Weirdest Green Cars of the Future

In the future, will we all be traveling in green flying saucers? Probably not, but that doesn’t stop extra-creative sci-fi enthusiasts from dreaming up bizarro vehicles that could have been props in Plan 9 from Outer Space.

According to this strange video (which is apparently narrated by a British robot), all of the craziest concepts from the past half-century are “the green cars of the future”, including the Ford Nucleon – designed in the ‘50s. It’s hardly a round up of green transportation that will actually be produced any time soon, but it’s a funny look at some of the wilder ideas that have been proposed.

Why the hell is the underwater car a convertible? “Hold your breath, honey, we’re going under!”

Link [Treehugger]

Jay Leno Show to Feature Green Celebrity Car Races

A new time slot isn’t the only change coming this fall as Jay Leno takes the helm of his own late night show after leaving The Tonight Show. MNN spoke to Leno, who’s a major car buff, about one cool (and somewhat strange) addition to his new show: an eco racetrack, where celebrity guests will face off a couple times a week in the Green Car Challenge.

From MNN:

Ford is supplying electric Focus models outfitted with in-car cameras and microphones.

“All celebrities talk about being green. We want to see who is green and fast,” Leno tells MNN. He got the idea from the attention he’d get — especially from women — whenever he drove one of his electric or hydrogen-cell vehicles (which he parks in a solar-paneled garage) to work.

“It’ll be fun to see if Shaquille O’Neal is faster than Cameron Diaz,” says Leno, noting that Tom Cruise requested a practice run — and was denied. “Nobody gets to practice,” he warns. Drew Barrymore has already accepted the challenge, and Leno would love to get race enthusiast Patrick Dempsey. No word yet on whether first guest Jerry Seinfeld will get behind the wheel.

Hey, it’s a slight deviation from the standard late night older-white-dude-behind-a-desk schtick, so it just might draw in some extra viewers. And Leno knows a thing or two about green cars. Though his huge car collection may not exactly qualify as eco-friendly, a number of those vehicles are ultra-efficient and/or powered with renewable energy. He also co-designed the EcoJet concept, which runs on biodiesel.

“The Jay Leno Show” debuts tonight, September 14th, at 10pm EST on NBC.

Link [MNN]
Photo credit: GM

Obama Administration Orders 14,105 Fuel-Efficient Vehicles

President Obama has lived up to his word on greening the federal fleet, ordering 14,105 fuel-efficient vehicles worth $210 million. The vehicles will be paid for with funds from the Recovery Act. The U.S. General Services Administration said that it ordered the vehicles from GM, Chrysler and Ford last week.

From GreenBiz.com:

“GSA is committed to spending Recovery dollars quickly and wisely,” Commissioner James A. Williams of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service said in a statement. “Simultaneously, we are focused on acquiring vehicles that will provide long-term environmental benefits and savings by increasing the fuel efficiency of the federal fleet.”

On March 30, Obama directed his administration to purchase about 17,600 commercially available, fuel efficient vehicles from American auto companies by June 1, to use funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — and to get the job done swiftly to boost the nation’s auto industry and replace aging vehicles with greener ones.

As Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, the vehicle orders is “good for our economy, good for our workers, and good for our environment”. Way to go green and give people jobs at the same time – a fantastic way to approach both the economic and climate crises.

Link [GreenBiz.com]
Photo credit: The Huffington Post

GM Announces Tap Water-Powered Vehicle

Given an ultimatum by the Obama Administration, Detroit automakers have responded with surprising plans of action to remain financially viable. President Obama essentially told GM, Chrysler and Ford to “go green or go home”, laying out a “path to viability” that requires the automakers to produce greener vehicles.

Surprisingly, GM already had an ace up its sleeve: the company announced a tap water-powered vehicle that they’ve been secretly working on for several years. And that’s not all: the company plants to scrap all gas vehicles and go 100% hybrid/electric/hydrogen and other alternative fuels for 2010.

The Treasury Department’s report on GM (via Treehugger) stated:

Technology Leadership: The new GMScryve Corporate Social Responsibility Rating will have a significant focus on developing high fuel-efficiency cars that have broad consumer appeal because they are cost-effective, have good performance, and are reliable, durable, and safe.

Just when everyone thought GM was going to implode, the company’s COO Fritz Henderson announced the company’s new plans. The new tap-water powered model, creatively named the Agua, has other automakers scrambling to create their own water-fueled automobiles.

The technology uses a special process to separate water molecules through electrolysis, creating hydrogen, which is then burned. Once it reaches the proper temperature, the hydrogen recombines with oxygen at a rapid pace to form water again. This process creates the energy that fuels the vehicle. More details about the car are expected later this week.

