Come rain, come shine... come lawsuits, Fisker appears determined not to let anything get in the way of a late 2009 launch for its upcoming Karma electric sedan. Along with the spy shots over on Autocar, the first indication of what on-board powerplant will charge the batteries is mentioned: a Volkswagen 1.4 liter. No mention is made of which 1.4 liter engine is being considered for the Karma, but we'd imagine it'll be a basic engine without forced induction of any sort if we had to wager an early guess. There is also no mention of whether or not the photographed sedan was using battery power or dino power. Regardless, seeing the Fisker Karma undergoing testing in California gives a bit of a the "warm fuzzies" to those who are in anticipation of the vehicle, which, as its second place finish in our list of the Top 20 most exciting green cars proves, definitely includes AutoblogGreen.
When most people think of a custom Honda Civic, clear lenses on the tail lamps, a lowered suspension and a big 'ole coffee-can exhaust pipe probably come to mind. When Mike Turner set out to design his own custom Civic, though, the only thing that his vision shared with most others is an esthetically-challenged body kit. In the case of the Aerocivic, the homemade body kit in question extends the nose and tail of the vehicle in an airfoil shape of sorts and adds hinged wheel skirts around the previously exposed tires. As we mentioned the last time we showed you this car, the Aerocivic's owner claims pretty radical fuel economy figures due to his modifications. The video at this link explains that Turner is able to achieve seventy miles per gallon while cruising at highway speeds and using hypermiling techniques. If Turner's estimates are accurate, four-hundred dollars, some elbow grease and a few gawkers questioning your sanity are all that stand between you and a super-economical Aero-car of your very own.
As part of the Technology Strategy Board's (TSB) ongoing efforts of promoting and supporting research into environmentally friendly automotive technology, the group has given funding to Ricardo, Jaguar and Land Rover for quite a few separate projects. Five of the projects are outlined here:
Ricardo, along with the University of Brighton, DENSO Sales UK Ltd and Jaguar, has received funds to continue work on its innovative 2/4SIGHT engine, which is capable of running on either the 2 stroke cycle or the 4 stroke cycle.
The Range Extended Electric Vehicle is led by Land Rover. A large SUV chassis will be used with the goal of delivering 120 to 130 g/km CO2 and a zero emissions range of at least 12 miles.
A flywheel-based hybrid drive system will be tested, led by Jaguar and including Flybrid Systems, Ford Motor Company, Prodrive, Ricardo UK Ltd, Torotrak plc, and Xtrac Ltd. Formula 1 racing is also testing these flywheel-based hybrid systems.
The Limo-Green project is the fourth bit of technology and looks to incorporate the aluminum structure of the current Jaguar sedan range along with an electric motor, battery pack and generator.
Recycled aluminum will be looked at to see if it is feasible to use post-consumer scrap to form the basis of a lightweight, mass-producible vehicle.
These five projects are part of a group of sixteen total investments which will receive a total of £90 million in funding from the TSB. We've pasted two complete press releases after the break detailing each of the proposed projects that are mentioned above.
Since winning the "Best New Engine of 2006" award from the International Engine of the Year committee, Volkswagen's Twincharger TSI engine has taken the 1.0 to 1.4 liter category by storm, taking the class victory last year and again for 2008. Cited reasons for the win include the engine's high power output and low gasoline consumption. Other awards have been given to the engine, including two in Japan, an Auto Environment Certificate from the ÖKO-TREND Institute for Environmental Research and the "TechnoBest" award from the 15-nation AutoBest jury in Istanbul. Not too shabby, if you ask us. These awards make us want to see this engine make its way from Europe to the states even more. Although the U.S. gets a turbocharged engine labeled TSI, it is unfortunately not the same as the turbo and supercharged engine that these awards have been given to. Volkswagen, if you're listening out there, we'll gladly take the 1.4 Twincharger TSI in the new CC. Thanks!
Click on the image for high-res shots of Volvo's FlexiFuel police model
Last year, Volvo introduced a line of vehicles in Europe capable of running on E85 fuel which it refers to as the FlexiFuel range. Already available in the C30, S40, V50 and V70 and S80 models with engines ranging from 1.8 to 2.5 liters, Volvo has seen fit to add a new police-specific V70 to its range of flexible fuel vehicles. Perhaps this addition will allow for more than just 50-100 sales in the U.K. As with the current V70 and S80 FlexiFuel models, the new emergency vehicle will come equipped with the turbocharged 2.5 liter inline five cylinder engine offering 200 horsepower and a very reasonable 300Nm of torque at 1500-4500rpm. This output allows for a top speed of 130mph and a run from 0 to 60mph in 7.6 seconds -- not too shabby at all.
