A few updates from the U.S. federal government regarding cleaner vehicles. First, we have the official DOE fuel economy numbers for the 2009 Prius: 48 mpg in the city, 45 on the highway for a combined rating of 46 mpg. If that looks familiar, it's because it's the same as the 2008 Prius (and the 2007 and 2006 ...) But here's something that's new (maybe): has the FuelEconomy site always had the "switch units" option? I hadn't noticed it before but it caught my eye today because of the whole gallons per mile debate we had earlier this summer. Anyway, this option is easy to see on the DOE site - which remembers your setting - and we can clearly see that the 2009 Prius uses 2.2 gallons to go 100 miles.

Now, about the Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle income tax credit, which the Jetta TDI qualified for earlier this year. As Mercedes-Benz hoped, the company's three new BLUETEC SUVs do qualify for the credit, which is good on diesel vehicles "purchased or placed into service after December 31, 2005." The DOE includes this helpful note: "No eligible vehicles were manufactured for sale until 2008." The exact credit values are pasted after the jump. Thanks to Shaun for the tip.

[Source: DOE]

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The Beijing Olympics will have a complete fleet of 5,000 "green cars" by Volkswagen, which is an official sponsor. The chosen models are the Magotan 2.0 TDI (6.2 l/100) and Magotan BlueMotion (5.1 l/100), the Sagitar 1.4 TSI (6.4 l/100), the Touran EcoFuel (bifuel CNG/gasoline) and the Tiguan 2.0 TDI (6.9 l/100). The Magotan is a locally-produced version of the VW Passat and the Sagitar is the name used to identify the Jetta. The Olympic cars carry a special car design, which features Olympic tradition with symbols that represent the concepts of "mobility", "wind" and "street" combined.


[Source: Auto News]

Click the ML320 BLUETEC for a high res gallery

Mercedes is expecting big things from its Bluetec badge, starting with its line of SUVs and crossovers. In fact, the German automaker expects fifteen percent of all if its utility vehicles to be sold with diesel engines. We think that figure may even be a bit low, considering that MB nearly sells that percentage already and is unable to sell the vehicles in the huge California market, among others. Though diesel prices are currently hovering a bit higher than already high gasoline prices, both Mercedes-Benz and AutoblogGreen expect that the roughly $1,000 Bluetec diesel premium will pay for itself in just over a year. When we got our first drive in the clean-diesel Benzes, we managed rather impressive mileage numbers in all three vehicles, both on the highway and in city driving.

Expect to see more of Mercedes' big diesel utes in green advertising. Stephen Cannon, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA says, "We would like to give that Bluetec logo as much cachet as the term hybrid has." That will take some major marketing push, as the word "hybrid" is synonymous with green autos for many Americans.


[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Click the ML320 BLUETEC for a high res gallery

Mercedes-Benz kicked off the race to the finish line for 50-state legal, urea-injected diesels this week with a first drive in Vermont. Mercedes chose Vermont for the international media debut of its BLUETEC diesel SUVs for the scenic vistas and the fact that the Green Mountain state is one of the states that has chosen to enforce California emissions standards. Those emission standards are by far the tightest in the world, particularly when it comes to diesel engines. The Tier 2 Bin 5 standard regulates emissions of nitrogen oxides to one fifth the level of the upcoming Euro 5 emissions standards.

A whole new batch of T2B5 compliant diesel-powered vehicles are on their way to U.S. car dealers starting this summer with the VW Jetta TDI. Mercedes aims to beat BMW to market with larger diesel vehicles. The existing ML320, GL320 and R320 CDI models are only available for sale in 45 states. The CDI models are being replaced for 2009 by BlueTec models that add selective catalytic reduction (SCR) after-treatment systems to the existing particulate filter and oxidation catalyst. Mercedes is already the first manufacturer to get T2B5 certification. Read on after the jump to find out how they behave on the road.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for high-res gallery of the Mercedes BlueTEC diesel SUVs

During at the New York Auto Show this past March, Mercedes announced that it would begin selling three clean diesel SUVs with BlueTEC - the R 320 BlueTEC, the ML 320 BlueTEC and the GL 320 BlueTEC - in America. The SUVs won't be available until the fall, but Daimler released a slew of new photos of the large diesels today and a detailed release reminding us about these U.S. Bin 5 standard compliant vehicles. In case you were curious, the photos show that these SUVs can pull horses, cross long brldges, and park in front of large houses. We'll see if these decent-but-not-great mileage SUVs (the GL 320 BlueTEC gets 25mpg) can convince customers to pull the trigger with diesel fuel running around $5 a gallon. Read more after the jump.

