2012 Chevrolet Volt with Low Emissions Package Granted Access to California's HOV Lanes

In order to encourage carpooling and decrease traffic congestion, the State of California came up with the idea of creating the so-called High Occupancy Vehicle lanes or HOV for short, which could only be used by cars with two or more occupants.

Last July, however, the Golden State altered the regulations allowing single-passenger vehicles to use them as well, provided they were all-electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells or natural gas.

Despite being a hybrid, the Volt was excluded from the list specifying the vehicles allowed to use the HOV lanes, which span more than 1,400 miles and reduce driving time by an average of 36 minutes each day, because of its emissions.

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Man Proves to Newt Gingrich that You Can Put a Gun Rack in a Chevy Volt

It's amazing how fast people react these days. While campaigning in Suwanee, Georgia, a couple of days ago, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama on his plans to increase subsidies for alternative fuel-powered cars.

Gingrich started by making fun of the green car lobby. "How dare we go out and drive vehicles bigger than their bicycles!" said the former House Speaker before he aimed his guns on the Chevrolet Volt.

"You know the Volt is an interesting experimental car," said Gingrich. "The average family that buys it earns $170,000 a year. This is Obama's idea of populism. And in this new budget he wants to increase the amount given to every Volt buyer to $10,000. Which is an amount which a lot of people would by a decent second-hand car, but it wouldn't be an 'Obama' car."

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U.S. Government wants to Increase Clean Car Federal Tax Credits to $10,000

President Barack Obama is determined to make cars in the U.S. as clean as possible. After reaching an agreement with major manufacturers about the 54.5 mpg CAFE target set for 2025, he now plans to increase the federal income tax credit for alternative fuel-powered cars.

The proposal, which is included in the 2013 budget, raises the maximum credit by as much as US$2,500 for certain plug-in models. Currently, the maximum tax credit is US$7,500.

Under the provision, vehicles with a MSRP of US$45,000 and above would received up to US$7,500, while models below that price would be eligible for the full US$10,000 credit.

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Japan Opens New 1.6 Mile-Long “Dinosaur Bridge” to Reduce Tokyo’s Traffic Jams

Tokyo was one of the cities bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympics. It eventually lost to Rio de Janeiro, yet the infrastructure that was created in order to boost its chances of hosting the Games is proving worth the investment.

One such example is the four-lane, 1.6-mile (2.6 km) Tokyo Gate Bridge. Nicknamed "Dinosaur Bridge" due to its unusual shape, it will open this weekend to vehicles after a decade of construction.

According to Bloomberg News, the so-called Dino Bridge cost 113 billion yen (US$1.45 billion), but the Japanese government expects it to yield 19 billion yen (US$246 million) annually, carrying 32,000 vehicles each day between the capital and a man-made island where a new container terminal is being built.

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Study Shows that New U.S. Market Vehicle's Fuel Economy Improved by 14 Percent from 2008-2012MY

While President Obama’s initiative for a significant reduction in vehicles’ fuel consumption and CO2 emissions may sound very ambitious to some, a new study by the University of Michigan Transport Research Institute shows that car manufacturers have managed to improve their new cars’ fuel economy by 3 mpg in the last four years.

If this doesn’t sound a lot, then consider that according to the study, the average fuel economy of all 2012MY light vehicles available on the U.S. market is 21.5 mpg US (10.9lt/100km). That's a far cry from the 54.5 mpg US (4.3lt/100km) target set for 2025, but still an impressive 14 percent up or +3.0mpg from 2008MY’s average of 18.9 mpg US (12.5lt/100km).

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Non-U.S. Automakers Displeased After President Obama Snubs Them at Washington Auto Show

On Tuesday, January 31, U.S. President Barack Obama’s schedule included a visit to the 2012 Washington Auto Show. The White House informed automakers on a two days’ notice to bring their most fuel-efficient models to the show.

