At the 2009 LA Auto Show, Volkswagen has plans to unveil its’ new concept car, the VW UP! Lite, a combination of Volkswagen’s TDI Clean Diesel engine, an advanced electric motor, and a seven-speed Direct Shift Gearbox. 

The Up! Lite, which is said to get up to 70 mpg on the highway, and has room for four adults, will be on display through December 13, 2009, in the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The Volkswagen Up! Lite has an all-new hybrid power train, which consists of an 0.8-liter, two-cylinder TDI Clean Diesel engine, and an electric motor that acts as the vehicle’s starter, alternator, and E-drive unit.

According to the press release, the 0.8L engine produces 51 horsepower and up to 88 lbs.-ft. of torque. The electric motor, with its 13 additional horsepower, can be used to boost the TDI engine when needed, provide valuable regenerative braking, and even propel the Up! Lite on its own. The seven-speed DSG transmission ensures the driver has access to the full power range whenever needed, and allows for a 0 to 60 mph run of 12 seconds, a top speed of 100 mph, and the exceptional fuel economy rating of 70 mpg.

Side cameras stand in place of traditional outside mirrors and 18-inch carbon fiber and aluminum wheels give it a sports car-like look.  In the cabin, there’s a touch screen and hand motion sensors for climate controls, Internet connection, telephone, multimedia playback, and more. Also on tap are three cameras that replace the rearview mirror, while a folding rear seat means extra storage space.

The more I see and hear about the UP!, the more I think I really like it, and while it’s a concept car, I hope it becomes available in the near future.  It looks like a sharp little car that’s built for fun – and functionality!

What do readers think?

Subscribe

Add Comment »

Filed Under: Auto Shows, Fuel Efficient, Volkswagen

• Ford Fusion Hybrid has been named one of Car and Driver magazine’s “10 Best” cars for 2010
• Ford Fusion recently won the prestigious Motor Trend Car of the Year award
• Ford Fusion Hybrid is only the second hybrid ever to make the magazine’s “10 Best” list

A total of 58 vehicles were in the running for the Car and Driver “10 Best” list and all of the contenders were put through a week of testing, judged on three forms of criteria:

1. How well they performed their intended mission
2. How engaging and fun they were to drive
3. How much value they delivered

In addition to being fun to drive, the Fusion Hybrid offers an EPA estimated rating of 41 mpg in the city and the ability to travel more than 700 miles on a single tank of gas.

Despite the slump in the overall auto industry, sales of the Fusion Hybrid are impressive, accounting for almost 20 percent of total Fusion retail sales. Perhaps even more significant, more than 60 percent of Fusion Hybrid sales have been to customers coming from import brands - mostly Toyota and Honda.

Subscribe

Add Comment »

Filed Under: Autos, Ford, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Fuel Efficient, General

If you’re a Green Motorist and are going out-of-town on vacation or business, do not despair.  You can still do your part and rent a hybrid or high fuel efficiency car.  Most of the major national rental car companies as well as many regional brands offer hybrid rentals in some of the larger markets.  The rental car companies have seen the increased demand for hybrids and have added these green cars to their rental fleet. 

The Hertz Green Collection

In a magnificent branding move, Hertz offers the Toyota Prius as part of the Hertz Green Collection.  Although the Prius is only available in a select few markets, Hertz has also added several high fuel-efficiency vehicles to its Green Collection.

Enviro-friendly travelers seeking to rent a car in a non-Prius Hertz area are invited to try the Ford Fusion or the Corolla or Camry by Toyota.  These three vehicles offer a spacious yet fuel-efficient car for the more conscientious traveler.

Budget’s Trio of Hybrids

Budget Rental Car offers the popular Toyota Prius as well as the Nissan Altima Hybrid in some of their markets.  These hybrids offer drivers up to 60 mpg plus the benefit of reduced fuel emissions.  Although the fees are a bit higher than a comparable non-hybrid, the increased cost is not cost-prohibitive.

Budget currently has the highest availability of hybrids with a Toyota Prius or a Nissan Altima available in 47 different states.  To find out if Budget offers hybrid rentals in your area, check out the Budget U.S. Hybrid Locations page.

Avis’ Hybrid Rentals

Continuing the trend towards the Prius hybrid, Avis also offers its customers the ability to rent a Prius hybrid.  The Prius is considered a compact hybrid and thus a bit small for families traveling so Avis has expanded its hybrid fleet to include the full-sized Nissan Altima hybrid sedan. 

The Altima is currently only available to renters in certain California markets.  The Prius can be rented in parts of California, Portland, Seattle, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and New York City. 

As the nation’s demand for hybrid options increases, rental car companies will be answering.  More rental car companies will offer hybrid choices in more locations throughout the United States.

Subscribe

Add Comment »

Filed Under: Eco Friendly, Fuel Efficient, nissan, toyota

We all have read about or seen hybrid cars by now. But some of you may have questions in reference to hybrid car basics. You maybe wondering the fuel efficiency of these types of cars, or perhaps how long one lasts while fully charged, etc.

Let’s answer some of these questions today, in the Hybrid Car Q&A article below.

Question - What makes a gas engine powered car different than one of these new hybrid cars?

Answer - A hybrid car (also known as an electric and gas powered car), allows you to operate the vehicle on two different fuel systems. With a hybrid, two engines power up the car, an electric motor and a gas powered motor. As you can see these two types of engines combined will generate greater fuel efficiency than if the car was run on purely a gas only engine. Hybrids generally speaking can have highway fuel ratings of up to 50 MPG, or greater. Case in point: The Toyota Hybrid.
Question - How long do hybrid cars generally last while fully charged?

