Author: Christopher DeMorro

To me, there are only two good reasons to “Go Green”. To save the Earth from ourselves… and to save some money. While the former seems rather altruistic and selfless, the latter is all about the bottom line. As it turns out, many “green” people may not be in it for all the right reasons.

According to a new study published in the Psychological Science Journal, green people tend to cheat and steal more than their conventional comrades because they see themselves as having the moral high ground. What gives?

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There are so many ways to win a car. Most often, it comes down to a raffle and the luck of a draw. But some car contests are based on skill or experience, and those tend to be the most fun.

GM’s European branch, Opel, is offering just such a contest. They are looking for Europe’s Greenest Driver. After completing an online quiz and driving simulator, 20 handpicked participants will be given a chance to demonstrate their fuel-scrimping skills in a bid to win one of the first Opel Amperas to roll off the production line.

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For as long as I can remember, it used to be that the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the EPA were at each other’s throats. They just never seemed to get along that well, and with good reason. Cars pollute, and the EPA’s job is to regulate and control pollution. Yin and Yang and all that.

But in a strange twist, the Auto Alliance is urging Congress not to block the EPA from setting limits on tailpipe emissions and declaring greenhouse gases a public health hazard. In fact, the Alliance has even been closely helping EPA and NHTSA to craft the bill over the last year. Even weirder is having the California Air Resource Board (CARB) on the same side as the EPA and the Alliance. Have we entered a new era of corporate cooperation? Or are the automakers just trying to salvage a deal between CARB and the White House?

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To me, there is no sound on the planet that can match the sweet symphony of eight cylinders firing in rapid succession. I love the power, and the sound of V8 engines. Alas, America seems to be moving away from big motors and towards smaller four-cylinder engines.

But as much as I love the big engines, the shift is, of course, a good thing for emissions requirements and fuel efficiency. Car makers are shunning big engines for smaller, more efficient power plants as the 2016 35.5 mpg deadline looms just a few years down the road. Less than 5% of new cars sold in 2009 were equipped with V8’s. But even as Americans move away from bigger engines, they continue to buy big vehicles like the F-150. Can this trend continue while still providing the power Americans demand?

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The American Le Mans Series isn’t the only racing outfit getting into green fuels.

This past weekend was the season opener for the Formula One World Championship. This is the peak, the very pinnacle of automotive performance, with teams spending hundreds of millions of dollars every season trying to one up each other with a technological advantage. Drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso  took Ferrari to victory at the season opener of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Ferrari’s fuel sponsor Shell incorporated ethanol into its race fuel for the first time.

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We love interesting concept cars here at Gas2.org. We especially love concepts that go outside the box to figure out ways to improve fuel efficiency.

Valentin Technologies is hard at work coming up with a 5-passenger sedan that accelerates from 0-60 mph in 4 seconds, and can go over 1,000 miles on just 6 gallons of gas. They can do this, they claim, through a unique hybrid gas/hydraulic engine system and a an extremely light weight of about 1,600 pounds. But is it just vaporware?

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I still don’t know what is to blame for Toyota’s “unintended acceleration” problem. Doesn’t seem like Toyota or the government does either. But there has already been a lot of talk about mandating an accelerator pedal override switch on all new cars, yet another feature that further complicates cars.

Not that I am against government regulation. Cars are safer than ever before, and traffic deaths are down as a result of it. But as lawmakers mandate safety features and car makers pile on the entertainment systems, cars get heavier and thus require more powerful engines. Even hybrid systems, while improving gas mileage, are adding further complications to an already complicated system. Shouldn’t we be trying to get back to basics?

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Fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles are just one part of the solution to our future transportation problems. US highways and our transportation infrastructure are both sorely outdated, and few advancements have been made to improve the actual driving experience.

One idea we covered some months ago was the Solar Roadway, which would replace traditional asphalt roads with a grid of solar-powered, self-heating roadways. These roadways would merge utility poles, plowing, road signs and warnings into a single dynamic unit. Solar Roadways has completed their first 12′ x12′ section of road, and it looks like it works!

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Could GM one day stand for “Green Motors”?

According to a recent Associated Press piece, the soon-to-retire Bob Lutz said that GM needs to hybridize its fleet to keep up with increasing fuel economy standards. This we already know, and there are plans in the works for hybrid rear-wheel drive vehicles, as well as the upcoming Volt.

But Lutz also let slip that GM was working on a line of all-electric vehicles, something the General hasn’t openly committed to yet, despite having more experience than other companies thanks to the short-lived EV1 program. Lutz’s statement seems to corroborate a recent remark by GM’s North American President that the Volt is a stepping stone to all-electric cars.

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The Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor has become synonymous in this country with law enforcement. Based on the ancient Panther platform, departments across the country loved the Crown Vic for its price, frame-on-body construction, and all around toughness. Fuel economy? Not so much.

Last Friday Ford introduced a new Police Interceptor, based on the 2010 Taurus D3 platform. In addition to improved safety and a better looking car, Ford promised the new Police Interceptor would have more horsepower and better fuel economy than the outgoing Crown Victoria.

