Green Car Congress

APRIL 1, 2012

BMW i8 Concept Spyder. Click to enlarge. Following on the presentation of the BMW i3 Concept and BMW i8 Concept coupé at the Frankfurt show in 2011 ( earlier post ), the BMW Group has introduced a third i Model: the BMW i8 Concept Spyder. Like the i8 coupé concept, the BMW i8 Concept Spyder with eDrive is a plug-in hybrid. The 96 kW (131 hp) electric motor on the front axle works in tandem with a TwinPower Turbo three-cylinder gasoline engine sending 164 kW (223 hp) through the rear wheels.

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Green Car Reports

APRIL 4, 2012

Buoyed by record monthly sales of its Chevy Volt hybrid electric plug-in car in March, General Motors will resume production of the Volt at the Detroit Hamtramck plant one week early, the United Auto Workers told Talking Points Memo on Tuesday night. “They’re adding a week of production back in,” said Don LaForest, the chairman.

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Volt Sale Production General Motors 145

Plugs and Cars

APRIL 3, 2012

It just might be up to us. Sales of plug-in cars are steady, but not overwhelming. The Volt has had to contend with the overblown battery fire incident and the production hiatus. Fisker is delivering the Karma, but not without glitches and its DOE loan is being questioned. Aptera went under. Bright Automotive went under. The press has not been kind.

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Karma Bright Automotive Fisker Tax Credit 100

Revenge of the Electric Car

APRIL 1, 2012

This month, Revenge of the Electric Car celebrates Earth Day with some great new ways to see the film. Still available on DVD online, and streaming on multiple outlets over the internet, we're happy to announce our USA broadcast premiere of the film this month! Starting April 19th, Revenge of the Electric Car will be on TV on the Independent Lens documentary series on PBS.

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USA Re-Charge Store Alternative Fuels 100

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Green Car Congress

APRIL 6, 2012

Using higher volume blends of ethanol to leverage the alcohol’s inherent high octane rating to produce ethanol-gasoline blends with higher octane numbers could yield “substantial societal benefits”, according to a team of researchers from Ford Motor Company. Currently, ethanol is blended into a gasoline blendstock formulated with lower octane rating such that the net octane rating of the resulting final blend is unchanged from historical levels.

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Green Car Reports

APRIL 5, 2012

You may recall we asked you to vote for Green Car Reports when we were nominated for the TreeHugger Best of Green Reader's Choice Award in the Transportation category. In fact, we asked twice. Well, we didn't win that award. But to our surprise, we got a lovely note yesterday informing us that the site had won the Editor's Pick Award in that same.

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National Green Transportation

APRIL 2, 2012

Ford announced today the Ford Fusion would a new way to save on high gasoline prices while reducing the environmental impact of driving a gasoline powered car. A new option, Auto Start-Stop, will be available on the Ford.

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Fusion Gasoline Ford Auto 89

Green Car Congress

APRIL 4, 2012

Prius sales March 2011 v. March 2012. Data: TMS. Click to enlarge. In March 2012, Toyota posted a new one-month record for Prius sales of 28,711 units, up 54.3% by volume from last March. Of those, the third-generation Prius liftback accounted for 18,008 units (62.7%); the Prius v accounted for 4,937 units (17.2%); the Prius c, 4,875 units (17.0%); and the Prius PHV (plug-in hybrid), 891 units (3.1%).

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Prius Sale Toyota 2012 285

Green Car Reports

APRIL 6, 2012

One of the surprise stars of the New York Auto Show media days this week was the Infiniti LE Concept. The design study for an electric four-door sedan is a close approximation of a car that will roll off assembly lines in Smyrna, Tennessee, in about two years. And it poses an intriguing question: Could the Infiniti LE be the closest competitor for.

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Infinity Tennessee New York Electric 131

Green Cars News

APRIL 4, 2012

A new study of 600 families running an electric car as a second car, shows that the EV quickly replaces their combustion car for the majority of car journeys. Based on the findings of a pilot study conducted by in Denmark by UK EV charging company POD Point and Danish EV leasing specialist ChoosEV, the [.].

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Electric Cars Denmark Cars Electric 65

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National Green Transportation

APRIL 5, 2012

Electric bicycles and scooters are growing popular, and in Europe and China these vehicles are quite popular. However, the typical electric bicycle or electric scooter has a very poor dashboard system with rudimentary display. This is the 2010.

