AutoblogGreen

Toyota had an ad in Belgium that included the words "Zero emissions low." While the Prius is a model with very low CO₂ emissions, they're certainly not zero and the claim has been considered misleading. The advertisement did not contain any CO₂ emission or fuel consumption data, as is obliged under Belgian law, and thus violated European labeling directive 1999/94/EC. Friends of the Earth Europe's car efficiency campaigner, Jeroen Verhoeven, filed the complaint. "Car manufacturers are using 'greenwash' advertising to confuse consumers whilst at the same time blocking EU proposals for a target of 120g CO2/km by 2012. If Toyota is serious about reaching 'zero emissions' anytime soon then why are they blocking a 2012 target?", he said in a statement sent to AutoblogGreen.

This is not the first time Toyota has been into trouble for exaggerating the "greenness" of its products. Lexus, too, has had its problems. But as the big marketing motto for automakers is being shifted from security to ecology, they all make mistakes. Could this lead to banning green advertisements for cars, like in Norway?

[Source: EUBusiness, h/t to Jeroen]

EcoCity Vehicles has announced that it has signed an exclusive contract with Mercedes Benz to launch a new Mercedes "London cab" through its KPM-UK Taxis subsidiary. The cab offers low-CO₂ emissions, can seat 6, is ready to accept wheelchairs and - thanks to its rear wheel transmission - can comply with London's famous statutory 25-foot turning circle. The cab is based on the Mercedes Vito Traveliner (pictured above). The new vehicle is aimed at London's approximately 25,000 licensed taxi drivers and will be introduced June 26th.

[Source: Autoindustry]

The European people carrier market segment has a new contender coming from the U.S.: The Dodge Journey. However, instead of the array of gasoline engines sold stateside, Europeans will have a well-known diesel powertrain available in their markets, the VW-sourced 2.0-liter TDI that produces 140 HP and 310 Nm of torque (228 lbft). This isn't a surprise, as this engine can also be found fitted to the Euro versions of the Dodge Caliber and Avenger, as well as the Jeep Compass and Patriot. But the combination with the 6-speed double-clutch DSG gear change is new. The new Journey's performance is quite respectable, with a 0-100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) time of 11.8 seconds, and fuel consumption moderate for a vehicle of this size: 6.5 l/100 km with manual and 7.0 l/100 km with the automatic DSG (36 and 34 mpg U.S. respectively).

[Source: Autocity]

In France, if you don't keep your car properly maintained, watch out. If your car pollutes too much, the police can fine you between €45 and 68 ($70-105 US). The police are even equipped with mobile pollution testers that have a CO (carbon monoxide) detector for gasoline vehicles and an opacimeters to detect abnormal CO₂ levels for diesels. With the treat of coming to you to analyze your car's fumes, the French government wants motorists to maintain their vehicles properly and, eventually, will ban the most polluting ones.

Last year, more than 1,700 controls were made, which uncovered 360 contraventions in Paris alone. The French government wants to make clear that car pollution is not only the manufacturers' responsibility, but the driver's as well. Similar controls exist in Spain, where noise pollution is also taken into consideration.

[Source: Autoplus]

When we mention Brazil, we're usually speaking about their aggressive ethanol (alcoól) policy or their availability of flex-fuel cars. But today we're speaking about a creative proposition: The Brazilian Câmara dos Deputados is discussing a bill which will make planting trees mandatory as a means of paying fees for certain legal proceedings. Which ones? Getting married, getting a divorce, buying a new car or trading estate.

For example, if you want to get married, you would have to pay to plant 10 trees (25 if you later need a divorce). When purchasing a car, you would need to plant 20 trees, 40 if it's a light-duty van or 60 if it's a heavy vehicle. When trading estate, 10 trees would be required to sell a house, 20 to sell a business.

The idea is that all these activities harm the environment and so we should give something back. The law aims to recover the rainforest and offset the country's carbon emissions. Conservative estimates from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics calculate that about 65 million trees would be planted per year under the proposed rules.

[Source: Globo]

The French Association of Ecological Cars (Association des Voitures Ecologiques, AVE) was born this week. What's this non-profit organization all about? Basically, it will focus its efforts on promoting benefits for drivers who try to drive green. For instance, one of its first efforts will be the creation of a "green disk" which will allow drivers with cleaner cars (defined by those running on LPG, CNG, hybrids, EVs or polluting less than 120g/km of CO₂) to be exempt from parking fees. The AVE is also demanding zero interest loans when purchasing green cars and getting rid of an old bagnole (car).

