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February 26, 2010
Hummer Hangs On - for a Little Bit - as GM Allows Two Months to Find New Buyer

Hummer400.jpgThe Terminator was just about impossible to kill off. His favorite vehicle might be as well.

Just two days after General Motors said it was going to wind down the Hummer brand after a deal with China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. fell through, the company has decided to extend agreements with 153 Hummer franchises.

The dealers are being given until May 1 so Hummer executives have time to seek a new buyer for the brand.

Hummer Chief Executive Officer Jim Taylor told the trade journal Automotive News that he was advised by GM CEO Ed Whitacre to "move fast" because the automaker isn't gong to wait very long for something to happen.


February 26, 2010
Volkswagen's New CrossGolf Gets Better Mileage, But No U.S. Distribution
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2011CRZhybrid.jpg
25_vw_crossgolf.jpgVolkswagen is giving the updated version of its CrossGolf crossover better gas mileage and more power.

But the company still won't give it to Americans.

The new CrossGolf, which is being unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show next month, will go sale in its initial markets in April and will be available with turbocharged gasoline engines ranging from 105 to 160 horsepower as well as with several turbodiesel options, Volkswagen said.

The most efficient gas version will get about 35 miles per gallon with both a six-speed and seven-speed transmission. While this is a European figure, which tends to be more generous than the U.S. EPA mileage standards, it still represents a 7 percent increase over the first-generation gasoline CrossGolf's 33 miles per gallon.

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John O'Dell February 26, 2010, 3:14 PM
Categories:
Auto Shows, Fuel Economy, Volkswagen
Technorati Tags:
Volkswagen CrossGolf, VW

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February 26, 2010
Judge Rejects Honda Fuel Economy Lawsuit Settlement as Too Stingy

2007.honda.civic.20106025-E.jpgFirst, Honda is accused by Civic Hybrid owners of being too, shall we say "optimistic" in its fuel economy boasts for the gas-electric car.
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Owners of 2003-2007 Honda Civic hybrids sued automaker over alleged misleading mileage claims and agreed to settle. Now a judge has rejected the settlement offer as too stingy.
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Now a judge is saying the automaker is being too stingy in its attempt to settle the lawsuit disgruntled owners filed three years ago.

Honda's two-month-old attempt to settle a 2007 class-action lawsuit over what Civic Hybrid owners say were misleading and overstated gas mileage figures was rejected by a U.S. District Court Judge in California's Central District this week after she ruled that Honda's concession provided too little value for the plaintiffs, according to a report in The New York Times.

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John O'Dell February 26, 2010, 2:54 PM
Categories:
Courts, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hybrid
Technorati Tags:
Civic Hybrid Fuel Economy Lawuit, Honda Fuel Economy Lawsuit Settlement

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February 26, 2010
Diesel Booster Aiming for Speed Record in Oil-Burning Dragster

dragster_2 copy.jpg

We're suckers for a good race car picture any time we can justify one here on Edmunds' green car site, and this is as good a reason as they get.

Gale Banks, the California-based dean of diesel and leading proponent of the idea that the fuel - and engines that burn it - can be clean, economical and powerful, is taking his Sidewinder Top Diesel dragster to the Desert Diesel Nationals in Arizona next weekend (March 6) with his eye on runs down the asphalt quarter-mile in the 200 mph-plus, low mid-6-seconds range.

And, he says, he'll do it "without the black clouds of soot" that normally come with diesel racing (because the engine is loaded with fuel on the line, a tremendous amount blows out the exhaust without being fully burned up, resulting in a lot of soot).

Banks has sent numerous speed records with diesel race vehicles and does it because he loves to go fast and wants to raise awareness of advanced diesel technology and the diesel engine's power and diesel fuel's efficiency compared to gasoline.

