Green Car Advisor
Transportation Alternatives
October 16, 2009
The Senate has approved a measure directing the Energy Department to extend advanced vehicle research and development funding programs to manufacturers of three-wheeled vehicles as well as to the conventional car and truck industries.
The bill, already approved by the House, now goes to the President for his signature.
To qualify, three-wheelers would have to meet the federal safety standards applied to four-wheel vehicles.
The measure was spurred by lobbying from companies such as Aptera that are developing fuel-efficient, lightweight and often sporty three-wheel passenger vehicles.
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Aptera prototypes at assembly plant in Southern California early this year.
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It expands eligibility for the federal advanced tech vehicle loan program to include fully enclosed vehicles designed to carry at least two adults and that average at least 75 miles per gallon or the equivalent.
The Energy Department also would have to reconsider applications filed last year that were rejected because the vehicles didn't qualify.
Aptera has said it has taken more than 4,000 deposits ($500 each) for its Aptera 2e battery-electric three-wheeler and has applied for a $75 million low-interest loan from the federal program to help it begin mass production next year.
Another company that applied last year and was rebuked is Elio Motors, which has said it plans to start marketing a narrow, gasoline-powered three-wheeler by the spring of 2011.
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- John O'Dell October 16, 2009, 1:55 PM
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- Aptera, Elio, Transportation Alternatives
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- 3 Wheel Vehicles
, Aptera 2e, Elios
May 22, 2009
Bright Automotive
has added Evan House as vice president for battery development.
House previously was with Seeo Inc., Altairnano Inc. and EnerDel Inc.
Here's a bit of what Bright has to say about the scientist's work at Altairnano:
"He played a significant role in reviving the current growing interest in electric
vehicles by developing 100-mile range, 10-minute recharge, and 20-year life battery systems."
The Indiana-based start-up hopes to market a 100-miles-per-gallon plug-in electric hybrid light-duty truck (above) that would be sold exclusively to fleet operators. The privately held company hopes to introduce the Bright Idea truck late in 2012 and be producing 50,000 units annually by 2013. The company hasn't released a base price for the proposed vehicle.
Bright's chief executive officer is John Waters, who developed the battery pack for the General Motors Corp. EV1 vehicle.
Greg Johnson, Contributor
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- Greg Johnson May 22, 2009, 1:53 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Economy, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
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- Bright Automotive
, Electric Vehicles, General Motors Corp. EV1, Plug In Electric Vehicle, Plug In Hybrids
It's proving to be a long and winding road to the hydrogen economy.
But the California Air Resources Board, the California Fuel Cell Partnership, the National Hydrogen Association and the U.S. Fuel Cell Council are betting that the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour, which will stop in 28 cities in the U.S. and Canada, will give motorists an opportunity to see how hydrogen fits into the transportation future.
The 1,700-mile road trip will begin on May 26 in Chula Vista, Calif. and end on June 3 in Vancouver, B.C. The tour will showcase a number of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles from General Motors Corp., Volkswagen Group of America, Daimler and other manufacturers. Though some of the planned events are by invitation, most are open to the public, and some lucky folks will be invited to test drive hydrogen-powered vehicles.
"Fuel cell technology is on the verge of becoming a practical alternative to burning gasoline," said CARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols. "This year's road tour demonstrates how far the industry has come and how near we are to putting these cars in the public's hands."
Given recent budget cuts proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy, the hydrogen sector could use an upbeat road trip to clear its collective head.
On May 7, DoE Secretary Steven Chu proposed that more than $100 million be cut from his department's hydrogen program. The proposed cut in the 2010 federal budget would slash hydrogen fuel cell spending by 59 percent to just $68 million and shift research to stationary power generation from transportation.
Why? "We asked ourselves, 'Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy?' The answer, we felt, was 'no,'" Chu said in a briefing.
Chu's action marked a dramatic reversal from 2002 when former DoE Secretary Spencer Abraham boasted that "At the Department of Energy, we're not just talking about the hydrogen economy. We're working to make it a reality."
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- Greg Johnson May 22, 2009, 9:03 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, General Motors, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Legislation, Mass Transit, Mercedes-Benz, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Battery Electric Vehicles
, Electric Vehicle Batteries, General Motors Corp., Hydrogen Fuel Cell, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle, Stephen Chu, Volkswagon Group Of America
May 14, 2009
The headline on a story in a recent Vanderbilt University publication is an eye-catcher: "The Campaign To End American Idle."
It's not a typographical error. The story describes how American motorists waste energy and create additional tailpipe emissions by allowing their cars to idle rather than shutting their engines down.
A nationwide survey of 1,300 drivers conducted recently by the Vanderbilt University Climate Change Research Network suggests that passenger cars with engines idling could account for 1.6 percent of the nation's overall mobile and stationary pollution.
About half of that occurs at red lights and during traffic jams. But, Mike Vandenbergh (shown above), a Vanderbilt law professor and a co-author of the study, links the other half to motorists who are waiting to pick up their children at school, talking on cell phones or waiting to pick up a burger in a fast-food drive-through lane.
Eliminating that unnecessary idling time could save almost $6 billion in fuel a year based on 2008 prices, said Vandenbergh, who is director of the research network.
"Drivers who idle their cars and light trucks in driveways, school pick-up lines, to warm up a car or while waiting in fast-food or bank drive-through lines account for 17 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year," according to Vandenbergh. "As a basis for comparison, industrial aluminum production currently accounts for 13.7 billion pounds of carbon emissions and petrochemical production for 3.3 billion pounds.
"We tend, in the policy arena, to look for areas or actions that have the greatest emissions," Vandenbergh said. "By doing that, we focus on some of the very hardest behaviors to change," such as the never-ending attempt to get more people to use public transportation.
Prior to teaching at Vanderbilt, Vandenbergh was an environmental attorney in Washington, D.C. From 1993 to 1995 he was chief of staff at the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Greg Johnson, Contributor
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- Greg Johnson May 14, 2009, 12:22 PM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Economy, Mass Transit, Transportation Alternatives
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- Emissions
, Vanderbilt University Climate Change Research Network
May 13, 2009
General Electric is building a $100-million plant in upstate New York to manufacture sodium-chemistry batteries that initially will be used to power locomotives, tugboats, mining trucks and other heavy service vehicles. The plant will be located in the Albany area and will generate about 350 manufacturing jobs, according to GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt.
Information Week reports that "the most technologically interesting aspect of Tuesday's announcement may be the potential it holds for automotive batteries. If the power of lithium-ion batteries and the storage capability of sodium batteries were to be combined, they might yield a superior battery for hybrid cars."
And, as we've reported, General Electric has invested $70 million in A123 Systems, which is developing lithium-ion batteries. Mark Little, GE's global research director, has joined the board of directors at Massachusetts-based A123, which will provide battery packs for Chrysler LLC's proposed fleet of extended range hybrids and all-electric vehicles.
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- Greg Johnson May 13, 2009, 12:44 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives, Transportation Alternatives
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- Battery Makers
, Battery Research, Chrysler LLC, General Electric. A123 Systems, Lithium Ion Batteries
May 11, 2009
Talk about a disconnect.
When the Obama Administration unveiled its proposed 2010 budget last week, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu had penciled in a proposal to cut more than $100 million from Uncle Sam's hydrogen research and development program.
Chu's rationale for cutting hydrogen funding by 59 percent to just $68 million? It's unlikely that the technology will become significant player during the next two decades.
In contrast, the California Fuel Cell Partnership in February predicted that 4,300 fuel-cell electric vehicles could be traveling California roads by 2014, and that the the hydrogen-powered fleet could grow to about 50,000 vehicles by 2017 as more manufacturers introduce their zero emission vehicles.
What's more, the partnership believes that, by 2017, Californians will be able to fuel their Honda FCX Clarity and other fuel cell vehicles at between 50 and 100 hydrogen refueling stations around the state.
'"Fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen stations are at the cusp of transition into the early commercial market," according to the organization's report that is titled "Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle and Station Deployment Plan: A Strategy for Meeting the Challenge Ahead."
So it's not surprising that the CaFCP, which counts auto manufacturers (including Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.), energy companies (Shell and Chevron), fuel cell technology companies (Proton Energy Systems) and government agencies (including the DoE, which is a dues-paying member!) on Friday called for Chu to reconsider the proposed budget cut.
"Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have progressed to the point where some automakers are ready to begin early commercialization," said CaFCP Executive Director Catherine Dunwoody. "Stopping federal investment at this point is like a coach pulling back an Olympic athlete who has trained for years, just as the trials begin. We can't wait for the next round. We're ready to go."
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- Greg Johnson May 11, 2009, 3:13 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
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- Fuel Cell
, General Motors Corp, Honda FCX Clarity, Hydrogen, Plug In Hybrid, Toyota Motor Co.
May 7, 2009
California legislators are considering a bill that would require owners of an estimated 493,000 motorcycles to line up with owners of cars and trucks to undergo smog checks.
Proponents of SB 435 - including the California Air Resources Board, the American Lung Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council - maintain that owners of two-wheelers have been getting a free ride when it comes to the estimated 5.16 tons of pollutants emitted daily by their vehicles.
Motorcycles account for 3.6 percent of the state's registered highway vehicles and less than one percent of total vehicle miles driven in California. But the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee maintains that the pollution produced by motorcycles "is about 14 times that which is produced by cars."
The proposed solution: Biennial smog checks starting in 2012 for motorcycles manufactured during or after the 2000 model year. Not surprisingly, the bill has drawn stiff opposition from motorcycle owners since being introduced in February.
No word yet on whether the legislation will be passed - or whether motorcycle-riding Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would sign it.
We're of a mixed mind about SB 435. Motorcycles are relatively high emitters compared to modern cars, but their cumulative emissions are still very low. Similarly, the number of miles traveled by two-wheelers is but a tiny fraction of what motorists accumulate in cars and trucks - particularly big trucks.
California also has the toughest motorcycle emissions rules in the country (which the state says many motorcycle riders are skirting by tinkering with the emissions controls). But even with a motorcycle enthusiast as governor, bikers don't enjoy the political clout of, say, commercial truckers.
So while it makes more sense to toughen up emissions regulations governing, say, big rigs or stationary sources of pollution, motorcycles arguably are an easier target from a political perspective.
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- Greg Johnson May 7, 2009, 2:00 AM
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- Emissions, Fuel Economy, Legislation, Motorcycles, Transportation Alternatives
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- California Air Resources Board
, Emissions, Legislation, Motorcycles, Tailpipe Emissions
May 6, 2009
Ford Motor Co. today said that it will spend $550 million to transform its Michigan Assembly Plant into a lean, green and flexible manufacturing facility that will build the company's new, gasoline-powered global Ford Focus and a battery-electric version of that vehicle. The conventional Focus will begin rolling off of the assembly lines in 2010 with the Ford Focus battery electric vehicle to follow in 2011.
The zero-emission Focus BEV, which is being developed in partnership with Magna International, will have a high-voltage electric motor powered by a high-capacity Lithium Ion battery pack that will plug into 110-volt or 220-volt outlets. Ford today described the vehicle as part of its plan to "develop electric vehicles for North America quickly and affordably by leveraging its global platform capability."
In addition to the battery electric car, Ford is working with Smith Electric to introduce a Transit Connect battery electric commercial vehicle into North American markets during 2010. The automobile company plans to introduce a next-generation hybrid vehicle in 2012 and a plug-in hybrid vehicle in 2012.