Naturally, they obliged. For example, Honda flew in the FCX Clarity from California, Kia brought the Optima hybrid and Mercedes-Benz a fuel-cell car. Carmakers also brought along their top brass to discuss green technologies with the President.

As Bloomberg reports, the problem is that Obama, who had half an hour in his disposal, ignored foreign manufacturers.

Instead, he spent most of his time with domestic brands, posing for the press with the Dodge Dart, the Chevrolet Malibu, the Ford C-MAX Energi, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and the Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (not pretty fuel efficient those two, by the way…).

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California wants 1.4 Million Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2025; Manufacturers Agree, Dealers Object

The state of California has been at the forefront of the nation’s regulations when it comes to reducing emissions since the 1970s. And now it has taken another step in this direction by approving the Advanced Clean Car program.

It is a set of regulations that aims to reduce emissions and, among other things, requires 15.4 percent of all new vehicles that will be sold by 2025 to be all-electric, plug-in hybrids or powered by fuel cells.

By implementing this program, California regulators wish to reduce passenger vehicles emissions by 34 percent between 2014 and 2015, and overall smog-forming emissions by 75 percent. It’s a goal similar to the federal standards proposed by President Obama.

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Toyota Prius Joins Berlin's Eco Fleet of Police Cars

Toyota is participating in the Berlin Police force's efforts to go green by providing an initial batch of three Prius hybrids for its "Initiative 120" program that calls for the use of alternative fuel and low CO2 emission cars.

In the first phase of "Initiative 120", the Berlin police will use a total of eleven vehicles that also include two examples of each of these models: the Opel Ampera extended range EV, the Renault Fluence sedan Z.E and Kangoo Van Z.E., and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV hatchback.

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Norwegian Firm Converts Ferrari FF into a Bio-Ethanol Supercar

Bio-ethanol E85 (up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) conversions are nothing new in the auto industry but you don't see it happening everyday on brand new supercars of the likes of the Ferrari FF, which is why this project caught our attention.

According to the reports, the conversion to allow the Ferrari's V12 engine to run on E85 fuel comes from Norwegian firm Customized.no and it costs just €1,500 or nearly US$2,000.

On regular fuel, the 6.3-liter lump delivers 660PS (651bhp) emitting 360 gr/km of CO2 emissions and accelerating the FF from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in 3.7 seconds.

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Volkswagen Pushes for Greener Plants by 2018

Thinking “green” is the latest mantra repeated over and over again by all car manufacturers. The most usual way of displaying their environmentally conscious approach is to advertise their vehicles' low CO2 emissions.

Volkswagen, while still selling and developing greener cars, is also implementing a new “Think Blue. Factory.” initiative that aims to make its product plants more environmentally friendly.

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Government Lets Tax Breaks Expire Just when EVs and Plug-in Hybrids Are Increasing in Numbers

The U.S. government has pushed automakers hard on the issue of reducing their fleets average fuel consumption and CO2 emissions – and even though it made some concessions, it eventually won their support.

What’s surprising is the fact that during a time that many plug-in hybrid or pure electrical vehicles are ready to enter the North American market, the government has decided to let the tax credit for installing home as well as commercial charging equipment expire on Sunday, January 1, 2012.

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Tokyo Motor Show: Tiny Daihatsu Pico EV Concept [Updated]

The third Daihatsu concept model that made it to this year's edition of the Tokyo Motor Show is the PICO, a futuristic proposal for a diminutive two-seater EV commuter positioned between small cars and motorcycles.

At 2,400mm long, 1,000mm wide and 1,530mm tall with a wheelbase of 1,830mm, the Daihatsu concept is much smaller than the Smart Fortwo, yet it has space for two passengers sitting in tandem-style.

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New Toyota FCV-R Fuel-Cell Concept Heading for Production in 2015 [Updated]

Toyota's conceptual products at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show are a bit more than crowd pleasers as both the FT-EV III mini and the FCV-R study pictured here, are slated to enter production.

The FCV-R is a next-generation fuel-cell concept model fueled by hydrogen that Toyota says is planned for launch in 2015.

