Lotus, a well known British company, famous for its Formula 1 and Elise sports cars, designed a new taxi powered by hydrogen in order to serve London by 2012 Olympics. This new “green” car looks like any other black London taxi cab, but under its hood lies the latest hydrogen fuel cell technology. With two small electric motors to run the rear wheels, this new taxi cab does not produce any emissions and still can run for 250 miles, reaching

Kit Malthouse, London’s deputy mayor wants to build six hydrogen filling stations in the capital and he also planed to planned to bring on the city streets around 50 hydrogen powered taxis and 150 hydrogen-powered buses.

“The intent is to take the taxis and retrofit a powertrain that has zero tailpipe emissions…But also it has to deliver some very important things: a reasonable range, very quick refuelling time and no modifying the passenger or driver space.”, said Henri Winand, of Intelligent Energy.

They have explained how this hydrogen powered taxi cab works: This taxi can run using only its battery pack but it has also an other important advantage: the hydrogen fuel cell produces enough electricity to feed the battery pack under the taxi’s floor and then the batteries will drive electric motors in the wheels. Simple and efficient! “To do that with a purely battery-electric vehicle, you would have to take up most of the space at the back with batteries, where the passengers are, or certainly you would constrict that space substantially…And you’d probably have to stop halfway through the day to plug in somewhere.”, said Winand.

Hybrid Cars – The Most Popular Green Cars

After we saw Glass’s predictions for 2020, we can make a top of countries with largest green car sales:

1. Germany (26% hybrid and electric cars of total new car sales)

2. UK, France and Italy (21%)

3. Spain (20%)

The most important and most difficult thing to do in all this business, is to convince people to buy these cars. When green cars manufacturers talk too much about their batteries or about maintenance costs for their cars, most people get scared.

“One of the central issues for the vehicle manufacturers is encouraging consumer adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles, including plug-in hybrids.”, said Andy Carroll, Managing Director at Glass’s.

So, the best way to attract customers is to offer advantages to someone who buys such a car (long warranties, battery buy back programs or manufacturers leasing their batteries).

The new model dubbed E300 BlueTec, will be equiped with a twin-turbocharged 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel engine. Featuring this electric engine, the car is capable of more than 56mpg. Its hybrid components like the electric motor or the lithium ion battery pack will be similar to those of S400 hybrid model. I think E300 BlueTec will be a real success on the European market just like S400 hybrid model. Statistics show that last year in Germany S400 hybrid represented about 15% of all S-class sales. So, we hope that this new hybrid Mercedes will remain with the same great qualities as the classic E and actually we might have many chances to see this thing beacuse the firm intends to develop plug-in hybrid and electric propulsion systems at a very high technological level.

New Volkswagen Compact Coupe Hybrid was launched at Detroit and it is the only compact full hybrid of this company. It was built on the Golf/Jetta model platform. It has 4,54 m long and 1,78 m wide and the 1,4 – liter TSI propulsor produces an output of 150hp. The electric motor provides 27 hp and it can support the vechicle movement when lithium-ion batteries are fullly charged.

The car emits only 98 grams CO2/km in the atmosphere and reaches at 100 km/h in just 8,6 seconds. Top speed reaches 227km/h but the biggest advantage is the consumption of 4.2 litres/100km. With a small quantity of emissions this volkswagen is likely to replace on the road many cars that pollute the atmosphere too much. The new VW NCC wich debuts at Detroit will be painted in Tungsten Silver Metallic shades and benefits of a bi-xenon lighting system.

Looking at the picture above, I hardly managed to write few words because I couldn’t take my eyes off this impressive car. However, I had to write that Mercedes announced that they will launch as soon as possible the new S-class plug-in hybrid model, a car with a remarcable design and high efficiency on the road. Thomas Weber, said that they managed to boast a fuel efficiency of 80 mpg and emit less than 100g/km of CO2 due to weight reduction and aerodynamic improvements.

Mercedes also announced the posibility to launch an all-electric model. It’s possible that nowadays electric vehicle technology may not match with the comfort of the old S models. “It could be possible, but no!…Our customers expect a certain range and a level of comfort, safety and space; such things lead to a certain weight and that won’t mean a good [battery] range.” says Thomas Weber. This new S class will be launched together with the next generation of six and eight-cylinder petrol engines, will have direct injection and will be able of being turbocharged.

