AutoblogGreen

It's time to say adios to the classic yellow Ford Crown Vic. In May 2007, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to transform the city's ubiquitous yellow cab fleet from the old school Ford Crown Victorias to all hybrids. For the past couple of years, a variety of hybrid vehicles have been gradually infiltrating the fleet and generally performing well. Ford Escape hybrids have become a common site on the streets of Manhattan. Under the new rules, starting this October all new cabs coming into the fleet will be required to get 25 mpg in the city with that number jumping to 30 mpg in 2009. That essentially means the end of the Crown Vic. The city has now reached agreement with Nissan, Ford and GM to supply a steady stream hybrid vehicles for taxi use. Nissan will offer up 200 Altima hybrids every month while Ford and Chevrolet will provide 50 each of its Escape and Malibu hybrids every month. These 300 vehicles per month will ensure that there are sufficient supplies to meet the turnover needs of the fleet over the next several years and replace the entire fleet by 2012.

[Source: New York Times]

Pending carbon dioxide emissions regulations in Europe mean that Mercedes Benz will make a major push toward down-sizing engines in the next three years. Thomas Weber, Daimler board member responsible for research and development has announced that every model in the Mercedes lineup will offer a turbocharged engine the end of 2010. All of the turbocharged engines will feature smaller displacements for reduced fuel consumption, with the turbos providing increased power on-demand.

The down-sized and boosted engines are only one aspect of the drive to get fleet average CO2 emissions down to 138 g/km by 2012. In 2009 Mercedes Benz will also launch a version of the luxury S-Class sedan with a mild hybrid system and an M-Class SUV with the Two-Mode hybrid system. In 2010, an electrically driven Smart ForTwo with a lithium ion battery will also go into limited production. By mid-decade, the automakers wants all of its vehicles to be capable of operating on either biofuels, hydrogen or electricity.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

We recently told you about a General Motors assembly plant in Spain that was getting its roof covered in solar panels. For those that are interested in learning more about the project the GMNext site will be holding another in their ongoing series of live chats with GM leaders. On Thursday July 17 from 3-4pm EDT you can log on to the GMNext site and pose your questions about the project to Rob Threlkeld. Threlkeld is the Supply Contract & Green Power Initiatives Manager at GM. If you want to participate, you need to register at the site and then you can learn more about GM's factory level renewable energy plans.

[Source: GMNext.com]

With gasoline at record prices in the United States for the past several months and the economy in a downward spiral, many people who bought big SUVs and crossovers in recent years are finding it increasingly hard to afford a fill-up. As people desperately try to unload their big guzzlers in favor of something more fuel efficient, they are finding them almost impossible to dispose of. With huge gluts of unsold trucks on their lots many dealers won't accept them in trade.

There is however an alternative, car-pooling. Look around you as you drive to work and consider how many people are doing the same thing all alone. How many of those are commuting in an SUV that gets 13, 14, 15 mpg? If you have a thirst SUV or crossover consider finding 3-5 people to share a ride with. Now instead of miles per gallon, switch to measuring people-miles-per-gallon. That's number of passengers x MPG. Read on after the jump.

Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for a hi-res gallery of the facelifted Civic Hybrid

It looks like Honda's giving the Civic Hybrid a little bit more of an edge in the form of a mild facelift. Up front, the fascia is new, with a three-opening lower intake and a new grille that's shaped like the one you'll find on the Accord and FCX Clarity. A walk to the back of the car reveals what seems to be a new trim piece connecting the taillamps, which are very mildly updated with more ronounced reverse lights. Beyond that, the car looks unchanged. For example, the wheels and profile are identical to the cars on the road right now. It'll be interesting to see whether the appearance updates are exclusive to the hybrid to give it some differentiation, or if they'll make their way to the other Civics as well.