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Motorcycles Electric Motorcycles Green 2010 76

Green Car Congress

MARCH 31, 2012

Proposed route for the Alaska Pipeline project. Click to enlarge. Alaska Governor Sean Parnell announced that two major milestones have been met in the state’s effort to bring Alaska’s North Slope natural gas to Alaskans and markets beyond. The North Slope holds more than 35 trillion cubic feet of discovered natural gas. First, the State of Alaska resolved its long-running litigation with ExxonMobil and other leaseholders regarding the Point Thomson field, which holds almost a quarter of the Nor

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Alaska Gas Canada Legal 277

Green Car Reports

APRIL 3, 2012

Like it or not, the humble gasoline engine still has a lot to give to the automobile world. Yes, they use fossil fuels that could be better used elsewhere, but while pure electric vehicles and even hybrids remain relatively expensive, improving the efficiency of regular internal combustion engines is a good way of reducing pollution and dependency.

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Green Cars News

APRIL 3, 2012

We’ve teamed up with Nissan for an exciting new competition in which YOU could win an all-electric Nissan LEAF electric car. What’s more Nissan is also giving away quick chargers to towns and cities around the UK, and you could help your town win them by taking part in the ‘The Big Turn On’. If [.].

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Nissan Electric Cars All-Electric Parts 60

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National Green Transportation

APRIL 5, 2012

Electric bicycles and scooters are growing popular, and in Europe and China these vehicles are quite popular. However, the typical electric bicycle or electric scooter has a very poor dashboard system with rudimentary display. This is the 2010.

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Motorcycles Electric Motorcycles Green 2010 76

Green Car Congress

APRIL 4, 2012

Characterization of N. gaditana lipid content. (a) Lipid droplets (green) in cells during logarithmic growth. (b) Lipid droplets in cells. during stationary phase. (c) GC-FID chromatogram showing a typical N. gaditana fatty acid profile. Source: Radakovits et al., Supplementary material. Click to enlarge. With the goal of transforming a natively robust and oleaginous alga into an improved model system for biofuel production, researchers led by a team from the Colorado School of Mines have sequen

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Production Colorado Industrial Industry 275

Green Car Reports

APRIL 6, 2012

The Smart ForTwo minicar has had a rough ride in the U.S. of late. After debuting to stupendous sales in 2008, as gas prices soared, its sales have plummeted to just a few thousand a year. But the little Franco-German two-seater is being lightly refreshed for 2013, under new distribution through its parent company, Mercedes-Benz. The 2013 Smart.

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Green Cars News

APRIL 5, 2012

Audi has revealed it is working on a new system to generate synthetic sound for its future e-tron models. Fraught with challenges, the noise a car makes can be the difference between success and failure and with all-electric powertrains being near silent, sound engineers at the German carmaker are working on a system which acts [.].

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Audi Future All-Electric Engine 54

National Green Transportation

APRIL 5, 2012

Coda Automotive announced today the company had selected Mr. Electric to handle installation of electric car charging stations for Coda electric car purchasers. Mr. Electric isn't some speciality act playing clubs in Vegas, instead it is a.

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Electric Cars Charging Electric Electrical 76

Green Car Congress

APRIL 5, 2012

Cutaway of the new CVT for mid-size vehicles. Click to enlarge. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has developed a new continuously variable transmission (CVT) for mid-size vehicles that significantly enhances both driving performance and fuel economy. The new CVT is the latest addition to the Earth Dreams Technology ( earlier post ) series of next-generation technologies for automobiles.

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Honda Fuel Economy Economy Vehicles 273

Green Car Reports

APRIL 4, 2012

This morning, the BMW X5 xDrive35d was named the 2012 Diesel Car of the Year by the readers of The Diesel Driver magazine. The BMW beat the new Volkswagen Passat TDI, which placed second, and the VW Golf TDI, which garnered third place. Altogether, 13 passenger cars and light trucks competed for the award. The award was presented at the New York.

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2012 BMW Diesel New York 125

Green Cars News

APRIL 2, 2012

Amid the frantic rush to fill up our petrol tanks in recent weeks, many of us have overlooked one of the best ways to boost our fuel economy: eco-driving. According to a Public Transit Fuel Efficiency Study from SmartDrive Systems (logo, pictured), fuel consumption could be reduced by as much as 18.7 per cent among [.].