To complete their hybrid vehicle series, Mercedes has launched recently Econic model, which is actually a tractor-trailer fueled by natural gas. When natural gas is used to power such trucks, economy is combined with ecology and the results are impressive. The first Econic NGT model was delivered  to ALDI SÜD group of companies for food distribution so, in this way the company could carry large quantities of different products, with low co2 emissions and almost no particulate emissions.

This Econic tractor-trailer was chosen for this task because of its efficiency on the road, but also because it is able to reduce transport costs and at the same time able to protect the environment. For these extraordinary qualities, Econic model has received the “Blue Angel” environmental award.

As a modern vehicle, this natural gas powered truck has a high maneuverability and and is compatible with the environment so in this way is able to slip through congested urban areas, maintaining transportation costs and carbon emissions very low.

Press release: “Lower CO2 emissions versus comparable, diesel powered vehicles, CO2-neutral operation when biogas is used as a fuel, zero particulate emissions and a low noise level – all these are the ecological benefits of the Econic NGT. Power is transferred by a six-speed automatic transmission. The vehicle meets the stringent EEV emission standard (Enhanced Environmentally Friendly Vehicle), and is therefore entitled to bear the “Blue Angel” environmental emblem.”

When we talk about good cars, we always have to talk about all big German manufacturers, which continued throughout the years to launch on the market, effective and elegant cars. You may have noticed that in recent years, all the cars we know have started to “turn” into electric cars, hybrid cars or 100% environmentally friendly cars. The same thing happened in Germany, where almost all big companies have already launched on the market hybrid versions of their most popular cars. Mercedes launched few months ago the new hybrid model ML450 and now Audi announces the launch of the Q5 hybrid model which will appear on the market by the end of 2011.

We don’t know too many details about this hybrid vehicle, but we know that the new Audi Q5 will use lithium ion or hydride batteries. The old 3.0 litre V6 petrol engine will be assisted by a small electric motor (300Nm electric motor). The idea of converting the most popular cars in similar petrol-electric models is very simple and practical. People will buy their favorite cars, but with different engines (with “eco-engines”), and this could lead to less CO2 in the atmosphere . In addition the maintenance cost of these hybrid vehicles (fuel consumption) will be lower. For those interested, Audi Q5 Hybrid will be for sale in the United States of America, where should appear on specialized markets next year.

It seems like in America, hybrid buses began to appear in more and more cities. DesignLine is an example of such ultra-quiet zero-emission turbine hybrid bus, recently appeared in New York. This bus is fueled by a spinning turbine that recharges an onboard Li-ion battery. This system is very quiet, and for this reason bus was dubbed “The bomb”.

The new hybrid bus was tested for the first time in Manhattan and Brooklyn and cost $ 559,000 each. If the project will be approved by the end of 2010, 87 more hybrid buses will run in New York. This thing will be possible only after a $60 million contract with DesignLine.

DesignLine hybrid bus has 37 seats and the interior is very comfortable. „The bomb” bus is very simple and efficient. “I never drove anything that accelerates like this,” Mr. Sollecito, who has driven city buses for 15 years. Using LED panels, this hybrid bus is very useful if we talk about time display, display of bus stations, etc.

Between 2010 and 2013, the authority will buy 2,500 new zero-emission buses, an investment of $1.96 billion. Most of these buses will replace vehicles older than 12 years. Officials hope to expand this system to six locations, including First and Second Avenues in Manhattan.

We all know that Mercedes-Benz is one of the most important car manufacturers in the world. Mercedes produces efficient cars for many type of people. Mercedes produce cars with various sizes and for different uses. But lately, all car manufacturers are trying to turn their old car models into hybrid vehicles. This “trend”, to convert any car into a hybrid car, became apparent even at Mercedes-Benz Company. Recently they have announced the launch of ML450 Hybrid Moule 4MATIC an impressive efficient car, with a reduced fuel consumption. To produce this car, Mercedes was associated with General Motors, Daimler, BMW and Chrysler Hybrid Technology Group. Hybrid-electric technology used to produce the new ML450, it seems to be inspired by Lexus hybrid projects.

