UK next in line for MINI E testing?
Click above for a high res gallery of the MINI E It’s no surprise that there is a lot of demand for the all-electric version of the MINI. We heard that London might get some of the limited-supply MINI E’s last fall , but now the Telegraph is saying that a plug-in version of the MINI could be “on sale in Britain” by the end of 2009 (we assume the lease-only model for these cars will continue). If MINI’s test program does move to the UK, it would expand the test areas beyond Germany and the U.S. to the iconic car’s home turf. That’s fitting, no? As for the already-announced test locations, the New York and LA participants should be getting their MINI Es in the next few weeks while Berlin and Munich residents need to wait until later this spring. Gallery: Electric MINI E [Source: Telegraph ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , MINI , Green Daily , UK UK next in line for MINI E testing? originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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UK next in line for MINI E testing?
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Leave a commentGerman agency names BMW/MINI most fuel efficient premium brands
Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 MINI Cooper S Convertible The Federal Motor Transport Authority in Germany has declared BMW and MINI as the most fuel efficient premium brands available in that market. The agency has calculated fleet average fuel economy for all new cars registered in Germany during 2008 and BMW/MINI came out on top with an average of 39.9 mpg (U.S.) and CO 2 emissions of 158 g/km Those numbers are lower than the average for all German made vehicles, a number that stood at 165 g/km. Of course, that isn’t necessarily a direct comparison since the MINIs are made in the UK and help pull up thecompany average while the German aggregate number also includes cars from Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and the VW Group. The German fleet average for BMW is considerably higher than its U.S. CAFE average for 2008 of 27.4 mpg, in part because more than half of the BMWs in Europe are diesel powered and BMW only started selling diesels here a few months ago. BMW also doesn’t sell any of its four cylinder gasoline engines here or offer technologies like automatic start/stop yet. In the next few years the company will likely begin offering those technologies as well as new hybrids that will help its U.S. numbers. Photos Copyright (C)2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc. Continue reading German agency names BMW/MINI most fuel efficient premium brands Auto Blog: MPG , BMW , MINI German agency names BMW/MINI most fuel efficient premium brands originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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German agency names BMW/MINI most fuel efficient premium brands
Posted in Auto Green, Hybrids | a-friend-via, bmw, cylinder, federal-motor, Hybrids, like-automatic, mini, premium-brands, stood-at-165 | Leave a commentCalifornia ARB approves $700,000 in grants for green tech demos
The California Air Resources Board this week approved $700,000 in grants for demonstration projects to evaluate clean air technology. Advanced Transit Dynamics, Eaton and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District will each receive over $200,000 for projects. Eaton will build a package delivery van using a hydraulic series hybrid system it has developed. Similar systems have also been developed and tested by several other companies. UPS has been running several series hybrid vans for more than two years. Advanced Transit Dynamics will show an active aerodynamic system installed on a class 8 tractor trailer designed to minimize drag. The Sacramento project will use digester gases to consume some of the emissions from a stationary engine fueled by biogas. Companies getting the grants must provide matching funds for at least half the cost of the project with at least 10 percent coming from the grant recipient. [Source: California Air Resources Board ] Auto Blog: Hybrid California ARB approves $700,000 in grants for green tech demos originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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California ARB approves $700,000 in grants for green tech demos
Automobilwoche editor: widespCar Blog Greenelectric cars will take 15 more years
The long wait for the electric car (remember, they’ve been “just around the corner” for over 100 years ) will continue. That’s the verdict of Automobilwoche editor Guido Reinking, who wrote an article this week that predicted that we won’t be getting serious numbers of electric cars on the road until, get this, 2025. All of the fancy prototypes, he says, won’t mean squat until consumers get behind EVs in a big way. Reinking then makes the fairly absurd argument that just because there are studies that show that 46 percent of all motorists want electric drive cars, we can’t trust that number because studies that showed that people liked Toyota hybrids and the VW Lupo but those models didn’t gain a 46 percent market share. He then tops himself with this: Greenpeace has calculated that each of the 50 electric Minis tested in Berlin emits 133.5 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer driven, because the electricity used to recharge