
The Inspired Economist interviewed Jennifer Moore, Corporate News Manager at Ford. Here’s what she had to say.
IE: Why is Ford making over an SUV facility to manufacture the Ford Focus? Will Ford completely halt….or merely downsize its production of SUVs and Lincoln Navigators?
JM: The retooling of this facility to make small cars and the battery electric vehicle is a part of our overall transformation plan to convert some of our truck plants to small car facilities, leverage our global assets and produce smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles for our customers.
We have not halted production of the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition - production was transferred to our Kentucky Truck plant. We still believe there is a market for large SUVs for customers who desire the size and capability of the vehicles, but we recognize that market will clearly be smaller than it was in the past. As part of our transformation, we are balancing our product portfolio and that is the reason we are retooling the Michigan Assembly Plant.
As the auto industry as we know it continues to crumble, a new model is emerging out of the Netherlands, known currently as c,mm,n. Open source design has proven itself successful in a number of arenas from software to restaurants. But a car? Yes, one where the design will be made available to the public, with the provision that their design be likewise made open to the public to do their own revisions and modifications on it.
Last week at the Detroit auto show, new, battery-powered, green cars reigned supreme. General Motors announced finalized plans for its Chevrolet Volt, which will be on the market in both fully electric and plug-in hybrid forms by late 2010. LG Chem, a South Korean company, won the much anticipated contract to manufacture the Volt’s lithium-ion batteries, beating out several other contenders, including Massachusetts’s A123Systems and Germany’s Continental AG.
Most of us agree that the Kelley Blue Book is the quintessential guide to new and used vehicle information. Now, they’ve moved into the “Green” world with the launch of Kelley Blue Book Green, a guide for shoppers who want the latest information on alternative fuel technologies.
Everything you want to know about hydrogen, diesel, hybrid, natural gas, electric, flex fuel/ethanol and fuel-sipping gasoline cars is included. There’s a video section which gives the reader an in-depth look at the latest eco-friendly vehicles out there, and even features a section it calls the Perfect Car Finder.
Read on, the top ten green vehicles, according to KBBGreen, is next.
With all the hype over hybrid, biodiesel, electric and hydrogen cars, we need to ask how much better are these new breeds for the environment. Will these revolutionary cars really bring on a sustainable revolution in transportation, or will we need to turn to transportation in darker shades of green?
Biofuel was hopeful at first, until the price of competing grains increased as farmers devoted more of their land to grow corn for biofuel, leaving less land to grow other crops. Now, according to the Telegraph UK, animal habitats are being destroyed as land around the world is being converted to grow biofuel crops.
You have probably heard of the CNW Marketing study that the H3 Hummer has less of an impact on the environment than the Prius. This has since been rebuked by MIT, Union of Concerned Scientists and Rocky Mountain’s Argonne National Lab. Those studies were based on lifecycle analysis. The lifecycle of a vehicle includes all the steps required to provide the fuel, to manufacture the vehicle, to operate and maintain the vehicle, and to discard and recycle the vehicle.
