Just when you thought the story about Hummers being more energy-efficient than Priuses had bitten the dust, it bounces back to life. CNW Marketing, the source of the story, just released an update of their analysis. Check out our response from last year.
There are now more than one million hybrid gas-electric vehicles on American roads. Many will celebrate reaching the milestone of one million hybrids zipping around on power from their rechargeable batteries—and burning a lot less petroleum. But some environmentally motivated car buyers are concerned about trading one problem for another.
A gallon of gasoline weighs just over 6 pounds. When burned, the carbon in it combines with oxygen from the air to produce nearly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2). By switching from a gas guzzler to a hybrid, you can literally save the earth a couple of tons of greenhouse gases.
The list of detrimental health effects from vehicle air pollution sounds like a little shop of horrors.
Nobody has questioned the importance of high gas prices to the rise of green cars, but one has to wonder: Just how many car shoppers out there are concerned enough about the environment that it factors into a purchase decision? According to a study by Kelley Blue Book's market research division, the answer is "quite a few."
The Environmental Protection Agency has released a report which sites an overall improvement in new car fuel efficiency from 20.6 miles per gallon in 2007 to a projected 20.8 miles per gallon for 2008 – a jump of .2 miles per gallon. A small step in the right direction.
As the current congress scrambles to pass an energy bill before its term expires at the end of the year, some parts of the House version of the legislation should be of note to green car enthusiasts.
If you've watched any cable news or read the editorial pages of a major newspaper in the past few months, you're likely to have come across advertisements energy baron T. Boone Pickens' plan to decrease America's dependency on foreign oil. One element of the plan is the promotion of a long existent but relatively unused automotive technology: engines powered by compressed natural gas.
The California Senate approved a bill over the weekend that is being hailed as the most far-reaching urban sprawl bill in the country. The legislation, which is supported by both the Natural Resources Defense Council and the state's largest home builders' lobby, would tie tens of billions of dollars to state and federal transportation funding based on compliance with efforts to reduce sprawl, and by extension, commutes.
The Management Briefing Seminars, held every August in a resort community five hours northwest of Detroit, got their start as a way for auto industry executives to get in a few rounds of golf on the company dime. Forty-three years later, it’s a mix of “Davos for auto execs” and the ultimate networking forum for the beleaguered leaders of America’s largest industry.
