AutoblogGreen reader Michael recently sent in a question regarding the about-to-start "Cash for Clunkers" program. Officially known as the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the program allows owners of some older and inefficient vehicles to trade them in and get a rebate check worth up to $4,500 from the government to buy a new car. The simple version of the rules are that the trade-in can't be more than 25 years old, needs to have an official combined highway/city fuel economy rating of less than 18 mpg (on the EPA's new mpg scale), be in drivable condition and you have to have owned and insured the car for at least the year prior to turning it in. Michael's question revolves around what happens when a car has two fuel economy ratings - one for gas and one for ethanol. Turns out, no one really knows yet. Find out more after the jump.

Photo by iboy_daniel. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

In many ways the automotive world – like most industries – runs like 19th century Europe: wars, skirmishes, diplomacy, assignations, shifting alliances, double dealing, imperialism. Everybody wants something the other guy has, and they'll occasionally exercise some ruthless tactics to get it. Of course, the obverse also happens: warring sects can work together to a singular end. That's what happens at the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CFCP), which we recently visited for a drive of the Chinese-engineered Volkswagen Passat Ling Yu and the smell of hydrogen in the morning.

Follow the jump to see what CFCP says the near future is going to be like.


Photos Copyright ©2009 Jonathon Ramsey / Weblogs, Inc.

Silver lining. Opportunity. Sign of the times.

Whatever you want to call it, high gas prices and the dire economy have reduced national average rush hour traffic times for the second year in a row. In some cities, like Washington, D.C., traffic is getting worse, but the average U.S. driver spent "just" 36.1 hours in rush hour traffic in 2007 (no 2008 data is available yet), down from 36.6 in 2006 and 37.4 in 2005. These numbers were released by the Texas Transportation Institute, but they're likely not a sign of things to come. TTI says that "when the economy rebounds, expect traffic problems to do the same" but suggests that flexible work hours and adding more traffic capacity and public transportation options could relieve the upcoming stresses.

The drop in congestion meant that total wasted fuel also dropped. In 2007, 2.8 billion gallons were wasted, equal to three weeks of gas for each traveler. That's down, a bit, from 2.85 billion gallons in 2006. Gobs of time were also puttered away: TTI says that travelers wasted 4.2 billion hours stuck in traffic in 2007. That's equivalent to about a full week of work for each traveler. Who's up for telecommuting?

[Source: Texas Transportation Institute via NPR]
Photo by flickrized. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Cash for Clunkers won't be official for a few weeks, but some automakers are already looking to cash in on the once in a lifetime opportunity to take up to $4,500 off the price of a new car or truck. Smart is offering its quirky little fortwo for $99 per month with the trade-in of a 'Clunkers' eligible vehicle.

$99 per month with no money down sounds damn good, and a payment term of only 36 months sound even better, but closer inspection shows that the promotion is way too good to be true. Here is the fine print on the promotion.

$99 monthly payment based on customer trade-in of an eligible vehicle qualifying for the CARS $4,500 voucher level and a 36-month balloon loan with $0 cash due at signing and a final balloon payment of $6,667 at the end of the loan term and a $13,335 MSRP which includes the destination charge and excludes tax, title and dealer fees.

That's one hell of a lump sum payment; more than many of us can fork over at once. The total payment, which doesn't include taxes, title, or destination, comes in at $14,731 on a vehicle with a $13,335 MSRP.


[Source: Smart USA via All Cars All The Time]

The Smart ForTwo isn't for shy people. Even though Smart USA has sold about 30,000 of these tiny two-seaters in the U.S., the little rollerskate attracts a lot of attention. On the road or in a parking lot, the ForTwo is a conversation piece, and people will come up and talk to you. Some will tell you about the Smart they saw in Europe. Others will ask if it has the guts to make it onto the highway. Most will assume it gets great gas mileage (it doesn't). But one thing's for certain, during our week with the ForTwo, there was a 100-percent conversation rate wherever we went. Anthropophobes, be warned.

Follow the jump to see what it's like to spend wheel time with a Smart ForTwo Cabriolet.



Photos Copyright ©2009 Sebastian Blanco / Weblogs, Inc.

in an op-ed piece published in the Wall Street Journal, Alan Reynolds of the Cato Institute starts by making a few decent points about fuel taxation and fuel economy rules. Unfortunately, he undermines himself with some blatant errors and misinformation. In discussing how Detroit automakers will deal with new fuel efficiency requirements, he makes the all-too-common mistake of referring to Ford's hybrid system as licensed from Toyota ("Similarly, Ford has the Toyota-licensed hybrid Fusion and will soon produce the European Ford Fiesta in Mexico").

The reality is that Ford independently developed its own hybrid system at the same time Toyota was doing its own. The basic architecture of both systems is the same and both are based on the concepts developed and patented by TRW engineers in the late 1960s. When Ford introduced the Escape Hybrid, Toyota went after the Blue Oval for infringing on its patents. Ford had patents of its own on the technology that Toyota was using. Eventually, the two companies reached a cross-licensing agreement that gives both companies the right to build their own systems. Such cross-licensing agreements are common in these kinds of cases, but Ford did not use the Toyota hybrid system. The only other company that uses Toyota's system is Nissan for its Altima hybrid, and they actually buy hardware from Toyota. We continue deconstructing Reynolds' arguments after the jump



[Source: Wall Street Journal]
Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

If any car screams "Alabama!" it's the e-Zone electric car pictured above, right? The quirky low speed vehicle is a project of CT&T Co. Ltd, a South Korean company, and might be built in the Heart of Dixie in the next few years. CT&T wants to build a variety of vehicles for the U.S. market, including "City Drive Electrical Vehicles (EVs), Mid-speed Electric Vehicles, High-speed Electric Vehicles, Utility Electric Vehicles." The vehicles will use lead acid, advanced lead acid, lithium polymer and lithium ion chemistries and will cost between $8,000 and $16,000. The company says that, "By the fourth quarter of 2009, the company expects to begin selling c-Zone utility EVs for commercial and government applications as well the e-Zone City Drive EVs." Nothing like an ambitious goal.

CT&T is looking at building a North American headquarters, a research and development center and several manufacturing facilities in America, likely in the Southeast. CT&T is looking at Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and California as potential locations for its operations, which it says will employ 2,600 people. The company's U.S. subsidiary is called CT&T United. Thanks to Mart for the tip!

[Source: CT&T, Birmingham News]

Someone at Fortune noticed that 2009 is now officially half over, and thought it was a good time to look back and pick out the absolute dumbest business moments of the year thus far. Screeching in at 35-mph is the GM PUMA (aka, the Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project) that the General debuted with Segway just before the New York Auto Show. Fortune called the vehicle "ridiculous" enough to beat out Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's non-detailed plans to loosen up credit, Tropicana's botched bottle redesign and those $200,000 season seats at the new Yankee Stadium.

Fortune's declaration begs a question: do AutoblogGreen readers agree that the PUMA is so absolutely terrible? It might not have been the best decision, but was it really worse than that $35,000 toilet installed for Merrill CEO John Thain?



Learn more about the PUMA (and see a video) here.


[Source: Fortune]

Iceland is a gorgeous place. Just take a look at these Flickr submissions from the island. The country's finances aren't quite so pretty these days, and the reality of the financial crisis is dramatically slowing down the country's attempted shift to a hydrogen economy. Iceland has been testing hydrogen-powered vehicles for years, and the first hydrogen fueling station opened there in late 2007. One reason for the move to hydrogen is that the island country can fairly easily use geothermal energy to make hydrogen from water. The New York Times says that the shift to get all ground transportation vehicles and some boats to hydrogen power "have been set back at least 10 years and may have to be altered to allow for electric cars." The problem? The cost of fuel cells and the down world economy. A professor of chemistry at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik told the Times:

In the past years, teams from all the big car manufacturing companies visited us and said they intended to market fuel cell-powered hydrogen cars shortly after 2010. Of course, because of the current world crisis, there will be a delay.

Those of you rooting for electric vehicles to win out over H₂, don't forget that the Mitsubishi iMiEV is currently undergoing testing in Iceland. Of course, a busted economy can sink all ships, so don't enjoy the schadenfreude too much.

[Source: New York Times]
Photo by Neate Photos. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

We'd wager that the last thing Toyota wants in the midst of the super-important launch of its new third-generation Prius is a negative stigma attached to the previous model. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the Japanese automaker may have on its hands right now as a number of owners of 2005-2008 Toyota Prius hybrids with the "high-intensity discharge" (HID) headlight option are banding together on online forums, message boards and in possible class action lawsuits against the automaker in relation to failing headlamps.

According to Advertising Age, these HID headlight bulbs and their associated electronics can sometimes cost well over $1,000 to replace after they've gone faulty, and Toyota is unwilling to pick up the tab. At least one lawsuit was filed last month by Girard Gibbs in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of a Putnam County, N.Y., Prius owner. The suit contends that the problem is a "dangerous but undisclosed safety defect" and alleges that "Toyota is concealing the problems from owners" despite having been "long been aware of Prius' HID headlight problem." It's possible that the suit will get class-action status.

The NHTSA has reportedly filed a preliminary investigation into the issue and contacted Toyota on May 13 regarding the 338 complaints it has received so far from Prius owners regarding the HID headlamps. Spokesmen from Toyota have said the automaker is cooperating with the NHTSA in its investigation, which may or may not end up calling for an official recall.


[Source: Advertising Age]