Green

Fisker: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Prius Was The Inspiration To Start Company

By Paul Niedermeyer
November 7, 2009

Never underestimate the impact of your choice of car, especially if you’re Leonardo DiCaprio, who I’m sure doesn’t. The high-profile early Prius adopter can now take credit for inspiring the creation of Fisker Motors. That comes straight from Henrik Fisker’s mouth. The former designer of gas-guzzling Aston Martins and BMWs told the Reuters Auto Summit this past week that he’s ready to be a star in the green revolution, thanks to the star in the Prius. (more…)

Posted in Green | Hybrid | News Blog | 3 comments

Bailout Watch 567: Feds Mandate Chrysler Green Car

By Edward Niedermeyer
November 2, 2009

From the just-released GAO report (PDF) on the auto bailout:

Chrysler’s shareholders, including Treasury, have agreed that  Fiat’s equity stake in Chrysler will increase if Chrysler meets certain benchmarks, such as producing a vehicle that achieves a fuel economy of 40 miles per gallon or producing a new engine in the United States. Treasury officials stated that they established such up-front conditions not solely to protect Treasury’s financial interests as a creditor and equity owner but also to reflect the Administration’s views on responsibly utilizing taxpayer resources for these companies. While Treasury has stated it does not plan to manage its stake in Chrysler or GM to achieve social policy goals, these requirements and covenants to which the companies are subject indicate the challenges Treasury has faced and likely will face in balancing its roles.

Posted in Bailout Watch | Green | News Blog | 10 comments

Ask The Best And Brightest: How Can Honda Have Its Cake And Eat It Too?

By Edward Niedermeyer
October 23, 2009

Pity Takanobu Ito. Like many (ok, some) of us, the CEO of Honda is torn between his love for speed and the desire to be perceived as environmentally responsible. On the one hand, he lambasted Toyota for building its $375k LF-A supercar, saying that to his mind the fuel-cell FCX clarity (once described by Jonny Lieberman as “exactly like a Honda Accord”) was his idea of a modern sports car. On the other, “I would like to make a sports car,” Ito tells Automotive News [sub]. “Once we have that technology and once we have cash on hand, I would like to see Honda have a sports car that symbolizes our technology.” Is he referring to the forthcoming CR-Z? Because, as cool as that car looks, it will hardly satisfy the LF-A jealousy we detect in Mr Ito’s voice. And you have to imagine that the creator of the NSX is as qualified as anyone else to design and develop the first 21st Century green sportscar. But what would that look like? Assume any price point up to the LF-A’s insane $375k sticker, and give us some specs. And remember, at this point, green is relative… and quantifiable only in terms of marketing.

Posted in Ask the Best and Brightest | Enthusiasm | Green | News Blog | 55 comments

EV Success: It’s The Price Point, Stupid

By Edward Niedermeyer
October 21, 2009

Actually, that’s not the equivocal message we might have expected from a University of Michigan study on electric vehicle (EV) viability [via Green Car Congress]. Instead, the money quote reads:

The data provide strong evidence that a combination of economic and social incentives may be most effective in successfully introducing these vehicles.

The study’s baseline shows that, given no increase in fuel costs, 42 percent of those surveyed would consider buying an EV. But with every doubling of a hypothetical price premium, the probability of purchase fell by about 16 percent. At a $10k premium, only 14 percent said they would consider purchasing an EV. Which is enough to conclude that the “social incentives” of EV ownership are enough to create a certain level of demand for even uncompetitively-priced vehicles. And that seems to indicate that breathless green marketing is here to stay. In fact, if the image after the jump is anything to go on, this eco-toehold in the minds of some consumers will likely be exploited with ever-more breathtaking shamelessness.

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Posted in Electric Vehicles | Green | Marketing | News Blog | 12 comments

Honda: Supercar Sour Grapes?

By Edward Niedermeyer
October 21, 2009

After months of teases and race-car previewing, Toyota is publicly unveiling its production-spec LF-A supercar at the Tokyo Auto Show [via Automotive News [sub]]. And it’s a legitimate front-engine supercar, with a 4.8 liter V10 motivating it to 60 MPH in 3.7 seconds. It even has a true supercar pricetag: $375,000. But how does this car square with Toyota’s appliance-and-environment-driven image? “It’s our mission as automakers to offer cars that possess the ‘fun’ spirit that should be at the base of any car,” explains Akio Toyoda, who sees the supercar as a way to gain attention in developing markets. But having axed its own front-engine V-10 supercar, Honda is reacting to the LF-A by retreating into greener-than-thou sniping. “Sure, there are folks who like that ‘vroom’ of the engine out of nostalgia,” snickers Honda prez Takanobu Ito. “The era of V10 engines is gone.” And you’ll never guess what vehicle Ito offers up as Honda’s counterpoint to the LF-A.

