Archive for May, 2008

Fiat 500 could come to America, via an American plant

Posted by Sam Abuelsamid on May 27th, 2008
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Filed under: Fiat , Alfa Romeo Fiat hasn’t sold cars in the U.S. market in more than two decades, but they could be coming back within two years. At least the tiny 500 could be on its way. Fiat was already known to be looking for a location for a North American assembly plant to produce Alfa Romeos for our market. Alfas are scheduled to be on sale here around the end of 2009 and a plant is scheduled to be online by 2010. The same plant could also end up producing the 500. Speaking at a conference in Europe last week, Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne declared that he felt the 500 could prove popular in the U.S. market and could be sold as a stand-alone brand in much the same way that MINI stands apart from parent BMW. Marchionne wants to finish rolling out the rest of the 500 lineup before launching it in the US. Next year a convertible will join the current 3-door hatch and a longer wheelbase model

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AFVI 2008: A few final thoughts on green moves in Sin City, with Wendell Berry

Posted by Sebastian Blanco on May 24th, 2008
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Filed under: Etc. , Green Culture , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , AFVI Expo , Green Daily I covered the AFVI Expo last week and that trip was my first visit to Las Vegas. I’ve heard the stories, the advertising campaign that tries to sell Sin City as, well, Sin City that takes your credit card. What interested me the most, though, was how my environmentalist mind would react to being in a city that, quite honestly, celebrates excess and waste. I didn’t expect to feel comfortable in an oasis of VIP come-ons and bright lights surrounded by a harsh desert. I arrived in town around noon and, during my lunch at a quite reasonable buffet (Indian food, not one of those with endless tables featuring every food ever), I happened to read Wendel Berry’s essay Faustian Economics from the latest issue of Harper’s. Whoops. Berry, who wrote an astounding collection of essays called The Long-Legged House back in 1969, takes on biofuels in the Harper’s essay. Well, he starts with biofuels and smoothly segues into a discussion of limits, reductions and how it will ever be possible to really come to terms with the way we’re consuming the world’s resources. More thoughts on this after the break. Continue reading AFVI 2008: A few final thoughts on green moves in Sin City, with Wendell Berry AFVI 2008: A few final thoughts on green moves in Sin City, with Wendell Berry originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 23 May 2008 20:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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AutoblogGreen Podcast #22

Posted by Dan Roth on May 23rd, 2008
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Filed under: Biodiesel , Diesel , EV/Plug-in , Transportation Alternatives , Podcasts , AFVI Expo For Episode #22 of the AutoblogGreen podcast, Sam and Sebastian recap the AVFI show in Las Vegas, and enter into a discussion focusing on diesel. Still on the diesel tip, Sam talks excitedly about the Volkswagen TDI Cup racing series before moving on to the much more charged topic of EV infrastructure. Our interview this week isn’t so much a one on one as it is a speech from T. Boone Pickens, he of oil magnate status, about how oil is not going to last forever. Thanks for listening, see you again soon! S UBSCRIBE to the AutoblogGreen Podcast in iTunes LISTEN to the show now ADD the AutoblogGreen Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator

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Alfa Romeo to get crossovers, hybrids and stop/start

Posted by Jeremy Korzeniewski on May 23rd, 2008
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Filed under: Hybrid , Fiat , USA , Alfa Romeo Click above to view high-res gallery of the Alfa Romeo Kamal concept Car-obsessed Americans will get another chance at the historic Alfa Romeo brand soon enough, as the company is planning on a resurgence for the U.S. market. As is the current trend among automakers, along with the beautiful range of automobiles that the Italian marque will be bringing to our shores, it plans on offering a crossover as well. Expect something in line with BMW’s current utility vehicle offerings. What’s more interesting to us at AutoblogGreen, though, is a possible hybrid system snagged from Fiat, which owns Alfa. Even if the full hybrid drivetrain is left off the docket, at the very least, a mild hybrid system in the form of stop/start will almost assuredly be available. As an aside, take a good look at the Kamal concept from 2003. Looks a bit like the Subaru Tribeca before its last redesign, wouldn’t you say? [Source: Auto Motor und Sport via Autoblog ] Alfa Romeo to get crossovers, hybrids and stop/start originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 22 May 2008 20:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Tyca reveals lamps that could absorb CO2 in parking lots