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Fuel Fuel Economy Petrol Economy 53

National Green Transportation

APRIL 5, 2012

Coda Automotive announced today the company had selected Mr. Electric to handle installation of electric car charging stations for Coda electric car purchasers. Mr. Electric isn't some speciality act playing clubs in Vegas, instead it is a.

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Electric Cars Charging Electric Electrical 68

Green Car Congress

APRIL 2, 2012

Korea Herald. Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Magna E-Car Systems are forming a $200-million automotive Li-ion battery joint venture. HHI will take a 40% stake, with Magna taking the remainder. Magna E-Car, a partnership between Magna International and the Stronach Group, is a global supplier of components and systems for hybrid and electric vehicles.

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Green Car Reports

APRIL 2, 2012

Possibly the most exciting electric cars to appear over the next few years are from BMW. The German maker's electric i3 subcompact and i8 plug-in hybrid supercar have whetted our appetites and now BMW has announced a further addition to the range, in the shape of the i8 Spyder. Autocar reveals that BMW sources have confirmed the Spyder, based on.

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Green Cars News

APRIL 3, 2012

April 3, 2012. The Green Piece Column. Recent research spelled out for any doubters out there just how well the market for alternative fuels is doing, both here and around the world. It seems standard practice for some elements of the press to take a swing at the alternative fuels market, as some kind of [.].

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Alternative Fuels Green Fuel 2012 50

National Green Transportation

APRIL 2, 2012

Ford announced today the Ford Fusion would a new way to save on high gasoline prices while reducing the environmental impact of driving a gasoline powered car. A new option, Auto Start-Stop, will be available on the Ford.

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Fusion Gasoline Ford Auto 58

Green Car Congress

MARCH 31, 2012

Transit fleets could reduce fuel consumption on average by as much as 18.7% by engaging in fuel-efficient, eco-driving best practices, according to a Public Transit Fuel Efficiency Study released by SmartDrive Systems , a provider of fleet management and driver safety systems and services. Eco-driving best practices for public transit include smooth acceleration and deceleration; reducing excess idling; avoiding hard turning (anticipating turns and smoothly decelerating into the turn to take adv

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Green Car Reports

APRIL 5, 2012

Yesterday, we got a brief glimpse of Infiniti's four-door sedan concept car; today, we have all the details of the Infiniti LE Concept. The four-door, all-electric sedan concept is really a thinly disguised production car that will reach Infiniti dealers within two years. It gives Nissan's luxury brand its first all-electric vehicle and an entry.

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Green Cars News

APRIL 5, 2012

Toyota has revealed that its new Prius+ seven-seat MPV will cost from £26,195 in the UK, with deliveries beginning in early July. Keeping things simple, the Japanese carmaker has confirmed two trim levels available at launch – T4 and T Spirit. The first sub-100g/km seven seat vehicle available in the UK, the car features a [.].

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Creative Greenius

APRIL 1, 2012

The latest news on global warming could not be worse. Climate scientists now agree that we won’t be able to restrict warming to just 2 degrees – which would have been bad enough. Those in the know, including NOAA say there is no doubt that the world’s extreme weather is being caused by climate change. And last week’s The Planet Under Pressure conference, made up of planet’s top scientific experts on the climate issued an urgent plea for action as we reach the t

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Environment Climate Climate Change Solar 207

Green Car Congress

APRIL 5, 2012

The cycling performance of the NiO 3 nm -NCNT, the NiO 10 nm -NCNT, NCNT, and NiO alone. The current densities of those samples were 200, 200, 80, 200 mA/g, respectively. Credit: ACS, Shin et al. Click to enlarge. Researchers in S. Korean have developed nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes for high-capacity lithium-ion energy storage systems, such as a lithium-ion capacitor.

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Li-ion Energy Storage Carbon Lithium Ion 265

Green Car Reports

APRIL 6, 2012

In a few weeks’ time, Vauxhall/Opel, a European arm of General Motors, will officially start sales of the 2012 Vauxhall/Opel Ampera. Essentially a Chevrolet Volt in disguise, the Ampera shares most of Volt’s features and, thanks to a lack of On-Star in Europe, loses some of the Volt’s remote functionality. But the European cousin.

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Volt Chevrolet General Motors 2012 117

Green Cars News

APRIL 3, 2012

The third model from the Volkswagen Group’s new city car line-up is now available to order. The SEAT Mii joins the Volkswagen up! and Skoda Citigo as the German car giant makes a fresh assault on the city car segment. Open for orders from today with deliveries to begin in June, the SEAT’s new baby [.].

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