Late 2008, Mercedes Benz will clean up its diesel GL, ML, R class SUVs with Bluetec, making them 50-state legal. MotorWeek kicked the tires on the GL320 CDI (see video below the fold) and they seemed to like it. The diesel version of the GL ($54,225) will be $2,500 cheaper (yes, cheaper) than the gas version of the GL450 and will get thirty percent better mileage (18 city, 24 highway). The video review also says the GL is a 3 litre V6, has 215 horse power, 389 lb-ft torque and 7,500 towing capacity. 2008 is the coming out year of clean diesels in America and this is the best entry we have seen so far. There are no compromises with the diesel GL on price or power, so it should be a good barometer of diesel's acceptance in the US.


[Source: MotorWeek]

Click the diesel Bimmer for a high-res gallery

At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, BMW was prominently displaying their diesel engine technology, particularly the latest 3.0L twin turbocharged in-line six cylinder. At the time, BMW spokesman Daniel Kammerer told us that BMW would be introducing that diesel engine to the U.S. market later in 2008. BMW still hasn't said which vehicles would get the diesel although it's expected that that the first installations will be in the X5 SUV and 5 series sedans and possibly the new X6 crossover.

Here at the AutoblogGreen Garage we just couldn't wait another whole year to try out a diesel BMW and when we found out that Bosch had one the pestering began. As a supplier of diesel engine fuel and emission control systems, Bosch has a vested interest in the success of diesel engines. To that end, they have brought over a fleet of European diesel vehicles, many of which are expected to be on sale in the US over the next couple of years. Earlier this year we sampled the Chrysler 300 and Smart ForTwo diesels. The Chrysler in particular was very impressive, but this BMW was in a whole different class. Find out how the BMW 535d fared in the ABG Garage after the jump.

click the picture above to see a gallery of 45 Highlander images

Toyota's Highlander is a delightfully appliance-like CUV that packs a lot into a relatively compact package. Thoughtful touches for hauling around your pride are tucked away inside the attractive sheetmetal, and anyone who needs three rows of seats could likely spend gas money better elsewhere. The hybrid badges on the flanks hint at an EPA-estimated 31/27 mpg citiy/highway, and they also give you stylish automotive bauble status amongst residents of HumDrumBurbia. Hybrids are about more than making a statement, and the Highlander's Hybrid Synergy Drive system could help you reduce your CO2 emissions and use less fuel, so you do get something for the premium price.

full review after the jump

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the 2007 Volkswagen Passat.

This is the second part of a review of the 2007 Volkswagen Passat TDI. Yesterday we covered the Passat's pricing, appearance and some of its many features. Click here to read part one.

Today we cover the interior, safety, economy and on-road performance.

Probably the first thing you'll notice if you hop in and go to turn the car on though is the key fob itself. Instead of a traditional key, the entire key fob slots into the dash for push-button electronic on / off operation. VW thought of everything though because hidden inside the key fob is a "conventional", plastic key which can gain you access to the vehicle but will not start it up. This allows you to leave the (expensive - $500!) key fob locked in the car while you go surfing and just take the plastic key into the water.



Like the on / off control, the parking brake is also a push-button job located close to the ignition switch, and must be engaged for the car to be turned off. An associated feature is the Auto Hold function which neatly answers the question, "I'm on the side of a hill and I don't have a hand brake to stop me rolling back down, what do I do?" Again a push-button operated feature, this time flanking the transmission, Auto Hold automatically activates the electronic parking brake for painless hill starts. Eliminating the hand brake has the added benefit of freeing up room around centre console, resulting in a simple, uncluttered layout.

Continue reading part two of the review after the jump.

Australian motoring site CARSguide has done a round-up of affordable, practical and economical vehicle options on the local market. Looking at sub-$40,000 transport, their complete list of criteria in weighing up the models was:

• Economy - the claimed fuel consumption in combined conditions and likely running costs, based in part on the NRMA's annually compiled data.
• Practicality - size, number of seats and doors, and boot space.
• Value - purchase price, standard gear and quality.
• Image - a bit subjective, but even a practical purchase isn't without an emotional quotient.
• Driving - derived from CARSguide's on-road experiences.

Vehicles scored out of 25 include the Honda Jazz GLi, Mazda 6, Suzuki Swift Sport, Volkswagen Polo, Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda CR-V and the Honda Civic Hybrid. The highest scoring car with 20/25 was the Mazda 6 MZR-CD diesel hatch which offers outstanding fuel economy with great practicality and size.

Analysis: Fuel economy has always been a factor in car reviews but it seems to be gaining more and more importance in this world of rising fuel prices. Great work from Mazda to take the diesel fight to the Europeans. I'll tell you what though, from the look of this list Honda must be doing something right as well.

Related:

• Geneva Preview: New Mazda 2 has its coming out party
• Mazda's Hakaze design concept offers "acceptable" fuel economy
• Brisbane Motor Show: Diesel vehicles feature

[Source: CARSguide]

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the 2007 Volkswagen Passat.

Late last year I had the pleasure of helping my father choose his new vehicle, and after determining that he wanted a diesel sedan, we quickly narrowed the possible options - BMWs, the 300C, Audis, Peugeots, Mazdas, Fiats, Alfas and VWs - down to the Volkswagen Passat. Offering a great blend of size, comfort, features, diesel economy and price, he picked the Passat up in late November last year. Having helped pick it, I am biased about this car. But that said, let's look at why it worked for my father and me.

