The Truth About Cars » Green

Study Validates Common Sense: Air Cars Are Hot Air

Paul Niedermeyer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:29:34 +0000

All the hot air about the MDI air car may experience a sudden cold downdraft. Not that cool breezes questioning its efficiency weren’t already wafting in the air. But now there’s a genuine academic study questioning the questionable. The NYTWheels has mined a study by the University of California at Berkeley titled “The Economic and [...]

Audi: Walking and Biking Are For Idiots

Cammy Corrigan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:53:11 +0000

Want to do your bit for the environment, like ride a bike or take the bus? You loser! Buy an Audi instead! [headline explained here]

Mercedes Benz: Smaller, Cheaper, Greener

Edward Niedermeyer — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:55:23 +0000

Ever get the feeling that the car game is dealing with some malaise? Dieter Zetsche sure seems to. “The definition of luxury will be somewhat different,” Doctor Z tells the Wall Street Journal. “It will be fewer CO2 emissions and more modesty in appearance.” And this from the company that sells cars on the back [...]

Forbes Lists “America’s Dirtiest Cars”

Cammy Corrigan — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:25:44 +0000

There’s all kinds of controversy over what makes a car “green” and what doesn’t. Some point to size and efficiency, crucifying Hummers and full-size trucks as criminals against the planet. Others point to lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, battery-component mining pollution and other less-obvious measures to excoriate hybrids. In any case, TTAC’s scientific department isn’t well-funded [...]

Fiat/Chrysler Walk Away From Electrification And Hybrids

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:58:00 +0000

As we noted in our rundown of the New New Chrysler’s powertrain plans, the Pentastar’s ENVI electrification task force wasn’t mentioned once during seven hours of presentation. Well, by name anyway. Weirdly though, as the slide above shows, Fiat is making Chrysler the focal point for the alliance’s hybrid and electric technology development. Wouldn’t that [...]

Cash for Clunkers “Green” Goal a Flop

Robert Farago — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:09:44 +0000

Some politicians who supported the Cash for Clunkers program didn’t want to be seen promoting a billion dollar (or three) bailout for car dealers, what with car dealers rating just above sex offenders as “people who I’d like to support with my taxes.” So, not surprisingly, the C4C bill was wrapped in a mantle of [...]

Fisker: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Prius Was the Inspiration to Start Company

Paul Niedermeyer — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:09:59 +0000

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 [...]

Bailout Watch 567: Feds Mandate Chrysler Green Car

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:34:20 +0000

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 [...]

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

Edward Niedermeyer — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:33:33 +0000

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 [...]

EV Success: It’s The Price Point, Stupid

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:45:19 +0000

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, [...]

Honda: Supercar Sour Grapes?

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:16:21 +0000

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 [...]

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

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:53:39 +0000

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 [...]

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

Robert Farago — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:30:28 +0000

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 [...]

The Evolution Of Internal Combustion: Thermal Energy Management

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:06:44 +0000

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 [...]

UK Government: Per Mile Tax Would Solve Global Warming

The Newspaper — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:04:03 +0000

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 [...]

Volt Birth Watch 167: The Midwife Bails

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:22:20 +0000

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 [...]

Better Place: Buy Electric, Save Money

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:28:43 +0000

Project Better Place founder Shai Agassi tells Auto Motor und Sport that his firm’s EV versions of the Renault Fluence will cost €3,000- €5,000 less than the gas-powered Renault versions. The only downside is that you have to live in Israel or Denmark to qualify. Oh yeah, and then there’s the “batteries not included” issue. [...]

Buick City’s Big Cleanup

Cammy Corrigan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:57:21 +0000

We all want to leave a legacy to the world. Nelson Mandela tore down apartheid, Mohandas K Gandhi brought independence to India and William Wilberforce abolished slavery in the UK. When “New GM” was formed we were told that this company would be free from its legacies. Well, there’s one legacy it can’t shake. Michigan Radio [...]

Alabama Rolls the Hybrid Kinetic Dice

Edward Niedermeyer — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:34:09 +0000

Hybrid Kinetic (HK) Motors and its chairman, former Brilliance chairman Yung Yeung, have announced plans to build a massive car plant in Baldwin County, Alabama in order to begin production of its fuel efficient vehicles by 2013. The $1.5b plant will produce 300,000 units per year and employ 5,000 Alabamans when it comes online with [...]

Research Fund Authorization Heralds Hydrogen’s Return… At Some Point

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:38:37 +0000

The House has authorized a new package of industry aid in the form of research and development funds for advanced technology vehicles. H.R. 3246 still needs to be funded, but authorization is for up to $2.9b over the next five years. The AP reports that the bill would fund research on “technologies such as batteries [...]

Fisker Snags $528 Million DOE Loan

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:05:16 +0000

Retool this! Fisker will use the majority of its Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVML) loan towards developing its next generation of plug-in, range-extended hybrids, according to the company’s press release [via Yahoo]. Preliminarily dubbed Project NINA, Fisker’s next vehicle range will be “affordable and fuel-efficient” vehicles with a similar drivetrain to its Karma [...]

Quote of the Day: Got to Find a Love that Lasts Edition

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:26:53 +0000

We will only do a hybrid if that is what is required to maintain the vehicle. I think we have a pretty good plan right now that probably will not require a hybrid in the near term . . . I don’t believe that we need to do a six-cylinder engine in a Corvette at [...]

Aptera Three Quarters of the Way to Government Funding

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:28:57 +0000

The WSJ reports that EV manufacturer Aptera is asking the government for $75M from its energy-efficient retooling funds. Unfortunately for the makers of the Jetsons-inspired 2e, there’s some debate about whether its three-wheel design makes it a car or a motorcycle. Which means the gravy train could be delayed at the station. The Department of [...]

Toyota Prius: Happy, Shiny, and Hard to Kill Yourself With

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:54:12 +0000

Ironically, suicide is considered very environmentally friendly.

How Green Is My Car Stand (At the Frankfurt Auto Show)

Robert Farago — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:10:42 +0000

I don’t mean to single out Audi here, but they sent us some stats about their stand at the Frankfurt Auto Show. [Press release after the jump.] Fifteen climate control units. One thousand four hundred spotlights. Six thousand square meters of space. I mean, even if you put aside the environmental impact of powering this much [...]