The MINI E made its world debut at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show and quickly became one of the most talked about vehicles at the show. In a press conference, Dr. Norbert Reithofer (Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG) announced that 500 MINI Es would be available to customers who live in Los Angeles or New York City. The target date for this is by year-end…that is, within the next month. This is fantastic news for consumers in those markets that are looking to be a part of this first larger-scale testing of the MINI E.

In the press conference, Reithofer said:

“The input and feedback from our customers will help us in preparing for series production. If any of you would like to drive a MINI E: Starting now, you can apply for one of the 500 MINI E’s on the MINI USA web page.

When we developed the MINI E we were able to draw on our experience: Back at the Olympic Games in 1972 there was an electric car from BMW driving alongside the marathon. This time we decided that our first car for customers with an electric drive should be a MINI. Lots of Americans love MINI. And they want to drive a green car.” (Source: BMW Group PressClub)

The MINI E currently has an approximate range of 156 miles and the lithium-ion battery that is used will only need approximately two hours time to completely recharge. The engine boasts a peppy 0 to 62 mph time of 8.5 seconds and a top speed of 95 mph.

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, BMW

Families across the country spent Thursday celebrating Thanksgiving and a great many of these families prepared their turkeys via a turkey fryer. Yes, this is a green car blog and yes, I am talking about turkey frying. Think about the byproduct of using a turkey fryer - a huge vat of vegetable oil. What better way to dispose of used turkey fryer oil than to recycle it so that it can be used for biodiesel?

The folks with the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises sponsored the Holiday recycOil 2008 event yesterday, November 29. Boulder, Aspen, Fort Collins and Littleton were just a few of the many Colorado municipalities that participated in the 2008 event.

Exact figures for oil collected at this year’s event were not available as of this posting but in 2007, the 10 collection locations gathered almost 2,000 gallons of cooking oil. The Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises program gathers cooking oil year round and converts it into biodiesel. The Holiday recycOil events are meant for residential customers but business interested in participating year-round can contact the organization directly at (303) 544-1500.

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Filed Under: Biodiesel Hybrid

Volvo is helping Thailand in working toward the country’s goal of energy independence; the auto manufacturer as just released the Volvo S80 and Volvo C30 flexifuel models in the country. These flexifuel vehicles, often called flexfuel here in the United States, will run on the E85 ethanol blend.

Dr.Wannarat Charnnukul, Minister of Energy, said “The government holds as a main policy to promote the use of alternative energy no matter what change happens to the oil price. The higher mixture of ethanol in gasoline would reduce the country’s reliance on crude oil imports and reduce the cost of living. It would also strengthen the country’s long-term energy security and economy. Over the past several months, we have deeply appreciated the friendly cooperation from Volvo in supporting the government’s energy policy. I think Volvo S80 2.5 FT will be another compelling choice for Thai motorists.” (Source: Volvo Cars Newsroom)

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Filed Under: Flex Fuel, Volvo

The CarDomain Network has announced their choices for Best of SEMA 2008 and the winner in the Green category is the X Prize Fox Body Mustang. This beast gets over 400 horsepower but also gets 80 miles per gallon (not verified by the Environmental Protection Agency.)

In an article that orginally appeared on the Toledo Blade website, Doug Pelmear (owner of the car) says,

“Traditional gas engines operate “at a very low efficiency, like 8 to 10 percent, and our engine is like at 38 percent efficiency.”

He said he could greatly increase even that number if his car used traditional gasoline instead of a mix of gas and 85 percent ethanol, which burns hotter but releases fewer hydrocarbons into the atmosphere.

“I’m not the highest-miles-per-gallon vehicle entered in the X Prize, but I think I’m the more consumer friendly, more down to earth, more conventional.” (Source: MustangBlog.com)

CarDomain, founded in 1998, is an online community for auto fans around the world. Although the majority of the site’s vehicle owners are not going for better fuel efficiency and reduced carbon emissions, there are more and more hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles being added to the community. CarDomain’s honoring a green car in its list of SEMA 2008 winners is a step in the right direction.

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Filed Under: General

While Hyundai is working on a hybrid Sonata and the goal of achieving a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2015 (five years ahead of the US mandate), the company is also working on a carbon-offset plan for its Hyundai Genesis model. The project will be known as the Genesis Forest Project and is a collaborative effort between Hyundai, Carbonfund.org and Brazil’s Ecological Institute.

The goal of the Genesis Forest Project is “to offset the entire first year of emissions for all 2009 Hyundai Genesis sedans sold in the United States. Hyundai anticipates that the Genesis Forest Project will offset 93,170 metric tons of CO2 through the permanent conservation and reforestation of 3,000 acres of tropical forest in Brazil. The offset program reduces emissions and improves efficiency across the Hyundai model line-up.”

