Green Options » vehicles

Will Hydrogen Power Suck the Lakes Dry?

Dave Dempsey — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:01:13 +0000

Questions are accumulating about how water demand needed to supply a hydrogen vehicle industry might affect large water bodies like the Great Lakes.

Even as political leaders in the auto-making Great Lakes region tout hydrogen-powered vehicles as a potential catalyst for an economic turnaround, questions are accumulating about the impact of the technology on water use. While potentially clean and renewable, are hydrogen powered vehicles (and hydrogen energy generally) sustainable given their water impact?

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Study: 14 Million Plug-In Electric Cars on US Roads by 2020

Andrew Williams — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:18:36 +0000

A remarkable new study predicts that at least 14 million electric cars will be zooming around the US by 2020, and reckons that EVs could account for a startling 75 percent of all light-duty miles driven by 2040.

The ambitious claims form part of an in-depth study, called the Electrification Roadmap, backed by a coalition of business leaders including Nissan, FedEx, Coda Automotive and Coulomb Technologies.

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China’s BAIC Unveils BE701 All-Electric Car

Andrew Williams — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:10:56 +0000

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp (BAIC) has unveiled a new electric car, the BE701, in a bid to challenge domestic rivals BYD and Chery for a slice of the Chinese zero-emissions market.

The BE701, (catchy name or what?), is loosely modelled on the sedan concept showcased at last year’s Beijing motor show (above), although a rare image of the final product proves that it looks a lot less stylish in reality. The car can travel up to 200 kms (124 miles) on a full charge, and tops out at a highly competitive maximum speed of 160 km/h (100mph).

The company, which partners german car-giant Daimler AG, has not yet revealed a mass-production schedule for the BE701, but has unveiled details of its spanking new clean energy vehicle development and manufacturing facility, involving a total investment of 2.28 billion yuan ($334 million).

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‘Put Swiss Cow Bells on Electric Cars’ says UK Politician

Andrew Williams — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:34:24 +0000

Some of you may not be aware of the intricacies of the British parliamentary system, but one of its stranger quirks is something called the House of Lords - an amalgam of hereditary aristocrats, ageing bishops and a range of other assorted oddballs.

Over the years (centuries), this ‘upper house’ has cultivated something of a reputation for eccentricity - but the latest outburst from Conservative Lord McColl takes the biscuit. In order to tackle the safety risk posed to pedestrians by quiet electric cars he suggested the following proposal:

“My Lords, does the Minister accept that there might be a simpler solution? When I purchased one of these cars a few years ago, my wife, being very practical, said that the answer would be to put on the front of the car a small Swiss cowbell….”

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Citroen Unveils C-Zero Electric Car, Available Late 2010 [w/VIDEO]

Andrew Williams — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:11:12 +0000

Back in September we reported that French Car-maker PSA had teamed up with Mitsubishi to make an electric vehicle based on the zippy i-MiEV. Well, this week it seems that the partnership has come to fruition, after Citroen unveiled the C-Zero, an all-electric car set to hit the showrooms late next year.

The compact C-Zero features an identical drivetrain to the i-MiEV, with a lithium-ion battery powering a 64bhp electric motor (see video after the jump).

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Electric Cars to Get Supercar Sounds

Andrew Williams — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:45:29 +0000

Are you a petrohead with a conscience? Someone who likes the thought of owning an electric car but put off by the weedy sound of today’s offerings?

Well, for those of you who want to blend eco-cred with the engine roar of a Lamborghini, the wait may be finally over. New technology developed by Lotus and hi-fi whizz Harman Kardon will enable drivers of hybrid and electric cars to select the engine noise of their choice - from a beefy V8 to the swoosh! of the Enterprise at warp speed.

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Heathrow Airport Gets Fleet of Electric Shuttle Cars

Andrew Williams — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:26:21 +0000

For those eager to absolve the carbon guilt caused by yet another international flight, Heathrow airport is trialling an innovative electric car shuttle fleet to ferry passengers to and from the business car park.

