If you thought only car makers were finding new ways to power vehicles, the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed an electric/human-powered hybrid Rickshaw to help drivers get to their destinations faster. On top of that, they are also promoting zero-emissions transport by ditching the regular fuel supplies such as petrol or diesel.

The Soleckshaws are battery powered and can reach speeds up to 9 mph with a distance of about 25 miles per charge. The good thing about this is that drivers won’t have to plug their vehicles into a wall socket and wait for it to recharge. Instead they can head to assigned stations, exchange the drained battery for a new and fully charged cell for a small fee, thus saving them on lost trips. Also, the Council was in favor of electric power to help drivers reduce their pedalling time. According to them, an average drivers gets only 1600 calories a day due to the constant pedaling, which is well below the 4,000 calories needed. This puts them at risk of getting TB due to malnutrition. With battery power, they can more easily retain those needed calories.

They have commissioned 1,000 units to hit the roads of Delhi in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in October.

[Via: Autopia | Image]

Mercedes R&D execs have stated that customers should except a hybrid S-Class when the new model is introduced.

The model which is powered by both a battery and petrol engine, is expected to do about 80 mpg and is expected to chug out less then 100 g/km, which works well for the EU emissions policies implemented. They have increased the aerodynamics and reduced some of the weight making it much more efficient. However, there is not going to be a fully electric model, simply because today’s batteries are still not able to keep up with what they need to power.

There will be other 6 and 8 cylinder petrol models that will be made available.

[Via: AutoCar | Image]

A spokesman at Porsche has confirmed that they may most likely include a lower-end Porsche Boxster model that would be more in keeping with EU’s CO2 emission laws.

As a result, customers may expect either a regular 4-cylinder or a 3-cylinder turbocharged engine. They expect it to pump out just 180 g/km of CO2 with power ranging between 180-200bhp. The company has decided to start on the project from now because of pending complications with regards to VW’s ownership of the company.

The EU Emissions laws state that auto manufacturers need to produce vehicles that average about 120 g/km of CO2 by 2012, and need to go lower in future years. Companies that produce less that 300,000 vehicles per year (small manufacturers) are exempt from this general rule but still need to reduce their fleet’s overall emissions rating by 25% of the 2006 figures.

The problem arises with regards to how Porsche as a company should be treated. Since a majority of the company is owned by VW, they may be treated as a big firm because it would be considered as part of VW’s line. If they are lucky to be treated as a small firm, they would be under less stringent measures.

Hans-Jurgen Wohler said that customers may have to start accepting the lower models because of the EU’s policies. It does put the company in a bit of jeopardy because of its ownership situation.

[Via: AutoCar | Image: Porsche]

With the price of regular gasoline/petrol still at high rates, people are turning to alternative methods of fuel to power their cars, even going out of their ways to get new and more compatible vehicles.

The government of Thailand has promoted the use of Ethanol fuel over the past few years by currently offering E10 and E20 blends of fuel. As a result, there has been a rapid increase in the sale of E20 and E85 compatible vehicles. Presently, the country sells about 1.5 million liters of Ethanol fuel mixes, and they hope to push that figure to 2 million in 2010 and then up to 3 million by 2011.

At the moment, they will focus on marketing E20 fuel (20% ethanol, 80% regular gasoline) in order to encourage more car owners to purchase E20 vehicles, and will also focus on getting more E85 vehicles into the country.

Ethanol is a cheaper alternative to regular gasoline. It’s basically the same product found in alcoholic drinks. The fuel comes in different grades (e.g. E10 = 10% ethanol, 90% fuel) and some vehicles can even run on 100% pure ethanol.

[Via: The Green Car Website | Image]

Chevrolet has announced that they will be building their 2010 Volt at the Hamtramck plant in Detroit, Michigan.

The car will be manufactured on existing lines, while some of the newer components are set to be produced elsewhere and then shipped to the plant for assembly. Prototype production will begin in the spring of 2010 and full scale production will initiate later down in the year. The Euro brother to the Volt, the Vauxhall/Opel Amperas will also initially be built at the Detroit plant before they move over to the European plant.

