If the US automobile industry ramped up its efforts to produce eco-friendly vehicles for the mass market, it could cut the nation’s gas consumption by 30 to 50 percent by 2035. That’s according to a new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But the study also asserts that the mentality of car consumers will need to change.
The unofficial theme of the second night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver was the building of a green economy. In speech after speech, the Democrats pointed to Barack Obama’s plan to put 1 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on American roads by 2015—and to rebuild the American auto industry in the process—as the cornerstone of his plan for energy independence.
Dale Vince, CEO of the renewable energy company Ecotricity, and his enthusiastic vehicle engineer, Richard Jenkins, are camped out at Lake LeFroy, a huge salt flat in Western Australia. When weather conditions improve, Vince and Jenkins will be attempting to take back the wind-power land speed record from Bob Schumacher, whose Iron Duck has held the record at 116.7 since March 20th, 1999. But their design—dubbed "Greenbird"—may have implications beyond the Guinness Book of World Records.
General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner revealed a full-size foam model of the new Chevrolet Cruze last week. GM announced that it will invest $500 million to build the all-new global compact car that will replace the Chevy Cobalt in the United States. The automaker calls it “the first of an all-new generation of fuel-efficient small cars.”
Several automakers, prompted by the arrival of the Smart ForTwo, may be readying their own pipsqueak cars—maybe not all as small as Smart—for America. Moreover, the new entrants could far exceed Smart’s combined 36 miles per gallon. We compiled some of the latest big talk about small cars.
At the 2006 Paris auto show, Peugeot unveiled its 908 RC full-size sedan concept. That vehicle was a showcase of luxury and high-performance, utilizing the company's 700-horsepower Le Mans V12 diesel. Two years—and an oil price shock—later, Peugeot will return to the Paris show with another RC concept vehicle. This time, it’s a hybrid.
Retail gasoline prices dropped for the 34th consecutive day on Tuesday, hitting a summer low of $3.73 per gallon. Supply and demand curves in auto and gasoline markets are squeezing Americans between declining gas prices, reduced consumption (on pace to decline for the first time in 17 years), sustained interest in smaller cars, and rising nerves about when the price of gasoline could spike above $4 once again.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers launched an initiative called "EcoDriving” yesterday, to educate Americans about how to reduce fuel consumption and cut carbon dioxide emissions by changing driving habits. But the initiative was met with skepticism by environmentalists, who assert that the campaign throws a smoke screen over the industry’s slow move toward fuel-saving vehicles.
Now that more than one million hybrids have been sold, one might think that automakers have figured out how to sell environmentally friendly vehicles. Think again. Based on current marketing moves and machinations, no single technique has emerged as the winning tactic. Case in point: Eco sub-brands being trotted out by Renault and Peugeot.
Cutting vehicle weight saves gas. And despite idealistic notions of an entire nation driving Honda Fits, it won’t happen—too many people really do need midsize, full-size, or truck-based vehicles. So what’s the actual impact of cutting weight? On Tuesday, Michael Bull, director of technology at Novelis Corporation, presented data from two studies that quantified the fuel savings from a given weight reduction.
