Photo by Mister-E. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

What's worse, suffering under $4 gallons of gas or having to buy a new, more efficient (but also very expensive) vehicle? For the drivers of the 6,700 taxis in Chicago, this question is being forced upon them by the City government. Two Aldermen are trying to pass a rule that will mandate that all of the city's taxicabs go green (in this case, this means a "gas-electric hybrid or powered by innovative fuels, including compressed natural gas, biodiesel, propane and hydrogen," according to CBS2 Chicago) soon. Since cabs in the city need to be replaced every four years, and the proposed rules would mandate that each new cab meet those green parameters, the Windy City's entire fleet would be cleaned up by 2014 if the rule kicks in next year as hoped. Currently, there are only 50 hybrid taxis in Chicago.

This all sounds good, but cabbies are pretty peeved. They just raised prices by $1 a ride to try and recover some of the increased fuel prices, but they're still not making money like they used to. Their biggest complain is that the hybrid premium is just too much to ask drivers and companies to swallow (although their claim that hybrids can cost $10,000 more than the standard vehicle they're replacing is a bit of a scare tactic).

[Source: CBS2 Chicago]

When newly-appointed Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis was given an open floor at a Chicago Crime Commission luncheon held in his honor, he suggested that he would like to see Chicago's aging fleet of Ford Crown Victoria police cars replaced with Chevrolet Tahoe's. He noted that the four-wheel-drive capabilities could prove helpful in Chicago's historically snowy winters and the extra storage space would also be welcome. While the emissions of these Tahoe's would likely be an improvement over the older Crown Vic, the fuel mileage is a wash at 11 miles per gallon. Yes, that's right -- their fuel mileage is not even in the teens.

Here's a perfect example of how Europe is thinking differently than the U.S. when it comes to what is really necessary for police work. Perhaps Chevy could at lease release a Police edition of their hybrid Tahoe?

[Source: The Chicago Tribune]

The city of Chicago has gotten a $51,840 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to help clean up emissions from their garbage trucks. Thirteen heavy duty garbage trucks will get equipped with diesel-fired engine coolant and hydraulic system heaters that will presumably allow the engines to be shutdown when stopped, reducing idle time. This project is part of an ongoing initiative by Chicago to upgrade existing diesel vehicles to clean up emissions. The city has already retrofitted a number of trucks with new emissions control equipment.

[Source: Environmental Protection Agency]

At the Chicago Auto Show ABG had the chance to sit down with Toyota's Bob Carter and Jaycie Chitwood. Bob is currently the Group VP for the Toyota Division and Jaycie is the Senior Strategic Planner. We talked about a range of issues including hybrid marketing, diesel, ethanol, hydrogen and weight reduction.

ABG: In production applications Toyota were obviously the pioneers in bringing hybrid vehicles to the mainstream and everybody is scrambling to catch up and get their own hybrids and other alternative drivetrains to market. Moving forward, obviously, you have applied your hybrid synergy drive to a wide a variety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Let's start by talking a little bit about where you are today and where Toyota is going in the next five to ten years?

BC: Okay, where we are today. Six hybrids, three Toyotas, three Lexus. We are really pleased with the progress. Total we did 278,000 units last year. Prius had a tremendous increase, up 67 percent. We had a 44 percent increase overall in hybrids. We first brought Prius to the U.S. in 2000. As you are aware Prius was actually introduced in Japan in 1997.

There were a lot of people who were just scratching their heads. They did not really understand it. A lot of criticism on hybrid, why they are doing that. Back in 2000, fuel prices were under $1.50 a gallon and there was not nearly the concern on supply and concern on the environment was there but was not really, in my view, embedded in the society the way it is today.

We introduced the first generation. It did well. It attracted the early adoptors that we were primarily interested in environmental impact. We also had people that were attracted by the technology. What is so encouraging to walk around this show is when we look at 2007, the 278,000 hybrids, it has gone beyond the initial adoptors. It's starting to embed itself within the general market and 11 percent, I am talking in terms of Toyota division which I represent, of our total sales last year were hybrid. Yet less than 2 percent of the industry was hybrid.

The conversation continues below the fold.

Some people use airport layovers to sleep, read, or get a meal. Sam and Sebastian took the opportunity to record AutoblogGreen Podcast #19. While waiting for a plane to whisk them back home from the Chicago Auto Show, we recapped a few things we saw at the show. It wasn't the greenest show we've seen, but they have the biggest building, by their own admission. A few things left impressions on us, first of which was the GMC Denali XT. The Zeta variant is the first use of GM's Two-mode hybrid system on a passenger car platform. Other exciting GM news is the announcement that ICM and Coskata will be working together to build a cellulosic ethanol plant. Ford came out with a couple of ideas aimed at truck customers that could boost CAFE numbers. The Transit Connect is a right-sized utility van, and their new Work Solutions system could be a stealthy way to improve economy. Honda has hybrids and diesels coming, and Toyota will be trying to add lightness to its fleet. Our interview this time around is with Bridgestone's Dan McDonald about their "One Team, One Planet" initiatives.

