Green Car Advisor

November 20, 2009

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport Gives Driver More Torque for His Environmental Causes

2010-Tesla-Roadster-Sport-01.jpgBy Scott Doggett, Contributor

Ask a Tesla Roadster owner why he drives one and invariably you'll be told it's for the environment.

Mother Nature, you think. Climate change. Polar bears.

And that's half true. Maybe even three-quarters true. But drive a Tesla Roadster - especially the 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport - and you soon learn about the other environment, the one few motorists know. Here are a few examples of what that environment looks like:

In the next lane, at a stoplight on a road that skirts Stanford University, a smirking Corvette ZR1 owner revs his otherworldly 638-horsepower 7.0-liter V8. You twist the key in your ignition forward an eighth of a turn, which instantly switches the drive mode from Standard to Performance. The traffic signal changes, you and the 'Vette driver floor it. Three seconds later the powerful Chevrolet is occupying space in your rear-view mirror. Traction-control limitations. The Chevy salesman probably forgot to mention them to the now-frowning ZR1 owner.

Then there's the blue Infiniti G37 Sport 6MT with the close-ratio six-speed manual transmission and the short-throw shifter, one lane over on the 101 Freeway approaching San Francisco, Candlestick Park on the right. He's playful, as are you, and just like the Corvette driver soon he, too, is a shrinking part of the landscape behind you despite his best efforts to outpace and then just keep up.

And then there's the Miata owner, poor thing, taking a sweeping onramp as quickly as possible, white-knuckling it all the way and hoping his newer baby dressed in stormy blue mica paint doesn't lose traction and become roadkill. While he struggles, you race up behind him, drop back, race up behind him again, raise a hand to your mouth as if to cover a yawn.

People who own Roadsters absolutely buy them for the environment: Mother Nature on the one hand, and it's-amazing-how-truly-awesome-the-environment-is-as-seen-from-a-Tesla-cruise-missile on the other.
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November 20, 2009

Ethanol Giant Poet Says It Has Slashed Cellulosic Ethanol Costs by More Than 50%

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There may be hope: Poet LLC, the world's largest producer of corn-based ethanol, says it has reduced the cost of making ethanol from corncobs instead of from the edible kernels to $2.35 a gallon and expects to get it to $2 by the time it opens a commercial plant in 2012.

The cost-cutting for  cellulosic ethanol made from non-food waste material is critical in getting the stuff to market, and getting it to market is critical for meeting the federal renewable fuels standard and avoiding the many environmental and food-chain problems associated with corn and sugar-cane ethanols. 

The new standard calls for the U.S. to be using 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels a year by 2020, much of it cellulosic ethanol - up from just 9 billion gallons a year now.

Poet CEO Jeff Broin (above), in an interview with the subscription-only E&E TV environmental news program, said his South Dakota-based company was logging a cost of $4.13 a gallon to make cellulosic ethanol just a few years ago.

At $2 a gallon, he said, cellulosic ethanol will be able to compete in the retail market with gasoline (although it still be will more expensive to produce than ethanol from food crops such as corn and sugar cane).

Broin didn't go there in his interview, but we expect his company is aiming at a cellulosic ethanol price that's a lot lower than $2 a gallon.

One of Poet's potential competitors, cellulosic start-up Coskata Inc., is targeting a $1 per gallon cost for its fuel, which it expects to begin producing in commercial quantities at the end of 2012.

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November 20, 2009

Reuters Reports Tesla Preparing an IPO; Electric-Car Maker Declines to Comment

Tesla-Roadster-rear-in-red.jpgElectric-sports car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, Reuters reported today, citing two sources familiar with the matter said.

An IPO filing from the six-year-old start-up, best known for its $109,000 all-electric, zero-emissions Roadster, is expected any day, the news agency quoted one of the sources as saying. The person did not give a specific time frame, although IPOs typically take several months.

Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad, in an interview with Green Car Advisor, declined to comment on what she called "rumor or speculation."

Tesla would mark the first public offering from a U.S. automaker since the Ford Motor Co. debuted its shares in 1956. The IPO represents a landmark in the resurgence of electric-car technology that most carmakers had dismissed as impractical until recently.

The company's chairman Elon Musk said early last year that an IPO was a possibility in either late 2008 or 2009.

But the financial market turmoil following the collapse of Lehman Bros. in the latter half of 2008 virtually shut down the IPO market. The appetite for IPOs has picked up since mid-September this year with a robust pace of new filings.