Marketing company JWT recently proclaimed that blue would be taking over from green as the new color for the environmental crowd to get behind. Naming trends seem to support this theory, with BlueTec and BlueMotion both highlighting clean diesel technology. Now, DuPont is reporting that the color blue is gaining ground on white, which is currently the most popular shade to order a new car in. One reason that the hue is gaining in popularity is that people reportedly equate the tone with the earth. Yeah, the sky and the ocean are blue, but let's not forget the green grass and trees that make up much of the landscape.

In any case, light shades of blue are proving to be popular choices for the clean appearance that the color adds to whatever vehicle it is applied to. According to Nancy Lockhart, DuPont color designer for North America, "Royal blues will give way to lighter, cleaner and more water-like blues." If this keeps up, we may need to change our name from AutoblogGreen to AutoblogBlue. All right, maybe not.

[Source: DuPont]

Back in January BMW made the big announcement that it would finally introduce modern clean diesel engines to the U.S. market. At the time the Bavarian manufacturer told us that the new 335d and X5 xDrive35d would be launched by later in 2008 without getting any more specific than that. A blog specializing in news about the blue and white propeller brand is reporting that the new models will debut in mid-October. We decided to give BMW a call this afternoon and talked to spokesperson Charlene King. She reiterated the company has not made any new announcements about availability and re-confirmed that the diesels would debut this fall.

Having said that, last month Mercedes emphasized that they would be the first to offer Tier 2 Bin5 compliant diesels in the U.S. market when they launch BlueTec SUVs this fall. Neither company has actually provided an on-sale date, but there is no doubt that BMW will be racing to beat their arch-rivals to the showroom. Regardless of which company actually gets there first, both are likely to lose out to Volkswagen which has said they will begin selling the new Jetta TDI in September.

[Source: BMW, BMWBlog.com]

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The news out this morning that the three Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC SUVs will be available in all fifty states in the fall (aka election time) was turned into faux political rally during the Benz press event here at the New York Auto Show. The spiel was that the diesel SUVs - the R 320 BlueTEC, the ML 320 BlueTEC and the GL 320 BlueTEC - are the "clean" candidates for your vote/dollar. Somehow Benz roped in about 80 people to wear "Vote For BlueTEC" buttons and cheer for the cars. We'll have a video of all this hoopla later after the jump, but we wanted to bring you pictures straightaway.

Last week, we wrote about Mercedes move to bring BlueTEC SUVs to the U.S. Today, Benz announced that these large diesels have been approved for licensing in all 50 states. What this means is that no matter where you are in the U.S., you'll be able to buy one of these SUVs with AdBlue injection - the R 320 BlueTEC, the ML 320 BlueTEC and the GL 320 BlueTEC - when they're released this fall. While the mileage numbers of these diesels aren't astounding - 18 mpg in the city / 24 on the highway (17/23 for the GL) - the clean diesel is actually clean and meets America's strict Bin 5 and ULEV emission standards. It hasn't been easy for auto companies to sell new diesels in the U.S., as the E320 BlueTec story shows. More after the jump.

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They're SUVs, they're Mercedes, they're clean diesel, and they're coming to America. Mercedes-Benz announced today that the R 320 BlueTEC, ML 320 BlueTEC and GL 320 BlueTEC models will be the first diesel models with AdBlue injection in available in America this fall.