Posted by Xavier Navarro on May 22nd, 2008
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Filed under: Emerging Technologies , Carbon Capture , Green Daily , Europe/EU French company Tyca, which usually works on aquarium and aquiculture projects, has announced the development of lamps that could capture CO 2 . The lamps are actually a sort of aquarium made of transparent walls that hold microscopic algae that eat CO 2 and use solar light to produce O 2 , like plants. These algae are bioluminescent, which means they produce light. According to the company, one kilogram of these microalgae capture two kilograms of CO 2 , which means that one of these lamps, which holds 1.5 m 3 of these algae could capture up to one ton of CO 2 per year. They can even work under artificial light, which makes them suitable for parking lots. Science fiction? Only time will tell. [Source: Tyca via Planet Forever ] Tyca reveals lamps that could absorb CO 2 in parking lots originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 22 May 2008 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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AVFI 2008: T. Boone Pickens lays the future of oil and alternatives on the line

Posted by Sebastian Blanco on May 22nd, 2008
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Filed under: Biodiesel , Ethanol , Solar , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , Natural Gas , AFVI Expo , Green Daily , USA Andrew Littlefair (left) and T. Boone Pickens The majority of the attendees at the AFVI Expo’s Fleet Day breakfast keynote seemed quite pleased to listen to T. Boone Pickens (just like last year ). Pickens is the founder of BP Capital Management and had a sit-down discussion with Andrew Littlefair, the president and CEO of Clean Energy. Why do AFVI folks like this guy? He’s got a lot of information (he’s made billions in the oil and energy industry) and he sees a way to power the future (he’s made a huge investment in wind power in Texas, for example. Littlefair said that without Boone, there wouldn’t be an NGV industry in the U.S. A few choice quotes: “We are importing 72 percent of our oil. … We are now transferring $600 billion [a year] out of the United States to a few friends and a hell of a bunch of enemies. I can tell you, we are paying for the war against ourselves.” “If they [China] had the Olympics today, in this smog, and ran the 100 meter dash, it would have to be a relay.” “Diesel will never sell, again, below gasoline. It will always be more expensive than gasoline.” “We’re actually dealing with a huge shift of capital out to somewhere. We’re going to be reduced to – I promise you it’s going to happen pretty quick, too – we’ll be reduced to something less than the superpower that we are.” Much more from Boone (including audio of his chat) after the break. Continue reading AVFI 2008: T. Boone Pickens lays the future of oil and alternatives on the line AVFI 2008: T. Boone Pickens lays the future of oil and alternatives on the line originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 21 May 2008 20:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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American electric car companies prefer Project Fastr Blastr to Project Better Place

Posted by Domenick Yoney on May 21st, 2008
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Filed under: Etc. , EV/Plug-in , Phoenix , Miles EV , GEM , AFVI Expo , USA Project Better Place has been making lots of headlines with their plan to create a battery swapping and charging infrastructure in different countries . At the recently held Alternative Fuels and Vehicles conference , a panel of representatives from some American electric car makers suggested they would prefer to see a slightly different scenario for the U.S. market. Nay to the whole battery swapping thing, yea to fast-charging stations. Here are some quotes from the participants as reported by Jennifer Kho of greentechmedia: Bryon Bliss of Phoenix Motorcars: “With the ability to do rapid charge, we see that playing more of a role than stations to exchange them.” “There are a lot of complications [in exchanging the batteries].” Richard Kasper of Chrysler’s Global Electric Motorcars said the investment that battery-replacement stations would require would be “very significant.” Jeff Boyd of Miles Electric Vehicles: “Fast charging is here; it’s available. You can put a station at a Starbucks for a cost of $125,000. There’s no reason to wait [for something else].” During the question and answer session after the panel, Dean Taylor, a senior technical scientist at Southern California Edison, brought up a point often raised in debating fast-charging. Specifically, that daytime charging by drivers would add to peak demand as well as put strain on the grid. That was countered by Bryon Bliss who stated that charging stations could pull the electricity from batteries, like those made by Altairnano, which could also be a boon to utilities by helping them with grid stabilization. Click the “read” link to learn more of this interesting discussion. [ NOTE: AutoblogGreen's Sebastian Blanco moderated the AFVI panel ] [Source: Greentechmedia ] American electric car companies prefer Project Fastr Blastr to Project Better Place originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 21 May 2008 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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AFVI 2008: Fleet Day keynote session – Rahal racing, consumer shifts and more