The promoter of this association is conservative French congressman Claude Gatignol, who joined forces with former rally driver Bernard Darniche, a former ministry of Ecology (Serge Lepeltier), several congressmen and representatives from important companies such as La Poste (French Postal Service), Gaz de France, Electricité de France and auto makers such as Renault and Toyota.

[Source: Le Blog Auto]

As announced for the A and B-series, Mercedes is naming its environmental line Blue Efficiency. MB's compact sedans, the C-Series, will now get the Blue Efficiency treatment. They will be offered with two engine versions, the C180 Kompressor (gasoline) and the C200 CDI (diesel). Both versions are about €500 cheaper than the previous base versions, at €30,613 and €32,516 respectively (in Germany).

For the C-Class Blue Efficiency, Mercedes has installed lighter glass (1.2 kg less) and lightweight alloys, as well as using tires that have 17 percent less rolling resistance. The car was also lowered and got a revised engine bay, closed underbody and redesigned mirrors for slicker aerodynamics. These changes reduce overall resistance by seven percent.

The C180 Kompressor had its engine size reduced from 1.8 to 1.6 liters while keeping its power and torque figures, 156 HP and 230 Nm (170 lbft), respectively. The C200 CDI got no significant improvements, and neither of the two versions got the Stop/Start feature. However, fuel consumption figures are already pretty good: 6.5 l/100 km (36 mpg U.S.), and 5.1 l/100 km (46 mpg) for the C200 CDI. Even without out any serious changes to the C200 CDI, these are 0.9 and 0.6 liters lower than the previous most economical versions, respectively.

[Source: Mercedes via Auto Presse]

Toyota UK has announced that June is the "green month" of the year in its headquarters. The company is using this time for promote internal awareness of environmental issues. As with most offices that engage in environmental policies, the initiatives are built 'round its Three Rs concept: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Initiatives range from a target to achieve 95 percent waste recycling, the promotion of reusable water bottles, USB sticks to reduce the amount of paper used in the office and a guide on how to shrink the carbon footprint. The company has even reduced the number of computer servers by 90 percent. Everything follows the company's Global Vision 2020 which aims to reduce Toyota's environmental impact.

[Source: Toyota UK]

Here's another harbinger: air traffic between cities that are linked by high speed train lines is significantly reduced. This was a notorious effect of the Paris-Lyon route (Europe's first high speed train link), and has been seen more recently in the Paris-London, Paris-Brussels and Paris-Amsterdam combinations. In the country where high speed trains are growing the fastest is seeing the effects as well: The Madrid-Barcelona high speed link in Spain (AVE), which started operating in March, has reduced by about 18.4 percent the air traffic between the two cities.

June is expected to offer more dramatic results. Railway traffic has increased steadily by five percent every month since then, and Renfe, the company that operates the line, has increased train frequencies accordingly. Train speeds are also going to be faster this fall, from the current 300 km/h to 350 km/h (186 to 217 mph) completing the 615 km (382 mi.) long trip in 2 hours and 15 minutes. The Spanish high speed train network is expected to be linked with France and the rest of the European continent in 2010.

[Source: El Periodico]

Lancia once seemed like a brand on the edge of extinction. With a tradition that in the '80s gave us names like the Delta Integrale that won many rallies, the Lancia was just kept alive by the Ypsilon, and a couple of very unsuccessful models. Now Fiat is insisting on revamping it, and has not only introduced a compact minivan with all the luxury features, the Musa, it has also resurrected the Delta model. So what's the new Delta about? A compact size - about 20 cm less than the Fiat Bravo - that can include all sorts of luxury features such as LED headlights, Alcantara upholstery (a Lancia touch for years), and a glass roof.

Under the hood, Fiat is installing the T-Jet gasoline series in the 1.4-liter versions of 120 and 150 HP, which are good for 6.6 l/100 km (35 mpg U.S.) and 7.0 l /100 km (34 mpg U.S.) with CO₂ emission figures of 156 and 165 g/km, respectively. There are also three diesel version, a 1.6-liter 120 HP, a 2.0-liter 165 HP and a 1.9-liter good for 195 HP. Consumption is 4.9, 5.3 and 5.7 l/100 km (48, 44 and 41 mpg U.S.) and CO₂ figures of 130, 139 and 149 g/km. All these engines are Euro-V compliant, and will try to keep Lancia alive for a while longer.


[Source: Lancia]