These SUVs get 18 mpg in the city / 24 on the highway (17/23 for the GL) thanks to the diesel V6 BlueTECs under the hood. The clean diesel technology means that these vehicles meet America's strict Tier II Bin 5 emissions levels and, Mercedes said, "have the potential" to qualify for the upcoming EU6 levels, all while generating 155 kW/211 hp and torque of 540 Nm. BlueTEC needs a urea solution to operate, and these vehicles can carry between seven and eight-and-a-half gallons onboard. Full details - except for pricing - after the jump.

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Aside from the flying members of the Great Chinese State Circus, who presented an extract from their European tour show of Swan Lake, the stars of the Mercedes stage at the Geneva Motor Show were the C 350 CGi BlueEFFICIENCY and the Vision GLK BlueTEC Hybrid. Joining the acrobats and new models on stage were Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Jutta Benz, great grand daughter of Carl and Bertha Benz, who drove up on the historical Benz tricycle. Mercedes also unveiled a new smart, the fotwo edition two, about which more in a bit. We've read about the BlueEFFICIENCY and BlueTEC vehicles already (there's a fresh press release pasted after the jump if you're still hungry), so for now let's enjoy the photo gallery from Geneva.

Carlists's Lou Ann Hammond was recently part of what seems like a roundtable interview with Jim Press, the chairman and vice president of Chrysler. A four-minute video clip of that interview is now available over on Carlist and shows Press answering questions about the fate of the Two-Mode hybrid system that was once developed General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and BMW. Since the Daimler-Chrysler split, Chrysler has stepped in as partner while Daimler has gone on to focus on diesels. Hammon asks Press about which of the green technologies - diesel, flex-fuel, hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell or pure eletric - Chrysler is focusing on. Press' answer: that's where we're putting our attention. "If you just bet on one, you may be disappointed," he said.

My favorite minor slip-up: Press says Chrysler has "bluetooth" bin 5 diesels (he meant Bluetec).

Watch the video here.

[Source: Carlist]

Back in October, Mercedes-Benz made something of a splash in California when they re-introduced the E320 to the California market. It was the first new diesel available in the state in over two years. However, it now appears that the E320 BlueTec is not actually technically legal in California or four other states that use the same emissions regulations. The current E320 BlueTec is not equipped with the urea injection system meaning it does not meet California regs. Mercedes received a waiver from CARB that would allow them to lease the cars in the state for two years. At the end of the lease, the cars cannot be re-sold in California or the other four states. When the ML, GL and R class BlueTec models go on sale late this year, they will have urea injection and be truly fifty-state legal and can be sold in California. The E-Class won't get urea injection until the next-generation model debuts in the next couple of years.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

Click the Vision GLK for a high-res photo gallery

Following the pattern set by Mercedes-Benz in recent years, the Stuttgart manufacturer will be showing their next production model at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show as a concept with a Vision prefix attached to its name. In this case the new model is a compact SUV/CUV called the Vision GLK Freeside. The GLK measures 177.6 inches bumper-to-bumper making about three inches longer than a Ford Escape. Propulsion comes from Mercedes' latest diesel a 2.2L four cylinder with Bluetec exhaust after-treatment. The 2.2 produces 168hp and uses urea injection to clean up the exhaust stream. Fuel delivery in the engine is achieved with fourth-generation common rail injection system that operates at 29,000psi. Torque is transferred to the wheels via a 7-speed automatic transmission and a new all-wheel drive system. The 4MATIC all-wheel drive system has been optimized for low friction allowing it to achieve similar fuel consumption to a comparable rear-wheel drive setup. The production GLK will launch in Europe this fall with U.S. sales kicking off in January 2009.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

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The 2008 Detroit Auto show concept from Jeep revives an old name on a whole new vehicle. The sub-compact sized Renegade is a sci-fi-styled off-roader with a range-extended electric power-train. Like the other two Chrysler concepts this year, the motor's electron supply comes from a lithium ion battery pack, this time sized for a forty one mile range. Further miles are covered supplied by a small Bluetec diesel driving a generator for a combined 110 mpg rating.

[Source: Chrysler]