Recent Comments:
Consumer Reports: Chrysler gas deal not a good idea {Autoblog Green}
Jun 24th 2008 10:30PM Consumer Reports actually recommended something from Chrysler?
Thousands of iterations later, vacuum guy Dyson goes for solar EVs {Autoblog Green}
Jun 24th 2008 10:27PM Are Dyson vacuum cleaners even any good? They sure cost a heck of a lot more and my much cheaper Bissell has given me years of trouble free service.
If they do come up with a decent electric car, lets just hope its not as over priced as their vacuum cleaners are.
ETA's Green Car of the Year is the Toyota ... {Autoblog Green}
Jun 13th 2008 1:53PM The problem with diesels in North America is two fold. The amount of emissions equipment needed to clean up the exhaust to bring it up to standard increases the price of the car dramatically. This means only large cars and trucks/SUVs will have enough margin built in to make any money off of it. A Jetta will be about as small and as cheap as you will see in North America with a diesel engine.
The second bigger problem is lack of refining capacity for diesel. Diesel is more expensive than gas right now simply because of that. The fuel itself is cheaper to refine (although ULSD standards have increased refining costs some). The trouble is that more people want the stuff than what can be provided and so the price goes up. Unless the current economic downturn will see significant decreases in the consumption of diesel by commercial truckers, the supply problem will continue. If the downturn gets that bad, nobody will be able to afford to buy any of the new diesels anyways. Building new refining capacity is not so easy either. Its terribly expensive and the regulatory loopholes make any sort of "quick" construction out of the question.
Toyota looking at filling extra truck plant capacity with Camrys {Autoblog Green}
Jun 8th 2008 2:54AM One thing about Toyota is that they are in a much better place financially to weather a storm like this than any of the "Big 3". They also seem to have much greater flexibility to re-deploy resources to deal with a changing marketplace than the Big 3 do. Say what you will as to whether Toyota or Honda products are really any better than what the Big 3 make. What is for sure is that Toyota and Honda have handled the business end of the car business much, much better than the Big 3 have and that will probably be their greatest asset as the industry moves forward in this challenging time ahead.
New Toyota fuel cell hybrid has over 500 mile range {Autoblog Green}
Jun 7th 2008 3:32AM It is possible to make safe, high pressure hydrogen canisters.....they just cost a hell of a lot and likely always will due to their complexity.
Extending the range of a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle through a hybrid drive is certainly one way of doing it. You will a very complex vehicle mind you....and unfortunately this only increases the costs, not decrease it.
Then you still have the whole problem of a non existent and difficult to build hydrogen infrastructure.
The physics of hydrogen dictate that it is not a suitable solution for our global transportation energy needs. Its time to move on and devote the resources going to hydrogen to something a lot more realistic.
Freed, the Honda Fit-based minivan, released in Japan {Autoblog Green}
May 31st 2008 10:15PM Not for US market....yet press photos have a photo of the vehicle on a US freeway and with a white guy driving. I wonder what's up with that.
Seriously though, if Honda offered this I would buy it in a heartbeat. Its just what I'm looking for right now. I know we have the Mazda 5 in North America, but the 2.3 four banger is still not as frugal as I want. A 1.5 with a CVT is a bit more like it....even be better with a turbo. The big question is whether the interior room is practical or just a bit too small for our larger North American frames.
Video: Veggie oil explained easy {Autoblog Green}
May 4th 2008 11:18PM So where is this miracle algae biodiesel? It supporters have talked it up quite a bit yet have not been able to produce any algae derived biodiesel in any great quantities.
When will people get it out of their heads that there is no silver bullet cure here?
The Zero-Carbon Car: what it is and how it'll happen {Autoblog Green}
Mar 3rd 2008 7:44PM I find that people who often use phrases such as "paradigm of reality convergence" are usually full of crap. If you have something of importance, say it. Throwing around big words that mean nothing when strung together does not constitute anything useful.
Experts: Car travel must be cut 80 percent {Autoblog Green}
Mar 3rd 2008 7:40PM I don't see the public ever embracing such extreme measures as these unless energy becomes very, very, very expensive and expensive across all forms of energy. The world economy is simply not going to grind to a halt and throw itself back into the stone ages just because somebody says it must. Global warming will affect our environment, but the world isn't exactly going turn into a big ball of fire or anything. Humanity will have to change their behaviour to a certain degree to be more respectful of the environment, and we'll also have to cope with a warmer world to some degree. Unfortunately the poorest in the world will get the shortest end of the stick, but humanity is not going to willingly throw itself back into the stone ages unless nuclear weapons start getting chucked around, at which point global warming would be the least of anyone's worries.
B.C. to increase the carbon tax on drivers by 2.4 cents per liter during the summer {Autoblog Green}
Feb 29th 2008 2:31PM The carbon tax is not just for gasoline, but all forms of carbon emitting fuel including natural gas. Carbon dioxide emissions do affect the environment negatively. We all breathe the same air and enjoy the same environment. Emitters of carbon dioxide should pay for the damage done to the environment to compensate the general public for the damage done. The only way this can be achieved is through a carbon tax. Its a sound economic principle really. Of course, the revenue collected should be used to either mitigate the effects of carbon dioxide emissions, research alternative fuels and technologies and pay for a healthy environmental monitoring program so that the heaviest polluters do not get away with anything. The downfall of the BC carbon tax is that the revenues collected are being offset by tax cuts in other areas, hence the money collected is not giving any benefit to society in general to try and correct the problem of carbon dioxide emissions.
