Green Car Advisor
Natural Gas
August 11, 2008
Large-SUV segment: Could reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated?
The run-up in gas prices from April through June spooked American car buyers into a manic rush to find the most fuel-efficient vehicles they could and to dump their gas guzzlers.
So new-car buyers nearly abandoned the large-SUV and pickup-truck segments, grew lukewarm about crossovers even compared with the first quarter, sought out small cars, pushed OEMs' subcompact-car manufacturing capacity to the max, and completely sucked up supplies of Prius and of some other hybrids. All the while, overall sales tanked.
So automakers made some of the most precipitous and significant decisions ever about production cutbacks and segment reallocations. Each of Detroit's Big Three and even Toyota moved quickly and massively to slash pickup and SUV production and goose small-car output as much as they could.
But the latest Edmunds.com data indicate that the industry may well have rushed into these moves too soon, perhaps overreacting -- along with the news media and other entities -- to how American consumers plainly were responding to skyrocketing gasoline prices.
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- Scott Doggett August 11, 2008, 7:15 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- CAFE
, Edmunds.com, Fuel Economy, Fuel Efficieny, Hybrids, Mileage
July 16, 2008
While most automakers have shifted production to focus on smaller vehicles, nearly 70 percent of consumers want the companies to invest more in existing and emerging powertrain technologies, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Alternative Powertrain Study released today.
Now in its third year, the Alternative Powertrain Study examines the reasons why consumers consider or avoid alternative powertrain vehicles, such as gas-electric hybrid, flex fuel and clean diesel models.
The study includes the Automotive Environmental Index, which rates the 2008-model-year vehicles on the basis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data to fuel economy and greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as expert input from J.D. Power & Associates.
The study found that more than 80 percent of the 4,000 consumers polled believe the U.S. is currently facing an energy crisis. Only 18 percent of these respondents believe the issue can be addressed by building small, fuel-efficient vehicle.
Thirty percent believe automakers should continue to produce a comparable vehicle lineup with a focus on gas-electric hybrid, clean diesel and flexible-fuel vehicles, while another 39 percent believe carmakers should focus on developing fuel cell and all-electric vehicles.
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- Scott Doggett July 16, 2008, 3:32 PM
- Categories:
- Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Emissions, Ethanol, Fiat, Flex-Fuel, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, MINI, Mitsubishi, Natural Gas, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Pontiac, Smart, Solar, Toyota
July 7, 2008
The same day a World Bank report identifies biofuels as the principal cause of the global food crisis, the Bush administration announces creation of a Web site that Americans can use to locate biofuel service stations.
"Need to know where to buy E85 or other alternative fuels?" today's announcement asks. "The U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center now has an online station locator. Just specify which kind of fuel you want, then enter your address and the locator will map out the closest stations that sell that fuel."
It's been reported that the World Bank withheld publicizing its findings to avoid embarrassing President Bush. The World Bank's determination that biofuels are responsible for the food crisis that threatens the lives of 100 million people contradicts the U.S. government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3 percent to food price rises.
The White House must be delighted that Bush isn't the only Western leader with egg on his face today. The president's good friend, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, sparked outrage after it was disclosed today that he and other world leaders enjoyed a six-course lunch followed by an eight-course dinner at the G8 summit, where the global food crisis tops the agenda.
The prime minister was served 24 different dishes during his first day at the summit -- just hours after urging the world to reduce the "unnecessary demand" for food and calling on British families to cut back on their wasteful use of food.
For the low-down on that scandal, take a look at an article in today's edition of the British newspaper Telegraph.
Scott Doggett, Contributor
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- Scott Doggett July 7, 2008, 2:17 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Natural Gas
June 24, 2008
Congress is vowing to take actions that it believes will reverse runaway crude and gasoline prices. Oil rose above $136 a barrel on Monday – more than double what it cost a year ago – and gas hovered around $4.07 a gallon nationwide.
Lawmakers have introduced nine different bills on speculation, not to mention many more that tackle other causes of escalating fuel and oil prices. Several of the speculation measures have bipartisan support...