Posted by Sebastian Blanco on May 21st, 2008
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Filed under: Diesel , Ethanol , Flex-Fuel , Hybrid , MPG , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , Natural Gas , AFVI Expo , Green Daily Michael Williams is a bold man. It’s not because he wears a bow tie and cowboy boots; it’s because he will publicly say he’s a good friend of the President. Not many people around who will admit to being tight with George Bush these days. Williams, who is the chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas , revealed this and many other things during his speech to the AFVI Expo crowd during fleet day last week about the power of propane as an alternative fuel. Now, why would the Railroad Commission care about propane? Well, in Texas, the Railroad Commission doesn’t regulate railroads (anymore). Instead, it regulates the “state’s oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and the surface mining of coal and uranium.” Therefore, if you’re involved in LPG or other gases in the state, then the Railroad Commission is your agency. But, if you don’t want to hear about propane from Williams, then skip ahead to about minute 10:30 in the audio clip below and you’ll hear a little joke about the AFVI and Moses. Listen to Williams (15 min):

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AFVI 2008: Ride and Drive video from Las Vegas

Posted by Sebastian Blanco on May 17th, 2008
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Filed under: AutoblogGreen Exclusive , AFVI Expo There weren’t a lot of astoundingly cool vehicles to drive at the AFVI Expo Ride and Drive earlier this week. Still, throw a handful of alternative-fueled cars, trucks and CUVs in a Las Vegas parking lot, and I’ll check it out. As you can see in the video I made of the event, Bosch was heavily represented by a half-dozen or so clean diesel models. GEM and Miles EVs were easy to spot, and there was even a hybrid cherry-picker and a propane pickup or two. To kick off the event, Ed Begley, Jr. and Bobby Rahal cut a ribbon (see pictures below) and then took a short loop around the lot. Watch the video after the break, and thanks to Shotgun Musical Laboratories for the sounds. Gallery: AFVI 2008: Ed Begley and Bobby Rahal test drive Continue reading AFVI 2008: Ride and Drive video from Las Vegas AFVI 2008: Ride and Drive video from Las Vegas originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 16 May 2008 19:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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AFVI 2008: Meeting the ZeroTruck face-to-face

Posted by Sebastian Blanco on May 16th, 2008
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Filed under: EV/Plug-in , AutoblogGreen Exclusive , AFVI Expo click to enlarge We first heard about the ZeroTruck , a Class 4 delivery truck powered by nothing but good old electrons, towards the end of April. Electrorides, Inc. brought the prototype ZeroTruck to the AFVI Expo in Las Vegas this week, trying to get fleet operators to sign up for an upcoming national tour the truck will make later this summer to show off its capabilities. Tedd Abramson, the president and CEO of Electrorides , Inc., spoke to AutoblogGreen about the ZeroTruck and said that the truck will save fleets money not only at the pump but also in the back room, where maintenance billing is done. Down time at the fueling station is also reduced, so there are cost savings on top of the lower price for the energy needed to move the truck. The ZeroTruck is a 2008 Isuzu N Series chassis converted to run on batteries. The vehicles uses a lithium polymer battery pack that offers a 100-mile range. The 14-foot truck offers very flexible options for the bed and, since Isuzu chassis makes up around 78 percent of the market, fleet operators are very familiar with what these options are, how the vehicle operates, and how it holds up in the field. All of this does not come cheap. Abramson said that the ZeroTruck will have a cost premium of just over $100,000 a compared to the standard diesel version. All those cost savings, Abramson said, mean that the premium should be recouped in five years. Abramson said he expects the vehicle to offer about ten years of operation. If everything checks out, then that cost premium won’t be a problem at all. We’ll have to wait and see how many fleet operators pull the trigger on this truck to see if they believe the company’s claims are accurate. Note: Electrorides gave AutoblogGreen permission to post the slides used during the company’s presentation at the Expo.

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