"We're changing from a company focused mainly on trucks and SUVs to a company with a balanced product lineup that includes even more high-quality, fuel-efficient small cars, hybrids and all-electric vehicles," said Mark Fields, president of Ford's American operations. "As customers move to more fuel-efficient vehicles, we'll be there with more of the products they really want."
The state of Michigan, Wayne County and the city of Wayne contributed more than $160 million in tax credits and grants to support Ford's renovation project. Ford credited UAW officials for "establishing a strong, progressive culture at Michigan Assembly Plant that is based on teamwork, joint problem solving and continuous improvement."
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- Greg Johnson May 6, 2009, 11:52 AM
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- Emissions, Ford, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Smith, Tax Incentives, Transportation Alternatives
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- Ford Electric Delivery Van
, Ford Escape Plug In, Ford EV, Ford Motor Company, Ford Plug In Hybrid, Ford Transit Connect Van
May 5, 2009
Today's diesel-powered automobiles aren't your father's diesel-powered automobiles.
That's one of the core messages Volkswagen Group of America Inc. hopes to deliver in a new (and sufficiently quirky, given the company's advertising heritage) marking effort that includes a website where light-footed VW owners are boasting about extreme mileage accomplishments.
The pro-diesel push comes at the same time as a new "Meet the Volkswagens" ad campaign that pairs Max, the restored black VW Beetle that speaks with a German accent, with "Bus," an immaculately restored white and red 1968 Microbus (whose voice is supplied by actor Thomas Haden Church).
VW has a simple message in each instance: its autos are fuel-efficient, green and safe vehicles that won't break the household budget. And, to ensure that the message has a chance of being heard, VW plans to keep its 2009 advertising budget at the same level it was in 2008.
That is a serious commitment given that VW reportedly raised last year's spend by 45.7 percent over the 2007 level. The Nielsen Company reports that the overall automotive sector cut overall 2008 advertising spending by 15.5 percent to just over $10 billion.
VW's U.S. marketing chief, Tim Ellis, told USAToday that "When we invest in marketing, things happen. We think it's important to stick to our roots and stick to our value message. We're getting a higher percentage of the dwindling marketplace. And when this crazy situation comes straight side up again, we'll be positioned to increase our share even further."
VW isn't escaping the auto industry carnage. The Herndon, Va.-based company saw April sales tumble by 16.1 percent to 16,289 vehicles. Full year sales for 2008 declined by 3.2 percent to 223,128.
The automobile industry's global slump underscores the bold nature of VW's American gambit. Last year it announced plans for a $1 billion production plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. that will produce 150,000 vehicles annually - 30 percent of which will be powered by VW's TDI (turbo direct injection) engines.
On top of that, VW has boldly set a U.S. sales goal of one million vehicles by 2018.
To reach its lofty sales goal VW knows that it must persuade Americans (the emphasis is on younger consumers) that diesels aren't the clunky, smoky and noisy engines of yesteryear.
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- Greg Johnson May 5, 2009, 1:21 PM
- Categories:
- Daimler, Diesel, Emissions, Ford, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives, Volkswagen, Volvo
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- BMW
, Diesel Cars, Honda Insight, Mercedes Benz Diesel, Prius, Tax Incentives, Toyota Prius, Volkswagen Diesels, Volkswagon Group Of America
By Greg Johnson, Contributor
It's been four years since David Ramey fueled up his unmodified 1992 Buick Park Avenue with butanol derived from biomass and made a 10,000-mile road trip that took him from Blacklick, Ohio to San Diego and back.
The trip, which included stops along the way to court members of the media and environmental agency personnel, was conceived as a way to prove that "biobutanol" had inherent environmental and fuel-economy benefits over its better-known cousin in the green fuels family, ethanol.
Flash forward to 2009 and biobutanol still isn't getting the respect that Ramey and other proponents say the fuel deserves. Ramey, for example, continues to make demonstration drives - he'll fuel up a vehicle with biobutanol for the Fourth off July parade in nearby Gahanna, Ohio.
"There has been very little funding for biobutanol research over the past 30 years and we are simply in the infancy of this new technology," Ramey wrote in a recent email to Green Car Advisor. "Many are talking about biobutanol but few are producing it."
That situation is about to change, according to biobutanol backers who describe the fuel as a worthy challenger to ethanol. When properly formulated, they say, butanol burns cleaner than ethanol, has a higher energy density, can be transported in existing petroleum-product pipelines and won't hurt seals, gaskets or other parts of internal combustion engines.
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- Greg Johnson May 5, 2009, 3:00 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Butanol, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Oil, Transportation Alternatives
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- Biodiesel Adventure
, BP Global biobutanol, Butanol, Dupont, Ethanol Pipeline
May 4, 2009
By Greg Johnson, Contributor
General Motors Corp. should have known it was in for a rocky ride on April 29 when late-night talk show host David Letterman used his monologue to describe the CBS Late Show as "the Pontiac of comedy."
It got decidedly worse for the struggling automobile company after Letterman invited Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk to sit down and talk about his upscale Tesla S electric sedan that's slated to be introduced late in 2011.
For most of the ten-minute Musk segment, Letterman talked like a real car guy (which he is), displaying an understanding of EVs, electric motors and lithium ion batteries. Musk was equally serious, comparing green car development to the evolution of cell phones that began as a rich guy's status symbol but now are an integral (and affordable) part of life.
Musk told Letterman that his firm has taken orders on about 1,300 of the upscale "S" sedans (right)
that will (before tax breaks) be sold at a base price of $57,400. Toward the end of the segment, Musk's associates drove a gleaming model onto the set. (Letterman promptly pretended to be getting electrocuted after reaching into the car and grabbing the steering wheel.)
After rehashing the ups and downs of electric-vehicle R&D in this country, Letterman complained that "we should be so much further ahead on this curve, much farther ahead than we are now."
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- Greg Johnson May 4, 2009, 11:47 AM
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- Batteries, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla, Transportation Alternatives
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- David Letterman
, Elon Musk, General Motors Corp, Tesla S Model, Volt Battery Pack
April 22, 2009
The Peapod neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) won't go on sale until October, but it will be featured during Wednesday morning's Today Show on NBC. The NEV will be part of the program's Earth Day coverage.
Peapod designer Peter Arnell will be going along for the ride. Earlier in the year, Arnell and the Peapod were guests on Martha Stewart's TV show.
Arnell's appearances are designed to promote the Peapod vehicle that blends an attractive design with features that optimize the practicality of the NEV segment. The battery-powered four-seater, with a maximum legal speed of 25 mph, will retail (mainly online) for $12,500.
Dale Buss, Contributor
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- Greg Johnson April 22, 2009, 1:00 AM
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- Batteries, Fuel Economy, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
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- Neighborhood Electric Vehicle
, Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, NEV, Peapod, Peter Arnell
April 21, 2009
John Waters, the brains behind the battery pack system that powered the General Motors EV1 electric vehicle in 1999, thinks he's got another bright idea - design and manufacture a 100-mile-per-gallon plug-in electric hybrid light-duty truck, sell it exclusively to fleet operators and call it the Bright IDEA.
Indiana-based start-up Bright Automotive brought a working concept model of the IDEA to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday morning to show it off. The privately held company plans to introduce the IDEA truck late in 2012 and be producing 50,000 units annually by 2013.
The company did not state a base price for the vehicle or say where it would be manufactured. (Several locations in midwest states are being considered.) During a Tuesday morning teleconference, Waters also declined to identify Bright Automotive's investor base.
The Washington, D.C. introduction wasn't by accident. Bright Automotive is lobbying hard for $450 million of the $25 billion in economic stimulus funds that the Obama administration is making available to automobile companies. Waters today referred to the stimulus money as the "green car fund" - and voiced his opinion that entrepreneurs should get the lion's share of the cash.
Not surprisingly, the IDEA leans heavily on ideas that were incorporated into GM's EV1: lightweight materials, low-resistance tires, an aerodynamic shape and a highly efficient battery and drivetrain.
Here's how that technology adds up to a bright idea, according to Waters. Low-resistance tires can improve fuel economy by from six percent to nine percent. A ten percent weight reduction brings a seven percent improvement in fuel efficiency. Those savings, Waters said, will allow Bright to incorporate smaller, less-costly batteries, which will cut both vehicle weight and the retail cost.
Bright Automotive believes that its vehicle would save a vehicle operator ten cents per mile and $6,000 per year in fuel costs. Waters said his firm is targeting fleet operators, including the U.S. Postal Service, which operates 160,000 neighborhood delivery vehicles with an average fuel economy of about 10 miles per gallon.
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- Greg Johnson April 21, 2009, 12:39 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
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- Bright Automotive
, EV1, General Motors, GM EV1, Hybrid, John Waters, Plug In Hybrid
April 9, 2009
By Dale Buss, Contributor
These first photos of the final production version of the Peapod neighborhood electric vehicle, to be launched on Earth Day (April 22) are exclusive to Green Car Advisor.
They show a car completely in tune with designer Peter Arnell's vision of a radically new approach to the formerly dowdy, battery-powered NEV segment. Getting Peapod off the ground has been Arnell's main task for Chrysler LLC since last year when he became the company's chief innovation officer.
Peapod is meant to appeal to early-adopting city dwellers in search of stylish but limited automotive transportation. Initially, Peapod models will be classified as NEVs, which means their top speed can be only 25 mph, but Arnell has said that the company eventually wants to manufacture and market city electric vehicles, which can go faster.
The single version of the four-seat, all-electric Peapod will retail for a suggested $12,500. It soon will be available in seven colors. The first deliveries are scheduled for October.
"It's a pretty straightforward proposition for a consumer to get their arms around," said Arnell, lead director of the Peapod Mobility Group that has been created out of GEM, Chrysler's long-time NEV subsidiary. Fargo, N.D.-based GEM is manufacturing the Peapod.
"We believe anything that plays well in the efficiency and convenience and simplicity arena with great style, and a sincere attitude toward the ecosystem, is a proposition that's very appropriate for today," Arnell told Green Car Advisor. "And at that price, it's a quality badge that you can wear easily."
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- Greg Johnson April 9, 2009, 3:41 PM
- Categories:
- Chrysler, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Chrysler LLC
, City Electric Vehicle, Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, NEV, Peapod
And the winner is: Honda FCX Clarity, the 2009 World Green Car.
The announcement was made this morning at the New York Auto Show. The FCX Clarity beat out the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the Toyota iQ. The top three finishers were culled from a list of 22 contenders that were nominated by 59 judges in 25 countries.
Here is some of what the judges had to say about the car:
"The FCX Clarity is an utterly real, hydrogen-fueled luxury sedan that provides the amenities people expect in a premium car with 430 km (267 miles) range, fuel consumption of about 3.3 litres/100 km (72 mpg U.S.) equivalent and zero tailpipe emissions. While there is only so much the automotive industry can do when it comes to this technology - governments need to come onboard to help create a true refuelling infrastructure - Honda must be credited for taking a bold step in leasing FCX Clarity to customers in California for $600 (U.S.) per month.There's still a long way to go before fuel-cell cars will become a commercial success, but hats off to Honda for continuing to advance this expensive technology during a time when every cent counts."
To be eligible, vehicles had to be available in at least one major market during 2008. The field included production models and experimental prototypes with near-future applications. Judging criteria included fuel economy, emissions and overall environmental impact.
