|
| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Driving down those roads
July sees another sharp drop in U.S. driving |
Joseph Romm |
07 Oct 2008 |
Gristmill |
| July saw another sharp drop in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) according to the Federal Highway Administration's monthly report on 'Traffic Volume Trends.' Lost in all the news about the financial meltdown and the election is the report that Americans drove 3.6 percent less, or 9.6 billion miles fewer, in July 2008 than July 2007. Okay, maybe it wasn't lost in all the news -- it looks like the FHA didn't bother issuing a press release (see here). I guess even they ar ... |
|
| Topics: cars, economy, gas prices, green living (all these topics) |
|
|
Feeling Out Smart ED
All-electric version of tiny Smart car unveiled at Paris Auto Show |
|
02 Oct 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:54 PM on 02 Oct 2008 Automaker Daimler unveiled an all-electric version of its tiny Smart car at the Paris Auto Show this week, dubbed the Smart ED for its electric drive. Diesel-powered versions of the ultra-cute, ultra-compact Smart Fortwo went on sale in the United States just this January to wide acclaim. Company spokespeople said the all-electric Smart Fortwo will be available in the U.S. by ... |
|
| Topics: business, cars, electric vehicles, green living, news (all these topics) |
|
|
Throw 'Em a Loan
Bush signs off on $25 billion loan to Big Auto |
|
01 Oct 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 1:07 PM on 01 Oct 2008 President Bush on Tuesday signed a $630 billion spending bill that includes a $25 billion loan to the struggling auto industry. (Bush's sign-off also marks the expiration of the offshore-drilling ban and keeps the federal government funded through Mar. 6, 2009.) The loan package -- the biggest federal subsidy for Big Auto since the feds bailed out Chrysler in 1980 -- is aimed at helping carmakers im ... |
|
| Topics: Big Auto, business, cars, Department of Energy, fuel efficiency, George Bush, legislation, news, offshore drilling, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Has GM overdesigned the Volt?
Is a 40-mile all-electric range too much? |
Joseph Romm |
01 Oct 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I have an article in today's Guardian online, 'Is the Chevy Volt just hype?' I argue that the key to the near-term success for plug-ins in this country is government incentives and mandates, which in turn will critically depend on the outcome of the presidential election. But that should not be a surprise, since no country in the world has achieved significant market penetration of an alternative-fuel vehicle without major government incentives and mandates. I noted ... |
|
| Topics: economy, green living, tax incentives, electric vehicles, cars, gas prices (all these topics) |
|
|
McCain't
Why the party that wrecked America can't fix it |
Jon Rynn |
29 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Republican party has a problem. They have based much of their power, over the last several decades, on the idea of ever-expanding (almost exclusively white) suburbs. The thinking was, as those suburbs become less and less dense -- as one wag put it, the further away the houses are from each other -- the more those suburbanites will vote Republican. As William Levitt, the builder of the first modern suburb after World War II said, 'No man who owns his own house and lot c ... |
|
| Topics: sprawl, placemaking, economy, energy, climate, politics, cars (all these topics) |
|
|
License and Sensibility
Beijing extends traffic-control measures to keep smog away |
|
29 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:57 AM on 29 Sep 2008 Beijing enjoyed its best air quality in a decade during the Olympic Games, thanks in part to strict traffic-control measures. Pleased by their success, city officials have unveiled ongoing modified measures in hopes of continuing to ward off the smog. Under rules that go into effect Oct. 11, privately owned vehicles will be banned from driving on one weekday, with the particular d ... |
|
| Topics: air pollution, cars, China, news, Olympics (all these topics) |
|
|
Iceland gives hydrogen the cold shoulder
Electric vehicles crowd out hydrogen brethren at sustainable driving conference |
Joseph Romm |
27 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following post is by Earl Killian, guest blogger at Climate Progress. ----- Iceland has long been touted as a hydrogen economy pioneer. So it is quite shocking that electric vehicles -- both plug-in hybrids and pure battery electric cars -- crowded out hydrogen at a recent Reykjavík conference. Iceland is blessed with abudant hydro-electric opportunities, and currently generates 6.5 TWh (Terawatt hours, which is equal to a million megawatt hours) per year, ... |
|
| Topics: hydrogen, geothermal power, electric vehicles, cars, green living (all these topics) |
|
|
Pickin' on the plan
Pickens' natural gas plan makes no sense and will never happen |
Joseph Romm |
27 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following post is by Earl Killian, guest blogger at Climate Progress. ----- Thomas Boone Pickens is a billionaire who made his money in oil and corporate takeovers. He began investing in natural gas in 1997, and in wind power in 2007. In 2008, he went public with the Pickens Plan via a website and a well funded advertising campaign. Here we analyze the Pickens Plan, as presented here, which begins by correctly observing: America is addicted to foreign oil ... |
|
| Topics: cars, wind power, electricity, natural gas, energy, electric vehicles (all these topics) |
|
|
Vaporizing gas
Gas shortages plague the Southeast |
Sara Barz |
