Green Options

I’ve been happy with all the recent efforts by European auto manufacturers to bring fuel-efficient diesels back to the States. From Volkswagen to Mercedes, diesels seem to be the new attempt at pleasing the US “green” crowd with classy, low-emissions fuel-sippers.

Reading that last sentence over, it seems funny to call them a “new attempt” because these high mileage diesels have been available to Europeans for a LONG time — but that’s another story.

So, while it’s debatable whether a gasoline-powered Prius at 40 mpg is more “green” than a diesel-powered Jetta at 40 mpg — it all has to do with how much of each type of fuel comes out of one barrel of oil — It’s a fact that having these new clean diesels as an option is certainly something the US has been lacking for a long time. And I appreciate having that option, I really do.

What you see above (center) is one of the most well-engineered “Franken-cars” of all time: a factory-modified 1980’s era Mercedes-Benz 190 diesel, stuffed with the company’s latest BlueEFFICIENCY CDI engine, which makes more than double the horsepower and nearly three times the torque of the original 1988 D.

How far we’ve come in 20 years!

More photos, and MBUSA’s own comprehensive press release, after the jump.

Mercedes has dipped its toes into the world of hydrogen power (video below) with the launch of its first-ever production fuel-cell vehicle, the B-class F-cell.

Most odd stories relating to the environment tend to revolve around researchers and scientists and their slightly off the wall discoveries. But not so today. Today, in news of the weird – or at least slightly surreal – I bring you Daimler, the German automaker, who announced last week their very first hybrid car, the Mercedes Benz S Class. It’s a limousine.

Last week, Toshiba and Volkswagen unveiled a partnership for developing next-gen electric car batteries.

Mostly known for laptop computers here in the States, Toshiba is the General Electric of Japan. They build everything from consumer electronics to nuclear power plant components.

Mercedes-Benz plans to unveil all electric plug-ins next month at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, according to Hybrid Cars. All models go zero to sixty in under 11 seconds!

In a supposed progressive green city, it won’t be until today that San Francisco finally gets its own biodiesel station – Dogpatch Biofuels. It’s been a long time in the making with permits, and inspections and the like. Hasn’t San Francisco seen biodiesel before? You’d think that they were dispensing nitroglycerin the way the approval process worked like molasses.

We’re not counting the Olympic Station that sells B20 to mostly fleet vehicles and trucks or the op-op that used to operate in SoMa. Here, we have an honest to goodness B100 (or rather B99.99999) biodiesel station for autos. All the Mercedes and converted vehicle owners can rejoice at not having to drive to the East Bay or San Mateo to fill up their tanks. Even better, we can all rejoice at the fact that the station owners get their fuel not from GMO corn or switchgrass or any food but rather from San Francisco’s own waste grease program, so we can all be proud when consuming those greasy fries.

Pay no attention to the latest financial news. It’s time to buy a new Mercedes!

This is the message that Europe’s largest economy hopes will catch on among its citizens as Europe slides into recession. Two of Germany’s biggest manufacturers, Daimler AG and BMW are reportedly experiencing their worst slump in sales since 2005. This has prompted Daimler to announce that it will close its Mercedes-Benz factory in Sindelfingen Germany, for five weeks. Hoping to avoid a calamity, the German government has passed a new set of tax breaks for cars which meet specific emissions standards. 

“With this package we’re helping the car industry and its workers and at the same time we’re doing something to protect the climate,” says German Economy Minister Michael Glos. The plan includes two years of tax exemption for Euro 5 and Euro 6 emissions standard vehicles and one year of exemption for Euro 4 emissions standard vehicles. (With Euro 1,2 and 3 cars no longer legal to purchase, the German government has effectively subsidized car buying).

Editors Note: This is an industry perspective guest post by Jo A. Borras, who works for the Florida-based high performance tuning company RENNtech.

A summer full of record gas prices has changed the automotive landscape forever, with changing consumer demands and buying habits forcing automakers to quickly bring more fuel-efficient vehicles to market ahead of larger, less-efficient trucks and SUVs.

These changes have also brought issues of energy conservation and environmental responsibility from the “back-burner” to the very forefront of future car design — but one question that has been largely ignored by the mainstream media is how these changes will affect car enthusiasts who usually care more about horsepower and acceleration than economy and emissions.

High-performance diesel engines, BluePerformance, and a hybrid oh my!  BMW is set to roll out the green at the Paris Auto show this year.  As the European Union tightens its emissions restrictions, everyone is expected to do their share to help clean up.

We’ve heard a lot about luxury motor vehicles trying to change their worn out images. Personally I feel like I’ve been writing more than I would like about luxury cars saving gas, and while the gas saving gesture is nice, we should be able to expect more from a company with the resources to do more for the world.

Editor’s Note: This post is a guest contribution by Anthony Cefali.

Idealism aside, the BlueEFFICIENCY technology at least green in nature. The four-cylinder 200 horsepower diesel engine keeps the performance integrity of a Mercedes vehicle with a 45 mile-per-gallon economy. I do not drive a Mercedes, probably never will, but I do feel that 0-60 in 7 seconds is respectable for a car that is meant to save gas (most Prius driver’s brag that their car will hit 60 in under ten seconds). The cars eco-rating is awfully high. It complies with the European Union’s current emissions standards and is expected to meet the next revision of standards as well. The engine is presently being equipped to its latest C250 model.