Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
Adjectives like lightweight, mid-engine and rear wheel drive usually equal a performance car. In the case of the Toyota 1/X concept, that would be an apt description, but not in the traditional sense of the word. Pronounced 1/Xth and weighing just 926 lbs., the car is literally a third of the weight of Toyota's current green car standard, the Prius. Featuring a 500cc engine plus hybrid electric motor with plug-in capability, the acceleration is probably good enough, while the fuel mileage and electric-only cruising range are likely superb. The low weight is made possible by the extensive use of carbon fiber reinforced plastic -- the same thing that race cars are molded from. Unfortunately, no real specifications are provided, so we don't know what kind of battery is used, how long the car can go on a charge or what the average fuel mileage equivalent might be. But, the 1/X can be plugged into an outlet and seat four occupants, so it's got the green commuter car requirements on straight lock-down.
The styling of the vehicle is very... um, distinctive, and like the Prius, the 1/X won't be mistaken for anything else. Hey, it's worked for Toyota before, so why not try it again?
The Wall Street Journal just wrote an article asking if coupes are making a come back. Coupes are small, two seat cars (sometimes 2+2). Over the summer, the Journal told us that the last 12 months made up the "year of the crossover." Crossover vehicles are an SUV's body styling on a car frame. Today, I read in the USA Today, car makers are putting cars on a diet, using lighter materials for example. In a recent interview, GM exec Gary White reminisces on the good ol' days of SUVs. Gary said "it was a wild ride there for a while. It was pretty amazing."
What's going on here? Is the SUV dead? Can Americans even fit into small cars?
Toyota and Honda topped the corporate fleet average fuel economy for the 2007 model year and Honda has been at or near the top of the industry for much of the past three decades, along with Hyundai. Volkswagen has been right up there, especially in years when they have offered lots of diesels. However, looking at the graph above it becomes clear that the band covering all the major car-makers has been converging over time. While those companies that have led still have high mileage vehicles, their average has been trending downward as they expand their vehicle lineups.
Honda has added vehicles like the Pilot, Odyssey and Ridgeline. Hyundai has introduced several crossovers, including the Veracruz in 2007, and it seems like Toyota adds a new SUV or CUV almost every month. The foreign brands have indeed led the domestics in fleet average. However if the comparisons are done on a like-vehicle basis, the domestics look much better. GM and Toyota vehicles in the 2,750-3,000 pound class had been pretty much equivalent over time until the introduction of the Prius and, when comparing non-hybrids, the comparison is still pretty even. In all weight classes, the like vehicles get pretty similar results. So if the domestics could just sell more smaller cars, the overall fleet band would tighten up even more.
Sometimes you have to step away from the daily updates and take a peek at the larger "domestic and global fuels supply situation.' If you're the DOE Task Force on Strategic Unconventional Fuelthat just released a three-volume report on exactly that matter, you'll discover that the "outlook is urgent." The good news is that efficiency gains and other "alternatives" will help reduce the need for oil imports in the coming decades. The task force's "alternatives" to importing oil include: shale oil, heavy crude, tar sands, coal-to-liquids and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using captured carbon dioxide. Remember, this is a military-based "strategic" fuel document here.
And, as The Energy Blog points out, the report says: "Aggressive development by private industry, and encouraged by government, could supply all of the Department of Defense's domestic fuels demand by 2016, and supply upwards of 7 million barrels per day of domestically produced liquid fuels to domestic markets by 2035." My question, what about the DoD's foreign fuel demand? The U.S. military uses around 312 million barrels of petroleum a day (2006 figure). [UPDATE: that's what the EV World post says, but as you've pointed out in the comments, it can't be right. Daily world petroleum consumption is "just" 84.5 million barrels a day.]
The details, with graphs and analysis, can be found at EV World.
Presidential hopeful John McCain went to car-maker-city Detroit and told them they must support higher fuel efficiency standards. John says it's a national security issue and we must be leaders on green technology. John even joked he drinks a glass of ethanol every day. Here are some quotes:
"We need to work together to increase CAFÉ standards to a level that is practical and achievable for all new vehicles."
"My friends, it's a national security issue."
"We can't keep up this level of gas guzzling."
"I'm all for ethanol, I drink a glass of ethanol every morning."
"We need to be at the cutting edge of green technologies because 95 percent of the world's customers live outside the U.S."
Recently, when John was asked what he has done on a personal level to fight global warming, he said he bought a Prius for his daughter. John had a little trouble pronouncing the word Prius however. Here are the quotes:
Miles Automotive announced that they are teaming up with the environmental web site No Gas Required on a video competition for college and university students. Based on the description on the website it appears that entrants should create a video to promote electric vehicles and how they can help the environment. Students can submit their videos to the No Gas Required site and they will put them on YouTube. The top five most-viewed videos will earn their creators $1,000 cash scholarships and a Miles electric car for their campus.
Sure, corn farmers and ethanol producers are very keen to see that you always have E85 available to you when you go to fill up your car. 2008 just might be the year when we do stop noticing E85 pumps because they will be everywhere. Next year's possible E85 explosion will not only come from a large supply of ethanol, but because of new pumps (this is something we've mentioned before).
Steve Tarter, writing in the Peoria Journal Star, explains that certification of ethanol pumps by Underwriters Laboratories is expected by the end of 2007. Once that happens, watch out. Mark Lambert, the Illinois Corn Marketing Board's marketing director, said that the official UL seal opens the door to many more stores to sell the biofuel. "We're not just looking at the Mom and Pop stores but chains like Wal-Mart that could add 300 E85 outlets at one time," he told Tarter.