[Source: KGP Photography]

I was in Manhattan for a couple of days this week on a press event and noticed a new addition to the local cab fleet. For years now, the classic Crown Vics have been getting supplemented by Toyota Siennas, Ford Escape hybrids and the odd Prius. While cabbies love the mileage they get with the Prius and Escape, the passengers aren't always so thrilled with the volume available in the back seat. This is where the Nissan Altima hybrid comes in. The Altima has a roomier back seat than the other two hybrids, making it more suitable to the task. Unfortunately, that battery sucks up about a third of the trunk volume, making the Altima less suitable if your destination is one of the New York area airports. When we had an Altima Hybrid in the ABG Garage last year it managed 32.4mpg, which is quite respectable. Plus, it's probably the most attractive yellow car prowling the streets of Gotham right now.

[Source: TreeHugger]

It's taken one month for Dr. Bernard "Buddy" Rosenbaum, 71, and Bob Chase,72, to ride two Piaggio MP3 scooters from San Francisco to New York City along the Lincoln Highway. When the duo finally arrived in Times Square, they were greeted by media, friends, family and Piaggio representatives, including its U.S. Operations president, Paolo Timoni. The event not only showed that there are no age boundaries, but also that summer road trips can still be taken even during these days of $4+/gal.

[Source: No Age Limit]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the new Honda Hybrid

Honda has acknowledged that not having an instantly-recognizable hybrid-only model since the demise of the Insight (still modern-looking today) has taken a toll. While the company offers the Civic Hybrid, that car lacks the green cachet that Toyota has very successfully cultivated with the Prius. So, Honda made no secret that a new hybrid-exclusive model was coming, and wouldn't you know -- it's very reminiscent of the Prius!

The spies at KGP snagged the car out testing, but there's no denying that its teardrop shape brings Toyota's car to mind. We assume this is the result of Honda going for the most aerodynamic shape possible, which resulted in a profile that can't help but be similar to the Prius. A look at the FCX Clarity shows that Honda's new weapon shares much with its big brother, too. In front, the grille slats solidly carry the family resemblance forward from the new fuel-cell car, and when the new hybrid is ultimately shown without the cladding and cover-ups, we have a feeling that it'll look a bit like a downsized Clarity. The Toyota Prius is a major success story, and Honda wants a piece of that action. You know the saying: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And so, it appears, they are.


[Source: KGP Photography]

The price of gas is getting out of hand everywhere. Ok, maybe not Venezuela, where its cheaper than our bottled water at ¢15 a gallon, but almost everywhere else, it's expensive. In the Philippines its so costly ($4.50 gallon in a country where, according to the Philippine National Statistics Office, the average household income is about $4,000 USD a year) that the Philippine National Police (PNP) has started testing neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV) with the goal of putting them into regular action.

The customized vehicle can accommodate 4 adults and comes with a police light bar and "Polis" markings. There are no gears to shift, so operation is simple. With a top speed of 30 km/h (slow) they won't be involved in any high-speed chases but they're still adequate for routine patrols and providing police visibility. The force is also considering implementing bicycles.

[Source: Inquirer.net]

"Plug-In 2008: A Short Drive to Tomorrow" is the world's first convention dedicated exclusively to plug-in hybrid technology. The event tales place next week, July 21-24, in San Jose, CA.

See the full agenda of speakers and further details here.

The convention is a testament to how quickly plug-In hybrid technology is coming of age. It was only in 2004 that a group of curious mechanics decided to see what would happen if they installed a larger battery in their Toyota Prius. They succeeded in boosting the gas mileage to an average of 100 mpg. In the short years that followed, the technology has gathered support from major decision-makers and media pundits around the country. These mechanics helped spawn the budding industry of plug-in hybrid conversion companies and, quite possibly, nudged major industry players in this direction. Of course, we now know these legendary tinkerers as the founders of the plug-in hybrid advocacy group, CalCars.

Next week should be exciting. I will most likely be there as well, since I am currently writing my Ph.D. dissertation on the "Clean Car Movement." As a new member of the AutoblogGreen team, I look forward to bringing our readers the latest news on the most innovative technology and the people behind it.