Green cars: latest news

Motorists support fines for leaving engines running

Faye Sunderland — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:49:34 +0000

Nearly half of motorists support plans to charge people for leaving their engines running unnecessarily, new research has revealed. A poll from car supermarket, Motorpoint has revealed that 47 per cent of people backed the move by North Lincolnshire Council to charge drivers £20 every time they leave their engine running for too long. Over [...]

New CR-Z smashes sales target in first month

Faye Sunderland — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:45:07 +0000

Honda has sold 8,000 models of its new CR-Z coupe hybrid model in Japan, after it went on sale just three weeks ago. According to news agency Reuters, the car maker confirmed today that it has already received around 8,000 orders for the new car-equivalent to eight times its monthly sales target. The sporty [...]

Government plans to reduce road noise pollution

Faye Sunderland — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:06:23 +0000

New evidence maps of transport noise have been drawn up to help road and rail operators decide on the best way to tackle noise pollution. The series of noise maps released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) indicate the impact of road and rail noise in the 23 largest urban areas [...]

Will green car success influence incentives? The Green Piece

Faye Sunderland — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:59:00 +0000

If every cloud has a silver lining, then apparently every silver lining has a cloud. Just as the good news came in that average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new cars in the UK had fallen by 5.4 per cent over the last 12 months (see article) representing the best year-on-year improvement since records began in [...]

Proton reveals range extended electric car series

Paul Lucas — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:12:11 +0000

The Geneva Motor Show may have closed its doors, but there was still time for another series of exciting range extended electric car concepts to be revealed. This time it was the turn of Malaysian car manufacturer Proton, which unveiled the five-door, four-seat hatchback EMAS; a three-door, five-seat hatchback EMAS Country for country driving; and a [...]

Gear up for the Green Grand Prix

Paul Lucas — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:09:51 +0000

It’s a double header for this year’s Green Grand Prix, which will offer not only a road rally but also a fuel economy competition for all classes of vehicles. Drivers of alternative fuelled cars, including hybrids and fuel-efficient petrol cars, can participate in the sixth annual event held at Watkins Green, New York. The Green Grand [...]

Avoiding the problems of low temperature combustion

Paul Lucas — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:05:46 +0000

Researchers at San Francisco State University and Sandia National Laboratory believe they have uncovered solutions to some of the problems of low temperature combustion. They have found that increased fuel volatility could play a vital role in enabling engines to employ early direct injection, low temperature combustion operating modes. Low temperature combustion includes a number of [...]

Mercedes hybrid buses put to the test

Paul Lucas — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:01:32 +0000

Two Mercedes-Benz series hybrid Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid buses are being put through their paces as part of a field test led by the Hamburger Hochbahn Transit Company. The 18-metre hybrid buses are powered in part by four electric motors that are integrated into the wheel hubs on the centre and rear axles, and have a [...]

Gateshead gains UK’s first solar-power charging station

Faye Sunderland — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:55:55 +0000

Business Minister Ian Lucas switched on the UK’s first publicly-available solar-powered electric vehicle charging point at Gateshead Civic Centre today as he visited one of the country’s leading low carbon economic area. Funded by regional development agency, One North East, the solar-powered canopy is manufactured through a partnership between solar PV producer, Romag and steel-sheet manufacturer, [...]

US authority fails to find fault in runaway Prius

Faye Sunderland — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:11:08 +0000

As Toyota receives its first US consumer protection lawsuit, the troubled carmaker can take consolation in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) failure to replicate the runaway Prius incident experienced by one Californian driver last week. Last week, we told you about James Sikes, who was travelling along a San Diego freeway when his [...]