Here are some links to the Honda FCX Clarity, the Mitsubishi iMiEV and the Toyota iQ.
The previous three green category winners were the BMW 118d (2008), the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (2007) and the Honda Civic Hybrid (2006).
Greg Johnson, Contributor
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- Greg Johnson April 9, 2009, 10:37 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Fuel Cell, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Fuel Efficient Cars
, Honda FCX Clarity., Mitsubishi IMIEV, Mitsubishi Motors, Prototypes, Toyota iQ
Mitsubishi Motors said this morning that it, indeed, will build and sell the battery-electric i-MiEV city car for the U.S.and other global markets.
It's an announcement surprising only in its timing as most of the green car world has been waiting for months for the project to get the official green light. Mitsubishi already has said that it will begin fleet sales of the tiny four-door in Japan this July, with retail sales expected to follow sometime in 2010.
"Electric vehicles are one branch of the automotive landscape and we are dedicated to providing these technology-sourced solutions as an important path for the world's clean-air options," Mitsubishi Motors North America's Shinichi Kurihara said in announcing the global market plan at the New York International Auto Show earlier today.
"We believe the i-MiEV delivers on the promise of sustainability, suitable range, performance, and innovative packaging and styling," said Kurihara, president and chief executive of the Japanese automaker's North American operation.
Oregon On Board Already
Kurihara also announced that the State of Oregon and Portland General Electric will join Mitsubishi in the i-MiEV test program already underway in the U.S., helping the company gather data on real-world EV use.
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- Greg Johnson April 9, 2009, 10:03 AM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Hybrid, Japan, Mitsubishi, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Batteries
, Battery Electric, Electric Vehicles, EV, Fuel Efficient, i MiEV, iMiEV, Mitsubishi Motors, PHEV, Zero Emissions
April 8, 2009
The California Air Resources Board has awarded $1.7 million each to Mebtahi Station Services, the San Francisco Airport, Shell Hydrogen and UCLA to help cover their respective costs of building hydrogen refueling stations.
The competitive bidding process for the awards began in December 2008 when the board asked for proposals to help build out the state's "Hydrogen Highway Network."
The grants provided by the California legislature and distributed by CARB are part of the state's ongoing bid to encourage the use of alternative fuels. The new stations are clustered in Los Angeles and San Francisco and will "double the amount of hydrogen available to the public," according to CARB.
Mebtahi Station Services will add hydrogen fuel to an existing Chevron Station near the corner of Western Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway in Harbor City.
The San Francisco Airport will build a hydrogen refueling facility at the Millbrae Avenue exit on Highway 101. The station will service passenger cars and vehicles operated by local transit agencies.
Shell Hydrogen will add hydrogen refueling equipment at an existing gasoline station on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach.
UCLA will build a hydrogen fueling station at a transit facility at the corner of Veteran and Kinross Avenues in Westwood.
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- Greg Johnson April 8, 2009, 5:22 PM
- Categories:
- Energy Companies, Hydrogen, Mass Transit, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Alternative Fuels
, California Air Resources Board, Hydrogen, Shell Hydrogen
April 7, 2009
The Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility vehicle from General Motors and Segway.
By Robert E. Calem, Contributor
General Motors Corp. and Segway Inc. today officially introduced their jointly developed PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) prototype vehicle during a press conference in New York.
As we reported yesterday, the PUMA is a two-passenger, two-wheeled, battery-powered "balancing machine" based on Segway's Personal Transporter. It is intended for use on crowded city streets. Its lithium-ion batteries fully recharge in eight hours and provide enough power to keep the vehicle going for 35 miles at speeds up to 35 mph.
Segway is providing the technology that makes the PUMA vehicle move, while GM is contributing expertise in communications and connectivity technology related to OnStar and the company's work with intelligent transportation systems (ITS).
At the press conference, Larry Burns, GM's vice president of research and development and strategic planning, shared the stage with Segway's president and chief executive, Jim Norrod, and other GM and Segway executives also were present. These included Dave Rand, GM's executive director of global advanced design, and Philip LeMay, Segway's vice president of planning.
Hundreds of design sketches of prototype PUMA vehicles have been made since the two companies started collaborating approximately 18 months ago, Rand told Green Car Advisor.
It remains unclear which, if any, of those designs will ever be brought to market.
However, Rand added, GM is confident that "the [sales] potential is huge." There is pent-up demand for a vehicle that "makes living in New York or any other major city in the world that much easier," he said. "It's not like this is a niche market."
Undoubtedly, the press conference was aimed at burnishing GM's image as the company struggles to survive. GM remains under pressure from the federal government to increase its roster of economical and environment-friendly vehicles as a condition of ongoing financial support.
While he was on stage, Burns commented on the importance of "Project PUMA" to GM's future:
"If you listen very carefully to what President Obama said last week, he said the United States is going to work with General Motors to be a viable company, and he said we want a company with vision, we want a company that can bring forth the technology that can deal with energy and environment issues that automobiles face. And this truly embodies that kind of technology."
Here is a video of a GM/Segway PUMA in action.
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- Greg Johnson April 7, 2009, 2:55 PM
- Categories:
- General Motors, Transportation Alternatives
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- General Motors Corp
, Segway
April 6, 2009
The Personal Urban Mobility And Accessibility Vehicle from General Motors and Segway
By Robert E. Calem, Contributor
When it comes to driving in crowded cities where traffic rarely tops 20 miles per hour, such macho measures as 0-60 MPH are irrelevant. At those speeds, even a SMART car can be more machine than a person needs to navigate from point A to point B.
That is the thinking behind an 18-month collaboration between General Motors Corp. and
Segway Inc. that has produced a two-wheeled, two-passenger, covered vehicle dubbed PUMA - the Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility vehicle.
The partnership and its first prototype vehicle were unveiled to Green Car Advisor during a closed-door meeting on Monday in New York City by Larry Burns, GM's vice president of research and development and strategic planning, and Jim Norrod, Segway's president and chief executive.
The companies did not state a sales price or a production schedule -- and it's too early to determine what might happen to the PUMA concept should GM be forced into bankruptcy.
The rest of the world will hear about PUMA during a joint press conference on Tuesday morning in New York. Here's a bit of what we heard earlier today.
"The DNA of the automobile has been pretty much the same for about 100 years," Burns said, adding that vehicles have been "powered by an internal combustion engine, energized by petroleum, driven mechanically, and controlled mechanically or hydraulically."
The PUMA concept vehicle attempts to reinvent the automobile through "the marriage of electrically-driven vehicles" (such as Segway's Personal Transporter, a two-wheeled, single passenger machine) with "connected vehicles," Burns said. The goal is to "reinvent how we move around, how we interact, in cities and in towns."
PUMA isn't simply an effort to reduce congestion, Norrod said, because cities also are saddled with CO2 emissions, noise pollution and a paucity of parking spots.
Hence, the PUMA., which Norrod described as a zero-emissions "balancing machine." It is powered by two Lithium-Ion batteries, capable of traveling up to 35 miles on a single charge and can reach speeds as fast as 35 miles per hour.Though a price tag has yet to be set, GM and Segway estimate that operating costs will be 25 percent to 33 percent of the total operating cost of an average automobile (which is estimated to be 55 cents per mile).
The covered passenger compartment will accommodate two seated passengers - unlike the Segway Personal Transporter, which carries a single,standing rider. And it is small enough to go just about anywhere and appears to be narrow enough to travel through an open doorway.
The steering wheel telescopes in and out to drive the vehicle forward or backward, slower or faster and to remain balanced at a standstill or to enter what's called "park mode." And, just like the Segway Personal Transporter, the PUMA can literally spin 360-degrees in place for ultimate maneuverability.
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- Greg Johnson April 6, 2009, 6:55 PM
- Categories:
- General Motors, Transportation Alternatives
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- General Motors
, Personal Urban Mobility And Accessibility Vehicle, Segway, Transportation Alternatives
February 2, 2009
Sometimes, it seems, green living is more than just a choice, it's a calling.
This NewYork Times piece about an order of Episcopal nuns who have decided that living a green lifestyle is part of their ministry doesn't have much to do with cars, but is such a nice read we though we'd pass it along anyhow.
So do yourselvs a favor and spend a few minutes getting acquainted with sister Faith Margaret, Sister Claire Joy and the othe rmembers of the St. Hilda's House convent in New York City.
Being green, says Sister Faith Margaret, is a "question of stewardship, of responsibility."
And the nuns did sell their convent's minivan and sign up for the local Zipcar shared-car program, in case you are looking for an automotive rationale.
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- John O'Dell February 2, 2009, 3:33 PM
- Categories:
- Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Green Living
, Shared Cars, Zipcar
January 22, 2009
Tony Locricchio's Pitch Is Example of Creativity Unleashed by New Administration's Green Recovery Plan
A sub-$3,000 personal electric vehicle, a "bus" to haul such vehicles down the freeway and a proposal for a shared-car program -- all will be unveiled by their developers Monday in a special program at the renowned Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
----------
Suntera Sunray EV could be basis for cheap personal electric vehicle.
----------
The designs and ideas are from
Renewable Electronics Transportation International
, a vehicle design and systems engineering company headed by longtime EV industry executive Tony Locricchio, who will unveil three new vehicle proposals as part of his presentation.
We don't know yet what the personal EV looks like (Locricchio markets the Suntera design and the electric scooters pictured above) but we are intrigued with the idea of a "Land interlink Ferry Transporter," or LiNK, designed to carry up to 40 of the personal vehicles at freeway speeds, with designated spots along the freeway system for vehicles to drive on and off the ferry. (And we don't know why the "i" isn't capitalized, either.)
We imagine a key component would be construction of LiFT stops -- a jobs creation element of the plan -- so the process could be carried out without blocking traffic.
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- John O'Dell January 22, 2009, 1:00 PM
- Categories:
- Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Vehicles
, Renewable Electronics Transportation International, Tony Locricchio
January 15, 2009
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
While we're well aware of how faddish this world can be, we're heartened by all the attention the electrification of the passenger vehicle is getting these days - and we hope it lasts.
----------
Wind-generated electricity for EV charging is part of Better Place vision.
----------
One company trying its best to make a permanent part of life going forward is
Better Place.
The Silicon Valley developer of an electric-vehicle battery charging and exchange system is signing deals right and left to help develop an EV "fueling" infrastructure that will be there to help provide juice to the electric cars and trucks almost every automaker now says it will be making soon.
The latest pact, announced this morning, is a research and planning agreement with Canada's Ontario Province, which wraps around the top of the Great Lakes and contains the cities of Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor and Timmins - home of country singer Shania Twain and the Toyota Motor Co.'s North American cold weather test facility.
The province also contains many of Canada's auto plants (Windsor is directly across the Detroit River from General Motors Corp's headquarters in downtown Detroit) and its autoworkers have produced more cars and trucks in each of the past two years than have Michigan's.
Shai Agassi, the high-tech entrepreneur who founded and heads Better Place, said the deal calls for the company to set up a Canadian headquarters in Toronto and spend the next four months doing a thorough analysis of what it would take to install a network of EV battery chargers and battery exchange stations in the sprawling province.
At the same time, Ontario's state government would run a analysis of what it could do to encourage electrification, including rules to make it easier for a charging infrastructure to be installed; establishing government subsidies for electric vehicles, including a policy for government use of EVs in its own fleets; and development of a public education and promotion campaign.