Answer - Hybrid cars generally speaking can last up to 500 miles while on a full tank of gas, and fully charged up. As you can see considerable mileage can be logged on a gas and electric powered car. Also gas engines are smaller in hybrids, yet technically superior.

Question - How does a hybrid car get its power?

Answer - From batteries located in the vehicle itself, and an electric motor. In turn, the batteries juice up the electric engine.

Question - How do i Find The Greenest Vehicles in My State?

Answer - To find the greenest vehicles in your state, as determined by the EPA. Head on over to the Green Vehicle Guide. There input your name of your resident state, and a list of the most eco friendly vehicles again as determined by the good folks at the EPA, will be generated for your use.

Question - Which are the Top 3 Hybrid Vehicles From 2008?

Answer - In the state of Illinois the following Illinois green vehicles were listed:

As usual the Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Prius, and The Ford Escape Hybrid were the best rated. But this will soon change dramatically, as more hybrids are introduced later this year, and in 2009.

Feel free to ask your hybrid car questions below. I will write a follow up post and feature your questions on the blog. Thanxs!

Reference - Green Living at About.com

Photo Credit - Geek Habitat

Subscribe

1 Comment »

Filed Under: Eco Friendly, Ford Escape Hybrid, Fuel Efficient, Green, electric cars, electric vehicles, ev, honda, toyota

Have you heard of Jonathan Goodwin, the diesel hybrid conversions master. He specializes in taking gas powered vehicles and not only making them fuel efficient by up to 40%, but also giving them major torque-age.

[photo - flickr]

Jonathan was profiled back in the November 2007 issue of Fast Company, as the possible savior of the major car manufacturers, such as in Detroit. He can take a Hummer to 60 MPG, yes you read right, 60 MPG, all the while souping up performance on the Hummer (H3) from horsepower of 300 to 600.

How does Jonathan Goodwin perform such magical feats? Well, it is a combination of ingenuity, creativity, innovation, and good ole fashioned elbo grease. Goodwin has all this and more. He is quite the busy mechanice right now, with everyone from California Governator Arnold asking for his services for a Jeep Wagoneer, to Neil Young and his 1959 Lincoln Continental.
Johnathan is a big believer and promoter of diesel engines. He even has created a bolt-on kit, for those DIY guys (and gals) who also wish to convert their gas engines into Duramax diesel powered engines at home. Why wait for the big auto companies to go biodiesel or hybrid, when you can just do it yourself, he clamors. The fuel savings are impressive and the power ramping just plain fun. With his customizations and modifications, cars become more powerful, and much more planet friendly.

The Neil Young diesel hybrid Lincoln Continental dubbed LincVolt, is still under modification, just this morning an update was provided by ABG. Looks like Goodwin is still working on this one.

Goodwin an ardent fan of electric plugin cars, in the Fast Company article, mentions that by now all Americans should have access to one. Why we don’t, he doesn’t understand. He states he gets all his parts from the big three car manufacturers. The infrastructure is already there, why are they so slow with the new fuel technologies.

Good questions, all of them. I believe that American car manufacturers slowly but surely will get on the ball with fuel efficient vehicles, and transform what will be available to all of us. I hope. We all hope!

Subscribe

2 Comments »

Filed Under: Biodiesel Hybrid, Diesel Electric Conversions, Duramax Engines, Eco Friendly, Fuel Efficient, Green, Johnathan Goodwin, Kansas, LincVolt, hydrogen

AskPatty is a car blog written, run, and dedicated to women. They recently had a blog carnival up, and our green car blog, TGM, was nicely mentioned in it.

Blogger Brandy takes note of the post Amy wrote on the NEW! Mercedes BlueTech Hybrid due out (maybe) next year 2009. The BlueTech Hybrid by Mercedes is a first, as it combines two technologies with vision not yet available, both combined are innovative and yet to be seen in any vehicles let alone an SUV. Mercedes claims that the SUV Hybrid will make it to showrooms by 2009, but as of right now it is labeled a concept car.

Talk about fuel efficiency in an SUV, this baby if it comes to fruition, will blow the competition away, as it is expected to top 40 MPG. In comparison, eco friendly SUV’s in a similar class are only averaging about 25 MPG. The Mercedes GLK will be a sweet and fuel efficient ride!

The focus of the blog carnival at AskPatty was on gas prices, green cars, and fuel saving tips from the blog-o-sphere. Thanxs go to Brandy, for the mention.

Subscribe

Add Comment »

Filed Under: Autos, Eco Friendly, Fuel Efficient, Green, Mercedes

The Zap-X Electric Vehicle is being tuted as “the fun, compact, and affordable EV”. Due out in the year 2010, this high performance crossover electric car is to be engineered by Lotus.

Some of the features of the Zap X include:

• APX Light Weight Aluminum
• Architecture Design
• Electronic Braking System (EBS)
• Rack and Pinion Steering
• Solar Glass
• Lithium Batteries
  (Bio-degradable Non-Explosive)
• Power Windows
• Power Door Locks
• Power Steering
• GPS
• On Board Carputer with Full Entertainment System

The stylings of this EV reminds me of a cross between a Ford Mustang and a small SUV, not terribly exciting a design. The Zap-X ride comes in at a top speed of 155 MPH, horsepower at 644, and a ridiculous charge time of 10 minutes.

The Zap-X EV is not yet available anywhere and some of its marketed features (such as charge time) will need to be seriously tweaked, before they become reality in many or most homes.

What Zap-X lacks in design, atleast they make up for in fuel efficiency and technology.

Price Tag: $60,000

Subscribe

1 Comment »

Filed Under: Autos, Eco Friendly, Fuel Efficient, Green, electric cars, electric vehicles, ev, transportation, zap x