Said Henderson, “Tap water is plentiful and accessible to virtually everyone. We will never run out of it, so it’s a fantastic alternative to fossil fuels, and burns cleanly without releasing harmful greenhouse gases into the air.”

Henderson, who is expected to take over for former CEO Rick Wagoner, admitted to being surprised by the project, which was being carried out in top secret by GM engineers, and even expressed incredulity at the fact that GM could come up with such a concept.

“Everyone said that the makers of the Hummer couldn’t compete in the green vehicle industry, but we have proven them wrong. Boo-yah! In your face, Obama!”

Link [Treehugger]

London Getting Electric Taxi Cabs in 2009

London Mayor Boris Johnson will likely be giving the go-ahead to replace London’s famed black TX4 taxis with new electric versions sometime in early 2009.  Technical details aren’t available yet, but the aim is a top speed of 50mph and a range of 100 miles per charge.

From Register Hardware, via Geeks are Sexy:

The vehicle will use a lithium-ion iron phosphate battery pack, and is hoped to have a running cost of 4p a mile, though that’s after the yet-to-be-determined initial purchase price. No news on where exactly the battery pack will go, either, BMW’s answer – sticking it where the rear seats used to be – clearly not being an option.

London, like many big cities, has an air quality problem and replacing some of the cars on its streets is a great step toward addressing it. I’m glad they’re keeping the iconic design and not trying to modernize them, though – it’s such a classic look. Sexy, in a blockish English kind of way.

Link [Register Hardware] via [Geeks are Sexy]

Awesomely Green Westfalia Verdier Solar Power VW Van

If you’ve ever looked at VW vans in longing for that seemingly carefree life, but cringe at the thought of how much you’d spend on gas, you’re really going to covet this. Eco Chick called our attention to the sweet new Westfalia Verdier Solar Power VW Van, which is way more hip and well-appointed than those Westfalias from the ‘60s. The sleek new design of this hybrid camper features solar panels that provide electricity for the on-board accessories while the vehicle is stationary, an on-board computer and a GPS system that calculates the best position for the solar panels.

From Eco Chick:

Some other improvements from the 1960’s version include, a pneumatic suspension, which lowers the vehicle and sets its structure on the tires for improved comfort and a better stabilization in the stationary position. The sliding half-door on the passenger side has an integrated folding staircase which makes the second stage area accessible from outside the vehicle. The passenger seat is transformed mechanically into stairs so that the second stage area (top level) can be easily reached from inside. A swivel cooking range makes it possible to cook outside as well as inside.  And of course, there’s a multi-media computer with a wireless Internet connection.

Official EarthFirst Drooltime Hour. That thing is amazing. Oh, how I’d love to hop in this thing and take a driving tour of some of my favorite parts of the country, like New England and the Pacific Northwest. All those windows! Solar power! Of course, if you’re solidly in the middle class like me, buying this thing would mean permanently moving into it – it costs a cool $129,000. It’ll be available next year, and reservations are being taken now.

Check out this YouTube clip to see all the features:

Link [Eco Chick] + [YouTube]

Green Car Rental Round Up: Who’s Going Green and Who’s Missing the Boat

Want to rent a car, but wishing you had more green choices?  As it stands, you’re in luck. Car rental companies are cautiously entering the world of green vehicles as consumers look for higher fuel efficiency ratings that will save them money on gas. Demand for hybrids across the country has skyrocketed lately as fuel prices have risen ever higher.

Some experts are telling the companies to slow down their green fleet efforts, since they’re convinced that the extra money consumers pay to rent a hybrid outstrips high fuel costs. Rates for hybrids at all of the major rental car companies average $5-$15 more per day than similar sized non-hybrid vehicles. That’s not stopping most of the major rental car companies from beefing up their fleets of green vehicles, though; nearly all of them plan to slowly increase the number of hybrids and fuel-efficient compact vehicles available to rent as demand grows.

So, who’s going green and who’s missing the boat?

Since 2006, Hertz Rent a Car has been offering consumers a ‘Green Collection’, which includes the Toyota Prius hybrid and three non-hybrid but small and fuel-efficient vehicles: the Toyota Camry, the Ford Fusion and the Toyota Corolla. The Green Collection fleet is comprised of 35,000 vehicles. All of them are reservable by specific make and model, have a fuel efficiency rating of 28 mpg or more and are available at 50 major airport locations across the U.S. For every reserved and paid Green Collection rental, Hertz contributes $1 to the National Park Foundation. They’ve pledged a minimum contribution of $1 million.

Hertz is pushing hybrids in Manhattan especially, where they’ve got 100 of them. Company officials say the stop-and-go traffic of the city provides the ideal driving environment for hybrids, since they’d primarily operate off of the electric motors.