“The Detroit-Hamtramck plant is expected to be the first facility in the US owned by a major auto maker to produce an electric car.

“With GM at the lead, electric vehicle development is creating entire new industries. This includes battery developers, builders of home and commercial charging stations, and power control and electric motor suppliers.” – Jon Lauckner, Vice President of Global Product Planning, GM

[Via: GM]

With rising economic costs, diesel has been quite a desired alternative fuel source to the regular petrol our V8s and V12s guzzle up. Racing teams are using it now with great success. In the Le Mans Endurance series, Audi has been raking up victories with their R10 TDi and SEAT it taking home victories in WTCC with their Leon TDi. These are just the few teams that are making diesel work for them.

Mercedes’ AMG line may now be considering diesel technology to power their souped-up sports cars. According a report posted by Whatcar, AMG’s C-Class, E-Class, SLK and SL-Class Product Manager Oliver Wiech did not exclude the possibilities of diesel-powered engines in their future models.

“We are taking an open view and looking at lots of options, but if you look at our announcement on the electric SLS, you can see what is in the future.” – Oliver Wiech

Diesel seems to be a possibility and electric power is a definite in the future for AMG.

[Via: WCF | Image: Daimler Press]

VW has come up with an extremely innovative campaign called “The Fun Theory” where they attempt to convince ordinary and unsuspecting citizens to try out some cost saving techniques without them even realizing it. The first video (above) shows them converting a subway staircase into a huge piano. Each step represents a key that makes an actual piano noise/tone when people walk upon it. It was made to encourage folks to use the staircase rather than the electric escalator.

The second video shows a regular trash can with the addition of some hidden audio equipment. When trash is thrown in it, it makes a sound as if it were falling down a very deep pit. Both videos strike a lot of interest. You’ll be amazed yourself.

Check out more here.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently implemented a new regulation called “Cool Car” which states that car windows need to be specially glazed to cut out 60% of the sun’s rays by the year 2016. As a result of this new glass technology, the soft top Jeep Wrangler may no longer be able to be sold in the California region due to the restriction.

The glass will have microscopic pieces of metal oxide embedded within the sheet that will help in reflecting the sun’s rays. This would reduce the heat inside the car and basically assisting in lowering the required energy to cool the car. As a result, there would be a significant fuel savings, since the air condition system pulls a lot of electricity.

However, the side effects of this metallic technology is that it will most likely affect GPS systems, garage openers, cell phones and other devices that use wave technology (due to the high concentration of metal). Also vehicles that have soft tops with plastic back windows would be in a predicament if the CARB board want all the windows to be made of this new material. The Wrangler would be one of the more popular Cali vehicles to suffer from this new regulation.

There are also a number of other complications arising from the new glass technology, and manufacturers are hoping exceptions can be made for special types of vehicles. Another worrying issue is the cost behind manufacturing the glass, since it will be quite expensive. Mary Nichols of CARBS says the regulation is “is a common sense and cost-effective measure that will help cool the cars we drive and fight global warning” but others in the industry believe it is way too costly and that alternative ways of saving on cooling expenses is possible.

The regulation will be implemented on a phased basis. In 2012, manufacturers will be required to make glass that can cut 45% of light. They would then need to increase the figure over the next few years until it reaches 60% in 2016.

The idea behind reducing cooling costs is a definite plus, but more research still needs to be done. California is already stacked with a number of vehicle laws and this would be another to add to the never-ending list of expenses…all of which are placed upon the owner in the end.

[Via: Accel Time | Image]

During the Detroit Auto Show in 2009, Mercedes introduced a new concept for the future, called the Mercedes-Benz Blue-Zero E-Cell. It’s not the prettiest car ever, but it’s definitely beneficial to the environment.

