Car Rental Agencies Have Trouble Upgrading Customers

I happened to be reading AutoBlogGreen today and came across this article that didn’t surprise me.  Rental car agencies here in the US are having a tough time getting customers to upgrade to larger model cars.  I was recently in California for work and had to rent a car.  I rented a Prius, but my flight was late - guess what?  No Prius.  I was too late.  I got stuck in some “like model.”  That “like model” was a Dodge Caliber - a crossover.  

What normally would happen is that you rent a car.  You get to the airport to pick up the car and they try to upgrade you into Car X for only $10 more/day.  The allure of that SUV over the standard Sebring is typically attractive to the American consumer.  Now that gas prices are rising, the rental car agencies are having a problem. 

Maybe the rental car agencies should have more hybrids…everywhere in the country.  I’ve been wanting to rent a Prius for a long time, but haven’t had the opportunity yet. 

Minnesota Boy Rides Bike Into Prius

I read this story over on AutoBlogGreen and it reminded me of an episode of Weeds last season on Showtime.  In the episode, a drug dealer was riding in a Prius and loved how quiet it was for a drive-by shooting.  Of course that was all in the spirit of the show and not for reality. 

This is a real life.  An eight year old boy in Minnesota turned onto the road in front of a Prius that he claims he didn’t hear.  The boy is fine - he escaped with a few cuts and scrapes.  According to AutoBlogGreen, legislation is before the US House of Representatives for hybrid car noise - or lack thereof.  It’s crazy, but I guess it makes sense.  What is a blind person was walking by without a dog - just a cane.  I kinda liken it to alcohol.  Back in the day - way before my day - you could buy grain alcohol - lab-grade.  Just like isopropyl which is 70%.  They have to make it denatured alcohol so people don’t drink it.  Now we’ll have “denatured hybrids.” 

Here’s the video story from CNN.

Oh yeah - my daughter is almost 8 - WTF are those parents doing letting their 8 year old boy ride his bike in the street alone? 

Source: AutoBlogGreen

GM Using Kids To Sell Hybrid SUVs

There are a series of GM Chevy commercials all featuring little kids.  Most of them are promoting the Chevy Tahoe hybrid.  My 7 year old daughter was watching one earlier today during a program we were watching.  I had to tell her that they weren’t telling the full truth.  She sees the kids and hears the message and believes every word.  Apparently it’s the “green car of the year.”  A gigantic SUV is the green car of the year?  Is that rating from a made up organization from the GM gas guzzler lobby? We’re even told that hybrids dont’ have to be “tinsy weensy.”  Then there is a Chevy commercial that just promotes Chevy.  In that one, they flash a huge SUV and then tell us, “we believe a hybrid should fit the way you live, not the other way around.”  I guess that sells to most Americans, but to me it’s just irksome.  I know too much about consumerism.  An SUV that gets 21mpg is an improvement, but it’s not the answer.  It shouldn’t be the future.  It is not fixing any of our worldly problems.  I guess HGTV didn’t get that message, either.  Anyway…enjoy some YouTube…

More not-so-brilliant commercials after the jump…

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Finally! Diesel-Hybrid Coming?

Finally!  Clean diesel is coming and so are the cars.  I think this is one of many that you’ll see in the very near future.  Right now there are only a few diesel vehicles for the normal citizen to buy as a passenger vehicle.  This is due to the fact that California, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Connecticut (and probably more) have very stringent diesel regulations on emissions.  In 2010, only ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD)  will be available for highway use.

Diesel engines typically get more MPG than standard gasoline engines.  So if hybrid gas/electric vehicles are popular, than why not a diesel/electric hybrid?  Volkswagen agrees.  They are taking their Golf model (now Rabbit in the U.S.) and giving it a diesel hybrid option.  The Golf will get 69.2MPG.  That blows the Prius out of the water.  The same hybrid options will be available on the Jetta and the Audi A3.

Now - where is my hybrid diesel/electric PHEV?  I’m guessing that would get some serious MPG!  Hopefully this will be available in the 2009 model.  I want one.