"This is one step to getting us a little bit closer" to a future of clean, oil-free transportation, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said in announcing the pact at a press conference in Toronto.
The terms of the deal echo those of exploratory agreements Better Place struck late last year with a group of cities in the San Francisco Bay area
and with the state of Hawaii
and the Australian state of Victoria
.
"We'll both (Better Place and Ontario's government) announce our findings in reports issued in April and then we'll proceed from there," Sean Harrington, Better Place global development director told Green Car Advisor.
The deal also calls for Better Place to build an EV demonstration and information center in Toronto should things move beyond the study stage (Better Place is developing a similar center in Japan for the city of Yokohama, and a smaller one in Hawaii as part of its deal there).
It also introduces Canadian renewable energy company Bullfrog Power into the mix with an agreement for all of the power to be used by EVs operating in Ontario to come from Bullfrog, with uses wind and hydroelectric generation.
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- John O'Dell January 15, 2009, 7:45 AM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Better Place
, Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, Ontario Electric Vehicle Program, Shai Agassi
January 5, 2009
As concerns about global warming, energy independence and plain old traffic congestion grow and the automobile continues to be demonized, it seems that we are, as usual, approaching possible solutions to our problems in a posterior-backwards manner.
----------
San Francisco authorities want to reduce traffic pouring into downtown on weekdays.
----------
What kicks off this cogitation is the recent proposal by officials in San Francisco to introduce congestion pricing to attempt to reduce greenhouse gases and time wasted sitting in traffic jams by reducing the number of cars that cram into the downtown area on weekdays and make the city the second-most congested in the nation.
There's nothing inherently wrong with requiring motorists to pay for the privilege of bringing their vehicles into intensely crowded city centers - it is being done all over Europe.
But in Europe, one can get to those same city centers quite easily without a private car: Most countries have decent-to-superlative mass transit systems, both inter- and intra-city.
That's not the case in the U.S., and as we hear and review more and more pitches for ways to get Americans to abandon their cars, at least for a portion of the time most now spend in them, it's become clear that for any such scheme to work, we must first provide public transit alternatives.
San Francisco is one of the relatively few cities in the U.S. in which it is easy to get from point A to point B without a car. More important, people can get into San Francisco from outside the city via mass transit.
It might work there - leaving aside the impact on people's pocketbooks.
But try getting around - or into and out of - Los Angeles or a host of other large metropolitan areas that did most of their growing after 1900. By plan or happenstance, most ended up being developed to serve a populace enamored of the private automobile and public transit, such as it is, is spotty at best.
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- John O'Dell January 5, 2009, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Mass Transit, Opinion, Transportation Alternatives
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- San Fransisco Proposes Congestion Pricing
December 23, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
California's support of hydrogen as a transportation fuel - sometimes derided as an expensive pipe dream - has its moments.
We'll see one in the spring as the city of Burbank, Ca., home to comic Jay Leno's Tonight Show among other show biz attractions, starts operating the world's first plug-in hybrid bus that uses a hydrogen fuel-cell to augment its rechargable batteries.
Proterra, the Colorado-based developer and builder of the revolutionary zero-emissions hydrogen plug-in bus, claims that it can travel 250 miles on its grid-charged batteries and a tank of hydrogen before needing to be recharged, delivering twice the fuel economy of a diesel bus.
The big, blue, bug-eyed bus is made of lightweight composite materials and uses automotive fuel cells rather than larger cells developed specifically for hydrogen buses. The advantage, according to Proterra, is that the smaller 50 kilowatt (67 horsepower) fuel cells are much cheaper, reducing the initial cost of the bus as well as lifetime operating costs - a critical factor in these days of rapidly diminishing local government funding.
The bus also features a fast-charging system that enables its batteries to be fully recharged in just 6 minutes - less time than most drivers need for bathroom or coffee breaks.
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- John O'Dell December 23, 2008, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Burbank Bus
, Fuel Cell Bus, Hydrogen Plug In Hybrid Bus
December 19, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Ray LaHood will look after highway infrastructure improvements, fuel-economy efforts, vehicle safety, spending on mass transit and clean car programs, even the national speed limit as President-elect Barack Obama's Transportation secretary, but the just-retired Illinois congressman is largely a cipher on those issues.
LaHood, 63 (left)
, has little transportation record beyond his support for Amtrak, the national passenger train program, and his apparently friendly relationship with the Teamsters Union and other transportation unions, which endorsed and financially supported him
during his congressional career. The national Teamseters Union also has endorsed his nomination
as Transportation Secretary.
Some pundits have suggested that his value is more as the Obama cabinet's lone registered Republican (retiring Defense Secretary Robert Gates considers himself a Republican but is registered as an independent) than as a transportation wiz.
"We should ask 'what's under LaHood?' " quiped David Doniger, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
But for what he has done on transportation issues, the former congressman from Peoria generally wins plaudits.
"While his environmental record is mixed, LaHood has proven himself as an ally of public transportation, consistently voting to support mass transit and intercity rail, systems which need vast investment to move America to the greener, cleaner infrastructure proposed by President-elect Barack Obama," said Rob McCulloch, transportation issues advocate for Environment America.
LaHood also has a record of supporting federal fuel economy increases, votiong for corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) hikes in 1993, 1995 and 2007, said Ann Mesnikoff, the Sierra Club's Washington, D.C., representative. "That at least means he understands the policy and the need to raise standards," she said.
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- John O'Dell December 19, 2008, 1:55 PM
- Categories:
- Biofuels, Fuel Economy, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Department Of Transporation
, Obama Nominates LaHood, Ray LaHood, Transportation Secretary
Ten months after Enterprise Rent-A-Car got in the hourly car-sharing business
, arch rival Hertz Corp. this week entered the market.
Available initially in New York and Hertz's hometown of Park Ridge, New Jersey, as well as London and Paris, Connect by Hertz allows customers who pay an annual fee to rent cars by the hour, with hourly rates starting at $8.50.
Like all car-sharing services, Connect by Hertz provides a number of vehicles, parked at convenient locations, that registered members of the sharing service can reserve via an online booking service (free) or by phone (for $3.50), by the hour or by day.
Enterprise and now Hertz join Zipcar in vying for a slice of the national car-sharing segment. Smaller, regional players include U Car Share, a unit of U Haul; Austin Car Share, in Austin, Texas; City Car Share, in San Francisco, and Chicago's I-Go.
In a nod to Zipcar's success in signing up young drivers, the Toyota Prius and the Mini Cooper will be among the first 35 cars that Connect by Hertz will offer in New York.
Connect by Hertz vehicles will have unique features, including a button that drivers can hit to call a customer service operator, not unlike the Onstar service. Cars will also have Bluetooth, E-ZPass, iPod docking stations and a GPS system called Hertz NeverLost.
Rental car companies have been hurt by the downturn in travel and the woes affecting the auto industry, so it is natural that they would take aim at Zipcar, which has attracted 260,000 members since it began in 2000.
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- Scott Doggett December 19, 2008, 1:01 AM
- Categories:
- Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Austin Car Share
, City Car Share, Connect by Hertz, Enterprise, I-Go., Transportation Alternatives, U Car Share, Zipcar
October 21, 2008
Daimler AG announced today that on Friday it will launch car2go, a pilot vehicle-on-demand program consisting of a 50-car fleet of Smart ForTwos that initially will be limited Daimler employees but eventually offered to the general public.
Convenience will be key to the program, which will commence in the southern German city of Ulm, where car2go will be tested in real-life conditions, Daimler said in a statement.
Following a one-off registration process, the Smarts can be hired spontaneously wherever a customer finds a free Smart, or pre-booked and used for as long as desired, at a cost of 19 cents a minute.
If all goes according to plan, available vehicles could be located quickly and easily via the Internet or a telephone.
The concept aims to ensure that a reliable vehicle is available at any time, "just a few minutes walk away."
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- Scott Doggett October 21, 2008, 7:36 AM
- Categories:
- Daimler, MINI, Smart, Transportation Alternatives, Volkswagen
- Technorati Tags:
- Car2go
, Daimler AG, MINI, Smart ForTwos, Volkswagen, Zipcar
October 8, 2008
Spurred by high fuel prices, 24 million Americans - or 11 percent of the country's adult population - are using buses, light rail or other forms of public transportation, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by HNTB Companies
and released today.
What's more, that number is expected to grow, as 16 percent of survey respondents said they expect their ridership on public transit to increase in the coming year.
Nearly one in three Americans surveyed said their biggest motivator to choose public transportation over driving would be high gas prices. Other motivating factors include convenience (14 percent), avoiding traffic (5 percent) and concern for the environment (4 percent).
The survey also found:
• More than twice as many men as women (15 percent versus 7 percent) say they're using public transit more often than a year ago.
• Nearly one in five young Americans (ages 18-34) have increased their public transit usage in the last year (19 percent); that's more than twice the number of Americans ages 35 and up who can make the same claim (8 percent).
• The average American who has public transportation available to them uses it once a week, in effect giving their car the day off.
• Nearly four in 10 Northeasterners (38 percent) use public transportation, more than any other region in the country.
• One in 10 Southerners says he or she does not have public transit where they live or work. That's twice the number of Northeasterners and Westerners (5 percent each), and nearly twice of those in the Midwest (6 percent).
The survey polled a random nationwide sample of 1,000 Americans Sept. 24-29. The survey was conducted by Kelton Research, which used an e-mail invitation and an online survey. Quotas are set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total U.S. population. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percent.
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- Scott Doggett October 8, 2008, 7:54 AM
- Categories:
- Mass Transit, Surveys, Transportation Alternatives
September 30, 2008
Fuel prices are driving American commuters out of their cars and onto intercity trains, so the federal Transportation Department has decided to spend $30 million on an assortment of state rail programs previously ineligible for federal matching funds.
The agency announced today that its latest cumulative mileage data shows that American motorists drove 3.6 percent fewer miles in July than in the corresponding month a year earlier.
That doesn't sound like much of a dip until the actual miles are tallied: The department estimates that Americans drove a total of 254.5 billion miles (yes, with a "b") in July, so that 3.6 percent decline equals 9.6 billion fewer miles than in July, 2007.
At the same time, DOT Secretary Mary Peters reported, transit ridership was up 11 per cent and Amtrak carried more passengers than in any previous month in its history.
The decline in driving began in November, 2007, federal statistics show. In the ensuing 10 months, through July, Americans drove 62.6 billion miles less than in the same period a year earlier, according to DOT estimates.
Peters said in a statement issued with the announcement of the driving numbers and rail grants that the drop in auto travel shows that Congress needs to move away from federal fuel taxes as the nation's principal source of transportation funding.
Of the $30 million in rail project grants announced Tuesday, more than a third goes to just two states: Washington gets $6 million for a grade crossing project in Tacoma, and California gets $5 million for track and crossing improvements on a congested Amtrak route in the San Joaquin Valley.
Other grants for intercity rail planning and construction go to projects in Arizona, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Such projects previously had not been eligible for federal matching funds grants because all federal money went directly to Amtrak, the department said.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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- John O'Dell September 30, 2008, 3:54 PM
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- Transportation Alternatives
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- Amtrak
, Trains, Transportation Department Rail Grants
September 23, 2008
Unlike most of the vehicles there, it won't be running, but a production model of General Motors Corp.'s Volt series hybrid car (left)
will be on hand for viewing at AltCar Expo 2008
this weekend in Santa Monica, Calif.