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- Scott Doggett June 24, 2008, 7:46 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Courts, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
May 19, 2008
Underscoring its newfound commitment to electric cars, Nissan Motor Co. said today that the joint-venture company it formed with NEC Corp. and NEC Tokin Corp. last month would invest $115 million over three years to make lithium-ion batteries starting next year for use in next-generation green vehicles.
Batteries that are long-lived, fast-charging, lightweight, powerful, reliable, cheap, safe and easy on the environment continue to elude automakers worldwide. As we reported recently, they represent the missing piece in the otherwise complete electric-drivetrain puzzle.
Car and battery manufacturers generally believe that the solution will come in the form of advanced lithium-ion batteries.
Automotive Energy Supply Corp., the three-way joint venture announced last month, would initially have capacity to build 13,000 units a year at a planned factory in Kanagawa, near Tokyo, first supplying batteries for forklifts in 2009.
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- Scott Doggett May 19, 2008, 3:40 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric
May 16, 2008
United Parcel Service has ordered 200 hybrid electric trucks and 300 compressed natural gas vehicles from Daimler as it seeks to make its delivery fleet more fuel-efficient.
Daimler said the order represents the largest ever placed for "green" commercial vehicles. Retail value of the trucks has been estimated at $50 million.The chassis will be supplied by Daimler's Freightllner subsidary, the hybrid systems by Eaton Corp.
In addition to helping UPS "green" its fleet and cut its fuel bills, use of the trucks throughout the U.S...
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- John O'Dell May 16, 2008, 3:05 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Daimler, Hybrid, Natural Gas
May 13, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
LAS VEGAS, Nevada --Energy gazillionaire T. Boone Pickens has been singing a variation of the same song for several years now, but it's a tune worthy of repeat play: The planet, says a man who made billions in petroleum exploration and ought to know his stuff, is using more oil than it produces, the situation isn't going to improve and nobody's doing much of anything about it.
"America is in a hell of a bad spot," he said in a presentation Tuesday at the Alternative Fuels & Vehicles annual conference here.
Without a radical reduction in the nation's appetite for imported crude, which now accounts for 72 percent of our total daily consumption, "we are going to be reduced to something less than the superpower we are now."
For Pickens, who has become one of the country's biggest backers of wind energy and of natural gas as a transportation fuel, the cure is painful but necessary.
We must cut back on the use of oil for automotive fuels and shepherd in a rapid and widespread adoption of domestically produced alternative fuels, he said,
Pickens, who left the oil exploration business in 1996 to set up his BP Capital Management investment company and, it turned out, to become one of the nation's biggest alternative energy boosters, has big holdings in natural gas and, not coincidentally, believes it to be the best interim solution on the transportation side of things.
"Everything" from propane to biofuels will have a place in the effort to reduce oil consumption, he said, but available supplies of domestically produced natural gas are the largest "alternative" energy source around and, if used entirely for transportation fuel, could reduce oil imports by 38 percent.
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- John O'Dell May 13, 2008, 2:16 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Natural Gas
Gorton Vallely stands with his company's prototype battery-electric, medium-duty truck at Alternative Fuel Vehicles show.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada --The Detroit Auto Show this year had a herd of diesel concepts, a few hybrids and a host of muscle cars, typical fare these days for a mainstream auto show.
Absent was much of anything to do about other "today" alternatives to gasoline, leading people who are concerned about the auto, the energy sector and the environment to wonder what the automakers are up to and why they aren't moving faster to throw off the yolk of demon oil.
Can't answer that question. If I could I'd be out making millions as a highly paid consultant and seer instead of sitting in front of my computer in a 'Vegas hotel room overlooking the scenic roof of the power plant that keeps the casino chilled.
But I can suggest that for every innovation we don't see coming from our mass market automakers there's a small business out there somewhere hoping to offer up a solution.
Many of them are serving the fleet business – the trucking, bus and taxi companies that buy lots of relatively expensive equipment, are subject to strenuous emissions regulation in most states and bleed profits every time the price of gasoline or diesel goes up even a penny a gallon.
Walk around the showroom floor at the annual Alternative Fuel Vehicles national conference here this week and you see that can do spirit everywhere.
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- John O'Dell May 13, 2008, 3:06 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
April 17, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
I just grin these days when friends and neighbors complain about the price of gasoline -- which is running around $3.71 a gallon in our part of Southern Californnia.
