AutoblogGreen

Although there may be many a MINI E, i MiEVs and smart EDs taking part in that £25 million ($40 million) UK electric vehicle test program, there is also a subset of sports cars involved. The EEMS Accelerate project says it plans to have 21 vehicles acquiring electric car data for 12 months in a rather more sporting style, including kilometers collected on a closed circuit as well as commuting.

The four companies supplying the spiffy wheels are listed as the Lightning Car Company, Ecotricity cars, Westfield Sports cars and Delta motorsport. Though we're unsure of how the numbers breakdown exactly, we do know that two of the 21 are supposed to be Lightning GTs. Add to that at least one recently test-driven "wind car" from carbon-free energy supplier Ecotricity and Westfield kicking in vehicles based on both their Lotus 7-derived Westfield Sport and the GTM Libra. Delta Motorsport will represent with the E-4 Coupe that is said to zip to 60 mph in under 5 seconds and travel 250 miles on a charge. While no dates were given for the trial, we expect it should start sometime early next year if it's to stay somewhat contemporaneous with the overall trial.

[Source: The Engineer Online / EEMS Accelerate]

When the subject of algae comes up in relation to biofuels, it's usually concerning biodiesel. That's because algae are very high in oil content. However, one of the main reasons for interest in algae is that it grows fast and consumes a significant amount of carbon dioxide. With that in mind, there is no reason algae couldn't also be used to produce ethanol. A company called Algenol has refined strains of algae specifically for ethanol production in salt water. Algenol has submitted a grant application to the Department of Energy to build a pilot plant in cooperation with Dow. The plant, located next to a Dow facility in Freeport, Texas, will consume carbon dioxide produced by Dow's operations to grow the algae in bio reactors.

Dow intends to use ethanol primarily in the production of plastics to replace petroleum. However, the ethanol could be used as a fuel as well. Algenol hopes to get the production price of its algae ethanol down to $1 per gallon. Not only does the process consume carbon dioxide at the net rate of 1.5 million tons of CO₂ per 100 million gallons of ethanol, it also transforms salt water into fresh water.

[Source: Algenol, Dow]

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McLaren has put up a job posting for a Senior Engineer for Powertrain Hybrid Technology on its official website, which may offer a few clues as to where the automaker may be heading in the near future for its road cars. The listing rather obviously indicates that the automaker is hard at work on hybrid powertrans, though it's not clear what kind of technology the British sportscar company is investigating.

One possibility is that McLaren will attempt to adapt the KERS system from its Formula 1 race cars for street use. It's widely agreed that McLaren's KERS implementation is the best in F1 and both BMW and Ferrari are also thought to be working on KERS for future road cars.

Within the next few years, McLaren is expected to introduce a couple of new supercars, including a replacement for the current SLR, codenamed P11, and a successor to the famed F1 supercar from the mid '90s that's currently known as the P12.


[Source: McLaren via World Car Fans]

Over in Europe, Opel has expanded it's Insignia ecoFlex line with a Sports Tourer model. That would be a station wagon in American English. Whatever you call it, this handsome machine gets the same range of optimizations as other ecoFlex models, including some aerodynamic tweaks, taller final drive ratio and low rolling resistance 17" Michelin tires. All of that helps to extract the most from the 2.0-liter CDTi turbodiesel four cylinder engine. In this application, the engine is rated at 160 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque, which should be more than sufficient to motivate this mid-sized wagon. The official combined mileage rating on the EU test cycle for the ecoFlex wagon is 44.4 mpg (U.S.) with CO₂ emissions of just 139 g/km. Opel is reporting that during the recent media drives in Germany, one Croation reporter managed to squeeze out 65.3 mpg (U.S.) driving on back roads near Frankfurt.

[Source: Opel]

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With Renault reportedly bringing three new electric vehicles to the Frankfort Motor Show this fall and the company's regular announcements of EV partnerships, word of two new deals - one with Arval and the other with ALD Automotive - isn't exactly a surprise. Still, this shows, once again, the strong commitment that Renault and alliance partner Nissan have in EVs ready for prime time.

The deals will help Renault get its vehicles into fleets and customer hands. ALD manages about 786,000 vehicles in 39 countries, many in Europe. Arval, a BNP Paribas subsidiary, leases vehicles (about 602,000 vehicles) and manages corporate fleets (made up of 688,000 vehicles) in 22 countries. Arval will help Renault figure out ways to lease EVs while ALD will offer its knowledge on how to price the electric vehicles. Read more about the Arval (PDF) and ALD Automotive (PDF) deals at the links.


[Source: Renault via Green Car Congress]

We'd wager that the last thing Toyota wants in the midst of the super-important launch of its new third-generation Prius is a negative stigma attached to the previous model. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the Japanese automaker may have on its hands right now as a number of owners of 2005-2008 Toyota Prius hybrids with the "high-intensity discharge" (HID) headlight option are banding together on online forums, message boards and in possible class action lawsuits against the automaker in relation to failing headlamps.