The 2007 Volkswagen Passat TDI leads VW's car line-up in Australia as their largest model apart from the Touareg luxury SUV. The 2007 Passat offers three models each in a sedan and wagon format ranging from AUD$42,990 (US$34,056) for the Passat 2.0 TDI Sedan 6 Speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) transmission, through AUD$44,990 (US$35,641) for the Passat 2.0T FSI Sedan 6 Speed Automatic and topping out at AUD$54,990 (US$43,563) for the Passat 3.2 V6 FSI Sedan 6 Speed DSG. The wagon equivalents of each adds $2,000. Frankly I don't understand this pricing scale because the TDI delivers better fuel economy and good performance via VW's outstanding DSG 6-speed gearbox, in which the clutch and gearshift are controlled electronically, for a lower price than the equivalent automatic petrol model.

Despite the array of standard features in the Passat, there are still a good dozen options that you can play with if your wallet allows including sunroofs, sat nav, bi-xenon headlights with dynamic cornering, leather upholstery etc. My father however had a limited range of options due to the fact that multiple Volkswagen dealers in our area quoted delivery times of over six month and as high as nine months due to a global shortage. So, when he was presented with a silver model kitted out with black leather upholstery, he signed up straight away.

Continue reading part one of the review after the jump.

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the Ford HySeries Edge.

One of the two Ford HySeries Edges which will ever be built was put through its paces by USA Today in late January en route to the DC Auto Show (AutoblogGreen has driven it as well) . A cutting edge, alternative fuel vehicle, the fuel-cell plug-in hybrid Edge is described as "smooth, tight, quiet and well-finished." Steering was reviewed as being good but the customisable regenerative braking was a little harder to deal with when set too high, resulting in sudden nose-dives.

The big issue though was that it had "sluggish" performance which was considered to be due to unnecessarily heavy extras such as a second electric motor for all-wheel drive. The vehicle was also utilising less than two-thirds of the battery pack due to requirements of the current testing phase.

Analysis: Weight is the killer for plug-in electric vehicles because the more a vehicle weighs, the more batteries you need which just weigh it down further. DaimlerChrysler is testing fuel-cell vehicles too, but they're working on a modified Mercedes A Series which seems far more appropriate. Still, Ford has the experience and the tradition in trucks and SUVs so maybe sticking with their strengths for the time being isn't a bad thing.



Related:

• AutoblogGreen Drives the HySeries Ford Edge and fuel cell Explorer
• DaimlerChrysler builds first F-Cell fire response vehicle
• Ford loves ethanol

[Source: James R. Healey / USA Today]

The Ways That Work blog have posted their Top 10 Green Corporate Initiatives of 2006 which highlights businesses which adopted green practices and technologies in 2006, designed to help not only the environment, but also their bottom line:

1. Yahoo! Autos and Environmental Defense create "Green Ratings" for cars.
2. Cisco Systems, Inc. pledges $20 million for technology that will cut company travel and carbon emissions.
3. Wal-Mart commits to sustainable fish for North American stores.
4. PHH Arval and Environmental Defense announce North America's first fleet management program designed to cut emissions and costs.
5. Entergy agrees to use offsets and reductions to keep emissions at 20 percent below 2000 levels.
6. Xcel Energy plans to build an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant in Colorado.
7. Supermarket chain Wegmans and food-services company Bon Appétit announced purchasing standards for farmed salmon.
8. Environmental Defense and the Ad Council create the first ever public advertising campaign addressing the threat of global warming.
9. Random House, Inc. announces new initiative to increase use of recycled fiber tenfold by 2010, from 3 to 30 percent of paper volume.
10. Hybrid trucks adopted by UPS, U.S. Postal Service, Purolator Courier, liquor distributor Charmer Sunbelt, Frito-Lay, and Florida Power & Light.

See the original post for expanded discussion of each of these.

I would add to this list the companies that have moved their transport fleets onto biodiesel and ethanol; Google and Patagonia amongst others that added solar capacity to their corporate campuses; all the car manufacturers that furthered development of petrol-electric and diesel-electric hybrid drive systems; and anyone else that brought us closer to driving safe, practical and fun cars that get incredible mileage using environmentally friendly, renewable energy sources.

Related:

• The top 70 "in" products, services and trends that will help to define 2007
• alphaDictionary: "hybrid" is one of the top 10 words of the year

[Source: Ways that Work]

Ann Job provides a more extensive review of the 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line than the one previously posted by Automobile. She speculates, for example, that the "Eco" light, which brightens when the Vue exceeds government fuel standards, is vacuum-operated instead of using a computer to determine mileage. She finds the setup a bit odd since hybrid buyers want to know how much they save fuel-wise.

Job finds the Vue's hybrid simple, too, though still effective. Unlike Toyota's or Ford's hybrids (but similar to Honda's vehicles), the Vue uses batteries to back up the main four-cylinder engine. The other two automakers have their hybrid engines switch between the battery and the regular engines. The Vue's gas mileage at 27/32 mpg is still respectable, providing more than 5 mpg better than the gas version. The Toyota Highlander hybrid, however, gets 33/28* mpg with its V6 engine. Job did find the Vue's hybrid engine transitioning between its two systems more smoothly than the Highlander which felt like it would stall at times.

Job provides more details at the link. The Vue hybrid costs $10,000 less than the Highlander. With the automakers' different approaches to hybrids, does either one have a clear advantage in justifying their SUVs' higher cost?

*The figures are not reversed. The Highlander and Ford Escape primarily use their batteries in city driving.

Related:

• Saturn Vue delivers best SUV highway fuel economy
• Saturn announces pricing for 2007 Vue Green Line hybrid

[Source: Associated Press via MSNBC]