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Apr 3, 2009 - Number Crunching

Have you wondered how hybrid vehicle sales are doing during these interesting days?

John O'Dell has taken a look at those numbers on Green Car Advisor and at first blush it appears that hybrid sales have fallen off more than the average.

It's no secret, hybrids haven't been doing well lately, on dealers' lots, in the media, or in a lot of political arguments. Sales data that comes in on a monthly basis shows hybrid sales sinking faster than auto sales as a whole. And there's nothing pretty about auto sales as a whole.

Indeed, looking at March's tally shows that the 21,433 hybrid cars and trucks sold in the U.S. last month represents a 43.9 percent drop from hybrid sales in March of 2008 while sales of all other types of new passenger vehicles, on a March-vs-March basis, were off "just" 36.5 percent.

I would attribute the "hybrid hit" to the simple fact that hybrids generally are higher priced than non-hybrid models and the sales of anything higher priced are suffering right now as people are being careful about what they spend. But you can draw your own conclusions and take a closer look at the sales numbers at the Green Car Advisor

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Apr 9, 2008 - Greener Cleaner

Admit it, when you think of a hyrbid vehicle you're not thinking of a garbage truck.

But that's exactly what's being tested in Sweden as refuse hauler Renova is testing Volvo Truck's diesel-electric hybrid.

Now the details always bother me, so I'm wondering how much the garbage capacity of the truck is impacted by the added weight of the hybrid system and batteries. Just looking at the photo, that truck doesn't seem as large as the one that rumbles through my neighborhood each week.

If it doesn't haul as much trash, either you make more runs with the truck or send out more trucks, both of which would eat into the fuel efficiency gains and emissions reductions. Still, a lot of diesel fans have always wanted to see a diesel hybrid, although they might be looking for something a bit easier to park.

Read the story at Green Car Advisor

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Jan 29, 2008 - Vote Of Confidence

It's like the kiss of death. Your football coach or baseball manager is at the helm of a struggling team and gets the dreaded "vote of confidence".

The Volt would seem to be that struggling team.

GM has been aggressive in maintaining that it can have the Volt in production by the end of 2010 if ongoing battery development that it is funding progresses well. The Volt depends on lightweight, powerful lithium-ion batteries (or some other as yet unidentified battery chemistry) to hit the performance criteria set by GM.

Now a Volt fan web site says it has collected the names of more than 10,000 people who want to buy one.

There are people out there who want turbocharged Geo Metros too.

Read the entrie story at Green Car Advisor

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Jan 24, 2008 - Jumper Cables

Apparently going electric is the move of the moment.

Chevy's Volt, Renault and Nissan anouncing plans for an electric car network in Israel, so there must be room on the bandwagon, right?

Chrysler Corp. and India's Tata Motors reportedly have signed a development deal for Chrysler's neighborhood electric car unit to import and market a new vehicle based on the Tata Ace mini-truck.

I just find it fascinating that Renault hopes to sell 10,000 to 20,000 electric cars a year in Israel and now we have a report said that Tata is gearing up to initially ship 10,000 vehicles a year.

This reminds me of the guy that everyone knows. If you have a cold, he had the flu. If you broke your leg, he broke his in three places.

Being seen as green and going electric seems to be the fashion of the day.

Read the rest of the story from John O'Dell at Green Car Advisor

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Dec 30, 2007 - Any Color As Long As It's Green

Ran into an interesting  item on John O'Dell's Green Car Advisor that you might want to check out.

Evidently they've found a way to make paint that's used to paint vehicles green.

The solvent-borne paint contains more pigment than conventional water-borne auto paint, which allows the color to be applied using less paint.

Nothing can ruin a car's good looks like a lousy paint job, so time will tell if this new green paint will stand up to the disccerning eye of auto enthusiasts!

Be sure to check out the full story at the Green Car Advisor

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Dec 24, 2007 - Cool Stuff

I hope today finds you all getting ready for an absolutely fabulous Christmas day!

Just a really neat thing that I came across on Green Car Advisor.

That's a battery-electric dragster, "Current Eliminator V" making a record breaking 8.1-second, 153.6 miles-per-hour run.

I'm pretty sure that would beat either of my cars down the strip.

Hey, it's Christmas time. We're supposed to be looking at all the neat toys, right?

Be sure to read the whole story and leave your comment at Green Car Advisor

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Dec 20, 2007 - Is Not, Is Too

No, that's not a high school shop project that got a bit out of hand. It's a sculpture titled 'Doubletalk'.

Now I know you should sit down for this because you'll be shocked, but you know the energy bill that was just passed and mandates a CAFE average mileage of 35mpg? That really doesn't mean 35mpg.

In fact, an analysis by Edmunds' chief test engineer shows that a car -- or truck -- would need only to achieve 26 miles per gallon combined highway and city mileage in the new Environmental Protection Agency fuel economy tests to turn in the equivalent of a 35 mpg CAFE rating.

Isn't that just wonderful? Pass the duct tape so I can keep my head from exploding.

Be sure to read and comment on the full story from John O'Dell at the Green Car Advisor

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Dec 3, 2007 - High Power Show

EVS-23 is on in Anaheim, CA.

The International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition (EVS) attracts business, policy, industry, and academic leaders from around the world who are interested in exploring and understanding the technical, policy and market challenges of electric transportation technologies.

If you'd like an insider's look at the show, be sure to check out John O'Dell's Green Car Advisor.

Some highlights:

The guys at HST Automotive, K2 Energy Solutions and Ronaele have a deal, or two, for you: a pair of muscle cars - a Shelby Cobra and a Mustang - that run fast, but silently and with zero tailpipe emissions, on battery-powered electric motors.

A three-wheel electric scooter that features a unique dual-wheel front suspension that locks into a stable position for low speed maneuvering – under 3 mph – and unlocks to operate the same as on a single wheel model at speed.

So if EV's are your thing, Anaheim is the place you want to be.

Just humming along
Trying to be green easy
Push that envelope

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Nov 21, 2007 - Charging Up

As reported on Green Car Advisor, General Motors says it expects to soon begin road testing the plug-in hybrid system it will use for the Chevrolet Volt, and continues to insist that it is on schedule to bring the Volt to market in 2010.

But the concept that was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show and got everyone worked up isn't exactly turningout to be a practical body design.

 Seems GM engineers put it in a wind tunnel to get some numbers and found that it has the drag coefficient of a brick. Wind resistance would have been better, quipped GM vice chairman Bob Lutz , if  the engineers had "put it in the wind tunnel backwards."

Beyond the aerodynamics, the biggest hurdle still remains battery technology. With the problems of heat management and durability still remaining to be solved, that target date of 2010 for the Volt hitting the market seems highly ambitious to say the least.

Experimental
Progress and innovation
Delivering dreams?

Read the full story at Green Car Advisor

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Nov 15, 2007 - LA Auto Show Green News

The LA Auto Show opened this week (who says Christmas can't come early?) and Edmunds Senior Editor John O'Dell in on hand covering all the green news that fit to print for Green Car Advisor.

One day one, the super-fast Nissan GT-R and the hulking hybridized Cadillac Escalade SUV captured a lot of media attention.

And Honda is showing the FCX Clarity, a ready-for-production fuel-cell vehicle.

Always a lot of excitement surrounding the auto show season, and if you can't make it to LA, the stop by the Green Car Advisor for John O'Dell's take on all the emerging greenery.

Auto show season
A time of dreams and wishes
Don't forget hot cars!

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