25 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Gas lines snake through parking lots, independent gas retailers ration supplies, and fights break-out at gasoline-starved filling stations across the Southeast ... Gas shortages throughout the Southeast continue after several oil refineries in the Gulf Coast region were knocked off line after the double whammy of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Though two refineries have plans to ramp up production, Reuters reported that the government expects supply disruptions could continu ... |
|
| Topics: public transportation, gas prices, oil, fossil fuels, cars, urban planning (all these topics) |
|
|
Loan ranger
House approves $25 billion in direct loans for auto industry |
Kate Sheppard |
25 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The House of Representatives yesterday approved $25 billion in direct loans to help the auto industry comply with stricter gas mileage standards. The loans will assist automakers in meeting fuel-efficiency standards set in last year's energy bill that push fleet standards up to at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The funds can be used to retool older plants and help companies create advanced batteries and new hybrid technologies. Auto suppliers will also be eli ... |
|
| Topics: cars, Congress, fuel efficiency, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
A car in every garage
|
David Roberts |
25 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Everyone in the world has already linked to this story about McCain's 13 cars (Obama has one -- a hybrid Ford Escape), but I just can't get over the humor of this sentence: "The McCains also own three 2000 NEV Gem electric vehicles, which are bubble-shaped cars popular in retirement communities." I think the hypocrisy game is silly and have denounced it at length when aimed at Al Gore, so I won't be a hypocrite myself -- I could give a crap how many cars McC ... |
|
| Topics: presidential race 08, elections, politics, cars, tax incentives (all these topics) |
|
|
ReGeneration Roadtrip: Driving the future
Tesla's motoring toward sustainability one sports car at a time |
Sarah van Schagen |
25 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| If you wanna talk about moving toward a greener future, surely the sexiest way to do that is in a Tesla Roadster. This car goes 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds -- faster than a Ferrari -- without guzzling a single drop of oil. All you need is about three hours plugged into the wall, and you're fully charged and ready to impress. Tesla has already delivered about 50 of the cars to eager buyers -- including familiar faces like Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Cloo ... |
|
| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, green living, ReGeneration Roadtrip, video (all these topics) |
|
|
Driving Made EV
Chrysler to offer electric car by 2010, full lineup of EVs sometime after |
|
24 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:56 AM on 24 Sep 2008 Automaker Chrysler announced Tuesday that it too is jumping into the electric-car fray, aiming to roll out its own electric vehicle in the United States by 2010, followed soon after by a full line of electric and/or plug-in hybrid vehicles. If the company meets its intended deadline, 2010 will be a busy year for electric car enthusiasts in the U.S.; GM's Chevy Volt and Tesl ... |
|
| Topics: business, cars, news, United States (all these topics) |
|
|
Honda, unplugged
Chrysler, Mazda, Hyundai, and Nissan announce plug-in hybrids -- but not Honda |
Joseph Romm |
23 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The number of companies planning plug-in hybrids is growing steadily. Some recent announcements can be found here. Calcars maintains an excellent update on 'How carmakers are responding to the plug-in hybrid opportunity.' As for Honda, last year, The Wall Street Journal reported: Honda Motor Co. Chief Executive Takeo Fukui said so-called plug-in hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles [PHEVs] offered too few environmental benefits for his company to pursue, and noted th ... |
|
| Topics: tech, business, cars, electric vehicles (all these topics) |
|
|
Volt reality check
Chevy Volt not so revolutionary |
biodiversivist |
22 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| For those of you who missed it, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz hit the talk show circuit last week to talk up the latest incarnation of the Chevy Volt (more on his boneheaded climate change comments here and here). The marketing goal is to create the public perception that the Volt is an electric car (get it, volt?), to differentiate it from competitors like the Prius, which are mere hybrids. It may work, and I'm OK with that as long as it sells low-emission cars. Look at ... |
|
| Topics: business, tech, messaging, electric vehicles, cars, Big Auto (all these topics) |
|
|
Huffing posts
GM flack jumps into Huffington Post fray to defend exec's climate-change skepticism |
Kate Sheppard |
22 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| We posted last week about GM Vice Chair Bob Lutz expressing a little climate-change skepticism on The Colbert Report. Josh Nelson wrote about it as well over on Huffington Post, and thus began an online conversation with GM's director of news relations, Tom Wilkinson, who defended both Lutz and the company's environmental policies. 'There is no reason a three-dimensional human being (like Bob Lutz) can't be skeptical about global warming orthodoxy and still be ... |
|
| Topics: gas prices, business, cars, climate change skepticism, news, Muckraker (all these topics) |
|
|
15 Cities, 15 Days, Destination: Green
Grist and Dell hit the road in search of a sustainable future |
Sarah van Schagen |
22 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| It feels like just a year ago that I was traveling down the Mississippi in search of sustainable cities. Well, I'm on the road again -- this time with a much more ambitious itinerary: 15 cities, 15 days, destination: green. I'm in San Francisco right now, but I'm headed all the way across the country, baby. And dude, I'm getting a Dell! Actually, I'm getting a Todd Dwyer, head blogger for Dell's eco-minded site ReGeneration.org. The two of us are hitting ... |