(Video after break)

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John O'Dell February 26, 2010, 2:19 PM
Categories:
Diesel
Technorati Tags:
Clean Diesel, Diesel, Diesel Dragster, Diesel Racing, Gale Banks

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February 26, 2010
Britain to Subisdize Electric Car Cost - Up to $7,600 Per - to Help Jumpstart Demand


smart-fortwo-ed-front-thumb-400x266.jpgThe British government has approved a program legislators there believe will provide a big boost for electric vehicle technology and a resulting drop in CO2 emissions - a national subsidy to buyers of zero and near-zero emissions cars and trucks equal to the lower of 25 per cent of the vehicle's purchase price or 5,000 British pounds.
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Smart ED (electric drive) goes on sale in Britain later this year and wold qualify for the new British subsidy covering up to 25 percent of the purchase price.
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At present exchange rates, the British EV subsidy equalst $7,642 - close to the $7,500 federal tax credit available in the U.S. to purchasers of the least polluting cars and trucks.

The program is funded for 230 million pounds ($351.5 million) - good for at least 46,000 vehicles if all qualify for the maximum amount.

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John O'Dell February 26, 2010, 1:21 PM
Categories:
Chevrolet, Fisker, Ford, Fuel Cell, Honda, Plug-ins and Electric, Smart, Tesla, Vauxhall
Technorati Tags:
EV Chargers, U.K.British Electric Car Subsidies

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February 26, 2010
Zap Says It Has Order for 100 Electric SUVs - to be Delivered to South Korea

JonwayA380.jpgNorthern California-based EV importer and developer Zap, which last month announced a partnership with a South Korean optics company to bring electric vehicles to that country, said this week that it has received its first order - for 100 electric SUVS.
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The Zhejiang Jonway A380 SUV will be converted to electric drive and exported from China in Zap's South Korea EV deal.
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The vehicles will be jointly built by Zap and Chinese automaker Zhejiang Jonway in China - based on the Chinese company's A380 SUV model - and then imported into South Korea by Zap's partner there, Samyang Optics Co.

It's all a bit convoluted, as Zap's deals often are, but there's some logic and business potential.

Samyang, a manufacturer of lenses for closed circuit TV security systems, may be an odd choice for a partner to import and sell EVs, but it does know South Korea. It and Zap both want to take advantage of a growing market there for electric vehicles as the government moves to offer subsidies and tax incentives,

Still, Zap can't seem to break into the big time and its ongoing losses and small size have prompted analysts at IHS Global insight to wonder about the chances a "small electric vehicle distributor and a relatively unknown partner company" will be able to compete successfully against South Korean giant Hyundai, its Kia subsidiary and other entrenched automakers such as GM Korea and Renault-Samsung.

It's a good question.

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John O'Dell February 26, 2010, 8:00 AM
Categories:
Plug-ins and Electric, Zap
Technorati Tags:
Zap EVs, Zap South Korea EV Deal

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February 26, 2010
2010 Geneva Auto Show: Hyundai to Show i-flow Diesel Hybrid, New Hydrogen Fuel Cell Model, and More

hyundaiIflow.jpgHyundai motors plans to show its i-flow diesel-electric hybrid concept at the Geneva Auto Show next week as just one of eight fuel-efficient, lower-emissions vehicles on its stand. The i-flow is the most notable of the bunch because it will be one of the few hybrids to use a diesel engine instead of a gasoline powerplant.

The South Korean automaker released a rear three-quarter view of the diesel hybrid last week to whet our appetites and this week is teasing with this image (right) showing, a driver's side three-quarter view from the front.

The i-flow - still officially a concept, meaning not planned for production, at least as far as anyone is saying - mates a 1.7-liter turbodiesel to an electric motor that draws its power from a lithium-polymer battery pack, the whole thing linked via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The diesel can be small because it delivers loads of torque, and the whole package enables the i-flow to deliver 79 mpg fuel economy (European test cycle,we think), making even the Prius look a bit anemic.

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John O'Dell February 26, 2010, 6:00 AM
Categories:
Auto Shows, Diesel, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Hyundai
Technorati Tags:
2010 Geneva Auto Show, Diesel Hybrid, Hyundai I Flow

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February 25, 2010
NHTSA Says Federal Fuel Economy Rules Jeopardized by Bid to Void GHG Ruling

Move Also Would Reignite Controversial Plan by Major States to Set Own CO2 Standards
ghg220.jpg
An effort by Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski to overturn the EPA's ruling that greenhouse gases endanger public health could disrupt plans to set a national standard for automotive greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy, according to the Department of Transportation.