Tesla's IPO would follow the successful debut of lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, whose shares rallied 50 percent on their first day of trading on Sept. 25.

Analysts have said that the success of A123, the first green-technology IPO this year, would encourage more venture capital-backed green companies to go public.

More to the point, if Tesla does go public and experiences the kind of financial boost A123 did, the investor acceptable will be a huge shot in the arm not only for Tesla but for electric vehicles and EV-related technologies in general.

In addition to the success A123 experienced with its IPO, Tesla has another good reason to prepare an IPO now: The automaker is flush with cash from recent federal low-interest loans, which makes investors more comfortable than pumping money into a flat-broke startup.

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November 20, 2009

EPA: U.S. Fleet of 2009 Cars, Trucks Only Slightly More Efficient Than 2008 Models

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The fleet of new cars and trucks sold to U.S. consumers averaged 21 miles per gallon in the 2008 model year, a modest increase over the previous year, with Honda and Hyundai having the most fuel-efficient fleets in America, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported Friday.

New vehicle fuel efficiency improved 2 percent in 2008 from 20.6 mpg for the 2007 model year. The government projected it will improve slightly to 21.1 mpg in the 2009 model year.

The EPA figures are based on real-world estimates for city and highway mileage found on window stickers at dealer showrooms, instead of mileage values developed through laboratory testing.

Honda Motor Co. led the industry in 2008 with 23.9 mpg, followed by Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. with 23.7 mpg, and Toyota Motor Corp. with 22.8 mpg.

Volkswagen AG's fleet averaged 22.3 mpg, followed by Nissan Motor Co. with 21.9 and BMW AG with 21.2.

General Motors Co. led U.S. automakers with 19.7 mpg, followed by Ford Motor Co. with 19.4 and Chrysler Group LLC with 19.3. The EPA projects Ford will increase its fuel efficiency by more than 1 mpg in the 2009 model year and overtake GM.

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November 20, 2009

Another High-Priced Hybrid Won't Do Much to Hybridize the Automotive Market

Cadillac-Escalade-Hybrid-in-white.jpgBMW's announcement this week that its ActiveHybrid X6 crossover utility vehicle will carry a U.S. sticker price of nearly $90,000 was disappointing, but even more disappointing is the fact that the model isn't alone among hybrids priced well out of reach of most people.

Toyota offers a Lexus LS 600h L for $107,300. The 7-Series Hybrid from BMW will surely be a six-figure car when it becomes available this spring. The Cadillac Escalade Hybrid starts at $73,425. The list is frustratingly long.

Our hawk-eyed colleagues at Edmunds' AutoObserver.com picked up on the trend and wrote about it in a piece that's as well written as it is informative. We encourage you to use your turn signal, pull to the side of the road and give it a read.

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November 20, 2009

California Launches Online Buying Guide That Rates Vehicles by Greenness

DriveClean-website.jpgThe California agency that sets the American standard for automotive emissions today unveiled a much-improved Website that helps consumers choose the least polluting cars on the market.

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The California Air Resources Board Website, using information collected for vehicle certification in the golden state, offers a practical and easy to use system that ranks vehicles according to their emission characteristics and provides tools to compare models.

The site allows visitors to view models by technology/fuel type, smog score, global-warming score and engine family. And there's a very smart tool that, with a click of your mouse, allows you to view all the tax incentives available for a particular model.

Last year, the agency adopted a state regulation requiring automakers to affix the Environmental Performance Label to California showroom models that convey the vehicle's smog and greenhouse-gas emissions. The simply illustrated graphic has two rankings, from one to 10, that depict vehicle emissions. The higher the score, the less polluting it is.

Driveclean.ca.gov puts these same rankings in an online format, making them practical for web research. The Website also provides information about clean-car technology and guides users to consider the emissions of the models they are evaluating.

We salute CARB, once again, for taking another significant step to make the world we live in a healthier place.

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November 20, 2009

China On the March With Multitude of Electric Vehicle, Hybrid Projects

Several Plans Involve Greater Cooperation With Taiwan in EV Developmentpanda1.jpg

Here's a roundup of news out of  China as that country tries to outplay the competition in the electric vehicles game:

Next at Bat
Mainland automaker Chery Automobile is expected to announce soon its plan to establish a global electric vehicle R&D center across the straight in Taiwan.

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Electric version of Panda sedan from China's Geely Automobile reportedly is being built in Taiwan.

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The China Economic News service says sources in Taiwan told it the Chery R&D facility would be built at the Green Energy Intelligent Vehicle Innovation Park in Taiwan's Changhua Coastal Industrial Area.

