The Truth About Cars » Green

Ask the Best and Brightest: What If We Didn’t Have Federal Safety Standards?

Robert Farago — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:02:05 +0000

Editorial: A Turbo By Any Other Name

Joseph Kaitschuck — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:07:35 +0000

I recently came across a brand new Lincoln MKS. I’m a pretty hard core Japanese car fan but I had to admit that this car looks pretty slick. I had heard that it was pretty fast too. I like fast. Upon inspecting the exterior of the car it came to my attention that [...]

Who Says You Can’t Have It All? Not the EcoDrivers!

Robert Farago — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:42:50 +0000

I drive a Mercedes GL450: a vehicle that struggles to get 18 mpg. On the highway. Downhill. Downwind. Unladen. At the posted speed. But here's the thing: I don't drive my Merc much. I work from home. I live in a "walkable" community. I walk. I ride a bike. And I got rid of our second car. In other words, like many Americans, I want my gas guzzler and a clean conscience too. God bless America; when the market perceives a need, someone fills it. In this case, it's our friends at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM). The industry lobby group is providing the juice behind the trendily hyphen-aversive EcoDriving movement. Which, to my mind, is a bit like the pre-nascent DietFeasting movement. I may be guilty but I'm not stupid. Or am I?

Cash for Clunkers: The Environmental Cost of a New Car

Michael Martineck — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:06:35 +0000

The short answer: 31,362 Btus per pound. That’s the average energy cost for constructing a modern motor vehicle - rubber, fluids, glass, metal and battery. Can that number tell you if it’s better, environmentally speaking, to keep your ’85 Renault Fuego or pick up a Honda Insight? That’s a longer answer full of scary science and scarier math. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Lab has attempted to analyze the energy consumed manufacturing vehicles. Their creation is called Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation models. GREET. No really.

E85 Boondoggle of the Day: Where There’s a Will . . .

Brian J. Donovan — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:34:59 +0000

The issue is whether the proper development of an advanced biofuel industry in the United States is feasible when: (a) independent ethanol producers in the U.S. are at the mercy of volatile commodities markets for feedstock; and (b) the price of ethanol is controlled by the oil companies.

Editorial: $20 a Gallon Gas a Good Thing, Not a Bad Thing. Apparently.

Robert Farago — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:03:28 +0000

God forbid TTAC should criticize someone for making an outrageous suggestion to get people to think (rethink?) their opinion about an auto-related issue. But you gotta wonder if the book "$20 per Gallon" is at least ten bucks too high in the hyperbole department. Still, credit where credit's due. By setting sail on a ship fantasii, author, civil engineer (of all things) and Forbes reporter Chris Steiner has outed the environmental hairshirt wearers amongst us. Needless to say, The New York Times is chief amongst them. They've published a Q&A with Steiner that somehow manages not to lump-him-in with alien abduction deprogrammers---although the piece is filed under the Freakeconomics banner. Instead of demanding Steiner's list of prescription drugs, the Gray Lady's Annika Mengisen "asked him to give us his predictions for what our lives might look like with gas at $8 and $18 per gallon, respectively." Fun!

Four Questions About the Toyota Prius

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:27:52 +0000

I have nothing against the Toyota Prius. It's the car's mystique that irks me. You know what I’m talking about: the whole "Toyota Pious" thing. As someone who's read rational reports from Prius-owning TAC commentators, as a pistonhead who understands that there's more to driving a Ferrari than beauty and performance, I swear I'm OK with the hybrid's PC mantle. But the Prius's high MPG numbers and green street cred tends to stifle the debate on some important points.

Editorial: The Truth About Rare Earths and Hybrids

Robert Farago — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:13:16 +0000

There’s no doubt about it: the automotive landscape is changing. Carmakers around the globe are embracing electric propulsion, whether the volts are generated by a gasoline motor, a fuel cell, a distant power plant or a combination thereof. New companies seem to be springing up overnight to take advantage of the government’s desire (and money) to wean motorists from their petrochemical "addiction." While everyone is rushing to produce politically-correct powerplants, one fundamental question that remains largely unexamined: from where will manufacturers secure the raw materials needed to mass produce this new technology?

Editorial: The Truth About Cash for Clunkers

Ken Elias — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:34:45 +0000

The so-called “Cash for Clunkers” legislation demonstrates everything that’s wrong with a political process playing in the market arena. It’s legislation that will do little to improve car sales. But it will drive traffic to dealers – mostly credit bandits scurrying around trying to buy new cars they can’t really afford.

