Honda has had a long legacy in racing, from its early days racing motorcycles to its recent success as an engine supplier to other top-teir racing teams. However, last year Honda ended it’s relatively short-lived F1 team under cost-cutting pressures brought on by the larger downturn in the automotive industry.

Now, Honda has taken that team of 400 engineers and put them back to work squeezing every last ounce of efficiency out of their passenger vehicles. As investment fund manager Masayuki Kubota told Bloomberg:

“Automakers that are able to spare their resources for advanced and environmental technologies will eventually become the winners at a time when one breakthrough technology will make a huge difference.”

In recent years, Honda has made a name for it’s by rejecting may of the current trends in environmental engineering like plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Instead, Honda has been working hard on perfecting it’s market-leading fuel cell technology and redoubling efforts to improve the internal combustion engine (ICE).

Most companies act as if they have given up on the ICE, but according to Honda the ICE will remain the dominant form of propulsion for the next several decades. Even if Japan, America, and Europe phase out the ICE relatively quickly, emerging markets in India and China will rely on cheaper ICE technology for decades to come, making efficiency gains important to a long-term, global approach.

Honda has clearly put most of their eggs in the ICE basket and only time will tell if it pays off. Either way, Honda is certainly putting its best foot forward in accomplishing its goal.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEy7DidnKeg

When the Scion debuted its iQ Concept at the New York International Auto Show, there was no solid word on when or if the car would be coming to the United States. The early word is that the car, which has already been successful in Japan and Europe, would come to North America in 2011 as a 2012 under the Scion brand, which would certainly give Scion some time to create larger customization options for the car to better fit their brand image.

Now the news is that the iQ could be coming to the U.S. even sooner. Given the recent success and expansion of SmartUSA, Toyota might have its sights set on the fortwo’s market niche with the iQ. Given Toyota’s superb brand-recognition and dealership network, it could easily give Smart a run for its money and reach even more potential buyers. Here’s hoping!

The Fit and Yaris have been dueling hatchbacks for years now, but it looks like they might soon become dueling hybrids. Rumors of both popular cars becoming hybrids have come and gone over the last few years, but it looks like it will stick this time for both of them. Especially now that sedans like the Civic and Corolla are much less popular at home in Japan than their hatchback counterparts.

Yaris rumors report that the vehicle could cost less than $16,000 in hybrid form and get up to 94 mpg in Japan’s urban driving cycle. As impressive as that sounds, it would probably only mean ~50mpg in the EPA test cycle. Nevertheless, you can anticipate the sales of vehicle carrying the Prius’s epic clout and a low price tag.

The Fit hybrid has been talked about for a lot longer, but it looks like that vehicle might come true as early as 2010. Less is known about the theoretical fuel economy of a Fit hybrid, but one would expect similar numbers to a Yaris hybrid unless Honda continues with it’s mild-hybrid IMA system into a new generation of hybrid vehicles.

Here’s hoping the rumor mill is more productive this time around!

For the last couple days, GM has been trying to drum up a little press surrounding the number 230 for a surprise announcement. As you can see above, the “0″ in 230 is a plug, which makes sense considering the announcement was about the fuel economy capabilities of the upcoming Chevy Volt.

Nothing has changed about the Volt in recent history, but the big number comes from changes in the EPA’s plug-in electric vehicle rating system. The new system, which isn’t official yet, credits the Volt for what would be almost entirely electric-only use during normal city driving:

Under the new methodology being developed, EPA weights plug-in electric vehicles as traveling more city miles than highway miles on only electricity. The EPA methodology uses kilowatt hours per 100 miles traveled to define the electrical efficiency of plug-ins. Applying EPA’s methodology, GM expects the Volt to consume as little as 25 kilowatt hours per 100 miles in city driving. At the U.S. average cost of electricity (approximately 11 cents per kWh), a typical Volt driver would pay about $2.75 for electricity to travel 100 miles, or less than 3 cents per mile.

In a nutshell, semantics. The number relies on consumers consistently plugging their vehicle and getting a full charge each time. Also, this says nothing of the highway mileage for the vehicle, though it’s said the Volt will be weighted more for city driving than highway because of its plug-in capability. While this may generate a more impressive number, it doesn’t give much confidence in the vehicle for use in extended driving.

So, until the actual combined number comes from the EPA, we won’t really know what the Volt’s fuel economy is like, and even then, it will likely be very hard for any of us to make an accurate comparison with another vehicle.

