Hybrid News

Filed under: Etc., Legislation and Policy, GEM

Since the beginning of the year, all 2009 model year vehicles (and anything newer, once they’re available) sold in California will be sporting a new sticker. No, not the kind that makes your car worth $4,000 more but the kind that describes the vehicle’s global warming and smog scores. Just look under the hood of that new car (if you’re the unusual kind of person who’s still out there car shopping) and you’ll see it, courtesy of the California Air Resources Board. As some of you pointed out in the summer when we first got word of these new stickers, the 1-10 rating scale is somewhat counter-intuitive. A higher score means the car is cleaner/better. An average car, CARB says, will get a five. The best of the best, right now, is the GEM, which gets two 10s. That “perfect” rating means that the vehicle emits less than 200 grams of CO₂-equivalent per mile. A score of one means the car spits out more than 520 grams over the same distance. Cars like the Honda Civic hybrid and the Prius score nines.

[Source: Environment News Service]

All new cars in California now carry smog, global warming scores originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, MPG

Development of the Chevrolet Volt may be continuing full-speed for now at GM but that program is the exception rather than the rule at the General. Everywhere else in the company, programs and introductions have been delayed. The combination of excess inventories of existing vehicles resulting from slow sales and cash flow issues have caused vehicles such as the Saturn Vue and Two-Mode hybrid and the plug-in version to be delayed. If GM were to start building the new strong hybrid Vue they would have to pay suppliers for the parts, something they are trying to avoid right now.

Similarly, the plug-in requires engineering hours that would have to be paid for. It’s ironic that politicians want to force the Detroit automakers to build greener vehicles but, until the Big Three get a cash infusion, it can’t happen. Similarly, even more efficient versions of conventional drivetrains are being pushed back. GM has two new engines coming that were supposed to be shown to media this coming week. In light of the current situation that briefing has been canceled. It’s not clear if the introduction of the engines themselves has been delayed, but odds are that that will be the case.

Fuel efficient technologies, vehicles losing out to financial crisis at GM originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Ford, Legislation and Policy, Green Daily, USA

We love experts, especially those with the guts to go on television. We also love seeing how they respond to the “tough questions” asked of them by reporters. Like, um, “Name a fuel-saving American car that you’d want to buy.” When Chris Matthews from Hardball asked Robert Reich that exact question, his answer leaves us a bit speechless. Well, it left Reich speechless too. “Uh, let me think about that for a moment… uh, I like Fords.” Great! Which one in particular? “Let me be honest… I drive a Mini Cooper.” Well, that’s fine. What exactly does that have to do with the question. Later in the interview, Matthews mentions the upcoming Ford Volt. Yeah, we’re looking forward to that one too.

Let’s help poor Mr. Reich pick a good American fuel-saver… we’ll use his favorite manufacturer, Ford. How about the Focus? Plenty of people seem to like it and it gets pretty good fuel economy. Not your cup of tea? Try the Escape hybrid, which manages to eke more miles per gallon of fuel than any other utility vehicle on the market. If you can wait a few months, the new 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid will hit the market and we have very high expectations for that midsized sedan. Click here to watch the video with Matthews and Reich. Their eyes aren’t closed the entire time, we promise.

[Source: Hardball via Jalopnik]

Hardball duo completely fumble American green car discussion originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Porsche

We only heard about the latest modified Porsche from Ruf about a week and a half ago when the tuner unveiled its new E-Ruf via press release. Apparently we weren’t the first to learn of the all-electric 911, as Road & Track has already driven it and just published its first impressions, including details about the car’s inner workings that were previously unknown.

Unlike most Ruf Porsches, the E-Ruf hasn′t had its internal combustion engine boosted to within an inch of its life. It doesn′t even have an ICE. Instead, the staff in Germany have ripped out the boxer 6-cylinder, back seat and fuel tank. The back seat area and front trunk have been stuffed full of lithium-ion batteries and an electric motor’s been bolted to the stock 6-speed gearbox. Turns out that the E-Ruf is very different from other high-profile EVs like the Tesla Roadster in some interesting ways, but you’ll have to click through to Road and Track to find out exactly why and what it means for the future of EVs.

[Source: Road & Track]

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Original post by AutoblogGreen Staff

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Porsche

The recently-revealed all electric Porsche 911 from longtime tuner RUF uses an electric motor from UQM Technologies. The motor offers up some 150 kW of power and seems to be an off-the-shelf motor that the company is capable of providing for automotive use. At first glance, the motor’s 204-horsepower seems a tad low, but then you notice that its 479 lb-ft of torque makes up for that small issue. Ninety-six separate lithium iron phosphate batteries from Axeon power the motor, allowing the eRUF Model A to accelerate to sixty miles per hour in less than 7 seconds and allow for a range of up to 200 miles. UQM also has smaller motor packages available for cars that aren’t expected to have such high performance or are significantly lighter that the 4,200 lb eRUF Concept Model A. See the full press release after the break.