|
| Topics: shameless self-promotion, ReGeneration Roadtrip, cars, San Francisco, green living, tech (all these topics) |
|
|
Baby, you can analyze my car
Newsweek takes a look at the presidential candidates' automobiles |
Kate Sheppard |
22 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| After all that hubbub over houses a few weeks ago, Newsweek decided to look into the vehicle-registration records for the McCain and Obama families and find out how many cars they own. The final count? McCain: 13. Obama: 1. McCain's fleet includes three 2000 GEM electric vehicles and the Prius that his daughter Meghan drives. There are also nine other less planet-friendly cars, including a half-ton pickup and a GMC SUV. Huffington Post has a slideshow. The Oba ... |
|
| Topics: cars, Barack Obama, John McCain, elections, politics, presidential race 08, Muckraker (all these topics) |
|
|
Tesla profile in New Scientist
|
Sara Barz |
18 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| For those upset about the bashing electric vehicles have taken recently, check out this glowing profile ($ub. req'd) of Tesla -- and its Roadster -- in New Scientist magazine today. The Roadster does 0-60 in four seconds, tops out at 130 mph, and only costs $109,000 (sigh ... not in this writer's budget this year). Pedestrians and cyclists beware, the Roadster's 248 horsepower electric engine makes less noise than a golf-cart, but its 450 kg lithium-ion battery would pac ... |
|
| Topics: green living, cars, electric vehicles (all these topics) |
|
|
'I don't believe in the CO2 theory'
Touting the Volt, GM exec denies anthropogenic climate change |
Kate Sheppard |
18 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz was on the 'Colbert Report' last night to talk about the new Chevy Volt, but a lot of the conversation ended up being about whether or not Lutz believes in anthropogenic climate change. Colbert, on the Volt: 'This is tantamount to admitting that we have to do something about global warming, sir. You are capitulating with the enemy. Why not just call this the Chevy Gore? You don't believe global warming is real. You've said so.' Lutz: 'I acce ... |
|
| Topics: news, business, climate change skepticism, cars, gas prices, video, Muckraker (all these topics) |
|
|
The revolution will not be grumpetized
The automotive revolution: how fast? |
David Roberts |
17 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Wall Street Journal senior editor Joseph B. White attempts to dump some cold water on the "automotive revolution" everyone's all giddy about: This revolution will take years to pull off -- and that's assuming it isn't derailed by a return to cheap oil. Anyone who goes to sleep today and wakes up in five years will find that most cars for sale in the U.S. will still run on regular gas -- with a few more than today taking diesel fuel. That will likely be ... |
|
| Topics: cars, economy, electric vehicles, green living (all these topics) |
|
|
Plug It In, Plug It In
Tesla Motors to build electric-car plant in San Jose, Calif. |
|
17 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 9:09 AM on 17 Sep 2008 Tesla Motors, maker of the ultra-sleek, ultra-expensive, all-electric Tesla Roadster sports car, has announced it will build a manufacturing plant in San Jose, Calif., to churn out within two years its newest all-electric offering: a five-seater sedan. Priced at a still-spendy-but-slightly-saner $60,000, Tesla's "Model S" sedan is expected to roll off the production li ... |
|
| Topics: cars, consumerism, energy, news (all these topics) |
|
|
Taking Charge
GM unveils Chevy Volt 'production model' at 100th birthday celebration |
|
16 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 5:28 AM on 16 Sep 2008 Chevy Volt. Photo: gmeurope At its 100th birthday party on Tuesday, General Motors unveiled its oh-so-close-to-production model of the Chevrolet Volt --a plug-in hybrid that the automaker swears will be on sale by the end of 2010. GM has been plagued by massive financial problems lately caused mainly by its heavy focus on SUVs, which have largely fallen out of favor with consume ... |
|
| Topics: business, cars, hybrids, news (all these topics) |
|
|
Much Ado About Driving
On cruise control |
Umbra Fisk |
15 Sep 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, To cruise or not to cruise? That is the question. Is it more fuel efficient to use cruise control when driving, or does it use more gas to use the cruise? Carrie Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Dearest Carrie, Whether 'tis nobler to travel at constant speed -- that is indeed a question. And Edmunds.com, which has suffered the slings and arrows of tedious car testing, says an emphatic yes. The venerable car group found that ... |
|
| Topics: Ask Umbra, cars, fossil fuels, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics) |
|
|
'The car of the perpetual future'
The Economist agrees with me on hydrogen |
Joseph Romm |
14 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| When the world's uber-centrist magazine of choice runs a headline almost identical to mine, you know it's all over. Especially when one of that magazine's leading energy columnists, Vijay Vaitheeswaran, used to sing that technology's praises (here). Here's the bottom line: But the promise of hydrogen-powered personal transport seems as elusive as ever. The non-emergence of hydrogen cars over the past decade is particularly notable since hydrogen power has been a ... |
|
| Topics: cars, energy, green living, hydrogen (all these topics) |
|
|
|
©2008. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Gloom and doom with a sense of humor®.