The two-day event, now in its third year, is one of the nation's premier showcases for alternatives to the conventional gasoline-burning automobile.
Organizers say more than 100 vehicles - cars, trucks, scooters and 'cycles with natural gas, battery-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell electric, compressed air, biodiesel, flex-fuel and hybrid propulsion systems - will be on hand, several available for test drives.
The expo, to be held Friday and Saturday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, drew more than 10,000 attendees last year.
In addition to the vehicle displays, the event features numerous displays by alternative energy providers and proponents; a series of seminars addressing climate change and transportation and energy trends and featuring panelists from government, industry and advocacy groups.
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- John O'Dell September 23, 2008, 3:02 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Audi, Auto Shows, BMW, Biofuels, Diesel, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Motorcycles, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- AltCar Expo 2008
, Alternative Fuel, Santa Monica Alternative Car Expo
September 11, 2008
From the flights of fancy file: Skycar designer Moller International said this week that is has designed a concept plug-in hybrid sports car capable of flying for about 15 minutes.
We'll get to the details in a bit, but the idea of a PHEV flying car sure raises a bunch of questions:
Does it require a really, really long extension cord to support 15 minutes of flight?
How heavy - or light - is the battery pack and what kind of power is needed to lift it.
Is this the answer to a question that no one ever thought to ask?
With all the people on the road today who can't seem to drive for 15 minutes without running into someone or something, do we really want to encourage folks to take off and "drive" in the sky?
Would anyone really pay $250,000 for it?
Northern California-based Moller calls the 2-seat car the "
Autovolantor
" (from a Moller-invented word, Volantor, which was derived from the Italian "
volante
," which means flying, or, in music, to move with light rapidity, and the French "
Volant
," meaning having wings extended).
The company says the car was designed at the behest of an unnamed wealthy businessman who found commuting from Moscow to his country home unbearable because of the Russian city's crowded streets.
The photo Moller supplies
(above)
looks like a plastic model from Revell, but it shows that the car would use eight engines to lift it vertically like a hovercraft - only higher if it's going to fly - when sitting on the ground becomes too much.
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- John O'Dell September 11, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories:
- Fuels & Technologies, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Flying Car
, Moller International, Sky Car, Skycar
August 18, 2008
Pedestrian malls are nothing new, a number of cities have closed thoroughfares - some intermittently and some permanently - to reduce congestion, promote leisurely shopping and even to help clean up the air.
But when the biggest city in the nation tries it, on famed Park Avenue and nearby streets, that's news.
We dispatched Green Car Advisor contributor Robert E. Calem to the scene to see what he could see, and what he found was a crowd of happy people.
No one we talked to wanted the car to be banished forever, but the ability to walk, bike, skate or run in downtown Manhattan without having to dodge traffic came as a welcome breather - literally and figuratively - for most.
We think it's an ideal that every town - big and small - ought to try. Think of the fuel we'd save, and, who knows, some of us might find we actually enjoy walking once in a while.
Here's Calem's dispatch:
New Yorker Chris Natale and daughter Emilia, 4, enjoy a Saturday bike ride on a car-free Park Ave.
By
Robert E. Calem, Contributor
NEW YORK, N.Y. -
In a bid by New York City's Department of Transportation to promote greener forms of transit, automobiles were banned from nearly seven miles of Manhattan streets for six hours on Saturday. And in typical New York fashion the void was quickly filled - by joggers, walkers and throngs of people on bicycles, skateboards and in-line skates.
It was exactly the scene the city government had intended for Summer Streets
, an experimental program that is closing a usually congested route between the Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on three consecutive Saturdays this month.
The program started August 9 and will conclude next Saturday, August 23. And while there is still no official count of how many people participated, talk about the first Saturday led to an apparently bigger turnout on the second, according to Dani Simons, director of the Summer Streets program.
The weather was sunny and warm with low humidity, and if it is as nice next Saturday, Simons says, she expects attendance to be up again.
Summer Streets is an experiment, but if the agency officially deems it a success, it could be continued and even expanded in future years.
Most of those enjoying a stroll or bike ride on the startlingly empty streets told us they thought it very successful -although merchants along the newly car-free streets seemed divided.
Tom Hochfelder (left), a New York native who has lived in Manhattan for 35 years, called the program, "One of the best things I've seen in the city in a long time."
He was walking north in the center of Park Avenue when we interrupted his stroll. It was his dark sports coat - a standout among the casually clad bikers and joggers - that caught our attention.
"It's great," Hochfelder said about the absence of cars. "I think they should continue it, if they do it on Saturday or Sunday mornings, when you don't have that much traffic. The more we can encourage people to walk, the better it is for the city. Less pollution, better exercise for everybody, and it will create more of a sense of community."
Hochfelder is a realist, though, and said he wouldn't expect a no-autos policy anytime other than on weekend mornings. It would be too disruptive to try it other times, he said.
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- John O'Dell August 18, 2008, 2:51 AM
- Categories:
- Transportation Alternatives
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- car bans
, Manhattan, New York, Summer Streets Program
August 4, 2008
Portland, Ore., encourages mass transit with convenience and cheap fares. It costs $2.05 for the 11-mile trip from downtown to the Portland International airport on the city's electric trains.
B
y
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
There are a lot of people trying to get us to give up on the ides of independent, personal transportation - i.e., the private automobile.
But I've come away from a two-day "Meeting of the Minds" program in Portland, Ore., with a new example of just how difficult it will be to kill the spirit of independence that has made ownership and use of private vehicles in the U.S. as sacrosanct as the right to vote.
The upshot of
the program
, convened to examine ways of making our cities more sustainable, was that we are rapidly approaching the point of no return - some pessimists believe we stepped over the threshold years ago.
Change Is Needed
We have got to make some radical and rapid changes in the way we approach transportation if we wants our urban core, indeed our entire society, to survive the 21st Century.
It was largely an urban planning and policy wonk crowd, so while there was some enthusiasm for hastening the arrival of plug-in hybrids, (Toyota Motor Co. was a principal sponsor) there was little discussion of other green transportation alternatives that would leave people with personal vehicles.
Instead, the focus was more on things that could be done to get us out of cars, or at least out of single-occupant cars, and into carpools, transit buses, trains and other means of mass transit.
Pay to Go
Suggestions abounded for carbon taxes, higher gasoline taxes, toll roads and other plans that would have us pay for the privilege of driving. Such disincentives probably would make most of us greener drivers, simply by making us cut down on the amount of driving we do in order to have a few bucks each month for things like food and rent.
I'm not opposed to such ideas - after all, if we don't change the way we do things, we sooner than later may not be able to do things at all.
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- John O'Dell August 4, 2008, 9:23 AM
- Categories:
- Opinion, Surveys, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- Car Pooling
, Mass Transit, Meeting of the Minds, Zipcar
July 17, 2008
Right, the cockpit of Honda's HFCV.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
A transition to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is entirely doable but requires nearly $200 billion in funding and further technological breakthroughs, National Research Council experts said today in a report requested by Congress.
While stressing the "best-case scenario" nature of their report, the experts concluded that hydrogen could be the key driver of a shift away from fossil fuels and emissions tied to global warming, with other clean technologies and biofuels helping in that transition.
"The benefits of hydrogen would be less in the early years but have a dominant effect" in the longer run, panel chairman Mike Ramage, a retired ExxonMobil executive, said in a conference call with reporters. "Hydrogen is a pathway to a sustainable energy future."
The best-case scenario assumes the automotive industry invests $145 billion and the federal government spends $50 billion over the next 15 years to drive down the costs of hydrogen production and vehicles that run on hydrogen.
"The number is big, but in perspective" it is doable, Ramage said, noting that the federal ethanol subsidy is at a pace to cost $160 billion over that same period. "We need durable, substantial and sustainable government help to make this happen, just as there is for ethanol."
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- Scott Doggett July 17, 2008, 4:31 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
July 15, 2008
Ah, what a difference $4 gas makes.
With gasoline apparently parked at four bucks a gallon or more, consumer demand for smaller rental cars is soaring, the Los Angeles Times reports.
According to travel agency holding company Sabre, which owns Travelocity, bookings of compact and economy cars were up 10.2 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively, in April and May compared with 2007, while rentals in the midsize, luxury and minivan categories declined by 1.5 percent, 24 percent and 15.3 percent.
But thanks to a major shift in the cozy relationship among U.S. carmakers and companies such as Hertz, Avis and Thrifty in recent years -- and, as a result, the way rental agencies acquire their fleets -- the availability of fuel-efficient rentals has become extremely tight.
Simply put, not enough of the nation's roughly 1.85 million rental cars are gas-savers to satisfy demand, an imbalance rental agencies cannot quickly remedy. As a result, car rental companies are struggling financially, and long-held pricing models that put more luxurious vehicles ahead of crank-window econoboxes are being turned on their head.
"Just six months ago, anybody would have taken a Chevy Trailblazer SUV in lieu of a four-cylinder Cobalt. Not now," Mike Kane, owner of rental car advisor Vehicle Replacement Consulting Group, told the Times. "That's a big deal. That's 25 years of history changing."
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- Scott Doggett July 15, 2008, 6:39 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Transportation Alternatives
July 8, 2008
London Mayor Boris Johnson announced today that he has scrapped the city's proposed ÂŁ25 ($49.32) congestion charge for the most polluting vehicles.
Former mayor Ken Livingstone had planned to raise the daily tax from £8 ($15.78) to £25 in October, prompting Porsche to bring a legal challenge.
Under the plans, cars that emitted less than 120 grams per kilometer of carbon dioxide would have entered the zone for free. One study said the plan would encourage smaller vehicles to enter the zone, increasing congestion and pollution.
Johnson said abandoning the proposal would save London's transportation department £10 million ($19.73 million) earmarked for the scheme. He said his decision was in keeping with his aim to achieve a "fairer and more effective" congestion charge.
Livingstone told reporters the decision was a further blow to the efforts of many in London to tackle climate change and improve the environment.
Andy Goss, managing director of Porsche Cars Great Britain, said in a statement that "the charge was clearly unfair and was actually going to increase emissions in London."
A court ordered the transportation department to pay Porsche's six-figure legal costs.
Scott Doggett, Contributor
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- Scott Doggett July 8, 2008, 10:16 AM
- Categories:
- Courts, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Porsche, Transportation Alternatives
July 3, 2008
Portland General Electric has begun leading the charge for mass adoption of plug-in hybrid-electric cars in Oregon.
The utility plans to install 12 electric-vehicle charging stations in Portland and Salem by September as part of a demonstration project to develop the transportation infrastructure needed to support electric vehicles.
A Portland business publication reports that the project will also help the utility anticipate the demand plug-in cars might place on the region's electric grid and design smart grid systems to help even out variability in wind and solar resources.
"We're not creating a new division or a new product. We're preparing for what might become a sea change in the electric vehicle market," Bill Nicholson, vice president of customers and economic development for PGE, told the Daily Journal of Commerce.
PGE is working with state transportation officials on the demonstration project, which will design standards for charging stations and develop a public awareness campaign to prepare for mass adoption of plug-in cars over the next two to five years.
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- Scott Doggett July 3, 2008, 8:39 AM
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- Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
June 26, 2008
CIBC chart shows 10 million fewer vehicles on U.S. roads by 2012 than today.