The car has the same engine as you get in a Smart ForTwo, a turbocharged 3 cylinder, along with batteries which can  power the car for a whole 62 miles. With a full tank of gas and fully charged batteries, the car will go 373 miles before stopping. Like in most hybrids, the batteries can be charged during braking. In the E-Cell however, the engine itself is also used for powering the batteries, and if needed it drives the wheels. You can’t really expect much performance out of this car, but Mercedes say it will go from 0-60 in 11 seconds, which is…well let’s just say it’s a bit faster then what I was expecting.

Via: Detroit Auto Show

After the recent announcement that Chevy’s Volt could do 230 miles per gallon, Nissan has lashed back by saying their green electric can do up to 367mpg. They even took a stab at the pricing strategy of both cars.

“Nissan Leaf = 367 mpg, no tailpipe, and no gas required. Oh yeah, and it’ll be affordable too!” – Nissan EV Twitter page

Now here is the catch22 here. The leaf is a totally electric car. It doesn’t use any form of gasoline at all, so the question is… how did they come up with 367 miles per gallon when no gas is being used? Are they some how calculating how much gas was used to make the amount of electricity to charge the car? Who knows.

Nissan also mentioned that their car would cost between $25,000 to $30,000 before any tax breaks, so it’s definitely a cheaper buy.

Now it’s time to weigh out some of the facts. The Leaf does about 100 miles before it needs a charge up. The Volt does 40 miles on the battery alone and then unlimited amount of miles on gas (gas to electricity), but with an MPG that drops as it drives more. Both of these estimates come from within the companies and are not finalized by the EPA, so who should we believe? The methods of testing haven’t really been documented at all, so no one knows how those figures were derived.

Final thought, wait on the official EPA ratings before cashing in on one of these.

Via: Twitter | Image: Nissan

GM has unveiled their 2011 Chevrolet Volt and also announced that it has been given a rating of 230 miles per gallon. The rating is a big positive for the company because buyers can not compare economy of a regular gas burning vehicle to the electric Volt.

However, the triple digits figure is terribly misleading if you don’t intend to use the car as the GM dealers expect you would. Usually comparing a gas car is not difficult because there are certain upper and lower limit usage figures. However, the Volt can be driven for 40 miles totally gas free because of the power supply provided by the on-board lithium batteries. There is also a gas engine which generates electricity for the rest of the journey.

So let’s say you drive 40 miles, this means that your mpg is unlimited. If you drive 50 miles, it would be 40 miles at 0 mpg and 10 miles at 0.2 gallons (their estimate). This would work out to be 250mpg. The reason they gave a 230 mpg is because they don’t expect their owners to do more than 40 miles per day.

Now what happens if you drove 100 miles in a day. It would run 40 miles at 0 mpg then 60 miles at 0.02 gallons a mile, so your mpg would then be about 83.3, which is significantly lower, but it’s not like everyone drives 100 miles a day right?

GM says that the figure used is a city estimate and that their audience won’t be doing much long haul type driving, so they are sticking to their 230 mpg figure, even going on the create a logo based on it. The car has to be recharged overnight and uses 8 kilowatts of power, which is estimated to be 88 cents in some cities.

With all those fancy features, Edmunds still says the car may not save consumers much money as they estimate the car might cost quite a bit to purchase as compared to say a Prius or some other hybrid type vehicle. Even GM’s CEO admitted the building cost is expensive, running in at $40,000 per vehicle, but he says a government tax break will subtract $7,500 from the consumer’s bill. However, it is still pretty expensive for what is it because you can get a much more luxurious car (gas guzzler though) for around the same price.

Fritz Henderson’s message implied that the 2nd generation (and onwards) electric cars would be cheaper, but for now there would be a high manufacturing cost attached to each.

Via: GM

Paul Pantone, an American inventor has developed a fuel delivery system and processor that can have engines run on as much as 80% water, or even more. the GEET (Global Environmental Energy Technology) is said to cut emission by 90% and triple fuel economy. So where does Mountain Dew fit in? It can be used as one of the replacements for water (yay?)