Read the full press release after the break.

PRESS RELEASE:

Chevrolet Volt Expects 230 mpg in City Driving

* First mass-produced vehicle to claim more than 100 mpg composite fuel economy
* Tentative EPA methodology results show 25 kilowatt hours/100 miles electrical efficiency in city cycle
* Plugging in daily is key to high-mileage performance

WARREN, Mich. – The Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle is expected to achieve city fuel economy of at least 230 miles per gallon, based on development testing using a draft EPA federal fuel economy methodology for labeling for plug-in electric vehicles.

The Volt, which is scheduled to start production in late 2010 as a 2011 model, is expected to travel up to 40 miles on electricity from a single battery charge and be able to extend its overall range to more than 300 miles with its flex fuel-powered engine-generator.

“From the data we’ve seen, many Chevy Volt drivers may be able to be in pure electric mode on a daily basis without having to use any gas,” said GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson. “EPA labels are a yardstick for customers to compare the fuel efficiency of vehicles. So, a vehicle like the Volt that achieves a composite triple-digit fuel economy is a game-changer.”

According to U.S. Department of Transportation data, nearly eight of 10 Americans commute fewer than 40 miles a day http://tinyurl.com/U-S-DOTStudy .

“The key to high-mileage performance is for a Volt driver to plug into the electric grid at least once each day,” Henderson said.

Volt drivers’ actual gas-free mileage will vary depending on how far they travel and other factors, such as how much cargo or how many passengers they carry and how much the air conditioner or other accessories are used. Based on the results of unofficial development testing of pre-production prototypes, the Volt has achieved 40 miles of electric-only, petroleum-free driving in both EPA city and highway test cycles.

Under the new methodology being developed, EPA weights plug-in electric vehicles as traveling more city miles than highway miles on only electricity. The EPA methodology uses kilowatt hours per 100 miles traveled to define the electrical efficiency of plug-ins. Applying EPA’s methodology, GM expects the Volt to consume as little as 25 kilowatt hours per 100 miles in city driving. At the U.S. average cost of electricity (approximately 11 cents per kWh), a typical Volt driver would pay about $2.75 for electricity to travel 100 miles, or less than 3 cents per mile.

The Chevrolet Volt uses grid electricity as its primary source of energy to propel the car. There are two modes of operation: Electric and Extended-Range. In electric mode, the Volt will not use gasoline or produce tailpipe emissions when driving. During this primary mode of operation, the Volt is powered by electrical energy stored in its 16 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

When the battery reaches a minimum state of charge, the Volt automatically switches to Extended-Range mode. In this secondary mode of operation, an engine-generator produces electricity to power the vehicle. The energy stored in the battery supplements the engine-generator when additional power is needed during heavy accelerations or on steep inclines.

“The 230 city mpg number is a great indication of the capabilities of the Volt’s electric propulsion system and its ability to displace gasoline,” said Frank Weber, global vehicle line executive for the Volt. “Actual testing with production vehicles will occur next year closer to vehicle launch. However, we are very encouraged by this development, and we also think that it is important to continue to share our findings in real time, as we have with other aspects of the Volt’s development.”

About Chevrolet
Chevrolet is one of America ‘s best-known and best-selling automotive brands, and one of the fastest growing brands in the world. With fuel solutions that go from “gas-friendly to gas-free,” Chevy has nine models that get 30 miles per gallon or more on the highway, and offers three hybrid models. More than 2.5 million Chevrolets that run on E85 biofuel have been sold. Chevy delivers expressive design, spirited performance and provides the best value in every segment in which it competes. More information on Chevrolet can be found at www.chevrolet.com. For more information on the Volt, visit http://media.gm.com/volt/.

General Motors Company, one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 235,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. More information on the new General Motors Company can be found at www.gm.com.

It’s certainly a mixed bag of news for many of us, but the government’s “cash for clunks” rebate program has gotten an infusion of new cash and will be up and running through at least the end of the month.

As we recently posted, the program ran out of its first billion after its first week in operation. So, despite all the recent hub-bub around government spending and meddling with the auto industry, they’ve still managed to rush another huge junk of government money out to the aide of an ailing auto industry.

The rush to spend more money on the program, however, didn’t have anything to do with evaluating how successful it has been, either in terms  of environmental impact or stimulating sales. However, early evidence suggests that the dealerships and auto manufacturers are going to be the big beneficiaries in all this.