Gasoline prices in America have risen from around $1.80 in 2004 to the current $4 per gallon mark. The most recent surge in pump prices has, in inflation-adjusted dollars, already taken pump prices to a buck a gallon above the record prices seen in 1981...
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- Scott Doggett June 26, 2008, 4:59 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Transportation Alternatives
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and other Democratic leaders will seek to regain momentum in the ferociously partisan Capitol Hill energy debate today, even though a major piece of their pre-July 4 energy plan faces highly uncertain prospects on the floor.
Democrats face an uphill battle on the "use it or lose it" bill designed to pressure oil companies to produce oil from leases they currently own. The bill will come up under suspension of the rules, and hence a two-thirds vote is needed for passage.
The "use it or lose it" bill is part of a trifecta of energy-related measures the House will consider today, along with legislation to encourage use of public transportation and a resolution calling on the White House to act to curb speculation in oil futures markets.
H.R. 6251 would bar oil companies from obtaining new leases unless they are working to develop their currently nonproducing tracts. Democrats say oil companies should not be clamoring for access to currently restricted areas when they are not producing large amounts of oil available on leases they already own.
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- Scott Doggett June 26, 2008, 7:35 AM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Economy, Legislation, Transportation Alternatives
June 16, 2008
With gasoline prices and global warming on their minds, more Americans are getting out of their cars and riding to work – and riding on the job – on the once-maligned Segway
.
Scott Hervey of Yorba Linda, Calif., bought one of the electric scooters on June 7 and has put 150 miles on it commuting to his custodian's job at Disneyland, about 12 miles away. He had considered buying a Segway for four years, and gasoline prices finally drove him to do it.
Now he "glides," as Segway enthusiasts say, to work...
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- June 16, 2008, 1:42 PM
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- Batteries, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
June 3, 2008
$4+ a gallon is the norm in California. Above, gas prices in Pasadena today.
Last year 10.3 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation – the highest number of trips taken in fifty years – and high gasoline prices were the reason why.
So says the American Public Transportation Association. In a statement released Monday, the association said that Americans took 2.6 billion trips on public transportation in the first three months of 2008.
That is almost 85 million more trips than last year for the same time period.
“There’s no doubt that the high gas prices are motivating people to change their travel behavior,†APTA President William W. Millar said.
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- Scott Doggett June 3, 2008, 8:04 AM
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- Transportation Alternatives
May 2, 2008
French automotive executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters attending a product review in Portugal today that automakers Renault and Nissan are talking with a Gulf region country abut participating in a bold electric car project that already has been adopted by Israel.
"We are negotiating to launch an electric car with a Gulf state," Ghosn told a news conference in the coastal resort of Cascais, near Lisbon.
Renault and Nissan, which have operated as an alliance since the French company took control of the Japanese automaker in 1999, plan to put an electric-powered car on the road by 2010.
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- John O'Dell May 2, 2008, 4:15 PM
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- Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Transportation Alternatives
April 23, 2008
Aptera hopes new executive will help bring exotic EV to market by end of year.
Fledgling hybrid- and electric-vehicle maker Aptera Motors said it has hired performance car specialist Neil Hannemann, whose previous projects included the Dodge Viper and Ford GT, to head its program management and manufacturing effort.
The company is announcing its new personnel move today and says Hannemann will provide much-needed production expertise.
Southern California-based Aptera has promised to begin delivering production models of its aircraft-styled Typ-1by December. The 2-seat, 3-wheeled vehicle, classed as a motorcycle despite its enclosed passenger cabin, is to be priced at about $30,000, the company says.
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- John O'Dell April 23, 2008, 2:32 AM
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- Batteries, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
April 15, 2008
Amphere, foreground, and Faraday electric trucks heading for North America.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Britian's Smith Electric Vehicles has teamed with Ford Motor Co. to build two new battery-electric commercial trucks for the North America market.
Smith, which recently opened an electric truck assembly plant in Fresno, said that it will use Ford F-Series heavy duty truck chassis and Ford of Europe's Transit Connect van to underpin a range of new intra-city delivery and work trucks that run on electricity provided by rechargeable iron-phosphate lithium ion battery packs.
The announcement was made today at the at the annual Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, England.
The initial vehicle, called the Smith Faraday Mark II and based on the F-Series chassis, is set to launch in the U.S. late this year, the electric truck company said. The second, called the Smith Amphere, will use the Transit chassis and will begin production in 2009.
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- John O'Dell April 15, 2008, 3:40 PM
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- Batteries, Ford, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
March 26, 2008
ZEV Mandate's goal of clean vehicles such as EV1 hasn't been realized.
While our colleague Nick K is sipping champagne in Monaco (see item below) we'll be up in lovely Sacramento, capital of California and the place where former movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger now holds down a day job, to monitor a hearing on proposed updates to the state's historic and controversial Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate.
Thursday's all-day session will pit supporters of the battery-powered electric vehicle against automakers and, it appears, the staff of the California Air Resources Board, as the first significant ZEV Mandate updates since 2003 are considered by the board.
The big issue is that while present regulations call for the nation's major automakers to collectively build a minimum of 25,000 zero emissions vehicles for sale in the state between 2012 and 2014 and 50,000 between 2015 and 2017, the air board's staff is recommending the numbers be cut by 90 percent, to just 2,500, in the first period and by 50 percent, to 25,000, in the second phase.
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- John O'Dell March 26, 2008, 10:39 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
March 21, 2008
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
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- 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 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
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- Alternative Fuels, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
March 6, 2008
Comedian, talk show host and, most important, incredible car guy Jay Leno raises an interesting question in his Driving section
column in London's
Sunday Times.Commenting on the 1925 Model T he's restored and had been using as his L.A. commuter car for the previous week, Leno wondered if rebuilding and driving an older small car wouldn't be more environmentally friendly than "building a Prius in Japan, putting it on a freighter and shipping it all the way across the ocean?"
Driving a well-kept older car for a long portion of your life, he posits, "is probably more environmentally friendly than getting a new hybrid every three or four years.
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- John O'Dell March 6, 2008, 6:55 PM
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- Emissions, Fuel Economy, Transportation Alternatives
Plug-in hybrids under development include these from Toyota and GM.
By Scott
Doggett, Contributor
President Bush said Wednesday that he wants Americans "driving not on gasoline, but on electricity."
In a
speech
at the International Renewable Energy Conference in Washington, D.C., the president also said that developments in electric car battery technologies "are amazing, and the United States is investing millions of dollars to hasten the day" they replace gasoline tanks.
Since 1991, the federal government has subsidized battery research at the rate of about $25 million a year, far less than the hundreds of millions of dollars Japan and other East Asian countries send each year to subsidize battery research to help their automakers compete.
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- John O'Dell March 6, 2008, 11:30 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
March 5, 2008
Nissan Motor Co., which has come late to the hybrid game, doesn't want to be caught unplugged when electric cars start hitting the market, says company boss Carlos Ghosn.
An electric Nissan will be introduced in the U.S. in 2010, he told reporters Wednesday during an impromptu discussion at the Geneva Motor Show, with a global launch of the vehicle to follow in 2012.
Ghosn, who chairs both Nissan and its French partner, Renault, said the electric car would be sold worldwide by both brands. He did not elaborate on brand distinctions, model variances or particulars of the electric drive system being prepared, but did say the cars would not be identical.
Renault would target the European market, Ghosn said, while Nissan would target Asia and the U.S.
Ghosn said that California's 2004 law aimed at reducing automotive carbon-dioxide emissions has spurred Nissan and Renault engineers' joint research into alternative energy sources such as electric drive.
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- John O'Dell March 5, 2008, 3:45 PM
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- Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Transportation Alternatives
Think's Ox Concept stretches Norwegian EV maker's offerings.
Electronics giant GE said it has pumped $4 million into Norway's Think to help push development of the company's battery-powered electric cars.
Think – which had been owned by Ford Motor Co. but was dumped when the U.S. automaker decided its small electric cars wouldn't sell here – unveiled a five-passenger, highway-legal crossover concept today at the Geneva Motor Show.
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- John O'Dell March 5, 2008, 10:15 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
February 25, 2008
'Dream Prius' mockup shows ecomodder's proposed aerodynamic changes.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
The oil crisis of 1973 began mid-October of that year, when a group of Arab oil-producing countries stopped shipping crude to the U.S. and other nations supporting Israel in an ongoing war with Syria and Egypt.
Five months later, two related events occurred: Arab oil ministers lifted the embargo, and
Car and Driver
published an article titled "Improve Gas Mileage by up to 25% for Eleven Dollars."
The story was about modifying cars, by streamlining and removing excess weight. The tricks weren't new then, and they aren't new now, but it took the '73 oil crisis – or, rather, the gasoline shortages and resulting long waits at the pumps – to push a small group of motorists into taking fuel-efficiency matters in to their own hands.
Today, the process of making mechanical and aerodynamic changes to a vehicle in order to boost mileage is called "ecomodding," short for ecologically modifying.
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- John O'Dell February 25, 2008, 4:02 AM
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- Transportation Alternatives
ElectriCar prototype is latest hopeful in nascent extended-range EV segment.
Everyone, it seems, wants into the extended-range electric vehicle business since General Motors corp. drew attention to that strategy with its Chevy Volt concept.
The latest entry is Washington-based Milner Motors -- designer of the not-yet-off-the-ground Milner AirCar.
The company says its it will show a prototype of its Milner ElectriCar next to the AirCar at the New York auto show next month.
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- John O'Dell February 25, 2008, 3:55 AM
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- Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
February 21, 2008
Would this look good in your drive? Mitsubishi i MiEV electrc car on test track.
As we've said before, we're technology neutral here at
Green Car Advisor
. But sometimes you just gotta do a little cheering...
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- John O'Dell February 21, 2008, 11:02 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
February 20, 2008
By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor
The vehicles built by Monaco-based Venturi Automobiles might look like props from a cheesy science-fiction movie, but don’t let their bizarre looks fool you into thinking they're pure fantasy.
As automotive giants like General Motors and Toyota scramble to build a better hybrid, tiny Venturi is already applying the finishing touches to the Eclectic II, the second-generation of its solar-electric car.
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- John O'Dell February 20, 2008, 10:46 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
February 12, 2008
The idea of the car as a timeshare must be catching on: Auto rental giant Enterprise Rent-A-Car is getting into the business, and Enterprise usually doesn't go where there's no money to be made.
The concept of sharing cars so that you didn't have to buy one only to let it sit idle most of the time began in Europe just after World War !!, when both money and working autos were scarce. It came to the U.S. in the 1960s as part of the back-to-earth movement.
Now it is seen as both an environmental and economic enterprise, In the U.S., the big player in car sharing is Boston-based Zipcar, which recently merged with rival Flexcar and has operations in a dozen states and Canada.
Smaller, regional players – some non-profit and others for-profit -- include U Car Share, a unit of U Haul; Austin Car Share, in Austin, Texas; City Car Share, in San Francisco, and Chicago's I-Go.
Enterprise is entering the arena in its hometown of St. Louis with a new subsidiary called We Car and a fleet of Toyota Prius hybrids.It is partnering with the nonprofit St.Louis Car Sharing Cooperative.
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- John O'Dell February 12, 2008, 2:50 PM
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- Transportation Alternatives
Buster coupe is low-speed electric Smart look-alike imported from China.