Related:

• Ruf reveals electrically powered 911 instead of Cayman EV

[Source: UQM]

Continue reading Ruf′s electric Porshce powered by UQM motor

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, MINI, LA Auto Show

BMW has now released official details of the MINI E that will rolling out at the LA Auto Show next month. As we learned last night, the MINI uses a 204 hp, 162 lb-ft electric motor for drive purposes with a single-speed helical gear, transmission. Energy gets stored in lithium ion battery pack with a capacity of 35 kWh which should be enough for a nominal range of about 150 miles. Some of the details of the pack are interesting and reminiscent of another electric car that has received a lot of attention around here, the Tesla Roadster. The pack is comprised of 5,088 cells arranged in 48 modules. The press release itself states “The energy storage unit’s basic components are based on the technological principle that has proven itself in practice in power supplies for mobile phones and portable computers.” Based on the number of cells and the previous statement, we might infer that BMW has opted to use off-the-shelf cells rather than something purpose built for automotive applications.

In Elon Musk’s blog post announcing the changes at Tesla a couple of days ago, he did mention the company would focus on Roadster production and powertrain sales to other carmakers? Is this the first example? We’ve asked Tesla for a comment but have yet to receive a reply. Continue reading after the jump.

[Source: MINI]

Continue reading LA Preview: Officially, official: the MINI E! Does it use a Tesla battery?

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Mazda, LA Auto Show

We’ve been seeing spy photos of the next generation Mazda3 for months and now we finally have official photos of the new compact sedan that will debut at the LA Auto Show next month. While I recently speculated that the new 3 might just be a refresh rather than a full redesign based on the resemblance of the greenhouse to the current model, it now appears from the pics in the gallery below that it is all-new. Externally, the 3 inherits all of the bold, swoopy styling of other recent Mazdas including the new 6 and the 2 that we don′t get. Mazda hasn′t revealed much technical detail yet other than the 2.0L and 2.5L four cylinder engines that will provide power. The new 3 will apparently conform to Mazda’s “Sustainable Zoom-Zoom,” philosophy which means it will almost certainly see some weight reduction compared to the current car, likely on the order of 100-200 lbs. The hatchback version will appear some time after the sedan debuts early next year.

[Source: Mazda]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Biodiesel, Emerging Technologies, Ethanol, Hybrid, Toyota, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

As we gathered sleepily in the conference rooms early in the morning, host John Hanson said that Toyota’s hope with this one-day seminar was to present the complexity of the sustainability mobility situation and to highlight the challenges that the world is dealing with. The solution is not just the cleaner-than-they-used-to-be four-wheeled vehicles that Toyota is building, but also its partnerships and transportation alternatives, a reduction in how much energy and resource we use, better regulations, and so on and so on and so on. Seriously. By 3 p.m., our heads were swimming but still, Toyota succeeded in Hanson’s stated goal. The six or so hours of presentations and Q&A sessions provided a lot of answers and raised a few questions about just what we’re going to do in the coming decades. If nothing else, we learned that Toyota is thinking about the problem.

Follow us past the jump for the full story.

Continue reading Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar morning sessions: the bad news

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep

Chrysler’s co-president continued to talk up his employer’s plans for electrically-driven vehicles this week at a media luncheon in California. Press told the gathering that he had driven three different producible prototypes of plug-in hybrid vehicles recently. The vehicles have been developed by the new ENVI unit that was established in late 2007 specifically to work on electric vehicles. According to Press, the vehicles can accelerate from 0-60 mph in four seconds and have a range of over 300 miles. Press hasn’t said when these vehicles would be built, but earlier this summer, company officials indicated a 3-5 year timeline to produce such vehicles. If so that would put the company at least 1-2 years behind the expected launch of the Chevrolet Volt and a potential plug-in version of the Toyota Prius. For production, it’s likely that the performance of the cars would be dialed back significantly in order to increase electric range although a higher-performance Dodge vehicle is not out of the question.