So, if you were planning on buying a new car and through you might be out of luck, fear not, there will be funds available for at least another few weeks.

With nearly 3000 vehicles in the EcoModder garage, most of them logging data for over a year, we decided it was time to crunch some numbers to see how EcoModders stacked up in terms of real fuel savings.

Well, the numbers are in. The average EcoModder gets 33.12 MPG, which is just a hair over 25% above the vehicle EPA ratings (at time of writing). This means that since joining the site, our members have saved over 65,000 gallons of gasoline when compared to the EPA ratings.

It’s not surprising that certain drivers can easily beat the EPA, but it is encouraging to know that thousands of drivers working together can consistently get fuel economy well above the EPA rating.

It seems the popular CARS program, which was designed to run out when its $950 million funding ran out is almost out of money. The decision to suspend the program will probably come as a surprise to many consumers who were being more careful about thinking over their purchase, but evidently it is a result of the slow turnover from dealerships to the government in processing rebates.

The government has only processed about $100 million in rebates thus far, but it expects that a far greater amount have already been handed out by dealerships, perhaps already exceeding the government funding. The problem is a slow rebate turnover between the dealerships and the government.

As of right now the program is only being suspended. Once the government knows exactly how much money it has spent and whether or not it can get more funding for the program it will decide whether to completely end or re-start the rebate program.

The program was originally supposed to run until November 1st, but it’s clear now that that won’t be happening. This will probably disappoint a lot of people hoping to trade in their clunkers, but hopefully the situation is not as dire as it currently seems.

Source: ABG

Though they would have us believe otherwise, in truth the team has been kicked out for failing to completely fill out the registration. The HP2G team is claiming that they left in the latest phases in order to bring their technology to the public in a time of need.

However, that doesn’t jive with the official report from the X-Prize foundation. Nor does it make sense that they would wait all these years to be discredited in the public sphere before rushing to make things public.

Here is the official word from the X-Prize Foundation:

HP2g put out a release last night claiming withdrawal from the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE as well as making some unsubstantiated allegations. I’d like an opportunity to set the record straight:

As you recall, HP2g was one of over 120 teams that entered the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE non-binding Letter of Intent program. While Mr. Pelmear states in his release that HP2G voluntarily withdrew from the competition, HP2g actually did not complete the full Registration Application prior to the deadline and was therefore rejected as a Registered Team.

Hopefully this will end some of the chatter around the car, which has nothing but the false claim of 110+ MPG, which is arrived at if you only count the gasoline portion of E85 and not all the ethanol that the car burns.

What would you say about using “cooked” chicken feathers to store hydrogen very efficiently?  How about using chicken feathers as carbon fiber reinforcement in things like wind turbine blades?

The answer to both questions is — yes you can!

Science Friday: “Hydrogen Storage in Chicken Feathers?”

Researchers say they’ve come up with a new material for storing hydrogen fuel — carbonized chicken feathers. Speaking this week at at the 13th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference in College Park, MD, researchers said that carbonized chicken feathers could absorb as much or perhaps more hydrogen than other materials for hydrogen storage, including carbon nanotubes or metal hydrides, at a much lower cost.

Link to podcast

Here’s another source:  Happy News

While I’m on the subject of Science Friday, the second segment in today’s show was also very interesting; talking about the enormous potential for wind power to far exceed all our needs.

Science Friday: Wind Energy Potential

Link to podcast

Image source: Just chaos

Everyone knows the Smart Fortwo as the tiny, fuel-efficient car you see around cities and parked the wrong direction on crowded streets. However, a lot of people have always felt the car’s Achilles heal was the price tag. With the new “Cash for Clunkers” rebate program, anyone able to trade in will be able to get $4,500 towards the purchase of a new Smart Fortwo, which will put the car within the reach of many people.

However, smart USA has decided to sweeten the pot by offering payments as low as $99/month for recipients of a “cash for clunkers” rebate, which may be the perfect opportunity for interested buyers to get behind the wheel of a Smart. If you are on the bubble because of fuel economy, check out our review where the Smart Fortwo got 45.9 mpg.

As more details come out, we will keep you posted.

It seems like every day there are new headlines about automakers closing plants, losing sales, and shutting down dealerships. Still, about every other day, we here about another new economy car breaking even optimistic sales targets and getting huge amounts of pre-orders.

In the case of the 2010 VW Polo that certainly makes sense. Back when the VW Polo was still on sale in Europe is was easily one of the most desirable cars in the world. It was ahead of its time with great diesel fuel economy, a start-stop system, and overall attention to economy first and everything else second.