Seeing as Heathrow is the world’s busiest international airport, I suppose the effort is a little bit like launching an attack on a saber-toothed tiger with a blunt knife, or maybe a feather duster… But hey, maybe I’m being unfair - I suppose you’ve got to start somewhere right? And I admit, the system does seem a bit nifty - if not quite as good as the Johnny Cabs (video) in Total Recall.

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British Cops Unable to Use Blue Lights on New Electric Car

Andrew Williams — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:51:56 +0000

Cops based near Oxford in the UK have revealed that they are unable to to use flashing blue lights on their new electric car - in case it drains too much power from the battery.

The Thames Valley police force is testing out the £20,000 ($33,000) Mitsubishi iMiev in an effort to improve its environmental credentials. Apart from this quite obvious setback, they have been pleased with the silent, emission-free car, capable of travelling 100 miles on a single charge (with the lights off).

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U.S. Senate Reinstates Funding for Hydrogen Car Research

Andrew Williams — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:49:30 +0000

In an unexpected U-turn, the U.S. Senate has agreed to continue to back research for the next generation of hydrogen cars - funding that the Obama administration had earlier proposed to cut.

The move came last Thursday as Senate members voted to commit $187 million to hydrogen research, almost as much as was promised before the indecision.

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Daimler’s First Electric Car

Lisa Wojnovich — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:09:55 +0000

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.

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More Money for the Auto Industry

Lisa Wojnovich — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:43:09 +0000

Three more car companies received sizeable loans from the federal government yesterday, but don’t worry; it’s not another bailout. In fact, the$8 billion is just the start of a larger $25 billion project called the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM for short) that was thought up back in 2007 and funded by Congress in late 2008 during the Bush administration. The project, overseen by the Department of Energy, is a federal grant and loan initiative bent on providing low interest capital to automobile manufacturers — as well as the makers of their component parts — to promote the development of new automobile technologies that guzzle less gas — and in some cases, no gas at all.

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Europe’s First Clean Mobility Center Installs Electric Vehicle Charge Stations

Ruedigar Matthes — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:31:58 +0000

Diepenbeek, Belgium - On June 2, 2009, 365-Energy announced that the Katholieke High School of Limburg (KHLim) will begin deploying ChargePoint(TM) Network charging stations from the infrastructure manufacturer Coulomb Technologies as part of the first European Clean Mobility Center in Belgium.

Coulomb’s international partner 365-Energy will provide the charging stations and manage the ChargePoint Network for subscribers.

KHLim produces its own green energy through wind, heat and solar as part of its CO2 neutral area. The ChargePoint charge stations will be connected to KHLim’s own power grid, which will supply the necessary energy.

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China to Ban High Pollution Cars from Capital

Gavin Hudson — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 12:54:10 +0000

Starting New Year’s Day, Beijing will ban high-emission vehicles from the city.

Beijing will ban some 353,800 vehicles with high emissions from anywhere within the fifth ring road, which circles the city center at a radius of 10-15 km. One in ten cars and trucks in Beijing will be subject to the ban. But, say city officials, those vehicles account for 50 percent of the city’s notoriously bad auto pollution.

The vehicles on the banned list are those that do not meet the Euro I emissions standards set in Europe in the early 90’s. According to Ren Lihong of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, these cars are a big part of Beijing’s pollution problem.

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Live Online Debate Today: The Auto Industry Bailout

Nick Chambers — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:01:39 +0000

The US auto industry’s woes are well known — we’ve covered them here at Gas 2.0 many times — but are these companies deserving of taxpayer money for a government bailout, or should they be left to deal with a mess that they mostly created?

This is the question that will be debated live on NPR.org today at 3 PM EDT (19:00 Greenwich Mean Time).

