Australia remains the home of big old rear wheel drive cars like the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon. However, that is starting to change as people seek to address climate change and rising fuel prices. One example is fleets that are migrating to smaller, more efficient vehicles. Two examples are the University of Southern Queensland and Aurora Energy, both of which have recently purchased new Hyundai i30 CRDis. The cars, sold in the U.S. as the Elantra Touring, are powered by a 114 hp 1.6-liter diesel engine that gets 50 mpg (U.S.) combined. The 2.0-liter gas engine is only rated at 32.6 mpg in Australia (26 mpg according to the EPA here in the U.S.). So far, only a handful of the i30s have been put into those fleets, but drivers are reportedly pleased with the performance and more are likely to follow.

[Source: The Auto Channel]

In about twelve months, Toyota's Australian arm will begin producing its own Camry Hybrids. To celebrate the new contract, Toyota Australia has created a new concept called the HC-CV (Hybrid Camry Concept Vehicle), and it has just debuted at the 2009 Melbourne Auto Show. Starting with the refreshed 2010 Camry Hybrid as a base, the HC-CV features a redesigned front fascia that's highlighted by vertical fog lights and a lower grille with a random pattern said to be inspired by nature.

A body kit including side skirts, rear diffuser and spoiler complete the body modifications and the whole thing's painted in satin while pearl with translucent blue logos and badging. A unique set of wheels rounds out the package. Inside, the seats are upholstered in another asymmetric pattern and stitched up with contrasting white thread. Under the skin, it's pure 2010 Camry Hybrid. Check out our complete gallery below and click past the break for the official press release.


[Source: Toyota]

As anyone who has seen episode 2F13 of The Simpsons (aka Bart vs. Australia) knows, introducing foreign species into an environment can have dangerous effects. A real-world situation - not really all that similar, but I like to reference the Simpsons whenever possible - in Australia shows the sad connection between environmental destruction and the way some biofuels are produced.

The Australian reports that Australia's large-scale biofuel imports are exacerbating the "widespread destruction of tropical rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia." Orangutans and other endangered species are directly affected by the deforestation, but cheap biodiesel from Southeast Asia remains popular Down Under. Australia has dealt with the negative effects of growing crops for biofuels by banning two types of plants that had been intended for biofuel production in 2006 because of fears they would turn invasive. Therefore, domestic production is now mostly limited to companies that use tallow and recycled cooking oil as the feedstock. For now, according to one source, Australia remains the "dumping ground for palm oil-based biodiesel." Looks like Better Place, the evMe and the Holden Volt can't come soon enough.

[Source: The Australian]

If you don't want to wait for a traditional automaker to put an electric car on the road, a conversion of an existing vehicle is one way to achieve gasoline freedom. Using the Mazda 2 as their chassis of choice, Energetique has done just that with their evMe. While it's not the first new-car conversion from Down Under, it is the best looking and it offers some good performance numbers as well. Powered by lithium polymer batteries, the evMe is said to have a range of 125 to 155 miles, depending on driving mode and conditions, and the Brusa AC motor and electronics can take it up to 80 mph. Its 0 to 60 mph time is a respectable 10 seconds.

Having sold off their first copy, the conversion team reportedly have more than 100 orders waiting to be filled. The asking price is $70,000 Australian dollars (that's "only" $47,476.78 U.S) and affords you the ability to pass by gas stations forever. Hit the jump for a bit of bonus video (soundtrack alert!) of the evMe making a few passes.

[Source: Energetique]

We'll, that didn't take long. The announcement from Better Place about the next country planned for the electric vehicle expansion is here and we're off to Australia. Better Place announced the deal with AGL Energy and Macquarie Capital Group today, and there is more information coming in a conference call tomorrow. The information thus far is that Better Place will deploy an electric vehicle network, powered by renewable energy, that apparently has the potential to power all of Australia's 15 million cars. As an email from Better Place put it: "As the world's sixth largest country, Australia was selected to show that the Better Place model works in any country, regardless of size. If Australia can do it, so can others". Read more here and stay tuned tomorrow for more.