Unfortunately VW kicked it out of the lineup, but like so many other cars these days (think Insight, Fiesta…) it is making a comeback to combat fuel prices and dwindling crude supplies.

To that end VW has already secured 13,000 pre-orders for the new Polo, which will come with 7 different engine options and a 7-speed DSG transmission. The BlueMotion version is the most fuel efficient model and was rated at 62 mpg (US) in the European test cycle.

Source: ABG

When Honda first unleashed the Insight on Japan we knew that the Insight was going to be selling really well. Now we have confirmation: the Honda Insight is Japan’s best-selling car. As the first hybrid to ever take that honor, this is groundbreaking stuff for Honda and the Japanese auto industry.

The Honda Insight was #1 in the month of April, selling a total of 10,481 units. In March, when the car started to sell in the country it finished in the #21 spot. Now we just need to see if Insight sales stay strong and can compete with the 3rd generation Toyota Prius.

For reference, Honda was hoping to sell about 5,000 units a month in Japan and 200,000 a year worldwide. At this pace, Honda would more than double its Japanese sales goal by selling over 120,000 units in their domestic market alone.

Source: Treehugger

There aren’t that many 3 cylinders on the market right now. Fact is, if you think of 3 cylinder engines, you’re probably thinking of the old, discontinued Geo Metro. Now it looks like BMW is willing to try to reinvent the image of the 3 cylinder, though it’s debatable if they will offer the engine option in the US.

According to a UK publication, BMW is working on a 1.35 liter 3 cylinder engine for use in its 1 Series, 3 Series, and Z2 Roadster. These 3 cylinders would not be lethargic, offering at least 163 hp and 140 ft-lbs of torque.

Who knows if this will become reality or not. It seems like a strange step to take for the German automaker, but if they can really squeeze 163 hp out of a little 3 cylinder the engines might make a good fit for their smallest cars.

After Mercedes released it’s E Class sedan with an industry leading drag coefficient of .24 (above) it was no big secret that the luxury car maker was going to push the envelope of aerodynamic efficiency. Despite the association between the word “aerodynamic” and the mental image of a bug-mobile, Mercedes has proven that they can do efficiency in a classy, almost invisible way.

Now the company is saying that they want cars with drag coefficients of 0.20 and less within 5 years. This would put Mercedes in the company of vehicles like the GM EV1 (0.19 coefficient of drag) and any number of concept cars that have never made it to production.

Coefficient of drag might not have the shock value of gas mileage figures, but consider this: 50 mpg may sound good but it only goes as far as fossil fuels. A vehicle with a low coefficient of drag will be efficient no matter what is powering it. These slippery Mercedes will get better gas mileage now and better electric range in the future.

And they still look pretty freaking sweet.

Last month Tata decided that they would begin to sell their Nano by selling pre-orders for the car and then randomly choosing 100,000 of the pre-orders to actually take possession of the new vehicle.

It’s unfortunate for the company that they cannot magically produce 203,000 of the new, ultra-cheap car for the Indian market, but surely they are happy knowing that even in this global downturn they will have sold all of their vehicles well in advance for the foreseeable future.

The Tata Nano, while only being available in India for now, is sure to change the landscape of the global auto industry. This vehicle is so cheap that it will allow a whole new class of Indians to get behind the wheel, sure to cause increased traffic, vehicle fatalities, pollution, and fuel consumption that come with the other joys of car ownership.

However, no one is sure if that doomsday scenario will really play out on India’s streets, or if the people and the country will be able to deal with the flood of inexpensive cars about to hit the road.

Source: ABG

For the last few years, Honda has steadfastly looked to fuel cell technology as the answer to long-term transportation needs. However, the company has changed its tone just a bit. Just a few days ago we wrote about how Honda had realized that hybrids would play a much larger and more last role in the automotive market.

In a recent interview, company President Takeo Fukui stated that Honda was looking toward plug-in hybrid technology in the near term. While he stated the company would not be commercializing a model right away, it seems clear that Honda now wants to compete with the Chevy Volt and a possible Toyota Prius PHEV.

Why the sudden change in position? Recently, President Obama has been talking about his plans to invest a lot of money in a greener automotive industry. As of writing, Obama has mentioned plug-in hybrids multiple times without saying much of anything about hydrogen fuel cell technology. If Honda doesn’t hop on the bandwagon, they may be losing lots of federal dollars towards developing new technologies.