You're forgiven if you didn't know Taiwan had an EV development complex. We didn't either.

Turns out that the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs is extending incentives for manufacturers of EVs and related components to establish their operations in and around the innovation center.
 
Not only that, analysts at IHS Global Insight say Taiwanese automaker Yulon Motor has already unveiled an EV of its own - the Luxgen EV Plus - and is set to work with China's Geely Auto on an electric version of the Geely Panda subcompact.

Chery has its own alliance with a Taiwanese contract car builder - Prince Motors - that assembles Chery autos in Taiwan and is likely to be involved in the new electric vehicle research center.

Heading for First

Automakers in Taiwan and China are expected to announced at a joint conference next week plans to team up to build 45,000 electric cars a year on the island by 2015, with about 30 percent slated for export.

The announcement, according to the Chinese auto parts industry news service gasgoo.com,  is expected to come during a Nov. 24-25 "Bridge-Building" conference designed ot help bolster business ties between China and Taiwan.

On Second

A group of ten Chinese automakers have formed an alliance to jointly develop electric vehicles and related components, according to a report in Automotive News China.

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November 19, 2009

US, China Agree to Cooperate on Electric Vehicle Education, Standards and R&D

EVPact.jpgInternational agreements between heads of state often are more about politics and posturing than about getting things done. We're hoping this one is the latter.

President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao shook hands over a U.S.-China Electric Vehicles Initiative agreement during the prexy's visit to the Middle Kingdom earlier this week.

Both countries are actively promoting development of electric vehicles (China more so than the U.s., we think - but it is easier when you're a government without effective opposition) and the pact calls for them to to:

  • Develop common standards for chargers, plugs and test procedures.
  • Identify research and development needs, manufacturing issues and issues related to the introduction and marketing of EVs and prepare a "roadmap" to help vehicle developers keep on top of technology and marketplace evolution.
  • Pair select U.S. and Chinese cities for joint demonstrations of EVs and related technologies, with data on charging and vehicle use patterns, grid integration, customer preferences and other useful stuff to be shared.
  • Develop and distribute material to boost public awareness and understanding of EV technology.
  • Sponsor annual U.S.-China Electric Vehicles Forum meetings, alternating between the two countries (the first was held in Beijing in September, so the U.S. gets the next one).

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November 19, 2009

Dutch Are First to Adopt Pay-Per-Mile Driving Taxes to Cut CO2, Reduce Oil Use

Idea Also Is Kicking Around in U.S, at State and Federal Levels

MileageTax.jpgIt's been tested in Oregon, pondered in California, Florida, Maine and several other states, applauded in D.C. by the House Transportation Committee, and now pay-per-mile vehicle taxing is becoming a national reality - in the Netherlands.

Yup, the Dutch government has approved a plan to drop vehicle sales and registration taxes and replace them with a tax on every mile - or kilometer, in this case - a car or truck is driven.

The tax also would be variable, based on a vehicle's fuel efficiency and even the time of day the driving takes place.

The variations can be significant - basic tax for a small Renault Twingo will be 1.4 euro-cents per kilometer - that would be 1.4 euros for 100 kilometers ($2.09 for 62 miles), while a powerful Audi A8 would be taxed at about 16.6 euros ($24.76) for the same trip.

That's on top of the Netherlands' $3.50 per gallon gasoline tax and 19 percent value added tax on the total gas purchase.

Boost for EVs?

It is aimed at raising revenue while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption by making it more economical to buy the most efficient vehicles and then drive them less often, especially during the morning and evening rush hours.

We're no fan of such taxes - we drive a lot, as do most in the U.S., where average annual passenger car mileage is around 25 percent greater than in Europe - but one benefit for the green movement is that if rates are based on fuel economy as in the Netherlands, they should encourage use of pubic transit and the purchase and use of electric vehicles, which are likely to be taxed at the lowest rates.

The Dutch government expects to see a 15 percent drop in traffic volume, a 7 percent dip in traffic fatalities and the same level of income as today, when it is charging a 40 percent sales tax on new car purchases.

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November 19, 2009

BMW Prices 18-MPG, 5,688-Pound ActiveHybrid X6 Crossover Starting at $89,725

2010-BMW-ActiveHybrid-X6.jpgBMW announced today that its U.S.-bound 2010 ActiveHybrid X6 crossover utility vehicle will carry a base price of $89,725 and reach American showrooms early next month on the heels of its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The maker-described "one-of-a-kind Sports Active Coupe" (yes, BMW calls its  X6 hybrid a SAC) features two-model hybrid technology mated to a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8.
 