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bill called the Biodiesel Promotion and Quality Assurance Act of 2007 back in June. As should be pretty obvious from the title, the bill looks to make biodiesel more available and better quality. So far, the bill hasn't gotten very far, but now House of Representatives is starting up a biodiesel debate.
Just in time, the National Biodiesel Board is happy to support bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Representatives Baron Hill (D-Ind.,) John Shimkus (R-Ill.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), and Sam Graves (R-Mo.), that would "create a stable domestic market for biodiesel" (read the NBB's PDF).
The law would set a minimum annual biodiesel usage requirement of 450 million gallons next year all the way up to 1.25 billion gallons in 2012.
Finally, I have video evidence that I am not the only person who will do nearly anything to get out of actually having to mow my lawn! In this video, we see an electric "tractor" which is able to mow grass, pull children in parades and perform other tractor-like services all with zero emissions. In a nod to total geekdom, and another reason why this device speaks to me, is the fact that the tractor goes about all of its work without somebody riding on it. The "earth tractor", as it's called, is radio controlled. Fortunately for us, this tractor does not have a mind of its own, allowing it to band together with its other electric tractor buddies in a bid to take over all the lawns of the world. So, we're safe... at least for now.
We know that car sharing is becoming more and more popular around the world, but who knew so many cities were trying to be the next first thing when it comes to bike sharing? Is there some sort of bicycle primary coming up, and the earlier these cities get on board, the better off they think they'll be? (Sorry, that comment will only make sense if you follow U.S. politics).
In any case, San Francisco just announced that it would try and get Clear Channel to help start bike sharing in that town and now we find that Montreal is also working on a "self-serve bicycle rental project." Both cities can learn something from how bike sharing is being done in Paris.
According to the Montreal Gazette, Montreal wants to be the first city in North America to set up a large-scale bike sharing service. That means getting it fully operational by late 2009, with the first bike stations available in about a year. Numbers? 2,400 bikes at 300 stations for around $1CDN a half hour. Overall project cost is around $15 million, but the hope is for it to be self-financing at some point. An added bonus (or an added trouble, depending) is that the more bikes there are, the slower cars will have to drive, according to lobbyist Suzanne Lareau of Vélo Québec. Hey, it's critical mass, North America.
Watch out for the new "supermeters" which are being installed in Eastbourne in East Sussex, UK. These meters can phone home when they detect that somebody is trying to damage one or if they sense that they need servicing. Perhaps most importantly for the safety of the meter are the calls home to be emptied of their cash.
Sure, all of those features are good for the meter's own safety, but why are they here on AutoblogGreen? That would be because they are solar powered. Why not? The meters sit outside all day anyway, so they might as well be collecting the energy that the sun is giving off. Solar power plus cellular calling also makes the machine wireless, which allows them to be placed wherever necessary and cuts down on unsightly and not-so-environmentally friendly cables.
This past week's MPG Marathon proved once again that, with a few technical improvements and careful driving, average vehicles can get some pretty impressive mileage figures. We saw a Chevy Captiva 1.6-litre HDi 110hp SE 308 bested its own published figures by almost 20 percent to reach 71.92 mpg. Before the race, Peugeot was saying the 308 would get upwards of 60 mpg, but didn't hype it further than that.
For it's performance, the Peugeot 308 was named the most economical family-sized car in the 2007 MPG Marathon. With a wink, Peugeot says, "The car finished sixth overall, only just behind other smaller and less powerful cars." So take that, you little winners.
Before the new Saturn Astra officially goes on sale in January, GM's Euro-American division is conducting a promotional road show with the new compact. The Astra test drive program kicks off this weekend in San Francisco before making its way to Miami in mid-December. At each stop, GM will be setting up a course where people can get in and get a feel for the Astra. Anyone who is interested in trying one out should go to the Astra website and click on the "Rethink the Test Drive" link. From their you can find out when and where the tour will be nearby and schedule a drive.
Here's the deal: ethanol is not the only reason that the average price of a bowl of cereal and milk is moving from 44 cents last year to 49 cents this year to an expected 56 cents next year. But, as AP writer Lauren Villagran explains, a weak U.S. dollar, high fuel prices and China's growing economy don't hide the fact that the rapid increase in corn ethanol production is affecting people at the grocery store. And so, the "worst bout of food inflation since 1990" does have something to do with all those millions of gallons of etahnol. And are you ready for this tidbit: "China will import almost 50 percent of the world's oilseeds within a decade, becoming the world's largest importer, according to estimates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development." That will affect food and biofuels, no doubt. The upshot of Villagran's article is that these prices are part of a complex, global issue. Will it follow that more people will demand high-efficiency, low-liquid-fuel-using cars pronto? Or will Americans just buy steak less often?
The second-generation Scion xB grew substantially in size and weight when it debuted a few months ago. The original was based on the previous-generation Toyota Yaris platform and used the 1.5L engine from that car. The new one comes with a much more powerful and less-efficient 2.4L four cylinder. Toyota has just launched a version of this same car in the Japanese domestic market as the Corolla Rumion.
The Rumion gets a choice of smaller 1.5L and 1.8L engines along with the possibility of all-wheel drive. Unlike the US market xB, which is stuck with the option of five-speed manual or four-speed automatic, the Rumion gets a CVT or seven speed sequential semi-automatic. The 1.5L version is rated at 38.1 mpg on the Japanese test cycle while five-speed xB only gets 22/28 mpg from the EPA. Even the 1.8L front wheel drive model manages 36.2 mpg. If Toyota is really serious about environmental credibility, why aren't they offering something similar in the US market? Clearly the performance wouldn't be as good but it would sure go a long way toward demonstrating what US car buyers actually want. More details on the Rumion are available in the Toyota press release after the jump.
The second-generation 
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