Fuel for my daily driver -- the natural gas Honda Civic GX in Edmunds' longterm fleet -- averaged just $2.53 a gallon last month, and I'm expecting it to fall below $2 a gallon for April. That'll be a savings of nearly 50% and will put $100 or more back in my pocket each month.
My secret weapon is the Phill home CNG pump that does an overnight replacement of the half-tank of fuel I use on my daily 116-mile commute tank overnight (it takes 19 hours or more to fill a a completely empty eight-gallon tank).
Using the Phill means I pay for my natural gas at the same rate Southern California Gas Co...
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- John O'Dell April 17, 2008, 12:48 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Natural Gas
April 9, 2008
Nearly 1.8 million alternative-fuel cars were sold in the United States during the 2007 model year, about 250,000 more than the previous model year, according to figures gathered by the automotive information and marketing company R.L. Polk & Co. and released by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
The sales tally included 1,670,933 E-85-capable flex-fuel vehicles, 375,506 diesel-powered and 347,847 hybrids that use gas engines and electric motors. Honda Motor Co. also sold about 1,000 Civic models modified to run on compressed natural gas -- the only factory-built CNG cars in the market.
Sales of E-85-capable vehicles more than doubled from the 823,726 sold during the 2006 model year, while sales of hybrid vehicles increased 37 percent from the 253,081 hybrids sold during the 2006 model year. Sales of diesel vehicles actually fell 21 percent from the 475,203 sold during the previous model year, due to the discontinuation of some models.
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- John O'Dell April 9, 2008, 1:10 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Flex-Fuel, Hybrid, Natural Gas
March 21, 2008
We don't write about it much here on the Green Car Advisor site, but Edmunds has a 2007 Honda Civic GX in its long-erm fleet and we do most of the driving -- it's not hot-rod enough for most of the crew.
One of the benefits is that it comes with a single occupancy carpool lane sticker, and with a 116-mile daily round trip commute on crowded Southern California freeways, that's worth a lot.
Another is that fuel is relatively cheap -- especially as we've just installed a Phill home CNG unit in our garage and can fill the tank with compressed natural gas while we sleep.
Won't bother you with all the details here -- you can jump over to the Civic GX long-term blog on Edmunds Inside Line for all the details -- but we've found that using the Phill has really boosted the car's perceived fuel economy...
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- John O'Dell March 21, 2008, 2:40 PM
- Categories:
- Honda, Natural Gas
Auto X-Prize entries will include mainstream vehicles and fanciful concepts.
By Robert E. Calem, ContributorNew York --The Automotive X Prize competition, an effort to do for the green car what the original
X Prize did for private space flight, was officially launched Thursday at the New York International Auto Show, where sample vehicles were displayed by four of the more than 60 teams from nine countries that will be vying for shares of a $10 million bounty.
The prize money was put up by Progressive Insurance, which has become the main sponsor in return for a name change: the competition is now the
Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize.
Additionally, the federal Department of Energy plans to provide a $3.5 million grant to fund a national education program organized around the competition in order to “inspire youth and the general public about the alternative vehicle and fuel options of the near future,” the X Prize Foundation announced.
Inspiring EntrepreneursThe contest, developed over the past two and a half years by the non-profit foundation, has the lofty goal of inspiring entrepreneurs to develop a new generation of commercially viable automobiles with low emissions and fuel economy equivalent to 100 miles per gallon.
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- John O'Dell March 21, 2008, 4:03 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
March 18, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior EditorCalifornia's clean air regulators are updating the state's controversial zero emissions vehicle, or ZEV, mandate and are holding a public hearing in Sacramento next week to hear comment on the proposed revisions.
In advance of that, the
Plug In America advocacy group today sent a lengthy letter to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, urging him to influence the panel to protect present rules calling for automakers to collectively build 25,000 zero emissions vehicles for sale in the state between 2012 and 2014 and 50,000 between 2015 and 2017.
One of the proposed changes would cut the number of ZEVs to just 2,500 in the first stage of the build-up and to 25,000 in the second stage.