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New Beijing Traffic Laws Take 800,000 Cars Off the Road in China

Andrew Williams — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:52:15 +0000

Around 800,000 fewer cars were on the road in Beijing, China this Monday, following the introduction of radical new traffic laws aimed at reducing pollution in the city.

The new laws came into force today, and stipulate that 70% of government vehicles, as well as all private and corporate cars, take turns off the roads on one out of five weekdays.

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New Fiesta Gets 73 MPG, But Ford Says It’s Not For The U.S.

Nick Chambers — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:45:50 +0000

Back in July, Ford released the details of a new Fiesta it plans to begin selling this November. The new car is based on Ford’s ECOnetic platform and can get 63 mpg in the city and 73 mpg on the highway. So why is it only available in Europe? It’s a diesel, and Ford doesn’t think Americans will ever adopt diesel cars.

According to Businessweek, Ford lists a littany of excuses why they could never market this car in the US. Chief among these excuses is that they don’t think they could ever sell enough of them to make a profit. Ford says that in order to produce them for the US market they’d have to build a new plant and then make at least 350,000 of them a year.

If there’s no way to make a profit on these cars and Americans won’t buy them, why are so many European and Asian car makers bringing these new “clean diesels” to the U.S. starting next year? When I see news that Mercedes, Nissan, Volkswagen and even Honda are all building clean diesel cars with excellent fuel economy for the US market, Ford’s excuses start to seem pretty hollow.

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“Producible” Chrysler Plug-In Hybrid: 0-60 in 4 Seconds

Nick Chambers — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:08:24 +0000

Apparently, Chrysler has been demonstrating plug-in hybrids to select dealers around the US that have “at least” a 300 mile range and can go from 0-60 in “less than” 4 seconds. According to the LA Times, Chrysler Vice Chairman and President Jim Press claims these prototypes are in a “producible” state.

Following in lock step, Chrysler has screwed the pooch like every other American car company over the last 5 years by completely ignoring the market for fuel efficient vehicles.

While both GM and Ford have finally reacted to this plight by beginning drastic company-wide overhauls from the ground up, I’ve been left wondering: does Chrysler still know that they’re losing money?

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Plug-in Hybrid Drivers are Charged Up

John Addison — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:27:17 +0000

This is a guest post by John Addison, publisher of the Clean Fleet Report.

In 1971, a bright engineer, Dr. Andy Frank, was looking to the future. He knew that oil production had peaked in the U.S. and that cheap oil would later peak globally. He calculated how to get 100 miles per gallon, and then he built a hybrid-electric car.

Andy Frank was all smiles as a crowd of 600 applauded at the Plug-in 2008 Conference in San Jose, California, last week. Many in the crowd now drive plug-in hybrids as part of their fleet demonstration programs. A number in the crowd had converted their personal Toyota Priuses or Ford Escape Hybrids. This was a crowd of plug-in converts.

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Kelley Blue Book Launches KBBGreen and Names Top 10 Green Cars for 2008

Max Lindberg — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:40:44 +0000

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.

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Like GM, Ford Decides They’d Better Start Producing Smaller, More Fuel-Efficient Cars

Clayton B. Cornell — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:26:42 +0000

Gas Prices are Killing Large Cars and Trucks

Ford Motor Company announced today it will be scrambling to realign its North American Manufacturing operation with the realities of consumer needs today.

With gas prices above $4 / gallon, most Americans are shying away from giant gas-guzzling vehicles in favor of smaller fuel efficient models. Starting in December, Ford said it will accelerate production of new fuel efficiency technology, double their hybrid production and lineup, and downsize vehicles across the board. By 2010, Ford says 2/3 of its spending will be on small cars and crossovers, and it will pull six small European models to the US by 2012.

“While we have no intention of giving up our longtime truck leadership, we are creating a new Ford in North America on a foundation of small, fuel-efficient cars and crossovers that will set new standards for quality, fuel economy, product features and refinement,” said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas.
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