Recent Comments:
Bob Lutz: EV1 never coming back {Autoblog Green}
Jul 2nd 2008 1:02PM Doesn't anyone think that maybe the EV-1 and RAV4 EV were discontinued because they were probably big money losers for the car companies?
Corporations are bound by their shareholders to try to make money. You can't blame them from stopping something that lost money, especially when CARB retreated from their EV mandate.
BenBrown...the Prius makes plenty of money for Toyota (and esp its dealers) and has been doing that for quite a few years now.
Bob Lutz: EV1 never coming back {Autoblog Green}
Jul 2nd 2008 12:47PM Ummmm.....
The EV-1 and RAV4 EV were discontinued because they were big money losers for the car companies (and maybe they were worried about the batteries becoming a problem too).
Corporations are bound their shareholders to try to make money. You can't blame them from stopping something that lost money, especially when CARB retreated from their EV mandate.
BenBrown...the Prius makes plenty of money for Toyota (and esp its dealers) and has been doing that for quite a few years now.
VIDEO: The opposite of hypermiling - BMW M3 vs Toyota Prius {Autoblog Green}
Jul 1st 2008 4:19PM Re 14 and 19:
The electric motor/generator is always doing something, regardless of speed. It evens out power demands and keeps the ICE at more constant rpms, which improves efficiency, even at highway speeds.
Also the electric motor allows you to build a car with a smaller engine (more efficient) which is also tuned to the more efficient Atkinson cycle. The electric motor makes up for the torque and power that this smaller, more efficient engine would otherwise be missing.
VIDEO: The opposite of hypermiling - BMW M3 vs Toyota Prius {Autoblog Green}
Jul 1st 2008 11:25AM Obviously Virgil has NO CLUE as to how a Prius works.
American biofuel plants filing for bankruptcy protection {Autoblog Green}
Jun 30th 2008 1:27PM Wow, just a year ago they were building them as fast as they could, and now the bubble has apparently burst. This despite the huge ethanol subsidy, biofuel mandates, and the GM/Ford yellow-washing campaigns.
2009 model cars in California to get greenhouse gas stickers {Autoblog Green}
Jun 27th 2008 11:06AM alcatholic-
fueleconomy.gov gives each car an "EPA Air Pollution Score" from 1 to 10 (10 is best) and a Carbon Footprint in tons of CO2 per year.
So I was wondering if the Cali SMOG score is the same as the EPA Air Pollution Score.
2009 model cars in California to get greenhouse gas stickers {Autoblog Green}
Jun 26th 2008 6:48PM We Americans couldn't possibly be burdened with actual numbers, especially when their labeled with foreign units like grams/100 kilometers.
Are these the same scores as are available on the EPA site?
Search strings indicate motorcycle interest on the rise {Autoblog Green}
Jun 25th 2008 11:53AM Yes, the Harleys and japanese ones get about the same MPG. I stated that in my post (I just forgot the word "are" in front of "similar").
The bike pictured gets 37/48 MPG, which is one of the lower MPG bikes that HD sells. Others get up to 45/60 MPG.
Bottom line, most motorcycles are about as efficient as a good hybrid (but of course they are more fun, stylish, and cheaper). If you want cheap efficient transportation, the Harley pictured isn't it. Get small engine motorcycle or scooter (some are electric now).
Search strings indicate motorcycle interest on the rise {Autoblog Green}
Jun 24th 2008 5:02PM Kind of strange that the picture shows a Harley that doesn't look very fuel efficient....
I did find some Harley MPG figures, and they're not that good.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/MotorcycleFuelEconomyGuide/Harley-Davidson.htm
30s,40s city, 40s,50 hwy.
Even most Japanese cycles similar .... except for the small engine 125,250 bikes that get up to ~100 MPG. But really, those small engines should be fine for commuting.
ASTM approves new biodiesel blends, bring on the B20! {Autoblog Green}
Jun 23rd 2008 1:08PM I like B5 because it helps cut emissions from diesels (not because it's a "biofuel".) From that perspective, it would be great if the whole fuel supply could be brought up to B2 or B5.
However, going beyond B5 doesn't do much more for pollution. Furthermore, getting the whole fuel supply to B20 will never happen, because we don't have enough spare farmland to grow that much stuff. So B20 standards are useless. First we should try to make the whole country B5.