According to the Japanese automaker, the fuel-cell unit is located beneath the specially designed body thus saving space with the concept being able to accommodate up to four passengers and their luggage.

The next generation fuel cell stack consists of a 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen tank, which said to provide a driving range of approximately 700 km or about 435 miles.

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Chevy’s Low Emissions Package Gives 2012 Volt Access to California’s HOV Lanes

The state of California has more than 1,400 miles of High Occupancy Vehicle, or HOV, lanes. Initially, only vehicles with two or more occupants could use them, in order to minimize congestion. However, as low-emission vehicles became more common, the Golden State recently changed the regulations, allowing them to use the HOV lanes in order to widen their appeal to buyers.

"HOV lane access is a coveted perk in California,” said Chris Perry, vice president of Global Chevrolet Marketing. Despite being an extended-range hybrid, the Volt didn’t qualify for one of the 40,000 HOV stickers that are only available California Enhanced, Advanced Technology – Partial Zero Emissions Vehicles."

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Jay Leno and Other Volt Owners Drive 10,000 Miles without Using a Drop of Gas

Sales of the Volt have been picking up lately with GM’s extended-range EV outselling one of its main rivals, the Nissan Leaf, for the very first time in October. Famous car nut Jay Leno, though, is an early adopter and he got his own Volt in December of 2010.

The host of “The Tonight Show” says he has covered more than 10,000 miles without ever visiting a gas station. Yes, you read that correctly: Leno is still driving on the same tank of fuel his Volt had 11 months ago.

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Seat Unveils New Pure Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Prototypes

Seat has introduced two new eco-friendly prototype models, the Altea XL Electric Ecomotive, which is an all-electric zero-emission version of its mid-size MPV, and the Leon TwinDrive Ecomotive, a plug-in hybrid variant of its C-segment hatchback.

A test fleet of the two models, which are still in prototype form, will be made available to Catalonia and Madrid government institutions in order to gather valuable information about real-world usage of the cars before moving on to mass production versions

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Drive it, Don't Wear it: Daihatsu FC Sho Case Fuel Cell Concept

Daihatsu's Tokyo Motor Show lineup of tiny concept models is growing with the addition of the FC Sho Case study seen in these pictures.

The Japanese company says it's an extremely compact and eco-friendly proposal that employs a next-generation unit equipped with liquid fuel cells that contain no precious metals.

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Toyota Plans to Sell a €100,000 Fuel Cell Car in Europe by 2015

[2007 Toyota Hybrid X Concept pictured above]

There’s no doubt that Toyota, with its Prius, is the carmaker that made hybrid cars an everyday word in our vocabulary. Granted, other companies like Honda with its first, odd-looking Insight, offered their own models, but it was the best-selling Prius that made hybrid cars popular to the masses.

As emission regulations become tougher though, even Toyota is looking for ways to offer even “greener” cars. All-electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf are one option. But Toyota wants to go the extra mile and launch a new fuel cell model in Europe by 2015.

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Audi Launches A1 e-tron Trial Program in Munich

The first examples of Audi's A1 e-tron gasoline-electric hybrid project car hit the streets of Munich today as the German company in cooperation with E.ON and the public utility Stadtwerke Munchen and Technise Universitat Muncher initiated the trial program.

Audi has provided a fleet of 20 extended-range A1 e-tron electric vehicles, while E.ON and SWM have installed charging infrastructure both within the city limits and in surrounding areas.

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Volvo Takes Pride in Reducing its CO2 Emissions the Most Among European Manufacturers

According to the data collected from the European Federation for Transport and Environment for its annual analysis, the European car manufacturer that has managed the greatest reduction in average CO2 emissions across its range in 2010 is Volvo.

The study shows that last year, Europe’s eight biggest automakers reduced their average CO2 emissions by 2 to 6 percent. Volvo, on the other hand, managed a 9 percent reduction topping the relative charts thanks to models such as the 99 g/km V50 DRIVe and the 119 g/km V70 DRIVe.

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