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- John O'Dell March 18, 2008, 1:58 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Natural Gas, Solar
March 12, 2008
Honda Motor Co.'s new subcompact hybrid, scheduled to launch in 2009, should come to the U.S. with a cost premium of less than $2,000 according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
That's about half the premium Honda charges for its gas-electric Civic Hybrid to account for the cost of the hybrid electric system.
The new small car – Honda has refused to provide a more detailed description – will be smaller than the Civic but still could serve as a family vehicle, insiders say.
Honda isn't planning on a radical change in its hybrid system to accommodate the reduced cost. It will be able to lop $2,000 or more off the cost of the system because of the economies of scale the company intends to achieve by selling at least 200,000 of the new small hybrid worldwide each year.
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- John O'Dell March 12, 2008, 12:35 PM
- Categories:
- Diesel, Honda, Hybrid, Natural Gas
March 10, 2008
Ah, Monday.
Another week of commuting begins, and with it, more concern about what the price of gasoline is doing to the family budget.
Which brings up this thought: What if you could do a whole year's worth of commuting on a couple gallons of gas?
A team of students from a French technology school accomplished the equivalent (in theory) when they achieved an amazing 7,148 miles per gallon driving their ultralight, ultra-streamlined wondercar around the 1.94-mile banked circuit at Rockingham Motor Speedway outside of London during the Royal Dutch Shell-sponsored 2007 Eco-Marathon last July.
We say "in theory" because Team Microjoule, entered in the "prototype" category, didn't burn anywhere near a gallon of gas -- the car's fuel tank held only 1.01 ounces of fuel and the mileage was extrapolated from the gas used during 7 laps around the racecourse.
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- John O'Dell March 10, 2008, 10:30 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
February 28, 2008
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
The governors of 19 western U.S. states and three Pacific island nations have agreed to work together to speed the development and use of alternative fuels, improve vehicle fuel economy and help reduce dependence on foreign petroleum.
A
resolution adopted by the
Western Governors' Association earlier this month incorporates recommendations contained in
a report developed at the request of the governors and with the assistance of energy experts.
The resolution calls for development of a regional framework for performance-based greenhouse gas standards for transportation fuels, such as a low-carbon fuel standard. The fuels and technologies include biodiesel, biofuels, coal-to-liquids, compressed natural gas, propane, electricity and hydrogen.
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- John O'Dell February 28, 2008, 5:40 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Natural Gas
VW Is stuffing a diesel-electric hybrid system into its Golf --
the Rabbit here.When the world's auto companies (most of 'em, anyhow) gather in Geneva next week to strut their stuff, much of the focus will be on fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide reduction.
The two go hand in glove, as CO
2 -- the principal greenhouse gas associated with global warming -- is released when gasoline, diesel and other hydrocarbon-based fuels are burned. The less fuel a vehicle consumes per mile traveled, the lower its carbon dioxide emissions (unless it is driven more because fuel costs drop due to better mileage, but that's a topic for another time).
So expect lots of diesels, with and without turbochargers, lots of ultra efficient small gasoline engines, usually turbocharged, and even a natural gas engine or two to be featured in the cars that will be unveiled.
Edmunds Inside Line has prepared an exhaustive look at the cars being featured at the Geneva auto show, and
Edmunds AutoObserver offers a look at the show and CO
2 issues.
Geneva also will offer a few hybrids, including one that has the Internet burning up: VW has confirmed that it will show what it calls a diesel-hybrid "study." We'd call it a concept and a number of European auto blogs including Britain's
Channel4.com are calling it a done deal, sure to go into production soon. (Sorry, VW wasn't offering any pictures today, so we're just showing the standard Golf.)
The excitement is all about mileage. Loaded into the latest version of the VW Golf (that's a Rabbit in the U.S.), the power train is good for U.S. fuel economy of 69.9 miles per gallon – take that, Toyota.
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- John O'Dell February 28, 2008, 2:45 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Diesel, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Toyota, Volkswagen
February 19, 2008
It's not packed with sexy new technology like hybrid or fuel-cell cars, but its clean, low-carbon fuel and respectable fuel economy combined to earn Honda's 2008 Civic GX top place on a leading environmental guide's "greenest cars" list for the fifth consecutive year.
Honda's natural gas Civic GX is rated "greenest" car in U.S. for fifth year.
