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Australia PM Gillard announces carbon pricing plan; transport fuels exempt, but lowered fuel tax credits to bring carbon price to some businesses

Green Car Congress

Under the scheme, around 500 of the largest emitters in Australia—facilities that have direct greenhouse gas emissions of 25,000 tonnes of CO 2 -equivalent per year or more (excluding emissions from transport fuels and some synthetic greenhouse gases)—will need to buy and surrender to the Government a permit for every tonne they produce.

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BMW-Sixt car-sharing JV DriveNow launches in London; 30 i3s coming in 2015

Green Car Congress

DriveNow, the carsharing joint venture between the BMW Group and Sixt SE ( earlier post ), has launched its flexible carsharing service in London. As in Germany, DriveNow additionally offers saver packages, which allow customers to buy blocks of minutes for as little as 32 p ($0.50) per minute, as well as blocks of hours.

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Belfer Center report calls for policymakers to begin taking steps to change policies for funding US transportation infrastructure

Green Car Congress

users pay for the construction and maintenance of roads via a federal fuel tax. Revenues from the tax go into the federal Highway Trust Fund, which is independent of the General Fund; every five years or so Congress passes an authorization bill to allocate these revenues. —Huang et al.

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Study finds driving restriction policy in Beijing has short-term benefits, but almost half of regulated car owners break the rules

Green Car Congress

A case study of the impact of a driving restriction policy implemented in Beijing prior to the 2008 Olympics found short-term benefits, but also a pattern of rule-breaking and loss of those benefits over time, as residents adapted by changing travel times; buying a second car with a different license plate; or simply violating the rules.

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Automotive Market Research Perspectives on Selling Green in a Try-to-Survive Market

Green Car Congress

The role of emotion in buying cars. Would you buy this vehicle? Miller adds “ In the US we’ve had customers talk about the Prius ‘badge of honor’, in Europe the strongest reason for buying a Prius was to make a statement about ‘the effort to do something else. Not exactly a value proposition.

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National Research Council Report Explores Improving Fuel Economy of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles; Recommends Immediately Beginning Developing a Regulatory Approach

Green Car Congress

Small companies with limited engineering resources make a significant percentage of vehicles in Classes 4 through 8a, although in many cases they buy the complete chassis from larger OEMs. Commercial trailers are produced by a separate group of manufacturers that are not associated with truck manufacturers.

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FedEx and VW EV Plans, Second GM Battery Factory – EV Week in Review: Mar 2 – Mar 8

EV Adoption

Minnesota State Senator Proposes Electric Fuel Tax – As more residents of Minnesota buy electric vehicles gas tax revenue will decline causing the state to find a way to replace the gas tax money it uses to pay for roads and bridges, said Central Minnesota Sen. – March 2, via TechCrunch.

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