the vehicles’ batteries is generated by coal-burning power plants. That’s 29.5 grams more than the Mini Cooper D. In the US, where 450 Minis Es will soon take to the road, the estimated carbon dioxide emission is expected to be even higher. Look, I’m totally OK with saying that electric vehicles are not really “zero emission” unless you’re using renewable energy, but c’mon. Automaker CO 2 emissions numbers are based on what comes out of the tailpipe. If Reinking wants to count what happens before the energy/fuel gets to the car, then he needs to add in all the CO 2 that is generated by producing and shipping the fuel for the Mini Cooper D. EVs have their problems, and they are certainly not magic rides that will make everything perfect. But mistakes (or intentional muddying of the waters) like what Reinking does here don’t help. Although, maybe this is exactly what Reinking needs to make sure he’s right about that 2025 date. For more on the long wait for electric vehicles, see our 2006 post on the history of EVs and the gallery below. Gallery: 1967 Popular Mechanics electric car article [Source: Automotive News Europe (subs req'd)] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Green Daily Automobilwoche editor: widespCar Blog Greenelectric cars will take 15 more years originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Automobilwoche editor: widespCar Blog Greenelectric cars will take 15 more years
Posted in Auto Green, Hybrids | carbon-dioxide, electric car, electric vehicles, electricvehicle, electricvehicles, europe, guido-reinking, mini, minie | Leave a commentTop Gear America begins work on 70 mpg project car
Click above for high-res gallery of TopGear.com America’s Project Sipster Interested in a car that can get 70 miles per gallon and run from zero to sixty in under 7 seconds? Yeah, so are we. How much do you want to pay for it? Top Gear America thinks that $7K sounds just about right, and it wants Italian styling to boot. Impossible? Not so fast. The crew at TG, which is a separate entity from the British blokes that you see on the tube all the time, have set out on a project to create just such a beast. The bones of the project, known as Sipster for now, are based on a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit, which was in fact styled by Italian design house Giugiaro. In place of the original miserly yet underpowered diesel engine will go a fully modern oil-burning TDI from VW. After the powerplant is in place, UCLA aerodynamics professor John McNulty will take a crack at making the upright Rabbit a bit more slippery. Should be fun to keep tabs on. Gallery: Top Gear America Project Sipster [Source: TopGear.com America ] Auto Blog: Diesel , MPG , Volkswagen Top Gear America begins work on 70 mpg project car originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Top Gear America begins work on 70 mpg project car
Spain announces $5.3 billion in aid for domestic auto industry
Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Seat Ibiza Ecomotive The United States , the United Kingdom and France have already announced plans to stimulate the ailing automakers and suppliers that do business in their countries, so it’s not too surprising to hear that Spain has joined in the ranks as well. Like those other bailout packages, the Spanish government is highlighting the need to invest in eco-friendly automotive technologies. According to data provided by the Spanish government, 350,000 people are employed in auto-related industries in Spain and 6 percent of the country’s GDP is related to the automotive market. Last year, new car sales in Spain dropped by about 28 percent, which seems to be about the average slump worldwide. The European Union has requested additional information from Spain regarding the plan before it will sign off on the aid package. Some European countries have complained that France’s plan amounts to illegal protectionism. Gallery: 2009 Seat Ibiza Ecomotive [Source: International Herald Tribune ] Auto Blog: Legislation and Policy , Europe/EU , SEAT Spain announces $5.3 billion in aid for domestic auto industry originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Spain announces $5.3 billion in aid for domestic auto industry
Posted in Auto Green | a-friend-via, announced-plans, automotive, before-it-will, country, france, geneva-motor, ibiza, largebmw, mini, ranks-as-well, rollsroycerr4, widely-expected | Leave a commentJon Stewart talks to "Two Billion Cars" author Daniel Sperling
Click above and scroll down to watch the video Whether the cheap Tata Nano is the driving force behind a massive upswing in the number of cars actively used in the world or not , the day is coming when there will be two billion cars on the roads. So says author and California Air Resources Board member Daniel Sperling . Sperling was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week to discuss his new book and to give his predictions about which technologies would power these two billion cars. He said that “eventually” the “vast majority” of the two billion cars will be alternative-energy (pure electric, plug-in hybrids, biofueled, and hydrogen fuel cell) vehicles. Yes, that was as specific as he wanted to get on Comedy Central. Sperling also claimed that we’d need “tens of billions” of dollars in government aid to make the large-scale shift to plug-ins and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Stewart, for his part, said that the automakers represent the past, and he wondered why we don’t just let them fiddle with the deck chairs while others get fuel cell and electric vehicles on the road. Watch the full interview after the jump. Bonus history lesson: Sperling has a slightly troubled past . [Source: The Daily Show ] Continue reading Jon Stewart talks to “Two Billion Cars” author Daniel Sperling Auto Blog: Emerging Technologies , EV/Plug-in , Hydrogen , Legislation and Policy , Green Daily Jon Stewart talks to “Two Billion Cars” author Daniel Sperling originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Jon Stewart talks to "Two Billion Cars" author Daniel Sperling