VW's Touareg diesel ranked "meanest" of more than 1,300 vehicles rated. The four-wheel-drive version of Volkswagen's diesel-burning V10 Touareg SUV placed dead last on the lengthy list, behind such gas guzzlers as the Bugatti Veyron, Lamborghini Murcielago and the 6.0-liter Hummer H2.
In taking the top spot the GX, fueled by compressed natural gas, once again beat out the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids.
The rankings are contained in the Washington, D.C.-based the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's 11the annual
Green Book. The online guide to environmental rankings for every 2008 model car and passenger truck sold in the U.S. was released this morning by the ACEEE.
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- John O'Dell February 19, 2008, 1:05 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Emissions, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas
February 15, 2008
NGV sticker on the rear flank tells world the Honda Givic GX uses natural gas.It's been a step-child of the green car movement for a decade now, but Honda's
Civic GX is finally getting some notice.
As gasoline prices soar, demand for the company's natural-gas powered emissions fighter is soaring too.
Dealers are actually building waiting lists in California and New York, the two states where the car is sold to regular consumers.
Allocations are sold out through June, and Honda is considering nearly doubling production to 2,000 a year, with the possibility of an even bigger boost if market demand continues to build, a company insider said.
Those aren't earth-shaking numbers, but they reflect quite a jump from the GX's first eight years on the market, when sales averaged a mere 698 cars a year.
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- John O'Dell February 15, 2008, 5:45 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Honda, Natural Gas
February 12, 2008
Coming, but not to U.S., the Cevennes Turbo CNG roadster.
We drive a Honda Civic GX on our daily commute most days. That's 58 miles one-way on jammed-up Southern California freeways.
It's a pretty dull drive, in a pretty plain-vanilla car whose redeeming virtues are that it, so far, has been problem free, comes with a single-occupancy carpool lane pass, is relatively cheap to run because its fuel -- compressed natural gas -- costs less than gasoline, and, of course, is the greenest internal combustion car on the road because of CNG's lower carbon and pollutants content.
The Civic GX is the only factory-built CNG car sold in the U.S. today, although you can get conversion kits to adapt several other vehicles, including big pickups and SUVs, to natural gas if you so desire.
We don't want to dis the Honda, it's a wonderful commuter car. But we can't help but sigh wistfully and think how much more fun our commute, and weekend excursions, would be if we could get our hands on the Cevennes Turbo CNG to be unveiled next month at the Geneva Auto Salon.
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- John O'Dell February 12, 2008, 2:17 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Emissions, Natural Gas
January 17, 2008
Here's are a pair of must-reads for those who criticize the auto industry for its environmental record, and for those seeking ammunition to defend car makers from all the criticism.
Colleague John DiPietro has penned (or pixeled) an incisive look at how Subaru of America became the first automaker in the country to develop a comprehensive, plant-wide recycling system and has made its plant in Indiana a zero-landfill operation.
That's right. Despite the tons and tons waste generated in the assembly of automobiles -- everything from the wood and plastic from shipping pallets to the thousands of soft drink cans and bottles emptied during lunch breaks, not an ounce of stuff from the factory ends up in a landfill!
You can read
John's piece over at Edmunds Green Car Guide...
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- John O'Dell January 17, 2008, 11:45 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Natural Gas, Subaru
January 12, 2008
By Nick Kurczewski, ContributorNEW DELHI -- The 9th New Delhi Auto Expo has seen many auto manufacturers talk about emissions and the cleanliness of their vehicles. It has also marked the arrival of hulking sport-utility vehicles and fearsomely quick sports cars into the Indian market.
As Greenpeace protested outside, and journalists fought to take photos of the $2,500 Tata Nano car-for-everyone, a message of clean emissions and environmental awareness got lost here at the Pragati Maidan exhibition halls.
Tata heaped praise upon itself, not only for unveiling what is now the world's cheapest car, but for ensuring that it achieves 50 miles per gallon and meets Euro III emissions standards.
Those fuel economy figures look pretty good, though it’s probably what you should expect when buying a car powered by a 32 horsepower two-cylinder engine.
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- John O'Dell January 12, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Diesel, Emissions, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Natural Gas
December 17, 2007
As part of an ongoing effort to clean up air pollution from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
-- the nation's busiest container ports – a new liquefied natural gas fuel station has been built to help speed conversion of the ports' short-haul truck fleet.