[Source: Better Place]

It sounds as if the Australian market will be the third - behind the United States and Europe - to get a version of the Chevy Volt. In Europe, the Volt will be sold as either an Opel or a Vauxhall and in Australia it will be known as a Holden. The Volt, in its current Chevrolet guise, was shipped to Sydney for the Motor Show, which is where the announcement was made that it would make the trip to Australia by 2012.

The Holden Volt will join the Toyota Camry hybrid and the Honda Insight as fuel-saving cars with internal combustion engines that use an electric motor to achieve their fuel efficiency. Unlike its two rivals, the Volt will use only its electric motor to power the wheels, with the engine used solely to charge the batteries when needed. Officials from Holden say that the Volt will go for 60 kilometers before a single drop of petroleum is used. Hey, that's about 40 miles. Imagine that.


[Source: The Age]

Hummers may be a bit controversial due to their highly conspicuous consumption, but it is exactly that prominence that Aussie Police hope to make use of in order to fight crime. Really, Hummers are hard to miss, and a fleet of five of them, even in relatively small H3 size, is sure to get noticed, right?. Okay, fine... so who's supposed to notice these Hummers with custom livery and bright flashing lights? Revelers out having a good time with bad intentions in the nightclub districts of Melbourne. Police in Victoria hope to curb "antisocial behavior" by being a bit antisocial themselves, or at least appearing as such. Not only are prospective criminals supposed to notice the Police Hummers, so are the regular townsfolk, who are expected to feel just a bit safer now that relatively unmodified Hummer H3s are roaming the streets. Gives you that warm-and-cozy feeling, no?

[Source: Drive.com.au via Next Autos]

A report issued by the Australian National University shows that unspoiled natural forests capture more carbon than artificially planted trees. The report states that this fact wasn't considered when planning counteracting actions against global warming by the IPCC. However, according to our source article, the report didn't consider the capture capacity of relatively young trees, whereas the IPCC did. IPCC calculations considered a tree a plant over 2 meters with 110 percent diameter crown, whereas the Australian report considers a tree over 10 meters with 120 percent diameter crown. Regardless of the actual calculation methods, the Australian report calculated 1 hectare of wild unspoiled forest in the SE of the country could store 640 tons of CO₂ , whereas the same surface of artificially planted trees stored 217. Take also in consideration that planted trees are usually cut for the use of its wood regularly and new trees are planted afterwards. The result: 25 trees planted every 4 years store less carbon than 1 tree planted for 100 years.

[Source: Cesefor via Agroinformacion]

Australians looking for a cheaper alternative to gasoline now have a very cost effective option with a dual fuel conversion being offered by Holden. The installation allows Commodores and derivatives to be operated on either LPG or gasoline. Holden recently dropped the conversion price of the system by $1,000 (AUS) from $3,900 to $2,400. The Ute pickup variants went from $4,900 to 3,400. The net cost for sedan buyers can drop to as little as $400 thanks to a $2,000 tax rebate from the federal government. That expense can be recouped in operating cost savings in about four months for the sedan and one year for the Ute thanks to LPG costing less than half the price of gasoline right now. The conversion is done on vehicles with the 3.6L DOHC V6 that also use in a wide variety of North American market GM cars and CUVs. The fuel system can automatically switch from LPG to gasoline on the fly when the fuel level drops too low. The press release is after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

NRMA Motoring & Services has just released its Jamison Group report known as A Road Map for Alternative Fuels in Australia: Ending our Dependence on Oil. In this report, the group suggests that Australia must act quickly to reduce its own dependence on foreign oil, which has increased by 30-percent in the last four years alone. The report goes on to suggest that Australia follow the lead of Brazil, the United States and Europe in using alternative fuels such as ethanol along with the adoption of electric vehicles. The specific goals spelled out are a 20-percent reduction in oil use by 2020 which would increase to 30-percent by 2030 and 50-percent by 2050.

In order to meet these goals, the Jamison Group proposes twelve specific steps, including the adoption of electric vehicle charging stations across the continent. Also on the docket would be the planting of high-sugar crops for ethanol and various tax subsidies for both farmers who plant and consumers who purchase alternative vehicles.

Finally, take a look at this quote from NRMA Motoring & Services President Alan Evans: "Even the man responsible for 'killing the electric car', Bob Lutz of General Motors, has admitted that the electrification of the automobile is inevitable." So, now we know. It was Lutz and Lutz alone.

[Source: NRMA]