According to Advertising Age, these HID headlight bulbs and their associated electronics can sometimes cost well over $1,000 to replace after they've gone faulty, and Toyota is unwilling to pick up the tab. At least one lawsuit was filed last month by Girard Gibbs in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of a Putnam County, N.Y., Prius owner. The suit contends that the problem is a "dangerous but undisclosed safety defect" and alleges that "Toyota is concealing the problems from owners" despite having been "long been aware of Prius' HID headlight problem." It's possible that the suit will get class-action status.

The NHTSA has reportedly filed a preliminary investigation into the issue and contacted Toyota on May 13 regarding the 338 complaints it has received so far from Prius owners regarding the HID headlamps. Spokesmen from Toyota have said the automaker is cooperating with the NHTSA in its investigation, which may or may not end up calling for an official recall.


[Source: Advertising Age]

In China, the government tries to keep a tight reign on what companies can produce and sell. For example companies aren't allowed to get into the car business without prior approval from Beijing which is why the company trying to buy Hummer from General Motors is having a tough time right now. Companies that are already in the car business also have to get approval for new types of products like hybrids and EVs.

The authorities in Beijing have just revised the rules governing classification of some types of so-called "new energy" vehicles. There are now three main categories: mature technology, developing, and start-up technology. Mature technology includes hybrids with NiMH or lead acid batteries and these are now being treated as conventional products and can be produced at will. Developing technologies like lithium ion hybrids can now be produced but approval is required before they can actually be sold, which seems a bit odd. Why produce them if you can't sell them? Start-up tech includes fuel cells which are still largely at the research phase in China. The Chinese government wants five percent of all new vehicles sold in 2011 to include some kind of alternative drive system.



[Source: Caijing]

Hyundai is piling on additional incentives to boost its Assurance program as the industry heads into the dog days of summer. The newest promotion, Gas Lock, fixes the price of regular unleaded at $1.49 per gallon for the next year. The program runs July 1 through August 31, and eligible vehicles include the Accent, Sonata, Tiburon, Elantra, Elantra Touring, Entourage, Azera, Santa Fe, Tucson and Veracruz. Customers choosing to utilize Gas Lock will forgo $1,000 in available rebates, making the incentive a gamble that gas prices will remain high.

Hyundai Assurance struck at cord with the American public when it offered payment protection in the event of job loss. Now Hyundai is looking to give consumers increased peace of mind over of the volatility of gas prices, which have swung from under $2 a gallon a few months ago to nearly $3 at the beginning of summer.

John Krafcik, CEO and president of Hyundai Motor America, says the company's research shows that "nearly 40% of potential new car buyers are staying out of the market specifically due to uncertainty around future gas prices."

You may remember that last year, Chrysler tried a similar promotion, offering the opportunity to lock in gas at $2.99 per gallon when a gallon of petrol was at an all-time high of about $4.50. The move didn't appear to be very successful for the Pentastar, as most opted to instead take the upfront cash on the hood. Hit the jump to pour over the particulars of Hyundai's Gas Lock promotion, watch the two commercials, and let us know in the comments section if you feel customers would be better off taking the $1,000 or one year of $1.49 gasoline.

[Source: Hyundai | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty]

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The saga of California's greenhouse gas waiver has come to an end with the EPA deciding that the state can indeed enforce its own GHG emissions standards for new motor vehicles. This means that, at least between now (with current model year vehicles) and when the 2012 MY vehicles arrive, California and the 13 states (and D.C.) that have adopted its rules will use the stricter emission standards to regulate vehicles. In the EPA's statement on the decision, it says it used "the law and science as its guide," in order to "tackle air pollution and protect human health." EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says:


Here's a short history of the waiver story: CARB asked for the waiver in December of 2005. The EPA announced in December of 2007 that it would deny the waiver (after then Vice President Dick Cheney met with automakers). The day after Barack Obama was inaugurated, CARB asked the EPA to reconsider the denial, a request that the new President supported. When strong national CAFE standards were announced in May, the EPA's waiver lost a bit of its punch, but it still wanted the waiver to bridge the gap between now and when the CAFE rules go into effect with 2012 vehicles. Today, the EPA said "okay." Come to think of it, this saga probably isn't as final as this decision might imply. Check out the official press release after the jump.

[Source: EPA | Image: David McNew/Getty]

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Why waste a perfectly good used shopping cart when it can be recycled into something fun? Seeking to definitively answer that question is a twenty-year-old MIT student named Charles Guan who normally spends his free time building competition-spec battle robots. Our favorite of Guan's projects would have to be the LOLrioKart, obviously a play on the classic Mario Kart series of games from Nintendo.

First assembled using an old NiCad battery pack that was quickly nearing the end of its life, the LOLrioKart is well into its second generation using some leftover lithium nanophosphate cells from A123 that the company had donated to the University. This latest 33 Ah battery pack sends its 48 volts to a Briggs and Stratton ETEK DC pancake electric motor, which operates through a DIY rear differential and to the tiny little tires out back. As you might expect, hilarity ensues. Click past the break for a couple of videos.


[Source: LOLrioKart via Jalopnik]

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