Volvo's V70 police car again raises the point that the U.K. police force often chooses very practical vehicles for law enforcement duties. While the estate body style makes perfect sense for police duties, we can't imagine the authorities in the U.S. rolling around with wagons any time soon (except for the Romulus MI police who have the speed traps set up in the vicinity of Detroit Metro Airport with their unmarked Dodge Magnums).
Click above for a high-resolution gallery of the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring.
J.D. Power and Associates' 2008 UK Customer Satisfaction Index Study, produced along with What Car?, indicates that owners of the Prius are rather happy with their cars. For the second consecutive year, the second-generation of Toyota's iconic green machine, the Prius, has won the award as the highest scoring model in the U.K. on the Customer Satisfaction Index Study, setting the gold standard with a score of 901 of 1,000 possible points. Owners reported high quality and reliability when polled.
Miguel Fonseca, Managing Director for Toyota in the U.K., said: "We place a high emphasis on customer satisfaction in every aspect of the ownership experience. For us, the findings of the J.D. Power and Associates study and the award for Prius are a vindication of the work done throughout our company and our center network to support great products with exceptional service. I view this as an endorsement by customers of hybrid technology as a powertrain for today as well as the future." So, not only is the vehicle an excellent choice because of its green credentials, but also for its reliability. Score one for Toyota.
There was a time not too long ago that Lincoln and Cadillac fought over the high-end auto market in the United States. These days, the field is pretty much wild open for Caddy, though Lincoln still sells some nice vehicles. A few years ago, Lincoln commissioned the boys from Orange County to build a chopper commemorating the beginning of production of the Mark LT pickup. Cadillac apparently had to keep up, so the company will be showing off a new chopper at the upcoming LA Auto Show. This will actually be Cadillac's second commissioned bike, but this one is a bit special, as it's been designed to run on ethanol and will supposedly represent GM's "strength in science and technology." With all due respect to the builders of the bike, there's not a whole lot that's technologically advanced in a chopper built with a big fat rear tire and an air-cooled V-Twin, even one that has been jetted properly for alcohol fuel. Still, the machine should make a wee bit more power running on ethanol, and we look forward to seeing the new Cadillac bike in LA.
DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has set a seemingly impossible task, known as the Vulture program, by calling for an aircraft which can remain in the sky for five years while generating five kilowatts of power for a 1,000 pound payload. The Odysseus by Aurora Flight Sciences, which has been selected as one promising design by DARPA, doesn't appear capable of flight at all to many onlookers. The odd Z-shaped wing is actually three separate machines which can change their combined shape in order to catch the suns rays throughout the day and flatten out at night, when the Odysseus would fly on battery power alone. Together, the three sections would span almost 500 feet. Advanced composite materials and double-sided solar panels are employed to make the concept appear possible. If DAPRA's vision proves successful, aerial vehicles like these could take the place of satellites for surveillance and communications purposes.
While the United States and the eastern half of our friendly neighbors up north are using corn as the primary feedstock for ethanol and Brazil has been concentrating on sugar cane, the left-half of Canada is considering wheat. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association hopes that the creation of fuel from wheat will help Canada's wheat farming community make a bit more profit, as corn-based ethanol has done (for good or for bad) for other farmers. Many farmers in Canada only plan to use low-protein wheat or damaged crops which are not suitable as food for the fuel feedstock. Still, the food-or-fuel debate looms large, as some farmers are choosing to plant specific crops tailored to the production of ethanol. Husky Energy Inc. already operates a few ethanol plants in Canada and has plans for more. There are a few issues with using wheat, but nothing that is insurmountable.
Think that the SUV and/or CUV craze is a relatively new phenomenon? Peter Horbury, head of design for Ford in the Americas, suggests that the Ford Model T was really a crossover. He has a point, considering that the old-timer sat rather high off the ground (because of the shoddy roadways at the time) and featured a modular design capable of hauling people, stuff, or a combination of both.
Ford wonders what a modern-day version of the T may look like and what it would be powered by. To find out, Ford commissioned some young designers the task of modernizing the Tin Lizzy. The winning design, created by Dong Trang, a junior at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, is an electric vehicle which features a removable battery. That battery is charged with on-board solar panels and an electricity-generating suspension system. The innovative modular structure can be converted from a hatchback to a pickup bed and can seat up to four passengers. Click past the break for some video of Trang explaining some of his concepts.
The World's Sexiest Greenest Car Show is back; bigger, better and sexier than ever... so says the home page of The Co-Operated Insurance Sexy Green Car Show. Like last year, the Sexy Green Car Show promises to show off some of the best green car concepts to a captive British audience. Chief among these vehicles will be the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel. Initially shown at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, the Exige 270E is capable of running on gasoline, ethanol or methanol. A sophisticated computer system can detect what type of fuel the vehicle has been fed and can adjust necessary engine parameters to use that fuel. In the process, Lotus was able to tune the engine to extract a bit more power, 270 horses to be exact.