[Source: Los Angeles Times]
Photos Copyright (C)2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Etc., SMART, Green Daily

Ironically, New York City seems to be packed with cars and yet it’s probably one of the worst cities in America for them. One of the biggest hassles for people who actually choose to drive in Manhattan is finding a place to park your car when you get where you’re going. Given the typical congestion in Manhattan, the Smart ForTwo is probably one of the cars best suited for that city, and it just got a bit better. SmartUSA has cut a deal for owners of its cars that gives them half-price parking at six of the biggest parking garages in Manhattan. The deal includes garages operated by Meyers Parking at Madison Square Garden, Times Square, the Javits Convention Center and the Empire State Building. The discount runs through December 31 and the SmartUSA press release is after the jump. Thanks to Yash for the tip!

[Source: SmartUSA]

Continue reading Smart ForTwo gets half price parking in Manhattan until 2009

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Chevrolet, GM, Lightweight

Click on the photo for a high res gallery of the Trax

Although we were deeply saddened by the notion that General Motors would not be bringing its Beat subcompact car to the Unites States, the General is apparently planning to send a new minicar to America to replace the Aveo that we are currently saddled blessed with. We don’t yet know what the car will be named, but rumor has it that it will be built in Mexico atop the General’s Gamma platform and will share plenty of design cues from either the Trax or Groove concept from last year. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that GM would choose to offer a four or five door hatch in the States, as consumers have generally gravitated away from coupes here. Still, the Beat was apparently the best received of the three small car triplets that GM showed last year in New York.

U.S. safety standards will enlarge the car somewhat, which is one major reason why GM won’t be offering the Beat here. Somehow, smart and Toyota have figured out how to engineer small vehicles which can pass Federal crash tests, so we know it’s not impossible. Regardless, the new vehicle is expected to be in showrooms no sooner than 2011, so there is plenty of time to stew over the decision.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Chevrolet, GM, USA

The General, along with the rest of the American automakers, has a long established history of making the most profits from the largest vehicles. Small cars from the Detroit 3 have therefore fallen way behind the imports when it comes to desirability. GM Global Design Chief Ed Welburn went so far as to say, “In North America, we never did a good small car.” Ouch. Instead, all the best designs come from overseas, which GM has plenty of experience in. “Today, we are able to draw on resources of design centers in Korea, Brazil and Europe who really know how to do small cars,” says Welburn. Like the ones who designed the Aveo?

So, if the Cobalt and Aveo are not good small cars, at least they’d better be cheap, right? Sure, but expect that to change too as upcoming replacements for its aging small cars will be more expensive than current models. The Chevrolet Cruze, not expected in the U.S. for at least a few more years, will cost an extra few thousand dollars compared to the Cobalt. Hopefully by then, the Beat will be properly engineered for the American market as well.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req’d]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Original post by joltheadq

Filed under: MPG, HUMMER, Green Daily

Oh, GM, give it up.

In today’s USA Today there is an article about how sad it is that people don’t understand just how utilitarian a Hummer is. I mean, listen to Mark LaNeve, vice president of sales, service and marketing for GM North America, who said, and I’m serious, that, “No one criticizes a bulldozer for its gas mileage. That’s because it’s built to do a job.”

Wow. I bet he said that line with a straight face, too.

I mean, how could anyone possibly think that a Hummer H3 was an image vehicle instead of something we only use for work? Just watch the GM ads for this totally serious work vehicle below the fold. Can’t you see all of the work going on in these commercials. I swear, there are hard hats everywhere. C’mon people, it’s obvious. Geez.

/sarcasm

I think theres a saying about making beds and then the requirement to lay in them. If GM doesn’t want to take a bunch of crap for building Hummers, there are two things they can do: One, make them get like 30+ mpg or, two, stop building them. A biofuel Hummer HX concept here and there isn’t going to cut it. Until one of these things happens, you can bet the “Hummer salute” will remain in vogue.

[Source: USA Today via Winding Road]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Green Culture, Transportation Alternatives, Legislation and Policy, Green Daily, India

We’ve reported on the fact that India is running low on oil, and it’s only going to get worse as time goes on. They also have a major congestion problem on their hands, and that’s why we think that they′ve got a winning idea as they start offering rewards to carpoolers. These rewards can range from discounts on auto insurance, coupons for food and beverages and even movie tickets. Of course, we’d love to think that the idea of saving the environment of the area you live in and saving money on gas would be enough, but we understand that a rewards system will probably help out.

CarpoolMumbai.com has been created to offer a social way to arrange for ride-sharing, and the requests can be sent via email, SMS or phone. The initiative is gaining rapid acceptance and has 1,700 active members. Based on the success, officials are even considering adding chips to members’ cars, allowing them to be tracked and informed where and when to pick up extra passengers. Now is the time to start implementing ideas such as efficient mass transit and car sharing programs, before the problem gets too far out of hand.

[Source: Times of India via Automotive]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski