This year's edition of the Paris Motor Show is shaping up to be quite a collection of ecological innovation, ranging from the presently practical to the futuristically fanciful. The just-announced vehicular offspring from a Michelin and Venturi collaboration is bound to fall into the later category. Venturi, the Principality of Monaco's largest builder of très vert prototypes (and hopefully next June, seller of the Fetish) and Michelin, maker of tires, have teamed up to create an electric car that features the "most advanced technologies" in all the automotive realm.

Although they haven't given us any sneak peeks yet, this latest showpiece features a design by Sacha Lakic and so should carry that distinctive Venturi "je ne sais quois." We expect it will be a quite racy as it is referred to as "high performance" and is meant to showcase Michelin's latest innovations. We are also told to expect unprecedented architecture which, with Venturi, could mean slightly bizarre. Whatever the case, we will all see it by 5:15 pm on the 2nd of October at a press conference hosted by the representatives from the two companies.

[Source: Venturi]

Every time an automaker announces a green signature label, one of the factory-installed features to reduce fuel consumption is probably low-rolling resistance tires. French magazine Autoplus did a test drive on a regular car, to see how much fuel these tires save. The magazine wanted to run the test because France is considering adopting a bonus/malus system on these tires for 2010, whereby tires that save fuel would get a tax exemption.

For the challenge, Autoplus got two Peugeot 308s, one fueled by gasoline and the other fueled by diesel, and they kept on changing their tires. They tested fuel consumption with regular tires and with "CO₂ reducing tires." Their verdict? Keep security in mind. Only low-rolling resistance tires that came from well-known brands (Michelin, Goodyear, Continental and Pirelli) performed correctly and kept braking distances and other security features almost intact. Their winner was Michelin (which are made in France) which stayed safe while offering fuel savings of 1 percent with gasoline and 3.8 with diesel fuel. Of course, it doesn't matter if your tires are lrr type or not - keep them properly inflated.

[Source: Autoplus]

Nope, this isn't a story about a plane flying exclusively on hydrogen. Instead, it's about Airbus' use of a fuel cell to obtain electricity for some of the plane's electrical needs: motor pump, back-up hydraulic circuit and operating the aircraft's ailerons. The cells produced a total of 10 liters of water.

The good thing, based on Airbus' claims, is that this might allow the aircraft to be lighter, because less fuel would be needed to carried for the on-board generators. The resulting product, plain water, could also be used in water systems, something that would also shave some weight.

Airbus plans to develop future applications for fuel cells, potentially replacing other aircraft systems such as the emergency power systems and the Auxiliary Power Unit. This could significantly reduce the noise and emission levels in and around airports

The fuel cell system developed by Airbus and Michelin was tested on the A320 test aircraft owned by the DLR, the German Aerospace Center. Airbus has been working on fuel cell technology in cooperation with Michelin, Liebherr Aerospace and DLR since the end of 2005.

Related:

• Airbus completes world first GTL-powered flight

[Source: Airbus]

When I read the Detroit News article headlined Michelin responds with 'green' tires for California, an article about Michelin working with and not fighting California over tire regulation I thought, "That's great, a major corporation working with... wait a minute! California actually has a low resistance tire law?" Yes, they do!

In 2003, California signed into law the "World's First Fuel-Efficient Tires Law" and the California Energy Commission had until July 7, 2007 to develop the standards. The law goes into effect in July of 2008. I have to agree with Wired when they say the Commission could have highlighted safety concerns more.

As you can see in the video below, Michelin is big on low-resistance tires and must have seen this as a way to make money but I have to admit: For once, I am little disappointed that a major corporation did not push back a little harder against green regulation. Sure, the law requires labeling and that the market for replacement tires include low-resistance tires. Nothing wrong with more consumer information and greater choice in the market place, right? However, this could be a slippery slope to a CAFE-like law for tires. Readers, am I overreacting or is this a great law?

Related:

• Continental: "Fuel-saving tires might be dangerous"
• Frankfurt 2007 video: Michelin's Energy Saver tire
• Goodyear's greener tires pass EPA certification for SmartWay trucking

[Source: Detroit News, NRDC, Wired]

Michelin is proud of its line of low-resistance rolling tires (mostly sold under the Energy Saving brand) which have been available since 1992. The French company is launching a campaign in four cities around the world where big scoreboards will refresh every second showing the claimed amount of CO2 these tires have saved to the atmosphere since launching. The Hotel Park Inn and the Suffren embankment in New York, the Eiffel tower in Paris and the City Group Mansion in Shanghai are the selected locations (Berlin is also in the list but Michelin doesn't say where they will place the board there).

The 570 million tires sold are claimed to have saved 22 million CO2 tons (equivalent to 880 million trees per year) and 9 billion liters of fuel. If you want smaller figures, that means 43.9 liters of fuel and 109.14 kg of CO2 per second.

Full press release after the jump.

Related:

• Renault intros Logan Eco2 for Challenge Bibendum
• Frankfurt 2007 video: Michelin's Energy Saver tire

[Source: Michelin]

Michelin has a new low resistance tire called Energy Saver and they brought it to the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Michelin demonstration of the tire at the show has two cars on a slope rolling back and fourth. The car with the Energy Saver tires continues to roll 18 seconds longer than the car without. Below the fold is a Michelin advertising commercial with the phrase "a better way forward" that includes tires that get better fuel economy. Other tires companies are not left out of the green revolution, either. Yokohama Tire is also highlighting green efforts in their new ads.

[Source: YouTube]

Before the comments get out of control, I do not think that the Hy-Lite from Michelin and a few other companies based in Switzerland will reinvent the auto industry, as is suggested in the source article. It would be a pretty easy argument that saying such is a gross over-statement of the technology in this vehicle. However, while many of the concepts have been done before, I can't really think of another example where they have all been combined in one vehicle. Speaking of those technologies, what we have here is a hydrogen fuel cell providing electricity to ultracapacitors which in turn power small electric motors in each wheel. Each of those motors can also recapture energy lost in braking, commonly referred to as regenerative braking. Again, established stuff, but still pretty innovative. I gather from the article that there is some high-tech electronic wizardry which might supply traction control or stability control. I still have a few questions regarding the vehicle, though. Does the fuel cell provide enough power to drive the vehicle without any energy storage, ie, batteries? The article mentioned capacitors, but are they critical to the operation of the vehicle? How much unsprung weight do the in-wheel systems add, and at what detriment to drivability?

In any case, the idea of having a sustainable power station in each home could certainly have merit. Whether the best solution for that power is using solar cells to provide the electricity needed to break hydrogen loose from water is up in the air. The question is always asked, and deservedly so, why not use the electricity that is required to crack the hydrogen from its source to charge an electric vehicle? I guess the market is being developed now in hopes of a breakthrough in hydrogen production and storage. I am not suggesting that this won't happen, mind you. I am sure some of our more vocal commenter's will suggest that very thing, though!

Hat tip to Linton!

[Source: Business Week via Hugg]