The system basically remixes the fuel by first vaporizing the fuel and pumping it through an exhaust in the opposite direction to stimulate an environment where hot and cold air masses collide. Then an air management valve pumps air into the fuel mix and sends it to the engine to be burnt. All in all, the processor uses regular gas and the water mixture (Mountain Dew as the case is here) and converts it into what is called GEET-gas, which the engine then uses.

This seems wonderful, but the experiment (below) conducted with Mountain Dew didn’t seem to be so cost effective, because after the cost of the drinks were included, it costs at least $4 per gallon to run. Read more about the experiment here.

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Getting fresh fruit and vegetables is usually not the cheapest things in the New York area, simply because those green bunches of goodness have to be imported from somewhere else. The closest you might get is packaged crop maybe 1 or 2 days old. Well how about being able to get your fruits and vegetables straight from the farm itself…or should I say Truck Farm.

Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis have started a farm in the bed of their 1986 Dodge Ram, growing different crops such as tomatoes, lettuce, habaneros, arugula, broccoli, seasoning herbs and other types of edible greens. Their farm on wheels project has a lot of “green” features as well including an organic soil composite comprised of styrofoam, organic material, gel and clay.

You can actually buy these veggies from them buffet-style. Just pay $20 and you are free to eat whatever is grown on the truck.

The crew has been documenting their project on video (their cams are even solar-powered as well). They have done a series of episodes, promoting the experiment, one of which you can view below.

Via: TastingTable

In a bid to protect the environment, automakers across the globe have been designing new engines which are much greener. However, it seems another development may assist in the move towards the 100% green automobile.

Oregon State University wood science researchers have come acorss some very promising findings with regards to microcrystalline cellulose, a product that can be easily made from almost any type of plant fiber. The composite is said to be a good replacement for silica, which is currently used for filler purposes in the manufacturing of rubber tires.

Kaichang Li associate professor of wood science and engineering at the OSU College of Forestry, who conducted the research with OSU grad student Wen Bai, had good things to say about the work conducted so far:

“We were surprised at how favorable the results were for the use of this material.

“This could lead to a new generation of automotive tire technology, one of the first fundamental changes to come around in a long time.”

Microcrystalline cellulose requires less energy to be produces, thus saving on money. From an endurance standpoint, the scientist say that it offers comparable traction on cold or wet road surfaces and is even more fuel efficient when driven in hot conditions. At the same time, it maintains just as much strength as a silica or carbon black composite. Carbon black composite is derived from oil which is very expensive and the processing of silica is very energy consuming. Also, these two compounds are rather fuel inefficient due to their dense chemical structure.

This bit of chemical technology has already been used in reinforcing other rubber auto products such as belts, insulation and hoses. The next step now is to take it to use in tires.

In the study conducted, they replaced 12% of the tire’s silica with the wood alternative resulting in less energy consumption to produce the final product. It also improved heat resistance and maintained a level of strength like the silica.

The product is still under lots of testing, but proving to be a very likely green solution in the future of tire production. If you would like to read some of the actual finding, check out some of their documented articles here.

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Today’s motorcar is equipped with all sorts of advanced gadgets meant to keep safe and provide maximum convenience. The technology has advanced significantly over the years and now Nissan has announced the introduction of its new navigation system which will not only keep drivers safe, but will also keep their driving green.

Now how would it keep your “driving green”? The answer is simple; the navigation system will notify the driver of the most fuel efficient and effective routes to the intended destination. This will help keep fuel emissions low and also cut down the time taken from point A to point B.

But the system is focused more on providing safety in low-visibility situations, such as a blind corner. The driver will be warned through the navigation system’s use of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) infrastructure. In fact, this will be the first production system to use this technology.

Furthermore, the system will keep the driver wary of places such as school zones and intersections which have the potential of becoming dangerous and will even have navigation-linked speed controls.

The system will debut in the JDM Nissan Fuga by the end of the year and the Infiniti M will host it in the United States.

Via: Left Lane News