The facility is the first of three to be built in the port area by Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to help meet the goals of the ports' year-old Clean Air Action Plan.
That plan calls for replacing 16,500 aging diesel trucks with trucks fueled by liquid natural gas or equipped with clean diesel emissions systems to reduce nitrogen oxide and sooty particulate matter.
Shaunt Hartounian, a Clean Energy marketing executive, said the company estimates that each of the trucks burns 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year. Replacing all 16,500 diesels with trucks burning LNG or other alternative fuels would offset 247.5 million gallons of diesel a year, he said.
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- John O'Dell December 17, 2007, 2:00 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Natural Gas
Hybrid-electric Citroen prototype enters Challenge Bibendum in Shanghai.
By Kate McLeod, Contributor
There was little TV coverage and hardly anyone watched from the sidelines, but this still was one of the most important races in the world.
Run in the form of a rally on the public roads of China’s Shanghai province on November 14, it was part of a unique event, the Challenge Bibendum.
There were no winners, though. The Bibendum philosophy is that the race won't be over until we all enter and drive together to find a sustainable finish. The environment is the ultimate winner, says Michelin, although the Hyundai Tucson fuel-cell prototype received "As" in tests for noise, local pollutants, fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions -- tank to tire. Venturi’s Eclectic got As across the board for the above tests as well as acceleration and maneuverability. Two prototype buses made in China, WanXiang EV Co.’s C3 fuel cell and CITIC Guoan Mengguli’s battery-electric, also made top grades.
Until then, the event -- launched by French tire giant Michelin Group in 1998 -- is staged annually to showcase existing and developing technologies that can help save fuel and reduce atmospheric pollutants, including greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
It brings together global vehicle makers, energy suppliers, researchers and political and economic decision makers and encourages discussion of potential solutions to transportation, energy consumption, and traffic congestion and noise problems.
Equally important is that it lets them see advanced technology vehicles in motion.
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- John O'Dell December 17, 2007, 3:26 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
November 23, 2007
By Robert E. Calem, Contributor
It could be the perfect automobile for environment-conscious Americans who are also short on money and time: the NGV, or natural gas vehicle, a near-zero emissions auto powered by an inexpensive, domestically abundant fuel, and granted special single-occupancy access to commuter fast lanes.
Popular in Europe where gasoline prices are exorbitant, NGVs are still rare among alternative fuel vehicles in the U.S. Earlier this decade, citing weak sales, Ford, Chrysler and GM all stopped selling them here, ceding the domestic market to the Honda Civic GX, which has been named the world's cleanest internal combustion engine vehicle.
Through a process called "upfitting," however, some new GM and Ford vehicles can be converted to NGVs, and reap all of the benefits available to Civic GX owners. Those include a federal tax credit and certain local tax credits and incentives aimed at encouraging ownership of natural gas vehicles, as well as relatively cheap fuel prices and, in some states, "driver-only" access to HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes on arterial highways.
As gasoline prices climb, U.S. sales to everyday folks of the Civic GX and of NGV conversions are on an upswing, people close to the market say.
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- John O'Dell November 23, 2007, 3:23 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Natural Gas, Tax Incentives
October 11, 2007
Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Vehicle
As if on cue, the cars of the future queue up and drive past Vijay Vaitheeswaran.
A shiny new Nissan Altima hybrid powered by both gasoline and electricity zips by silently. A slick European-spec Audi A6 sedan purrs by, burning clean diesel.
Then comes a Prius hybrid with a short power cord where you'd expect to find a tailpipe, signifying its aftermarket conversion to a 100-plus mpg plug-in. There's even a Hyundai Tucson fuel-cell electric SUV carrying three tanks full of hydrogen, enough to travel about 150 miles.
Vaitheeswaran, a reporter for The Economist and co-author of Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future, nods in appreciation.
He's taken a break from his book tour to attend an alternative fuels program in the industrial town of South San Francisco.
"In a nutshell, oil is the problem, cars are a big part of the solution," he said.
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- John O'Dell October 11, 2007, 1:00 PM
- Categories:
- Diesel, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Natural Gas, Nissan, Volkswagen