Pssst. Waiting for those cars from China? Some of 'em are already here!
Revo Motor Co., an Austin, Texas, importer of neighborhood electric vehicles, says its been selling Chinese-made NEVs for about 30 months now and has more than 30 dealers scattered across 25 states.
Company spokesman Ben Jenkins said the cars are made exclusively for Revo and are sold only in the US, although a new model due in December, the company's first highway legal car, will be sold in China as well.
Revo sells three models, the 2-door "Buster" coupe and convertible – which would look remarkably like a Chinese designer's interpretation of a Smart Fortwo if we didn't know that the Chinese don't copy other companies' desgins -- and the four-door "Lynny" sedan (hey, we don't name 'em, we just write about 'em).
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- John O'Dell February 12, 2008, 11:00 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, China, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
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- Paris Auto Show
February 7, 2008
One of the great thinkers in the green movement, Paul Hawken is author of six acclaimed books including
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
, which Bill Clinton has called one of the five most important books in the world today.
He has founded a number of green companies, including several of the first natural food companies in the U.S that relied solely on sustainable agricultural methods, and Smith & Hawken, the garden and catalog retailer.
Hawken also is in demand as a keynote speaker at major conferences and this week was at the Systems, Cities & Sustainable Mobility Summit hosted by the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Here are snippets from his speech that touched on automotive issues:
Nikolas Otto, in 1876, invented the internal combustion engine...
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- John O'Dell February 7, 2008, 10:05 PM
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- Mazda
, Paris
Fisker Karma plug-In hybrid concept drew crowds at Detroit Auto Show.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Wannabe green-car makers can compete with the big boys like never before, but success – for start ups and established automakers alike -- depends on alternative vehicles that not only are more eco-friendly than gas rides, but are more appealing in other ways, says Henrik Fisker, chairman of Fisker Automotive.
It's not enough that the vehicles of tomorrow be easier on the environment than today's vehicles, but they must be "so desirable and so exciting that people simply go out and buy them," Fisker told a full house Wednesday during a sustainability summit at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif.
The former top BMW and Aston Martin designer said his own experience with a plan for a new plug-in hybrid called the Karma has proved to him that there's a market for upscale eco-friendly cars and a lot of investors willing to back their production.
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- John O'Dell February 7, 2008, 5:45 PM
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February 3, 2008
By Matt Nauman, Contributor
SAN CARLOS, Calif. – Documentary film-maker Chris Paine is pretty sure there’s an audience for a sequel to his 2006 movie,
"Who Killed the Electric Car?" That’s why he and a film crew were at Tesla Motors headquarters Friday afternoon, recording the arrival of the first production model of the company's electric roadster.
Paine isn’t sure that the 2008 Tesla roadster will be the star of
"Who Saved the Electric Car?" his yet-unfunded movie.
The leading role also could go to General Motors, which is pushing the Chevrolet Volt, a range-extended electric vehicle set for a 2010 debut. Ironically, it was GM and its EV1 electric cat that played the villain in
"Killed," as Paine spun a broad conspiracy theory on why electric vehicles failed a decade ago.
But certainly Tesla will be the part of the story. After a series of transmission-related delays in 2007, and a public dust-up after the removal of its co-founder and former CEO, Tesla is poised to deliver cars to owners in 2008.
The company says it has more than 600 orders for its $98,000 two-seater that produces no emissions, goes 200-plus miles with a full charge and gets from standing to going in rapid order.
One of those who has made a deposit is Paine, who reports he’s in the 20s or 30s on the waiting list.
"We’ve all wanted electric cars to come back," he said. "Tesla has made it a lot more possible for everybody to get one."
As Paine’s crew filmed the first production unit getting rolled into the company’s workshop, where technicians set about the two-hour task of installing its pack of 6,800 lithium-ion batteries, Tesla Chairman Elon Musk talked about the brand’s future.
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- John O'Dell February 3, 2008, 5:14 PM
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- General Motors, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla, Transportation Alternatives
February 1, 2008
Success for plug-In hybrids like this Ford test vehicle may require incentives.
GM's global programs veep says the federal government needs to get plugged-in, so to speak, and realize that tax incentives are going to be necessary to get people to buy the first generation of advanced technology electric vehicles – cars such as the Chevrolet Volt.
Without tax rebates or write-offs, the vehicles are simply going to be too expensive for most people and demand will never get to the point that economies of scale kick in and technology costs drop, GM's John Lauckner said during an energy forum this week at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
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- John O'Dell February 1, 2008, 4:02 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Chevrolet, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
January 28, 2008
GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz Introduces Volt Concept at '07 Detroit Auto Show.
A Web site for fans of the much-hyped Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid that GM hopes to have in production by the end of 2010, says it has now collected the names of more than 10,000 people who want to buy one of the cars.
In an item posted on its site Saturday,
GM-Volt.com
said it is logging more than 100,000 "visitors" a month and has a "waiting list" that has surpassed the 10,000 mark.
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- John O'Dell January 28, 2008, 6:09 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Chevrolet, General Motors, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
January 25, 2008
General Motors, which has been among the auto industry leaders lately in pushing development of hybrid and electric cars, says it will formally combine its various alternative technology engineering efforts into a separate R&D unit.
The move is part of a growing industry-wide effort to speed development of production vehicles that use fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly powertrains. It should help push hybirds and EVs out of the "fad" category in Detroit.
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- John O'Dell January 25, 2008, 3:05 PM
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- Batteries, Chrysler, Emissions, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
January 18, 2008
An electric car and battery exchange program that's been in the works for months appears to be ready to launch.
Renault and Nissan Motor Co. are expected to announce Monday a joint venture to build and test electric cars, using Israel as the first test site and a California entrepreneur's vision for a battery exchange network as the catalyst to make it all work.
The automakers, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, are teaming with California entrepreneur Shai Agassi (right), who last year began a venture aimed at establishing a global network of battery charging and replacement centers to facilitate electric car use.
Edmunds.com first reported on Agassi's talks with Israel almost two months ago.
In a recent interview with Green Car Advisor, Agassi said his "Project Better Place" would solve the nagging problem of how to keep electric vehicles running after the initial battery charge is depleted – how to make them cars that can be used every day by all kinds of drivers, for long trips as well as short commutes.
The system envisioned by Agassi – former product division president at business software giant SAP -- works much like a conventional fueling system in which people buy cars from automakers and get their gasoline or diesel fuel as they need it from filling stations affiliated with various energy companies.
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- John O'Dell January 18, 2008, 4:15 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Emissions, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Transportation Alternatives
January 10, 2008
Fuel-cell car programs such as Honda's FCX need hydrogen to succeed.
In a blow to proponents of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, a trio of agencies that were to receive funding from California to build hydrogen fuel stations have dropped the projects.
The
San Jose Mercury News reports
today that the agencies dropping plans for hydrogen fuel stations cited concerns that hydrogen for transportation isn't going to be a viable technology in the near term.
That's the same concern that led Canada's Ballard Power systems
to sell its pioneering fuel cell development operation
to a consortium of automakers last year.
The moves, coupled with the closure of three stations that had already been up and running -- including the facility that served the California Fuel Cell Partnership – has raised concerns in some quarters about the future of fuel-cell test programs in the U.S.
Mercedes-Benz wants to lease more of its F-Cell cars in the U.S.
"We are quite serious about commercializing our fuel-cell vehicles," said William Craven, general manager for regulatory affairs for Mercedes-Benz of North America.
"But we have to look at where the fuel infrastructure is growing. And right now that's not in California, it's in Europe, and Japan.
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- John O'Dell January 10, 2008, 1:45 PM
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- BMW, Emissions, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
December 31, 2007
NYPD Detective Derek Siconola astride a Vectrix electric scooter.
The New York Police Department will begin road testing four all-electric Vectrix scooters in January as part of a broader campaign to make America's largest police department a greener one as well.
The 36,000-officer NYPD has already deployed a handful of hybrid cars, as well as a number of flex-fuel vehicles that can run on both gasoline and ethanol.
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- John O'Dell December 31, 2007, 4:00 AM
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- Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
December 17, 2007
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
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
December 13, 2007
GM engineer Andrew Farah, left, and actor and solar-power advocate Larry Hagman discussed electric vehicles at Hollywood Goes Green event.
By Greg N. Brown, Contributor
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – “Hollywood Goes Green” sounded like one of those self-congratulatory bandwagons that regularly roll through Tinseltown.
The two-day conference, held December 11-12 at Hollywood’s ultra-trendy Roosevelt Hotel, was being sponsored by three giants in their respective fields — NBC Universal, General Motors and Subway (the sandwich shop people) — and there was every reason to fear the event would be little more than dreary corporate-speak and impassioned, PR-oriented statements of commitment to changing the environmental, battling global warming and improving fuel economy.
Instead, there was serious discussion among earnest citizens who deeply care about the environment and are committed to finding ways to turn their passion into practice.
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- John O'Dell December 13, 2007, 10:50 AM
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- Transportation Alternatives
December 4, 2007
Cover the green car beat for a bit and you could start thinking it's all about the cars. True, there are a lot of them, but they share the roads with an awful lot of commercial trucks and buses. And most of those, on a pound-for-pound basis, are more problematic– pollutionwise – than our cars.
There are efforts afoot to green up the truck fleet, with hybrids and clean diesels and compressed natural gas all playing a role.
And soon there will be battery-electric trucks, thanks to the efforts of a British company, Tanfield Group, and its Smith Electric Vehicles Group.
The company started building and selling big – we’re talking 25,000 pounds empty – all-electric commercial trucks in the U.K. early this year and has added a second line of smaller, Dodge Sprinter-sized electric trucks and expanded its market into mainland Europe and Scandinavia. Smith is on track to deliver 250 trucks this year, says spokesman Dan Jenkins.
Starting next spring, Smith hits the U.S. with its Newton model, a 12.5-ton, van-bodied truck that will be built for the North American market at a factory in Fresno Calif. The smaller model, called the Edison, isn't slated for the U.S.
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- John O'Dell December 4, 2007, 9:55 AM
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- Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
December 3, 2007
Vectrix Marketing Chief John Morrell Touts New Three-Wheeler's Stability
Electric scooter maker Vectrix Corp. unveiled its new three-wheel model Sunday as EVS 23, the 23rd Electric Vehicle Symposium, kicked off a four-day run in Anaheim, Calif.
The bike, which uses the same components as the two-wheel model, features a unique dual-wheel front suspension that locks into a stable position for low speed maneuvering – under 3 mph – and unlocks to operate the same as on a single wheel model at speed.
That enables the three-wheeler to corner in the traditional manner –the rider leans into the turn – rather than requiring it to be steered via the handle bars...
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- John O'Dell December 3, 2007, 1:34 AM
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- Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
November 29, 2007
It would be heartbreaking if it hadn't been expected.
The new "avoiders" study from J.D. Power and Associates finds that environmental concern is one of the least cited of the reasons people give for picking one car (or truck) while avoiding a competing model.
Fuel economy, though, is one of the most frequently mentioned reasons people cite for selecting one vehicle over another.
The reason is pretty simple: we have to pay for gas or diesel, so we know the direct cost and feel it directly when the price goes up.
But in a nation that until recently has denied the existence of global warming and that still values immediate return over long-term security, John and Jane Q. Public really have no idea of the environmental cost of their car-buying decisions.