Posted in Auto Green, Hybrids | comedy-central-, daily, entry, france, geneva-motor, Hybrids, largebmw, mini | Leave a commentBetter Late than Oily: America will have to wait for diesel MINI
Auto Blog: Diesel , MINI Click above for a hi-res gallery of the MINI Cooper D in the ABG Garage While the new electric MINI E is proving even more popular than expected and the Cooper D continues to sell big across the pond, MINI has been contemplating bringing the diesel hatch Stateside. However, the current diesel in the Cooper D, which AutoblogGreen drove last summer, isn’t deemed clean enough for U.S. emissions regulations. While previous reports suggested a modified version of the current Cooper D could make the trip across the Atlantic to the land of heavily-taxed diesel fuel, company spokesmen now say it could have to wait until a next-generation clean-burning diesel can be developed for the MINI. Although the artificially high price of diesel in the United States has prevented oil-burning vehicles from taking the lead here, MINI points out that the price difference between the premium gasoline their vehicles require and ordinary diesel is actually quite a bit more manageable. Add to that equation the 60 miles per gallon a diesel MINI being tested by Bosch here in the good old U S of A gets and a diesel Cooper is making more sense by the minute. Gallery: ABG Garage: 2008 MINI Cooper D [Source: USA Today via Kicking Tires ] Better Late than Oily: America will have to wait for diesel MINI originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Better Late than Oily: America will have to wait for diesel MINI
Posted in Auto Green | a-will-have, across-the-pond, cooper, current, dieselmini, kicking-tires, mini, price, taking-the-lead, united, united-states | Leave a commentSenate passes stimulus bill with $2 billion for plug-ins and batteries
Auto Blog: Emerging Technologies , EV/Plug-in , Legislation and Policy , USA American politicians are trying to figure out how best to save the wreck that is the U.S. economy, mostly by moving a stimulus bill through Congress. Today, the Senate passed their version of the bill and there is (unsurprisingly) a lot in there for green car advocates. The $838 billion package includes $2 billion for advanced vehicle batteries and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). Green Tech Media has a rundown on the other energy efficient measures included in the bill. A final version of the bill should be sent to President Obama soon, perhaps even this week, according to the New York Times . The Senate and the President have a history of promoting PHEV-friendly legislation (see here , here and here ). CalCars has more . [Source: WaPo , Green Tech Media ] Photo by laszlo-photo . Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0. Senate passes stimulus bill with $2 billion for plug-ins and batteries originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Senate passes stimulus bill with $2 billion for plug-ins and batteries
Posted in Auto Green, Hybrids | a-stimulus-bill, cooper, current, dieselmini, economy, entry, mini, president obama, senate, senatestimulus, stimulus bill, stimulusbill, united-states, usa | Leave a commentRicardo ups efficiency with Ethanol Boosted Direct Injection system
Auto Blog: Emerging Technologies , Ethanol , Flex-Fuel There isn’t anything new about boosting an engine through the use of a turbocharger or supercharger, and direct injection is becoming more and more common as well. As you’re surely aware by now, it’s also rather common for an automaker to create engines that can run on alcohol fuels like ethanol. According to Ricardo , though, combining these technologies into one package, as it has done with its EBDI test engines, can have some highly desirable results. “The EBDI engine project is a great example because it turns the gasoline-ethanol equation upside down. It has the performance of diesel, at the cost of ethanol, and runs on ethanol, gasoline, or a blend of both,” says Ricardo President Dean Harlow. The auto development firm currently has a 3.2-liter V6 engine using the EBDI technology that it says would be suitable for a pickup or SUV. Future applications are endless, branching from passenger car use to agricultural equipment that could run on fuels based on biomass harvested on site. [Source: Ricardo] Continue reading Ricardo ups efficiency with Ethanol Boosted Direct Injection system Ricardo ups efficiency with Ethanol Boosted Direct Injection system originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Ricardo ups efficiency with Ethanol Boosted Direct Injection system
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