Thanks for listening!


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I came across the Bridgestone booth at the Chicago Auto Show while they were rehearsing for an upcoming press conference. Ex-NFL player Eddie George was running through the script and Bridgestone was showing off its Super Bowl commercials, but I was more interested in the booth's "One Team, One Planet" display. I got a chance to speak about the environmental efforts that Bridgestone and Firestone have done and are doing with Dan MacDonald, Bridgestone's director of media relations, and Michael Martini, president of North American Consumer O.E. for both Firestone and Bridgestone.

The short version of the tale is that the tire manufacturer is working on the reduce, reuse, recycle method. Whether it's retreading a tire (a process that uses 68 percent less oil compared to making a new tire - 7 gallons vs. 22 gallons) or giving the State of Tennessee ten thousand acres to be set aside as a nature reserve, there's a lot more going green here than low-rolling resistance tires. Don't worry, we talk about that, too. Listen in here (8 MB, 17 min).

You can see high-resolution images of all the panels in the "One Team, One Planet" in the gallery below.

We showed you the pictures yesterday, and now we've got some video to go along with the Denali XT unveiling. While GMC started the unveiling with the introduction of the 2009 Silverado hybrid, you can tell that GMC is more interested in the Denali XT than that standard truck. The XT is a more exciting vehicle - even if it's just a concept - and you can see GMC North America design head Bryan Nesbitt's excitement in the Denali XT's look as he introduces it. Sure, every time a vehicle is unveiled at an auto show, enthusiasm is the rule; I'm just sayin'. Why listen to me, though, when you can watch the event itself in the video above?

Related:

• Chicago 2008: GMC unwraps the Denali XT concept
• Chicago Auto Show 2008 videos: GMC Denali XT concept
• Chicago 2008: GMC Denali XT concept gets flex-fuel and two-mode hybrid

I've already heard a lot of wonderful oneliners about the just-unveiled International LoneStar. Over at Autoblog, someone writes that those Escalades are getting bigger every year and here at the Chicago Auto Show, we're pretty sure this name is a misprint. LoanStar is a more accurate name for this sleek new monster.

The reason we're covering such a huge semi on AutoblogGreen is that Navistar/International is making a big deal about the fuel efficiency gains to be had when using the LoneStar vs. other trucks with that traditional flat grille. There were even electricity-generating windmills in the promotional video for the LoneStar that was screened before the big reveal. Dee Kapur, the president of Navistar Truck Group, introduce the LoneStar and said that what his company was trying to do with this machine was to marry efficiency with the pride in their trucks that longhaul drivers demand. Officially, International estimates the LoneStar will use around 15 percent less fuel than "classic trucks," which should result in fuel savings of between $3,000 to $8,000. Guess buyers can use the savings to pay down the Loan. Actually, we don't know yet how much this truck will cost but deliveries will start this fall.

The long wait for the new fifty-state legal VW Jetta CleanTDI is almost over. After a delay from the original March launch date to finish certification, the first batch of 1,000 diesel Jettas will arrive at dealers in the US and Canada in June. You won't be able to actually buy one at that point because each dealer will only get one car. The cars will be used as demonstrators for test drives through the summer to re-introduce potential buyers to the new powertrain. In late August, VW will start shipping cars to dealers in earnest for sale to any and all. No pricing yet but VW has previously indicated that the diesel would run about $2,000 extra just like the previous-generation model.

[Source: Diesel Forecast]

The Electric Runabout, made by Columbia, was the first electric car ridden in by a U.S. President. That historical event happened over 105 years ago, in case you were wondering. The 1903 Columbia Electric Runabout had a 40-mile range and, like most electric cars of the era, was very popular with female drivers. While that 40-mile range sound wicked good compared to today's electric cars (and concept cars), the Runabout was really more like a Walkabout since its top speed was a solid 14 miles per hour - downhill.

The car was powered by a 40-volt, 30 amp motor from General Electric and cost $850 back at the beginning of the last century. While Columbia went out of business in 1911, you can see the Runabout this coming week as part of the historical display corner of the Chicago Auto Show (this is the 100th show, after all) hidden way in the back of the show floor.

Click the Denali XT for a high res gallery

GMC doesn't do concepts very often but their latest example was unveiled here at the Chicago Auto Show. The new Denali XT concept is primarily a styling exercise but it also highlights a lot of ideas for the future of the truck market. As new fuel economy regulations kick in the coming years, trucks will have to get smaller and lighter and a car based truck like this will likely become a viable option for drivers who chose pickups for personal use rather than as a work truck. Regardless of whether this particular vehicle turns up, the powertrain almost certainly will. Future GM trucks will very likely use a smaller displacement V-8 like this 4.9L (or even smaller) with direct fuel injection. It many applications it will also be combined with the two-mode hybrid system as volumes increase and cost is reduced.