Hyundai’s carbon offset efforts is based near Tocantins, Brazil and will be utilizing the Social Carbon methodology to ensure “that the long-term contribution of the project lead to the sustainable development of the local region through constant monitoring and analysis.”

Source: Hyundai Media News Room

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Filed Under: Hyundai

Hyundai is now jumping on the eco-friendly vehicle bandwagon (this is a good bandwagon by the way) and has announced its Blue Drive environmental initiative. This exciting news from Hyundai came amidst the fanfare at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show; the main goal of the initiative is for the entire line of Hyundai vehicles to have a fleet average 35 miles per gallon fuel-efficiency rating by 2015. Currently, the United States government is requiring auto manufacturers to achieve this average by 2020.

“At the Los Angeles Auto Show, the company revealed plans for its first U.S. market gas-electric full hybrid (to be offered in the next-generation Sonata), introduced a sleek crossover concept powered by a turbocharged gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine, and announced future high-mileage editions of the Accent and Elantra.” (Source: Hyundai Media News Room)

Part of the Blue Drive technology that will push Hyundai towards its fuel-efficiency goals is based off a 270V lithium polymer rechargeable battery. The next-generation Sonata will feature this battery technology in a gasoline/electric parallel hybrid setup.

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, Hyundai

Despite recent news about major automobile manufacturers scaling back, or even withdrawing, their participation from the Detroit Auto Show, the organizers of the 2009 Geneva International Motor Show are announcing that they will have a full house. The 2009 Geneva Show, which will be held from March 5-15, will be the 79th anniversary of the show.

One new feature of the 2009 show is that the organizers are dedicated an entire section of the show to electric and alternative fuel vehicles. Hall 3 “will be exclusively reserved for exhibitors presenting electric and other alternatively powered vehicles. Based on the idea that these technologies merit a more wide spread presentation, both start-up specialists and companies highly experienced in these areas will have an equal opportunity to present the fruits of their research to the general public.” (Source: NewsPress)

The 2009 Geneva show was the home of many European debuts including the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, the Honda FCX Clarity, the Honda CR-Z Concept and the Cadillac Provq fuel cell concept. No details are available about the 2009 show but the website will be launched with updated information on December 10.

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Filed Under: General

Today’s news from Honda comes just days after Nissan North America announced that it would be withdrawing its participation from the Detroit Auto Show due to country’s economic conditions. Honda is announcing that while it will still participate in the 2009 North American International Auto Show, it has scrapped plans for any glitzy (and pricey) press conferences.

Honda’s focus during the Detroit show was the first official revealing of the production version of the 2010 Honda Insight. Although the Honda Insight made an appearance in Paris last month and is currently on display at the LA Auto Show, the version on display is still considered a concept. Despite the fact that Honda will not be revealing the official production version of the 2010 Honda Insight, the vehicle will still be on display at the show.

The Detroit area is being hit hard by the slump in the nation’s economy and with the unknown fate of the Detroit 3; these latest withdrawals from the show do not bode well for neither the city of Detroit nor the North American International Auto Show.

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, honda

The 2010 Honda Insight made its world debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show but this past week it was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show for its North American debut. Part of Honda’s press coverage of the 2010 Honda Insight included details about the new ecological drive assist program (Eco Assist).

“Eco Assist combines multiple functions: the driver-activated ECON mode that optimizes control of the continuously variable transmission, engine and related powertrain components to conserve fuel; and a feedback function that uses speedometer background color to provide real-time guidance on environmentally responsible driving. An economy scoring function further provides feedback about current driving techniques, as well as feedback on cumulative, long-term driving style” (Source: Honda)

The Eco Assist will enable drivers to manage their driving habits in real time in order to maximize fuel efficiency. The 2010 Honda Insight will be available at your local Honda dealer beginning in the spring of 2009.

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, honda

Electric vehicle technology is really making headlines lately as more auto manufacturers are announcing plans for electric-only and electric hybrids. Additionally, municipalities are collaborating with power companies across the US (and the world) to create charging station networks to support the expected increased use of EVs. Now the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, California have created a new partnership to create a $1 billion electric vehicle-charging network.

“Today, Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums announced a nine-step policy plan for transforming the Bay Area into the “Electric Vehicle (EV) Capital of the U.S.” In conjunction with the news, Better Place, a global electric transportation company, announced that it would enter the U.S. market with California as its first state, beginning in the Bay Area.

“Our aim is to make the Bay Area — and eventually California — the electric vehicle capital of the U.S.,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. “ (Source: sfgov.org)

Readers of The Green Motorist may recognize the name “Better Place”; last month I reported on an alliance between Better Place, AGL and Macquarie Capital to raise funds to create an electric vehicle-charging network in Australia.

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Filed Under: electric vehicles