Four Hybrid Myths Exploded

Luke42 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:48:29 +0000

I drive a Prius regularly. It’s time to correct a few myths about hybrids:

Editorial: Hybrid Theory

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:39:30 +0000

Three years ago yesterday, on a Jalopnik-TTAC joint podcast, a certain Robert Farago foresaw the rise of a “hybrid aesthetic” in automotive design. In order to break into the consumer psyche, went his logic, a hybrid car must look unmistakably like... a hybrid. Fast forward to 2009 and the new Honda Insight seems to confirm that looking like a hybrid means looking like a Toyota Prius. Chevy's Volt might someday become the third member of the Prian party, while the forthcoming Lexus HS250h looks to be a Prius rebadge of GM-level laziness. If hybrids are the cars of the future, are we doomed to inherit a world of identical, beetle-shaped rides?

Editorial: Britain Makes Scrappage Schemes Euro-nanimous

Edward Niedermeyer — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:21:45 +0000

Britain's new budget, recently presented by Minister of The Exchequer Alistair Darling, contains a vehicle scrappage incentive that makes Old Blighty the final major European economy to jump on the alleged "green stimulus" bandwagon. 13 other European nations, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland have introduced similar measures, which provide government incentives to new car buyers who scrap an older vehicle. But will Britain's new program (which offers up to $2,900 in incentives) have the same salutary effects on new car sales as France (March sales up 8 percent) and Germany's (March new registrations up 40 percent)? Closer to home, how will the solidified Euro-consensus on scrappage schemes affect the chances of a similar program in the US? Although the schemes have already been hailed as the saviour of European new car-sales, such plans don't always translate well across different markets. Under a critical lense, issues with the latest British plan indicate a number of problems in bringing such a program stateside.

Editorial: Volt Syndrome Strikes In China

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:23:13 +0000

A few weeks of vacation from the blogosphere's non-stop news cycle can leave a blogger feeling a bit behind the times. Two weeks is an eternity in internet time, but stepping away from the barrage of news, spin, hype and hysteria is good for the sense of perspective. Especially if the down time is spent exploring countries on the local typical family vehicle, complete with two wheels, four speeds and about 100ccs of thundering power. Beyond the sheer novelty of seeing entire families commuting on a moped ("Daddy, Nguyen isn't staying on his side of the pillion seat"), travel in the developing world shows how insulated America is from the transportation realities of the rest of the world. If the $1,000 entry to the world of moped ownership is a major (if attainable) hurdle for workaday Vietnamese, even sub-$10k vehicles face what a GM sales release might call "a challenging sales environment." Try to explain the "green premium" for hybrids and plug-in vehicles to an auto-aspirational third-worlder, and watch as the idea of paying more for less room and power draws only puzzled bemusement. Hair shirts, it appears, are strictly a fad for the western and wealthy. Case in point: the world's first plug-in hybrid, the Chinese BYD F3DM.

Editorial: The California Air Resources Board Says Ni!

William C Montgomery — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:55:57 +0000

Do you ever feel trapped in Monty Python movie? The B&B discussion following Edward Niedermeyer’s post, CARB So Crazy: California To Ban Black Cars, made me think so. First soldier: What? A swallow carrying a coconut? King Arthur: I could grip it by the husk! First soldier: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut. King Arthur: Well, it doesn't matter. First soldier: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right? King Arthur: Please! First soldier: Am I right? I’m no Michael Palin or Graham Chapman, but I’ve got an idea or two about white and black colored cars.

Editorial: Cash for Clunkers Bill Heading for Trouble. One Hopes.

Robert Farago — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:14:28 +0000

It seems straightforward enough: federal vouchers for old clunkers. Takes old heaps off the road. Stimulates new car sales. Done. Of course, we are talking about a government program here. And that means that H.R. 1550, the "Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009," has quickly become a cat fight amongst interested parties (manufacturers, dealers, dismantlers, after-market parts makers, trade protectionists, etc.). If passed, 1550 will surely evoke the law of unintended consequences. At the moment, the bill's been referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee, so that august body can breathe their magic upon it. Ahead of that joyful event, 1550 contains some HIGHLY contentious sections. How about a stricture for the new car purchase that stipulates different minimum levels of highway fuel economy depending on whether the vehicle was manufactured in the United States or "North America" (i.e. Canada or Mexico)? Yes way.

Editorial: A Sober Look at Biofuels

David Holzman — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:43:38 +0000

I love my Accord. I love cornering so hard that the outer edges of my tires are always worn, despite good wheel alignment. I love gearing down with the stick, and feeling the surge as the VTEC spools up and hits the sweet spot. Love that sound! To be sure, it's no Boxster, but it IS Salieri to the Boxster's Mozart. I don't want no stinkin' hybrid. I'll take my internal combustion straight, like my bourbon. I don't want an EV. In my nightmares, Better Place has taken over, and I'm driving a podmobile with a short range and the slows. But the twin specters of global climate disruption and peak oil are a dark cloud that follows me wherever I drive. I believe that we must replace fossil fuels with efficiency measures and renewables with all due haste or civilization will crumble in this century.

Editorial: The Truth About Fuel, Part Three: Victory!