[Source: General Motors]

The American version of the smallish Ford Transit Connect was unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show yesterday and Ford did the honorable thing (at least, that's how it felt as a hungry blogger on the expo floor) when it displayed just how versatile the delivery van can be by having the vans sort of deliver food to everyone in attendance. The four versions of the Transit Connect were each personalized by one of four Chicago-area personalities, from a blues musician to caterers. These people, who've all thought about how the Transit Connect could help them in their line of work, were all on hand, but it was the caterers who I appreciated the most. The music - by Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang - was good, too. You can't eat along in the video above, but you can at least see the vans.

Related:

• Chicago 2008: Ford Transit Connect live reveal photo gallery
• Chicago 2008: Ford brings the Transit Connect to America

Just how many hybrids has General Motors sold? Apparently not very many. We all know the Prius is the 800lb gorilla of the hybrid segment with sales of between 800,000 and 900,000 so far. A reader left a link to an IRS website in a comment the other day. The site lists which vehicles are still eligible for federal tax credits which get phased out as sales for each manufacturer increase. According to the last update in October 2007, General Motors had only sold a total of 9,577 hybrid vehicles by the end of September 2007.

At a lunch discussion with GM North America President Troy Clarke today at the Chicago Auto Show, I posed the question of how many hybrids the company had sold. According to Clarke until now GM had not been very aggressive in marketing their hybrid models. He explained that they were still feeling their way in the market and the time period covered by those numbers was prior to the launch of the 2008 Saturn Vue and Chevy Malibu mild hybrids along with the two-mode hybrid SUVs. GM actually started shipping the hybrid Tahoes and Yukons during the first week of January and ran an ad for the Yukon during the Super Bowl. Clarke says that now that five of these hybrids are shipping and five more are coming later this year, they will be pushing them a lot more. Hopefully by the end of this year that number will grow by an order of magnitude.

[Source: General Motors]

After announcing a few feature updates in the Ford F150 at the Chicago Auto Show today, Ford unveiled the U.S. version of the Ford Transit Connect. This Euro-style van fits into a greener delivery niche, and Ford certainly made these vans look appealing, with four vans dancing around the stage, each decked out for a different use: musicians, caterers and the like. The Transit Connect gets good mileage for a delivery van (19 mpg city and 24 mpg highway). The designers found a way to pack 143 cubic feet of cargo space into a van that can fit into garages with 6 ft. 8 in. clearance. It won't be available on these shores until the middle of next year, but I imagine these will be pretty solid sellers when they get here.

We've have a video of the reveal soon.

To get a little more information out of Coskata about this morning's announcement of a partnership with ICM to build the first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant using Coskata's proprietary process (past details on Coskata are here), we tracked down Wes Bolsen, chief marketing officer, business development at the company. Bolsen was an executive at ICM in his previous life, so he is very familiar with what ICM is all about (for now, this is building a lot of corn ethanol plants in the U.S.) and why the company is a good fit for Coskata.

Bolsen said that ICM, like the rest of the ethanol industry, knows that corn ethanol's days are numbered and that cellulosic biofuel is the way to go. After doing their homework, ICM decided that Coskata had the right process to move to commercialization with. Wes said that the relatively small footprint of a cellulosic ethanol plant - about 20 acres - will mean these plants have the potential to pop up all over the world, wherever there is some feedstock (like the municipal waste) and space. While the Coskata process can handle a lot of different kinds of input material, each plant would likely be built to handle only one type. Therefore, the design that is best suited for paper mill waste could be built next to a paper mill whereas a plant that works well with corn stork or corn fiber could be erected alongside a currently-operating corn ethanol plant.

Now for the unknowns: the location of this first plant has not yet been announced, nor what type of feedstock it will use. Exactly when it will be finished is also uncertain, but late 2010 or early 2011 is the target. The hope is to then have two more plants running by late 2011 or early 2012 and expanding from there to the point where Coskata is responsible for producing billions of gallons of cellulosic ethanol to the market every year. We'll keep watching.

You can listen to my chat with Wes here (5.3 MB, 11 min).

UPDATE: As Wes said in the comments below, he's taking issue with my characterization of what he said about the future of corn ethanol, the struck-out above. I didn't mean to give the wrong impression of what he said, so I'm going to explain why I wrote what I wrote. Wes said that ICM considers itself at the forefront of the ethanol industry, especially corn-based ethanol. But, when I asked about the move to cellulosic ethanol and away from corn, Wes said that, "At some point, everyone knows that that will stop." That's where my characterization came from. You can hear it at minute three of the audio clip. You can read Wes' clarification below.