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- John O'Dell November 29, 2007, 5:25 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Transportation Alternatives
November 9, 2007
It won't go very far at speed in an all-electric mode, but Ford's prototype plug-in Escape hybrid will go a long way on a gallon of gas.
You have to try hard to get much under 60 mpg fuel economy on a short trip in the pearly white sport-ute.
Ford has a little graphic in its information package suggesting that a typical driver commuting 30 miles a day and plugging in for an overnight recharge each evening could average around 50 miles per gallon. That would be an impressive 750 miles on the SUV's 15-gallon tank of gas.
(A note for those who just have to know: A real featherfoot who doesn't mind keeping it below 35 miles an hour might be able to eke out 40 miles in electric mode from a fully charged battery. After that, the plug-in Escape would revert to regular hybrid mode, delivering a combined city-highway average of almost 30 miles per gallon.)
If you live in a region of Southern California that gets served by the Southern California Edison Co., you might even be able to drive one someday.
Over the next two years, Ford will place 20 plug-in hybrid Escape SUVs into the electric company's fleet for real-world testing.
First Look, First Drive
The initial vehicle was delivered this week, and Green Car Advisor was there for an exclusive look at the vehicle and a test-drive -- albeit a very brief one -- in the utility company's parking lot and on a few nearby residential streets.
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- John O'Dell November 9, 2007, 5:00 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Ford, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
October 31, 2007
Despite all the talk about plug-in hybrids, none of the major carmakers are testing them with real people—although a few dozen are rolling over the roads in government and public utility agencies' test fleets.
That's about to change as the University of California's Davis campus, a hotbed of alternative fuel and power train technology development, begins its own two-year study of everyday people driving cars that combine gasoline internal combustion engines with rechargeable batteries and electric drive.
The program will involve 10 Toyota Prius hybrids—the Prius is the unofficial "state" car of the San Francisco Bay Area, where it is now the best-selling sedan in the region—that will be converted to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, for UC Davis' Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research Center.
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- John O'Dell October 31, 2007, 4:00 PM
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- Hybrid, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
October 29, 2007
General Motors Corp., as we've said before, sees China as a great place to try new automotive technologies.
The country is just learning to drive, doesn't have much of an automotive infrastructure and has a communist government that, for better or worse, can make things happen. So where better to push for a real hydrogen highway, or mass introduction of plug-in hybrids, hydrogen fuel-cell and battery-electric cars and trucks?
Underscoring its belief that the Middle Kingdom is, indeed, the new automotive frontier, GM today said it will establish a $250 million alternative fuels research center in Shanghai to help speed development of alternatives to the gasoline internal combustion engine.
"We believe China has the potential to become a leader in the adoption of alternative propulsion systems," GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said during a Beijing press conference...
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- John O'Dell October 29, 2007, 10:15 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
October 25, 2007
Toyota's Prius Could Become More Than a One-Style Nameplate
TOKYO -- A Prius pickup? Implausible.
But a Prius minivan? Maybe.
They've said it before, and Toyota's top executives on Thursday underscored their desire to broaden the Prius lineup to more than a single model.
It's not a done deal, insiders say, but there's definitely talk.
"We'd like to study the extension of the Prius," Global Marketing Chief Tokuichi Uranishi said in an interview with several U.S. journalists at the Imperial Hotel in Japan's capital city.
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- John O'Dell October 25, 2007, 7:15 AM
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- Hybrid, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
TOKYO -- The lightweight, carbon-fiber frame of the 1/X concept car Toyota Motor Co. unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show this week could be used in real production models by 2020, the company's top research and development executive says.
The 1/X concept is a gas-electric hybrid that uses a carbon-fiber reinforced frame and body to provide all the interior room of a Prius at one-third the weight, a mere 925 pounds.
The car's extreme light weight and tiny 500 cc engine lets the hybrid drive system deliver twice the fuel economy of the company's popular Prius...
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- John O'Dell October 25, 2007, 4:00 AM
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October 23, 2007
Plug-In Prius Headed to U.S. for Tests, but Floral Decals To Stay in Japan
TOKYO — Toyota Motor Co. has been pretty conservative in its approach to plug-in hybrids with extended electric vehicle range from rechargeable batteries that can be rejuvenated from the commercial power grid.
It seems the automaker has decided to eschew words in favor of action.
Turns out that engineers and technicians at Toyota's Higashi-Fuji Technical Center have been working on plug-ins for three years now, and are about ready to start testing a modified version of the company's popular Prius hybrid — outfitted with a bigger bank of nickel metal hydride batteries and a plug-in system that will let them be recharged from a standard 100-volt household outlet.
The idea is to use existing technology to provide a taste of what Toyota believes the Prius will act like once it can be outfitted with lighter and more powerful lithium ion batteries — and although the company is unwilling to say when, it is pretty telling that Toyota is willing to admit that it's curious to see what advanced battery technology could mean to what already is the world's leading hybrid car.
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- John O'Dell October 23, 2007, 2:00 AM
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- Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
October 22, 2007
Group says lower-cost, lower-speed EVs make sense in congested urban areas.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- The setting was modest--an unused airplane hangar and a small parking lot at the edge of Santa Monica airport. But the atmosphere at the 2007 Alternative Car and Transportation Expo was, yes, electric.
The main source of energy at the event, whose primary sponsor is the City of Santa Monica, was the collective brainpower of the scientists, engineers, technicians, tinkerers, bureaucrats, lobbyists and entrepreneurs who came together October 20 and 21 to show the public, and each other, their progress toward achieving an oil-free future.
Amping up that energy were the hundreds of interested citizens who crowded the Expo to investigate alternative energy sources and learn techniques that could help them zero out their carbon impact on the world.
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- John O'Dell October 22, 2007, 9:00 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
October 17, 2007
It isn't often that a million-dollar car comes your way, so when Ben and Jacqlyn Lee got the word they'd been selected to get one they were, in her words, "unbelievably thrilled."
The value of the vehicle wasn't the thrill, though—it was the chance to be among the first people in the world to use a fuel-cell electric vehicle as a daily driver.
[This is the first in an occasional series that will chronicle the experiences of Ben and Jacqlyn Lee as they participate in General Motors' real-world market test of 100 Equinox Fuel-Cell SUVs.]
The Lees -- young, tech-savvy and environmentally aware -- are among the first seven people selected by General Motors Corp. to drive one of the company's prototype Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen fuel-cell SUVs for three months.
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- John O'Dell October 17, 2007, 3:00 AM
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- Chevrolet, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen, Transportation Alternatives
October 9, 2007
Toyota 1/X Concept is a Lightweight, Flex-Fuel, Plug-in Hybrid
A plug-in hybrid with the same interior space as a Prius but at one-third the weight and twice the fuel efficiency will be one of 10 concept cars Toyota Motor Co. shows at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show this year as it flexes its technological muscle.
The company, expected to unseat General Motors to become the world's largest automaker this year, is battling to keep its green credentials untarnished as sales of its gasoline-gulping Tundra pickup surpass those of its popular Prius hybrid in the U.S.
Toyota also seems bent on a show of force to intimidate rivals — including GM — that might hope to challenge it on the advanced technology front: GM is planning an extended-range electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, that would eclipse the present Prius in fuel economy and clean emissions if the production model expected in 2010 lives up to early publicity...
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- John O'Dell October 9, 2007, 9:23 PM
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- Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
Volkswagen's John Tillman and HyMotion Fuel Cell Vehicle
Hydrogen-powered fuel-cell electric vehicles still seem more science fiction than fact to most of us, but there's been no letup by automakers in their efforts to bring the technology closer to retail reality.
A Volkswagen Touran mini-minivan running around California these days represents the state of the art, and VW is promising even better things by next spring.
The Touran, a European VW body style not available in the U.S., was rechristened as the "HyMotion" for the fuel-cell version, which features numerous components designed and built in-house by VW.
"We're starting to get away from the wholesale purchase of off-the-shelf systems from other vendors," said John Tillman, head of VW's alternative powertrain programs in the U.S.
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- John O'Dell October 9, 2007, 3:00 AM
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- Fuel Cell, Transportation Alternatives, Volkswagen
October 8, 2007
A weekend devoted to worship of fuel-swilling, carbon-spewing muscle cars wouldn't seem the ideal place to preach the gospel of clean transportation, but the California Fuel Cell Partnership pitched its tent just inside the entry gates to the Coronado Speed Festival this past weekend -- and got a lot of action.
Almost 1,500 people attending the two-day festival on Coronado Island in San Diego Bay dropped by the partnership's stand to take a drive in one of the eight fuel-cell electric vehicles on hand.
“It’s actually a smart thing to do,” Hyundai spokesman Kevin Oates said of the decision to force-feed fuel cells to the speed crowd. “It lets us reach out to the trend-setters. These are people who are dedicated auto enthusiasts, and they can influence the industry,” he said of festival-goers.
“They’re auto enthusiasts,” he said, “so they’re enthusiastic about their muscle cars and racecars, but they’re also very open to the idea of the fuel cell as a door to the future of the auto.”
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- John O'Dell October 8, 2007, 1:01 AM
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- Daimler, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives, Volkswagen
October 5, 2007
Massachusetts is joining a growing number of state and local government agencies and utility companies that are pioneering use of plug-in hybrid vehicles in oder to collect real-world operating data.
The Massachusetts legislature approved a bill late last month to add plug-in capability to 10 conventional gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles already owned by the state.
The conversions are expected to cost $8,000 to $10,000 per vehicle and the state is expected to issue a formal request for competitive bids on the project before the end of the year.
Not coincidentally, one of the bidders is expected to be A123Systems, a Watertown, Massachusetts, developer and manufacturer of advanced lithium-ion batteries...
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- John O'Dell October 5, 2007, 3:00 AM
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- Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
October 1, 2007
Ford Motor Co. executives have promised that the automaker's financial troubles aren't going to run its sustainable transportation efforts off the road.
This week they underscored their intent to build a greener Ford by announcing an energy research partnership with MIT, to focus on new powertrain, energy and fuel technologies. Ford will fund two new five-year research fellowships at MIT.
“Energy-related issues pose some of society’s greatest challenges,” said Sue Cischke, Ford’s senior vice president for sustainability, environment and safety engineering...
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- John O'Dell October 1, 2007, 2:21 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Transportation Alternatives
September 24, 2007
There’s a new bike in town, a battery-powered electric scooter capable of jarring your socks off with its blistering acceleration while enabling you to cruise merrily past every gas station you see.
It’s the Vectrix Maxi Scooter, (www.vectrix.com) a green alternative for anyone who loves the freedom of two-wheeled motoring, isn’t shackled to a lengthy commute and has a budget big enough to handle a hefty $11,000 pricetag.
That’s a lot—as much as twice the price of a regular scooter—but Vectrix owner Paul Scott says he expects to recoup some of the difference from savings on fuel and engine maintenance.
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- John O'Dell September 24, 2007, 2:00 AM
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- Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
September 18, 2007
Psst!. Wanna be first on your block to park a hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicle in the garage?
General Motors is looking for a few good drivers.
The automaker is about to launch an ambitious test program, putting 100 of its Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell SUVs on the road, in the hands of real people, to gather real world operating data.
There are a couple of caveats, first among them is that nobody from middle America is invited...
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- John O'Dell September 18, 2007, 7:00 PM
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- Chevrolet, Hybrid, Transportation Alternatives