Eric Stepans — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:55:47 +0000

In his farewell speech (the one about the military-industrial complex), President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans, “As we peer into society's future, we-- you and I, and our government-- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow.” As any oil company CEO (cough, Dick Cheney, cough) will tell you, Eisenhower’s words point to personal virtue, but shareholders want profits today not resources tomorrow. Thankfully, some take Eisenhower’s words to heart. One such person is Josh Tickell, the creator, director, and protagonist of the impressive documentary film Fuel.

Editorial: The Truth About Fuel, Part Two: Meths!

Eric Stepans — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:34:40 +0000

Biologist Jared Diamond once wrote that worst mistake in the history of the human race was adopting agriculture. It allowed a greater population compared to hunter-gatherers, but at the expense of increased vulnerability to disease, pests and warfare. Diamond underestimated humanity's capacity for blunder, for an even bigger mistake was tying our transportation system to petroleum.

Editorial: The New Geneva Convention is Electric

Martin Schwoerer — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:32:04 +0000

Last year in Geneva, I grumbled about how the annual car show was all green talk and no green action. This year, in contrast, I found few new cars worth writing about: the VW Polo is a bore, the Daewoo/GM Spark is a joke, exotics are an anachronism, and the A4 Allroad is a good sequel -- but why waste any bandwidth on it? On the other hand, there are some pretty exciting alternative-fuel vehicles on display. (And, predictably, some big disappointments, too).

Editorial: Pass the Lithium

Edward Niedermeyer — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:12:21 +0000

Lithium-ion batteries are not yet a major source of automotive propulsion. Excluding the li-ion cells lingering within the $100k+ Tesla Roadster, not a single volume vehicle depends on the technology. Toyota has adopted a "go slow" policy on li-on cells re: their gas - electric Synergy Drive (most famously found inside the Prius). Sure, li-ion batteries will power Chevrolet's electric - gas hybrid Volt. Eventually. And that's no small point. At the moment, with gas prices at historic low levels, hybrids simply aren't selling. Of course, nothing's really selling. Except the idea that we need lots and lots of hybrids and that those hybrids will need lithium ion batteries and we better make sure we have enough lithium otherwise the vision of clean, gas-free personal transportation will disappear. And the New York Times can't have that, now can it?

Editorial: Volt Birth Watch 126: Gimme Some Lovins!

Robert Farago — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:29:06 +0000

Reading GM's FastLane Blog sometimes feels like watching the images generated by an underwater camera cruising through the Titanic's sunken remains. Yes, I know, GM hasn't cracked in two yet, never mind hit the ocean floor. But the blog's extended periods of silence strikes this jaded journalist as, well, creepy. A sense of impending doom that's also reflected by the editorial mix: half-assed attempts to address the key questions vexing GM's "turnaround plan" (as bulkhead after bulkhead buckles under pressure), interspersed with exec-sourced, over-optimistic appraisals of GM's prospects. And now, it looks like GM's just given up, surrendering the floor to "resource analyst" Amory Lovis' mob over at the Rocky Mountain Institute. Abundance by design™! 'Cause austerity sucks, right?

Editorial: Obama Lets California Determine National Fuel Economy Standards

Robert Farago — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:35:48 +0000

California accounts for a huge chunk of America's new car sales (at least for the transplants). And 13 other states (Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington) follow its vehicular emissions laws. Put them together and they account for just under half of all American new vehicle sales. And now, thanks to President Obama's decision to grant California a waiver from federal emissions regulations, they're going to call the shots for the entire U.S. automotive industry.

Editorial: Oregon Set to Implement Pay-As-You-Go Road Taxes

Ronnie Schreiber — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:04:22 +0000

Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski’s recently released transportation plan brags of creating jobs to build roads and bridges. But its main focus: making sure those roads won’t be used. The plan talks about "congestion," "bottlenecks," "greenhouse gas," "carbon," "green standards," "non highway programs" and "incentive programs designed to reduce the number of cars on our roads." To realize this vision, Kulongski and his supporters have to reinvent the wheel, or, more precisely, the tax on those wheels.

Editorial: In Search of: Honda’s Hybrids

Steven Lang — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:35:57 +0000

Once upon a time, Honda represented everything that Detroit was not. Efficient, lean, reliable and most of all, innovative. While The Big Three soldiered-on with the same powertrains for decades on end, Honda constantly renewed, redesigned and released cars that genuinely improved their customer's lives. Profits and widespread admiration followed... until the Honda hybrids came along. Then Honda, long regarded as the technology leader, got its ass kicked by Toyota. What happened?

Consumer Reports Test Day: “The Future of the Car”

David Holzman — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:56:19 +0000

The biggest surprise at last Friday’s Consumer Reports’ press shindig: no plug-in electric - gas hybrid Chevy Volt. Not a mock-up. Not a mention. Oh, GM was there-- with two hydrogen fuel cell Chevy Equinoxes. So never mind all that talk of "reinventing the automobile." At “The Future of the Car,” the car of the future’s just like your current ride, only cleaner and, mostly, a lot less practical.