Source: GreenDaily, AutoBlogGreen

Sundance Film Fest: Fields of Fuel

The Sundance Film Festival is showcasing a number of “green” movies this year.  First up is Fields of Fuel.  They finally got the trailer up on their site the other day and you can see it below.  Now, I’ve heard rave reviews so I was excited about finally watching the trailer.  The only thing was, I could exactly tell what the movie was going to be about after watching it.  I’m pretty sure its about biodiesel from the one picture of the biodiesel gas pump and the fields.  When I first saw the fields and talking about our oil addiction, I was really concerned that it was going to talk mostly about just plain old ethanol. Maybe its a first edition trailer?

IMDB tells us: The film tells the story of biodiesel, an alternative fuel for diesel engines. Made from vegetable oil, it is non-toxic, has low carbon dioxide emissions and can ultimately replace all liquid fuels used in the United States, thus freeing America’s dependence on oil needed for gasoline. 

I’d really recommend checking out their daily Sundance blog.   Will this ever make it out of indy status and be distributed?  I’d love to give a review myself, but maybe I will one day when I get to see it.  I do have Everything’s Cool on the old DVR - that was the standout eco-flick from last year’s Sundance Film Festival.  Look for my own review on that very soon.

Variety: Fields of Fuel Review
CNET Review

Learn more about Biodiesel
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BMW Considers Launching “Green” Brand

This kinda sounds like the rumors of Toyota using the term “Prius” to be a full line of vehicles.  BMW is now considering adding a 4th brand to their list.  Although BMW is already doing a lot to make their current cars lines greener, they think that a 4th “marque” would allow them to experiment further. 

Good luck, BMW.  Any new R&D can’t hurt, right?

Source: Reuters

DOE Jumps on PHEV Bandwagon

I’ve been salivating over PHEV’s (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) for at least the last two years.  Finally, the government sees some value in them as well.  Now, I will state right up front that I don’t think that this is the vehicle of the future.  Just like the existing hybrids - its a stepping stone.  Thursday at the Detroit Auto Show, the U.S. Department of Energy has pledged $30million towards PHEV research while the auto industry has agreed to match that for a total of $60million.  To me, that doesn’t seem like a lot of money for research.  The money is mainly for battery development.  The goal is to have a 40 mile range on EV-only by 2016.  In my opinion, this should easily be attained.  There are plenty of EV companies out there that can get plenty of range.

Auto companies originally scoffed at PHEV’s.  Then people started hacking their Prius’s and installing battery kits.  When people were getting 100+mpg from these after-market modifications, Toyota - and others - started to take the possibility seriously. There are several companies that are now making kits for people to buy.  It seems like every automaker has a PHEV in the pipeline - most noteably, the Chevy Volt.

As soon as a company can get the Prius kit down to $5,000 - I’m in.  I’d love to get 100+mpg.   If you want to learn more about PHEV - your first stop should be CalCars.org.

Source: CNN Money

Who Needs Government Funding When You Have Google?

Google.org made some announcements today regarding five core initiatives. It looks like they’re out to save the world.  Let’s talk dollars before the big announcement.  Google is allocating $25 million in new grants, devoting 1% of Google’s equity, 1% of annual profits as well as employee time towards these new initiatives.  From Dr. Larry Brilliant, executive director of Google.org, “These five initiatives are our attempt to address some of the hard problems we as a world need to face in the coming decade. We have chosen them both because we think solving them will make a better, fairer, safer world for our children and grandchildren – and the children and grandchildren of people all over the world – but also because we feel that these core initiatives fit well with Google’s core strengths, especially its innovative technologies and its talented engineers and other Googlers, who are really our most valuable assets.” 

Good job, Google.org.  I like the fact that they have this power and are using it to benefit the world - sure  there will those who say that Google should stick to gobbling up technology companies and spying on your gmail, but I think they’re grrrreat.   I say stop waiting for the world to change when you can help change the world.

Drum roll, please….

Predict and Prevent

Google is working to “predict and prevent” disasters in communities from spreading beyond where they are now.  This includes everything from the spread of infectious diseases like SARS and avian flu to droughts to any other ecological disaster.

Inform and Empower to Improve Public Services

Google.org works with partners to improve the flow of vital information to improve basic services for the poor in India and East Africa. In many countries in the developing world, essential public services are failing, especially for the poorest members of society. Google.org supports efforts to provide information to empower citizens and communities, providers, and policy makers to improve the delivery of essential public services such as education, health, water and sanitation.

Fuel the Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises 

Google.org supports efforts to lower transaction costs to invest in SMEs, create opportunities to access larger financial markets and make investments in this sector. They also want to help increase the flow of capital to “the missing middle” by tackling some of the root causes that prevent these firms from becoming profitable investment opportunities.