In addition to the car itself, Lotus is reportedly working on a new method of creating methanol which involves the extraction of waste carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A chemical reaction with hydrogen produces both methanol and water. If a clean source for the production of methanol were indeed possible, flex-fuel vehicles could add it to their stable of power sources.
Blue Sun Biodiesel recently moved its company headquarters to a new building, one that is LEED Platinum Certified and one of just 26 so-certified buildings in the world and the first one in Colorado. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmentalism Design. On average, LEED certified buildings reduce CO2 emissions by 35 percent. According to Mike Miller, Blue Sun's president and COO, "Blue Sun Biodiesel is working to reduce their carbon output at all stages through careful management of processes. It's important to be committed to the core principles of your business in every way. Blue Sun Biodiesel recognizes that everything we do, including the office in which we work, should say something about the quality of products we offer and our industry-leading principles." He's right, of course, and considering the fact that many biodiesel users choose the biofuel over petroleum-based diesel fuel, the certification of Blue Sun's headquarters could be both a marketing coup and a real reason to choose this particular brand over another. Read the full press release after the break.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, drivers in Ohio are facing problems when it comes time to register their electric three-wheeled vehicles. Most states classify three-wheelers as motorcycles, but Ohio adds one more item to their definition of a motorcycle: a saddle. This means that three-wheelers which have a normal "car-like" seat are unregisterable as a car, because they have fewer than four wheels, or a motorcycle. Two vehicles are mentioned in our source article, the ZAP! Xebra and the NmG from Myers Motors (pictured above), a company based, ironically enough, in Ohio. According to Josh Engel, chief legal counsel for the BMV, "It's not the first time that the law hasn't caught up with technology," adding that the state of Ohio is supportive of electric vehicles. Basically, the law needs to change, and Tom Hunter, communications director for the BMV, suggests that the real solution would be to classify the vehicles as neither cars nor motorcycles. A special class of vehicle would be created, and hopefully a motorcycle endorsement would not be required. We'll keep you updated if anything new comes of this issue. Thanks for the tip, Ken.
Segway transporters hold a special place on our site as technologically advanced electric two-wheelers available all over the world. While the Segway's usefulness as a transportation device is often scrutinized, the zero-emissions status of the self-balancing little machine is not up for debate. Now, the Segway i2 even comes painted in the right color: green. Specifically, the chosen hue is known as "Metallic Sage." Apparently, just calling it green doesn't do the new shade justice, as Segway remarks that the color "has a goldish finish with hues of green and a metallic underbody that grabs changing light." But wait, there's more, the "Segway wordmark is presented in an off-white green with a subtle outline above the gray i2 logomark."
To be frank, our meager blogging budgets don't allow us to afford a Segway i2 anyway, but if we were to purchase one, this is the color that we'd choose.
A long time ago, there were people experimenting with using pulse jets mounted on the tips of large rotors to make simple helicopters. By the looks of things, the idea just refuses to die, except now, the blades are mounted just inches above the operator's head. Sounds safe, no? Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana (TAM) is behind the project. That company actually does offer some rocket packs which get strapped onto the adventurous rider's back, so perhaps the company will go all the way with this newfangled design as well.
Blade-mounted rockets apparently allow for the deletion of the normally necessary tail-rotor. According to TAM, the lack of the tail-rotor makes this backpack-mounted helicopter-of-death safer than the more common types you see flying in the sky. Call us crazy, but regardless of how safe the manufacturer is suggesting that his proposed one-man flying-machine may be, we can't see too many people jumping at the idea of strapping rocket fuel to their backs and flying to work. Sure does look fun, though!
Come rain, come shine... come lawsuits, Fisker appears determined not to let anything get in the way of a late 2009 launch for its upcoming Karma electric sedan. Along with the spy shots over on Autocar, the first indication of what on-board powerplant will charge the batteries is mentioned: a Volkswagen 1.4 liter. No mention is made of which 1.4 liter engine is being considered for the Karma, but we'd imagine it'll be a basic engine without forced induction of any sort if we had to wager an early guess. There is also no mention of whether or not the photographed sedan was using battery power or dino power. Regardless, seeing the Fisker Karma undergoing testing in California gives a bit of a the "warm fuzzies" to those who are in anticipation of the vehicle, which, as its second place finish in our list of the Top 20 most exciting green cars proves, definitely includes AutoblogGreen.
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DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has set a seemingly impossible task, known as the 
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