The price includes a number of standard features that are optional on the X6 xDrive50i, among them a 7-speed automatic transmission, leather interior, 20-inch Aero Wheels with mixed-sized performance tires and a rearview camera.

And, BMW reps pridefully point out that the ActiveHybrid X6 is the world's most powerful hybrid vehicle and that it's roughly 20 percent more fuel efficient than the standard X6, and that it's just one of many hybrid vehicles the automaker has planned.

While we applaud BMW for coming out with a hybrid version of the X6, its fuel economy leaves a lot to be desired. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates it at 17 miles per gallon in the city and 19 mpg on the highway, for 18 mpg combined.

While that is impressive for a 5,688-pound vehicle with sub-6-second zero-to-60 quickness, we would have preferred to see the German carmaker come out with a lighter X6 hybrid - the ActiveHybrid actually weighs 400 more than the standard X6 - and one priced closer to $70,000 than $100,000.

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November 19, 2009

Production of Smart ForTwo ED Battery Electric Vehicle Gets Underway in France

Smart-ForTwo-ED-enters-production-1.jpgProduction of the Smart ForTwo ED plug-in electric vehicle began this week at Daimler AG's factory in Hambach, France, the automaker reported today.

The first 1,000 of the zero-emissions ForTwo EDs (electric drives) will be provided to customers participating in various mobility projects in major cities in Europe and the U.S. in order to generate broad feedback on electric driving under everyday conditions.

That said, the current, second-generation ForTwo ED equipped with the most modern lithium-ion battery pack won't be available to the general public until 2012. At that time, it will be produced as a regular part of the Smart product portfolio and be sold through the Smart sales network.

The Smart brand has taken a pioneering role in electric mobility since 2007. Back then, 100 ForTwo EDs of the first generation went into practical customer operation under everyday conditions of city traffic in London.

Smart-ForTwo-ED-enters-production-2.jpgFeedback from that project was very positive and a year later Daimler introduced the second-generation ForTwo ED with a more advanced electric drive and a better lithium-ion battery pack.

As for the Hambach plant, it was inaugurated in 1997 and a year later began building Smart ForTwos. By September 2008, more than 1 million ForTwos had been manufactured at the plant.

Today, the ForTwo is present in 41 countries. Most of the ForTwos are sold in Germany, Italy and the U.S., and those markets are expected to be big ones for the electric version.

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November 19, 2009

Another Reason for Quiet-Running EVs: They Make Audio Recording Easy

TeslaSound.jpgTesla Roadster No. 203 wired for recording background tire noise for video games.


A little story about a green car and noise.

Tesla owner, SCCA racer and Microsoft executive Tom Burt writes in the Tesla Motors blog's  "Customers" section that he recently was asked by sound engineers for Microsoft Game Studios - the Forza and Gotham Racing video games to be precise - to loan his car to the cause.

Burt said "yes" and off they went one morning to the track on Roadster No. 203.

After attaching three exterior boom microphones wrapped in what looks like sheepskin area rugs to cut down wind noise, plus a mic in the trunk, one in the cabin and two in the front end near the tires and just above the sway bar, they took off, Burt driving and a sound engineer riding shotgun and giving him direction.

burt3.jpgYou can read the details in Burt's posting - his 119 MPH speed runs, tail-twisting skids and spins, and tire-howling donuts, all captured for possible future use in video games.

And in a full a day of this kind of punishment, Burt reports, the car performed almost flawlessly - a little brake fade after hard stops at the end of each of three 119 MPH speed runs and two minor episodes of motor overheating that limited power and required brief cool-downs - and he still had just enough juice in the batteries to get home.

Why a Tesla?

Seems the sound guys wanted to record background noises for a couple of video games - tires squealing on corners and the whoosh of a speeding vehicle - and thought the Tesla would enable them to do it without all the loud engine and exhaust noise that they'd have to filter out if they used a regular petrol-powered car.

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November 18, 2009

EVs Not Required of Chrysler or GM as Part of Bailout, White House Says

Chrysler ecoVoyager.jpgConcern among some taxpayer and environmental groups that Chrysler's recent decision to downplay development of fuel-efficient electric vehicles violated a pledge used to gain federal bailout funds are unfounded, an administration official says.

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Chrysler, which based part of its federal bailout on promised development of electric vehicles such as this "EcoVoyager" concept, has pulled way back on electrification plans since emerging from bankruptcy.