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Posted in Future Vehicles | Green | Japan | News Blog | 49 comments

It’s Official: Three-Wheelers Are Cars Too. For Subsidy Purposes.

By Edward Niedermeyer
October 19, 2009

Congress has passed legislation qualifying three-wheeled vehicles for federal subsidies by classifying them as advanced technology vehicles. According to Automotive News [sub], the legislation has passed the House and Senate and should be signed by President Obama by week’s end. The classification is crucial for firms like Aptera to secure the federal Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program funds that have been critical for firms like Tesla, GM and Ford. Aptera has asked for $75m, but efforts to include the three-wheelers like Aptera’s 2e have been criticized by GM, which is waiting on $10b in Department of ATVM funding. So, on the one-hand you have self-interested, tax money-bloated firms like GM who want the money for themselves, and cottage industry EV freaks who call their three-wheeled designs “innovative.” But not only are three wheeled designs far from unique (they tend to show up in every major recession), they also aren’t cars. If the Feds are going to give money to to the makers of three-wheelers, which have to be licensed as motorcycles, they should have to allow electric motorcycle firms like Brammo and Zero to apply as well. After all, a $10k motorcycle isn’t any less ridiculous than a $45k Volt or a $40k Aptera.

Posted in Electric Vehicles | Government | Green | News Blog | 27 comments

Enterprise Rent-A-Car CEO Almost Calls for Higher Gas Prices

By Robert Farago
October 16, 2009

Enterprise Rent-A-Car CEO  must have some German politician in him somewhere (not literally, of course). Speaking with Bloomberg, Andrew Taylor’s message comes through loud and clear: Ve must have order! How can you dumkopfs expect our nationalized manufacturers to build cars that save the planet without high gas prices! And so the reporter asks the obvious question (it’s what reporters do best): should we raise the gas tax? Check out Taylor’s eyebrow work at 1:23, and his subsequent journey into the bowels of Wiggles World. The CEO didn’t see that one coming? It gets better. When asked if American cars are any good (2:18), Taylor lauds Ford, Chrysler and “even” GM. With friends like that . . .  Or is it a good thing that Enterprise fancies itself Detroit’s “petri dish,” looking to put the Volt into immediate rental service? We report, you deride.

Posted in Green | News Blog | Quality | Sales | Taxes | 14 comments

The Evolution Of Internal Combustion: Thermal Energy Management

By Edward Niedermeyer
October 13, 2009

With so much attention focused on next-next-gen, alt-energy auto technology, we enjoy highlighting the incremental changes that are making good old internal combustion engines more efficient. The latest evolution to show up on our radar screen is BMW’s development of a host of measures [via Green Car Congress] which it hopes will someday reduce the inefficiencies of cold starts. Perhaps the easiest way of reducing low-temperature, high-friction starts is to encase the engine to slow down the engine cooling process (as well as insulating components that might otherwise need to be cooled). In fact, BMW has shown that with encapsulation, a 176 degree operating-temperature engine can keep its temperature as high as 104 degrees after 12 hours. But good luck trying to change your oil when your engine is surrounded by thermal materials.

(more…)

Posted in Fuel Economy | Gizmology | Green | News Blog | 36 comments

UK Government: Per Mile Tax Would Solve Global Warming

By The Newspaper
October 12, 2009

A UK government group has just released a proposal that would impose a per-mile tax on motorists to rescue the planet from an imagined catastrophe. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), a body established by the UK Parliament to advise the government on environmental issues, has set a target of a two-percent annual reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. CO2 is a naturally occurring gas that is essential to human life. The committee believes it can reach its goal by imposing massive new taxes on drivers that will reduce demand for driving which, in turn, would reduce carbon dioxide output.

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Posted in Government | Green | News Blog | Taxes | UK | 28 comments

Volt Birth Watch 167: The Midwife Bails

By Edward Niedermeyer
September 30, 2009

Bob Kruse, GM’s executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries and the man in charge of the Volt’s battery development and integration, is leaving General Motors. The Detroit News reports Kruse is leaving to start an EV consulting firm, creatively named E V Consulting. “My departure from General Motors has nothing to do with my view of the future success for the Volt,” says Kruse. “I’ve left on very good terms. I have a lot of respect for the leadership of General Motors.” And then he goes and confuses everything by claiming, “I’m not going to lie. Are they happy about my departure? Probably not.” And GM’s response? “There’s no good time to lose good people, but that said, the Volt team goes way beyond one person.” Which, for comparison, is a more straightforward response than Tesla’s Elon Musk gave when his head of development and manufacturing suddenly ditched. But the real irony is that GM’s bailout, which at this point is a gamble that rides on the success or failure of the Volt, was the motivation for the Volt’s top midwife to ditch in the middle of its frenzied gestation.

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Posted in Green | News Blog | People | Volt Birth Watch | 16 comments