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May 10, 2008

Survey: Quest for Fuel Efficiency Changing Americans' Car Consciousness

Detroit, Mich. – With rising gas prices, today’s car buyers admit fuel efficiency and diversity is not just a necessity, it’s also fashion forward.

If Americans had to choose between driving a car that was beautiful on the outside vs. one that was “greener” on the inside, nearly eight in 10 Americans (79 percent) who plan to buy or lease a car within the next two years would choose the greener car.

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Student Teams Show Off "Green" Vehicles at New Jersey Ride and Drive

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors (GM) will host a behind-the-scenes opportunity to see the vehicles from the collegiate engineering competition Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility in action.

The event is May 15, at Old Bridge Township Motorsports Park and is a stop on a road rally from New Jersey to Washington, D.C. Seventeen Chevrolet Equinoxes have been re-engineered by student teams using a range of cutting-edge clean vehicle technologies such as hybrid, plug-in or fuel cell propulsion systems.

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May 9, 2008

One million hybrids on American roads

In December 2007, an auto dealership employee somewhere in America handed a new owner the keys to the one millionth hybrid vehicle sold in this country. In that month, industry sales of 30,892 hybrids brought the cumulative total to 1,012,442 units.

This event occurred a month after Toyota recorded the sale of its 500,000th hybrid in the United States, and only a few months after Toyota Motor Corporation reached the one-million-unit mark in global production of hybrid vehicles.

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Toyota Mobile Hybrid Experience Events

Toyota's traveling display and demonstration of environmentally preferable transportation will be on the road in 20 states between May and September.

It will visit events ranging from the Albany Tulip Festival to the Boston Harborfest, and from the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven to the Minnesota State Fair.

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Toyota Sponsors Health and Endurance Events

Toyota participates as sponsor or co-sponsor of triathlons and swimming, running and cycling events. Hybrid Synergy Drive, which is at the heart of all Toyota hybrid vehicles and exemplifies health, well-being and environmental awareness, is associated with the company's participation in all these endurance events.

Swimming events include the Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational, which is part of the Toyota Grand Prix Series, and the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials.

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May 3, 2008

Bentley Apprentices Build Electric Race Car

Crewe -- A Bentley Motors apprentice team has won a special “Spirit of Greenpower” award for its performance in the Greenpower Corporate Challenge which took place at Goodwood race circuit.

The Bentley apprentice team designed, engineered and built the electric powered car which they entered into the Greenpower Challenge as well as a season of “F24+” racing. The Bentley Greenpower car is called Continental DC (Direct Current) and runs off a 24-volt motor supplied by two 12-volt batteries.

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May 2, 2008

GM Enlists D.C. Drivers to Test Hydrogen Vehicles

WASHINGTON, D.C. - At the Shell station on Benning Road Northeast, General Motors President and Chief Operating Officer, Fritz Henderson, presented the keys to the area's first motorists to be selected to test drive away in advanced technology hydrogen fuel cell powered Chevrolet Equinox electric vehicles.

Identified at the 2008 Washington Auto Show, Tom Albert of Alexandria, Va., and Nick Williams of Washington D.C., will join drivers from Southern California and the New York metropolitan area in GM's "Project Driveway" -- the world's largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and first comprehensive market test of this innovative technology.

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May 1, 2008

GM and Mascoma Enter into Non-Food Biofuels Relationship

WASHINGTON -- General Motors Corp. and Mascoma Corp. today announced a strategic relationship to develop cellulosic ethanol focused on Mascoma's single-step biochemical conversion of non-grain biomass into low-carbon alternative fuels to help address increasing energy demand.

The relationship, which includes an undisclosed equity investment by GM, complements an earlier investment in a cellulosic ethanol startup that uses a thermo-chemical process to make ethanol from non-grain sources.

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General Motors To Announce Second Advanced Biofuels Relationship

On May 1, at 10:30 a.m., GM President Fritz Henderson will announce General Motors’ Corp’s second partnership with a cellulosic ethanol manufacturer. Non-grain based sustainable biofuels are critical to meet rising energy needs and decrease dependence on foreign oil.

GM leads the auto industry in offering vehicles that can run on either ordinary gasoline or E85 – a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline – or any combination of the two. There are more than 7 million flex-fuel vehicles on U.S. roads, 3 million of which are GM cars and trucks.

April 29, 2008

Sweden Strengthens Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle Development

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Sweden hosts a world class automotive cluster represented by leading brands such as SAAB Automobile, Scania, Volvo Car Corporation and Volvo Group alongside some 1,000 suppliers. Sweden now looks to expand its research and development of plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Delegates from the Swedish automotive industry will be present at Booth 61 at the Advanced Automotive Battery and Ultracapacitor Conference and Symposia in Tampa, Florida on May 12-16 to meet international representatives from the vehicle battery industry.

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High Tech Spark Plugs Adds 3 MPG to Prius Economy

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Recent tests performed at Enerpulse, Inc. demonstrate that its newly released product, Pulstar improved fuel economy on 2005 and 2007 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles by 6% - 8%, or approximately 3 miles per gallon.

These results were on vehicles that already get over 50 miles per gallon of gasoline. In addition to the impressive fuel economy improvements in the Toyota Prius, an acceleration test (from 40 to 80 miles per hour) was conducted, which resulted in improved acceleration of 5% as compared to the factory-installed spark plugs.

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April 27, 2008

Environmentalist John Picard gets keys to a BMW Hydrogen 7

Woodcliff, NJ -- Sustainability Expert, Builder and Entrepreneur John Picard was handed the keys to one-of-25 BMW Hydrogen 7s on the U.S. roads as BMW today announced that he is the latest person to evaluate the technology of the world's first hydrogen-powered luxury sedan.

The BMW Hydrogen 7 melds the polished luxury of BMW's largest sedan with the virtually emission-free power of a hydrogen combustion engine.

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Drivers Secure Grid Positions in Volkswagen's All Clean-Diesel Race

ALTON, VA. – Volkswagen of America has announced the results from the driver qualification session and the starting grid positions for the inaugural race of the Jetta TDI Cup to be held Sunday, April 27, at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR).

Josh Hurley finished with a qualifying time of 2:14.301 to secure the first pole position in the Jetta TDI cup race to be held at 4:00 p.m. (EST) at VIR.

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April 25, 2008

Volkswagen Jetta TDI celebrates racing debut in the US

Wolfsburg -- The new Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup will celebrate its racing début at the VIRginia International Raceway this coming weekend (25-27 April).

The Jetta TDI Cup for rookies is the first one-make racing series in the United States to feature ultra-modern diesel technology. The 170-hp two-litre TDI engine powering the Jetta lives up to its promise of being a "clean diesel”: fitted with a catalytic converter and particulate filter, the racing powerplant meets the stringent U.S. environmental regulations as well as the strict Euro 5 standard.

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GM's Tech History Behind Coskata's Cellulosic Ethanol Plant

MADISON, Pa. – General Motors Corp.’s role in helping Coskata Inc. bring its next-generation cellulosic ethanol to market traces back a quarter of a century to technology developed for a GM iron foundry in northwest Ohio.

Coskata announced Friday that its pilot plant will be located at the Westinghouse Plasma Center in Madison, the current site of a pilot-plant gasifier.

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