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"We obviously would be very happy if Chrysler and GM were making lots and lots of high mileage cars [but] it's not a prerequisite. It's not an obligation" of the bankruptcy bailout funding, auto industry restructuring task force chief Ron Bloom said in an interview with Reuters news service.

"We're completely separating policy from ownership," Bloom said of Chrysler's decision. "We trust that the [Chrysler] board has carefully thought out the various options ... and made judgments on the electric program based on that."

The federal government has extended $30 billion in capital to General Motors and $8.5 billion to Chrysler, representing a 60 percent share of GM and a 10 percent stake in Chrysler.

GM is pushing ahead with its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid program as well as with a number of conventional hybrid models, and is expected to expand the Volt's extended-range, gas-electric system to other models as well.

Chrysler, now controlled by Italy's Fiat, has slowed its previosuly announced vehicle electrification plans and now intends to meet federal fuel-efficiency standards by utilizing Fiat-develped gasoline engine efficiency technologies and adding more small cars to its lineup.

Chrysler and GM both have applied for federal guaranteed loans under the $25-billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loans Program, but their applications have not been approved to date.

Bloom said that the federal autos task force doesn't intend to dip into matters involving the automakers and the Energy Department-managed loan program.

We think Chrysler is financially constrained right now from aggressively pushing an expensive electrification program and can probably do what it needs on the fuel efficiency front under its new product plan - which includes introducing the dual mode hybrid Ram pickup next year, an all-electric commercial van early in 2012 and a pair of plug-in hybrids for limited test fleet use in 2011.

But we also think the company is playing the expediency game and could wind up surviving for the short term under the Fiat-designed plan only to fall into a deep hole in later years as more and more of its competitors bring well-develped electric vehicle programs into play.

The game, after all,isn't just about improving fuel economy.

Perhaps more important in the long run is reducing dependency on petroleum fuels and slashing emissions - things electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles can do far better than the best gas and diesel internal combustion engines the industry can develop.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

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November 18, 2009

Fuel-Efficient North American Mazda2 to Debut at 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show

N-American-Mazda2.jpgMazda Motor Corp. will showcase the subcompact Mazda2, scheduled to be sold in the U.S. and Canada beginning late next year, at next month's 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The model has been a brisk seller for Mazda since it first went on sale in 2003 in Europe. The second-generation Mazda2 commenced sales in Japan in July 2007.

The five-door hatchback coming to North America will share a platform with the Ford Fiesta, which is scheduled to launch on this side of the Atlantic next summer. In addition to the Fiesta, the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Chevrolet Aveo will offer the Mazda2 some stiff competition.

In Europe, the Mazda2 is offered with several gasoline and diesel engines. The U.S. edition will feature only a gasoline-powered, 1.5-liter four-cylinder.

Mazda has provided few specs for the North American Mazda2, but the gasoline-powered, 1.5-liter four-banger sold in Europe delivers 103 horsepower and 101 pounds-feet of torque.

That engine also propels the Mazda2 from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 10.4 seconds while delivering 41 miles per gallon in Europe's combined driving cycle test; in the more real-world American combined driving cycle test, fuel economy should be in the 35-38 mpg range.

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November 18, 2009

Aptera Delays 2e Launch Amid Funding Drought, Says Founders Not Ousted

ApteraDebut.jpgBy John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Introduction of the long-awaited Aptera 2e all-electric three-wheel vehicle has been delayed until sometime next year, a quarter of its small workforce has been laid off and its co-founders have taken leaves - one of them permanently - as the company slogs through a painfully slow private financing campaign it had hoped to close by now.

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Aptera 2e prototypes sit on company's new assembly line earlier this year. Aptera has pushed previously planned 2009 introduction to 2010 because of financial woes.

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In a statement issued this morning in response to reports earlier in the week that it had canned its co-founders and laid off a large portion of its staff, Aptera CEO Paul Willbur said "we now have to adjust our production schedule to align with financial realities."

He didn't address reports of layoffs and board-ordered ousters of Aptera founders Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony, but confirmed that Fambro has taken a leave of absence and Anthony has severed his day-to-day connection with the company. 

Apetera marketing director Marques McCammon confirmed in an interview with Green Car Advisor that the company has laid off 10 of its 40 employees.

The financial realities Wilbur referred to include a slowdown in the pace of private financing as investors wait to see which of the nation's entrepreneurial advance vehicle makers will be bolstered by large, low-interest federal funding from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

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