Hertz also announced earlier this year that by the end of the summer, they’ll have spend $68 million adding another 3,500 hybrids to their fleet. They also won points with customers recently when they announced that they’re doing away with ridiculously high refueling fees starting July 1st 2008. The fees are currently as high as $8 per gallon when you don’t bring back your rental car with a full tank. Under the new rules, customers will pay fair market value for gas along with a $6.99 fee for the refueling service.

Last year, Avis Budget Group expanded its fleet to include the Toyota Prius and the Nissan Altima hybrid along with the Ford Escape hybrid. Avis’ hybrid fleet numbers 2,500 out of their total 375,000 vehicles. Avis’ foray into the green rental car world has been slow and cautious as the company tests certain markets to make sure that the demand for these vehicles is really there.

Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Rent a Car, both owned by the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, have made the least progress toward a greener fleet of any major car rental company. Their spokespeople have said that they have ‘a few’ hybrids and biofuel vehicles, but have had trouble purchasing more due to high retail demand. They also blame what they call their core customer group: people wanting to rent large vehicles at lower prices for family vacations and other short-term uses.

In terms of environmental initiatives, Enterprise Rent-a-Car (and its sister brands, Alamo and National) is probably the winner of the green rental car race. The company offers the largest fleet of hybrids and fuel efficient vehicles of any rental car agency in America: their fleet numbers 440,000, and that includes 5,000 hybrids and 73,000 ‘flex fuel’ cars that can run on E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gas.

In April of this year, Enterprise also opened four ‘green’ branches in Atlanta, where they have a fleet of 4,000 hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles available. In Portland, the company has five biodiesel vehicles available to rent.

They have also pledged to plant 50 million trees in national forests all over the country to offset their rental fleet’s carbon emissions. Enterprise is responsible for planting 1/7th of all trees planted in national forests in 2007. They also offer customers the opportunity to offset carbon emissions by paying $1.25 per rental, which the company will match dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million annually.

That’s not a big surprise for anyone who knows anything about the Taylor family, who own Enterprise: they’ve got a long history of environmental advocacy. They donated $30 million to the Missouri Botanical Garden in 2002, and gave $25 million to create the Enterprise Rent-a-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels, which researches biofuels.

Unfortunately, Enterprise’s efforts are undermined by a few factors. First, there’s the fact that E85 fueling stations aren’t widely available – not to mention the fact that ethanol isn’t really a sustainable alternative fuel. Another issue that all rental car companies are facing is that there aren’t enough hybrids being produced at the moment for the companies to buy, which means customers aren’t guaranteed a hybrid when they want to reserve one. Part of the blame lies on customers, too: only 1 in 10 are paying the extra $1.25 per rental to offset their carbon emissions.

Residents in some metro areas of the U.S. have more eco-options than just the major car rental companies. EV Rental Cars offers environmentally friendly vehicles in six California cities – LA, San Diego, Santa Ana, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland – along with Phoenix, Arizona. EV is currently the only full-on eco-friendly rental car company – they don’t offer conventional vehicles. Fox Rent a Car, a discount rental car service, works with EV Rental Cars to provide green rentals to customers at all of their U.S. locations.  And, if you’ll be taking a vacation to Maui anytime soon, you have the option of selecting a biodiesel vehicle at Bio-Beetles, the nation’s only all-biodiesel rental car service.

As gas prices continue to rise, it seems safe to assume that consumer demand for hybrids will increase as well, and hopefully rental car agencies will continue to meet these needs with increasing numbers of hybrids and other cleaner, greener vehicles.

Photo credit: Flickr user Beige Alert

High School Team Cruises To New Record Of 2,843 MPG!

At Eco-Marathon Americas — sponsored by none other than Shell (shoot me) — a team from Mater Dei High School out of Santa Ana, CA came in first place by motoring to a new record of 2,843.4 miles per gallon. Of course, the size of the vehicles don’t allow for such options as cup holders, but their form and technology are important in creating even greater efficiency for future commercial models. From the article,

Those top three vehicles, like most in the competition (25 out of 33 total), used internal combustion engines. The goal for all entrants was to travel as far as possible using as little fuel as possible. Vehicles–sans driver–couldn’t weigh more than 160 kilograms (352 pounds), while drivers had to weigh at least 50 kilograms. The lone diesel entry, from The College of the Redwoods in Eureka, Calif., achieved 304.5 mpg. The one vehicle to use liquid petroleum gasoline, from Schurr High School of Montebello, Calif., hit 163.5 mpg.

It’s worth noting that the Pulsar vehicle from Purdue University came in first in the solar power category with a 2,861.8 mpg finish. Not too shabby — plus, it would look cooler in your driveway than the Mater Dei winner.

For information on the rest of the entrants, hit Shell’s website (Oh, the horror!) for additional deets.