In a letter sent Friday to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chief counsel for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - NHTSA - said that if the EPA were stripped of authority to regulate greenhouse gases the result would cripple NHTSA's efforts to implement a national fuel economy standard.

NHTSA is the Transportation Department unit charged with drafting fuel economy rules - which are inextricably tied to greenhouse gas regulation because consumption of gasoline, diesel and other carbon-based fuels in cars and trucks is a major contributor to atmospheric carbon dioxide and other gases that can trap heat in the atmosphere.

Furthermore, NHTSA counsel O. Kevin Vincent wrote, approval of Murkowski's resolution, which was cosponsored by 35 Republicans and three Democrats, would throw open the specter of individual states imposing their own greenhouse gas standards -a nightmare scenario for federal regulators and for the auto industry.

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John O'Dell February 25, 2010, 3:16 PM
Categories:
Emissions, Fuel Economy, Legislation
Technorati Tags:
EPA, Fuel Economy Standards, Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Ruling Thretened, NHTSA

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February 25, 2010
Honda 3R-C Concept - An Electric Trike For the Urban Dweller

Honda3RCconceptSide.jpgEngineers and designers at Honda are no different than those at other auto companies - always thinking of what might be next.

One difference is that sometimes Honda let's em loose to actually build a concept even though it isn't likely to ever become a production model.

After all, it could trigger a groundswell of demand and really become the next big thing - or pieces of it could be used in a real production vehicle. Who knows?

That's the thinking behind the Honda 3R-C, a battery-electric three-wheeler that looks like a closed-cabin mini-car when parked but opens up into a full-faired trike when in motion.

The plastic canopy that covers the seat and controls to keep weather and other people out when the 3R-C is parked opens to become a windscreen when it is rolling.

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John O'Dell February 25, 2010, 1:53 PM
Categories:
Auto Shows, Honda, Plug-ins and Electric
Technorati Tags:
2001 Geneva Auto Show, Honda 3-RC, Honda Electric Trike

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February 25, 2010
EV on the Cheap(?): New Tesla Lease Program Sets $1,658 Monthly Payment

Thumbnail image for Tesla-Roadster-1200-x-600.jpgTesla Roadsters aren't inexpensive, and until now the only way too get one new was to pay cash or finance the $111,000 (base) purchase price.

The San Carlos, Calif., EV maker wants to help ease the pain a little - and make sure it unloads all of its inventory- as it goes into the final year of production of the current generation roadster. So it is offering its first-ever Tesla lease program.

The cost? as "little" as $1,658 a month for a three-year, 30,000-mile Tesla Roadster lease, the company said today.

That's after a $9,900 down payment and an $895 "acquisition fee."

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John O'Dell February 25, 2010, 12:42 PM
Categories:
Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla
Technorati Tags:
Tesla Lease Program, Tesla Roadster Lease

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February 25, 2010
Honda Begins 2011 CR-Z Hybrid Sales in Japan, Pricing Starts at $25,340


2011CRZhybrid.jpgHonda's newest hybird, the two-seat gas-electric CR-Z, went on sale in Japan today, priced at 2.27 million yen - $25,340.

The sporty hybrid is the second, after the 2010 Insight - in Honda's line of low-cost hybrids aimed at bringing the technology into the mainstream market place by increasing affordability.

To do so, the Honda IMA (integrated motor assist) hybrid system was downsized a bit and the car's haven't been loaded with expensive extras.

Despite that, the Insight has not sold as well as Honda had planned - tallying 136,000 sales globally in its first year versus the original goal of 200,000.

The limited-appeal CR-Z, was launched with a modest Japanese sales goal of 1,000 a month and pre-orders for 4,500, or 4.5 times the first months' goal.

The trick now will be to keep sales up - a difficult task with a two-seat car.