This technology allow the combination of a 3.5-liter V6 engine with two electric motors resulting an output of 335 HP. The new ML450 can run for short periods using only these electric motors, which means that fuel consumption is lower compared with S400 hybrid model. Fuel consumption is actually estimated at 21/24 mpg (city / outside the city), which means a fuel efficiency increase with 40%, compared to ML550 model. These two electric motors are powered by a liquid-cooled 288 volt nickel-metal hydride battery. This hybrid car is also equipped with many safety systems, such as ESP, ABS, BAS. The new ML450 can be purchased only on lease, with $ 659 per month for 36 months and $ 549 per month for 60 months.

Rolls Royce is a luxury car often bought by rich people with lots of money, a powerful, elegant and imposing car. But despite these qualities,some people might say that this car is a source of environmental pollution considering this V12 engine with high CO2 emissions. This engine is powerful but at the same time is harmful to environment so we have to talk more about the efficiency of this car. Recently was launched a new rumor, about a new Rolls Royce Hybrid model that will appear on the market. This new model will be a luxury hybrid, that will use same system as BMW ActiveHybrid 7.

The platform of these two luxury hybrid vehicles is also similar.Rolls Royce Ghost hybrid model could run with the same 6.2 liter engine, but will be helped by an electric engine able to increase the power with 15CP. This electric engine is also suposed to reduce CO2 emissions. The electricity source is actually a 6 W / h lithium-ion battery pack, placed in the trunk of the car.  A car with efficiency improvement of only 15% I don’t think is relevant, considering that the engine consumption is very high. The weight will also increase after attaching the battery pack. If batteries are used in the daylight or for other reasons, I believe the new Rolls Royce Hybrid has no advantage over previous models. On the other hand this luxury vehicle is mainly produced for a high social class. These people don’t take into account the high consumption of the car, and many of them don’t care about the environment. So my opinion is that this model will not succeed on luxury vehicles market. What do you think? Please leave a comment!

In the last days of the gasoline-powered vehicles, the competition for the car of the future is harsh and open for surprises. There is still no definitive winner, although the electric car has won some important “battles”. Yet other technologies await recognition and some attention from the public. For example, the pneumatic-propelled engine technology has taken some major steps towards the big stage.

The AirPod, the chariot-like three-wheel car that runs on compressed air, is the culmination of a father and son work. Guy and Cyril Ncgre , the CEO and R&D coordinator of MDI, a company Guy created, having in mind the protection of the environment. They plan to manufacture it early next year, at a “one vehicle per hour” tempo.

The vehicle has a weight of 220 kilograms and runs on 80 kilograms of air, compressed to 350 bars. The maximum velocity reaches 28 mph (45 km/h) and an estimated range of 137 miles (220 km), if driven in a urban area. The car doesn’t require for the driver to have a driving licence and is steered using a joystick.  There is room for 3-4 passengers, with two of them in the backseat, faced backwards. It takes only 3 minutes to re-compress the tank with air and the costs are also very low, only 0.5 euros  per 100 km. The car’s exhaust, which is very cold air, could also be somehow used to cool the passengers in the hot summers.  The costs of the car rise to about $9,000(€6000).

A big impulse to bring AirPod to life, came when the announcement from January, 2008,  by the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, was made. The plan is called Autolib and involves buying 4000 electric cars, for the Parisian people to rent by the hour. The company  hopes to convince with they model, which is cleaner, has a longer range and is cheaper than the electric cars.

But there some black clouds have gathered around the company. And they come from IEEE Spectrum, which were addressed to inspect the car’s performances. As it turned out, the MDI company have kinda hyped the car’s actual potential. They question the car’s real range, which should only be a third of what the company claims, because, as they analysed, a great amount of energy is being wasted in the process of expanding the air before it is sent to the engine.

Other barriers constitute the laws of nature. According to some scientists the laws of thermodynamics make the use of compressed air as a power source very unreliable. Also, the AirPod’s 200-liter air tank should not be more potent than one liter of gasoline. The company counters saying they engine doesn’t need that much energy to run.