Develop Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal (RE<C)

This cross-Google collaboration has set a goal of producing one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal, within years not decades. The initiative, known as RE<C, was launched in November 2007 and will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies.

We wrote about this when it was first announced…click here for the way-back machine on SCREAM

Accelerate the Commercialization of Plug-In Vehicles (RechargeIT)

RechargeIT is a Google.org initiative that aims to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil use and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid technology.

Source: Google.org

With My Own Two Hands - Ben Harper

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Brief History Of The Electric Car

My friend, Citizen Shay, sent me a link to this advertisement from 1960.  When I first saw it, my initial reaction was how much it reminded me of the current ZAP cars in production - just without the zebra stripes.  My second reaction - WTF?  Why is it 2008 and this is all the farther we are? I know why - because the oil companies give the politicians too much cash.  That and there aren’t any filling stations for an electric car.  Look - I know that electric cars have been around since the inception of automobiles - even hybrid gas/electric vehicles have been around since the beginning.  So I looked for the first electric car and came across a timeline from PBS from the documentary “Who Killed The Electric Car?“  Here are some touch points that stood out to me.

• 1891 - First successful electric car built in the US
• 1897 - Electric taxis are on the streets of NYC
• 1900 - 1/3 of all cars are electric
• 1920 - Electric cars tank.  Gas is easily available and cars can go much farther on gas.
• 1966 - Congress introduces first bills recommending electric cars to reduce air pollution
• 1975 - USPS buys 350 electric Jeeps
• 1997- Toyota introduces the Prius
• 2003 - GM takes back all leased EV1 vehicles and crushes them
• 2007 - Chevy says it will produce a PHEV, The Volt

Source: PBS

Who Killed The Electric Car? Trailer

Ford Motors Unveils EcoBoost

Well, when it rains - it pours.  Somehow it seems that like celebrity deaths, stories on certain topics come in clumps.  Just the other day I wrote about the changes at Chevy.  Today, it’s Ford’s turn.  Ford is set to unveil what they are calling “EcoBoost.” Not sure how much Ford is putting on this for the future or if they’re just banking on this for the short-term.

What is EcoBoost?  It’s described as a “gas-turbo direct-injection engine.”  Yeah - I’m not sure what that means, either. From what I understand from reading the PDF on the Ford website, its still a standard gasoline engine.  They are just using a creative way to get 20-30% more efficiency from a standard gas engine.  At the same time they are reducing CO2 emissions by around 15% and increasing engine torque.  That seems like a fair tradeoff for right now, but I hope they have something better than that in their back-pocket for the future.  Like something with less oil dependency.  Why not put more into their PHEVs?

Ford Motor Company hopes to have the EcoBoost feature in 500,000 cars and trucks in the next five years.  The first vehicle to get it will be the 2009 Mercury MKS sedan.  The new Ford Explorer America concept truck (it kinda looks like those boxy Mercedes SUVs) will be shown at this year’s Detroit Auto Show and will showcase the new EcoBoost engine.

From today’s press release:
“EcoBoost is meaningful because it can be applied across a wide variety of engine types in a range of vehicles, from small cars to large trucks – and it’s affordable,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president of Global Product Development. 

“Compared with the current cost of diesel and hybrid technologies, customers in North America can expect to recoup their initial investment in a 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine through fuel savings in approximately 30 months.  A diesel in North America will take an average of seven and one-half years, while the cost of a hybrid will take nearly 12 years to recoup – given equivalent miles driven per year and fuel costs,” he said.

I should mention that Ford, like most automakers, is making strides environmentally.  They already have seats in vehicles now that are made with soy-based foams.  They have worked with BP on establishing two hydrogen filling stations.  I’m sure there is more… 

I’m waiting for the auto announcement one day where I actually get excited rather than just being skeptical.  I know there are better ways out there.  Maybe someone will buy me one of those Air cars being made with TaTa Motors in India that just runs on compressed air.  Or perhaps the new ZAP-X car that is being developed with the design engineers from Lotus that is electric with solar and a slew of other exciting features…including photovoltaic glass for heating and cooling, 100% electric, 0-60 in under 5 seconds, 155mph, 350 miles per charge…okay…I have to stop now because I’m drooling on my keyboard again.

Source: Ford Motor Company