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Chrysler is hurting. Bad. Of the Big Three, it is in the worst shape, and its product portfolio is woefully out of date.

Their new “Italian Overlords” at Fiat are injecting some much-needed modernity into the lineup, including the very popular (in Europe) Fiat 500. Fiat even teased us with an electric Fiat 500 at the Detroit Auto Show… but no word on whether or not such a model is planned for production. So Atomik Cars beat Fiat to the punch, taking the much-lauded 500 Abarth Edition and turning it into an electric supercar.

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Is the Golden State getting ahead of itself?

Starting today, the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project will offer financial incentives of up to $20,000 towards the purchase of a new, zero-emissions and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Cars like the all-electric Tesla Roadster qualify for a $5,000 rebate, and the money can be applied towards passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and neighborhood-electric cars. But are there really enough such vehicles to justify the $4.1 million program at a time when many state governments are tightening the fiscal belt?

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As we get close to the American Le Mans series opener at Sebring, the racing news is getting piled on. So, just one more Le Mans post today, I swear!

The American Le Mans Series bills itself as “The Global Leader of Green Racing,” and they’ve got a good bit of street cred to back that up. Some of their teams now use biodegradable motor oil, and the series already has four alternatives to pure petrol power: E-85, E-10, low-sulfur diesel, and hybrid-electric. Well now you can add isobutanol to that last, as it will be running in the Dyson-Mazda Lola prototype cars this weekend.

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Like it or not, we are still stuck with the internal combustion engine for some years to come. That means in addition to gas, we need lots and lots of engine oil to keep our metal bits well lubed. As someone who changes his own oil, I’ve had my fair share of grimy, oily messes to clean up, and I know it is no good for myself or the environment.

But a new meat fat-based bio-oil could soon replace that black stuff we pump up from the ground so vigorously. Called G-Oil, it will make its racing debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring race this coming weekend as the official motor oil of the American Le Mans Series.

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I’ve had my fair share of trucks. I know they need to put up with a lot of abuse and neglect. These things are built to be used. Electric cars are coming, and soon, but it might take trucks a bit longer to catch on. Ford is taking a stab at it with its electric Transit Connect van, and Nissan is talking about an electric NV200. But neither is a pickup, and I haven’t seen too many electric trucks demonstrated. There aren’t even any truly viable hybrid pickups.

ALTe has a clever solution that sounds promising. At the World Truck Show, they unveiled an F-150 plug-in hybrid demonstration pickup with a 4-cylinder engine and a 25 kWh battery pack that they make some impressive claims about. For starters, a 52-mile all-electric range, and better gas mileage than most diesels.

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Recently, President Obama announced the first round of funding to get high-speed rail developed here in the United States. The total investment came to about $8 billion, spread out across the country from the Northeast to California. It is really nothing but a drop in the bucket when you tally the total required investment; California’s proposed high-speed rail alone could cost $40 billion or more.

Over in the UK though, the government has proposed to drop a whooping £30 Billion (about $45 billion US) into developing high-speed rail across the country. And if anyplace needs high-speed rail, it is definitely the UK.

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Are vans suddenly cool again, or did I just miss the memo?

For a while there it seemed like the van, especially the minivan, was on its way out. Just look at Ford and GM’s lineups… no more mini-vans. But Ford has started importing the Transit Connect, and plans to introduce an electric version at the end of this year. Not to be outdone, Nissan announced the NV200 van at the Tokyo Auto Show last year, and said it could come to U.S. shores not too far in the future — and an all-electric version could follow thereafter.

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If you don’t like big trucks loaded with torque, you should just stop reading now.

But if you’re like me, you love you some torque and towing capacity. The 2011 Ford Super Duty truck has best in class towing capacity and payload hauling, as well as two new engines; a 6.2 liter gas engine good for 405 horsepower and 385 ft-lbs of torque, and a new Powerstroke diesel that makes 390 horsepower and a mammoth 735 ft-lbs of torque. Even more impressive? It is the cleanest diesel Ford has ever put into a truck. How awesome is that?

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Fisker Automotive is one of the electric car hopefuls that has won many of us over with their sleek, sexy visions of what an electric car should look like. The company has received hundreds of millions in government funding, and recently acquired an old GM plant in Delaware which they are retooling to produce their Karma plug-in sedan and an as-of-yet unnamed, “lower cost” sedan.

During a recent presentation at the New Castle Chamber of Commerce, Fisker spoke about the progress of the plant and their future plans. This includes hopefully producing around 100,000 plug-in electric vehicles per year by 2014.

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If you really want to see the future of everyday transportation, you have to look no farther than the racing series happening right around the corner. As much for entertainment and competition as it is a testbed for new technology, the highly competitive nature of racing forces engineers and manufacturers to put their best foot forward if they hope to stand out (and beat!) the rest of the crowd.

The American Le Mans Series is one of my favorite racing series and the season starts up in just a few days. Just in time to compete for the 2010 season, Braille Batteries has announced a partnership with Primetime Race Group to tackle the newly-formed Le Mans Prototype Challange.

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