If you’ve ever been to Japan you have seen the streets and sidewalks covered with Honda Cubs. The ubiquitous little motorcycle has been around since it raised Honda from post-war obscurity and is currently the world’s best selling selling motored transport, ever.

Unfortunately Honda pulled the motorcycle from the United States a while ago, assuming that nobody wanted an underpowered, step-through motorcycle anymore. It’s also likely that they saw the Cub as competition for some of the companies cheaper motorcycles and scooters, which have higher profit margins.

Now Sym, a Taiwanese company that once produced the Cub for Honda, is bringing the Symba to the United States once more. The $2,600 motorcycle will cost a full thousand dollars more than a comparable Cub, but it also comes with more.

For the extra money you get a 100cc engine and a 4-speed semi-automatic transmission in addition to the cool styling of the Symba, which looks enough like a Cub I wouldn’t notice the difference if I saw one on the street.

The Symba is coming to 300 U.S. dealers and the company is currently shipping pre-orders, so if you want one, talk to Sym.

Small cars get the best gas mileage. So do hybrids. So wouldn’t a small hybrid get really good gas mileage? Something like, say, a Fiat 500 hybrid? Fiat certainly thinks it’s a good idea.

Up until now price has been the major opposition to small hybrids. Small car buyers tend to be cheap car buyers, so it has always been assumed that the “hybrid tax” would be too much for many people to buy a small hybrid car.

However, recent years have seen a resurgence of small cars with all kinds of buyers. Small cars are now a way to reduce environmental impact and not just wallet impact. This, coupled with decreasing hybrid system and battery prices, has made the small car hybrid economically viable.

When Fiat is done with their design, it will likely be coupled to their new 900cc turbocharged engine. This combination would have good torque and plenty of horsepower while delivering stellar mileage in the city.

And here’s the kicker: they plan to share the technology with Chrysler. So, even though we won’t be getting a Fiat 500 anytime soon, I’m certainly looking forward to seeing something using this technology on Chrysler’s showroom floor.

Source: Treehugger

Photo: kbass941

It’s not official yet, but it’s getting close: the United States may have its own cash for clunkers plan in the works. Notably, the United Kingdom just instituted their own cash for clunkers plan, though that plan is short term and relies on the voluntary participation of automakers.

Unlike the UK program, the two plans floating around the US legislature right now focus on getting vehicles with below average fuel economy off the roads.

Plan #1: Cash for American autos

One of the plans will offer up to $5000 to the purchase of a new car. However, there are a few pretty big catches:

• Only American cars can receive the full $5000;
• Cars manufactured elsewhere in North America will receive less;
• Foreign cars will receive nothing;
• Cars must get 27 mpg (trucks 24 mpg) to qualify.

Frankly, this plan is a bad one. Right now the Japanese and European automakers are the ones with high mileage cars ready in other markets and having the government price them out of business is not going to encourage them to sell them here. Who is going to buy the fuel-efficient Toyota Yaris when relatively inefficient Chevy Aveo costs $5000? I’m not economically conservative by anyone’s yardstick, but protecting our failing auto industry with incentives is not going to help the country in the long term.

Plan #2: Cash for inefficient vehicles

The other plan will give tax credits of up to $4,500 dollars to consumers who trade in vehicles that get less than 18 mpg and purchase vehicles that get at least 25% better mileage than the segment average.

This plan is a much better one. Instead of picking arbitrary fuel economy targets, it encourages a constant increase in fuel economy in terms of a percent above the average. This means perpetual innovation without the need to legislate every few years. Furthermore, it is the most inefficient vehicles that will benefit for higher mileage. A 25% increase in fuel economy on a full-size truck will save more than a corresponding increase on a Prius.

Seems like the European automakers are going all out on fuel economy these days. Opel has created an ecoFLEX version of their popular Insignia sedan, which due to some clever ecomodding has a low drag coefficient of 0.26 and scores a solid 45.2 MPG (US) in the European driving cycle.

ecoFLEX modifications include:

• additional panelling under the fuel tank;
• lowering the body 10 mm;
• adding a flexible front spoiler lip;
• reducing upper cooling openings;
• optimized gearing and final drive ratio on this six-gear manual transmission;
• specially-designed Michelin Primacy HP tires;
• shift recommendation dashboard display.

Definitely a solid sedan, but when will we see it on this side of the pond?

Source: TheAutoChannel from our forums