Volkswagen L1 Hybrid:

Volkswagen is known for the superior quality of cars offered, and also because of  the efficiency of their cars and the low fuel consumption. We must remember about Jetta model that was recently ranked among the most environmentally friendly cars in the world. Recently, the company announced that Volkswagen L1 will be presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

This hybrid car that resembles a rocket on 4 wheels can run 170 mile on a gallon of fuel. Manufacturers have also announced that L1 model, powered by Volkswagen diesel-electric hybrid engine, will appear on the streets in 2013. This project is actually an old project started 7 years ago, but everything has stopped because the material used to manufacture this car (carbon fiber) was too expensive to produce this model in a big number.

This material plus the aluminum-chassis, are aimed to reduce vehicle weight to lower fuel consumption. L1 hibrid is similar to a car from SF movies, but what makes it really incredible is the consumption and the ability to reduce significantly carbon emissions.

Audi R8 e-Tron:

The second competitor, Audi, comes with the famous R8 model in an eco-friendly version. The car was named R8 e-Tron and is actually an electric car designed to impress by its appearance and performances. The electric R8 will be also presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but unlike L1 model, I think that R8 e-Tron is a more realistic concept, more efficient than Volkswagen L1 hybrid.

R8 e-Tron model is different from classic R8, the front grill, wheels and the headlights shape have a more futuristic design. I always chose an Audi instead of any Volkswagen model and I will do same thing in this post. Audi comes with much better ideas, with a design more attractive for young generation, and I think that this is the key to win in this competition.

What do you choose, L1 Hybrid or R8 eTron?

In European countries and many countries of Asia we know the most popular hybrid car manufacturers. But despite these statistics, America has its own creations, very effective car models and very popular hybrid models.

One of the most popular cars created in America, I think is Hummer model. Hummer was always a very popular, powerful car but have two major disadvantages: a large amount of fuel consumed and a high level of CO2 emissions (pollute the environment). These two problems have been solved when Hummer H3E model appeared, an improved version of classic model, a hybrid Hummer that consume around 2.4 l/100km.

You may ask how it is possible that a big Hummer to consume only 2,4l/100km… it is possible, because the new Hummer H3E is powered by an electric engine with an onboard power extender. You can run 40km, powered by the electric motor, and then a small gasoline engine, recharge Hummer batteries. Raser Technologies states that H3E model can run 600km before refuelling.

Hummer H3E was presented yesterday at a conference about “alternative energy sources”, in California, where Arnold Schwarzenegger, California governor, said that he is proud of this model, and also said that he was present when this concept was born. Probably, this hybrid model will be the main transportation vehicle in America in the next few years, and certainly one of the best cars worldwide.

Have you ever seen a monster on the road? Maybe you saw in Batman series, but a vehicle so spectacular, like this one, I don’t think ever existed. The beast you can see in images and following video is nothing else than the imagination result of Lazareth, a French special builder.

This vehicle can provide 500HP because is equipped with a supercharged BMW W12 engine. Now … you may ask why is the reason we put this vehicle on MyGreenTreasure…the answer comes from the 500HP engine, powered by E85bio-ethanol!

It seems that tendency to move from fossil fuels to bio-fuels is manifested in a pronounced way among car designers from all around the world. This impressive hybrid vehicle, is actually very expensive($284.000). It’s a pretty big price for a hybrid vehicle, but for a luxury quad is an acceptable price.

The monster on four wheels is called Lazareth Wazuma and I think we will have the opportunity to see it again, in future action movies.

The car comes with some high EPA ratings: 35 miles per gallon(~56 km)  in the city and a gas mileage of 34 on highways.  Fueled with 20 gallons, the hybrid is able to drive an impressive 700 miles(~1127 km).

The Altima Hybrid deserved a place in the  AT-PZEV( Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle) class. It means that the car emits hardly measurable quantities of gas emission. That is 90% more environmentally-friendly then the average new car models.

This eco-car is powered by hybrid system, composed of a 2.5-liter four cylinder gasoline engine and 40 HP electric motor, which work very efficiently in tandem.  In order to cut the gas consumption as much as possible and have a low environmental impact, the car switches from gas to electric on low speeds, or shuts the gas motor off, when the car is breaking, thus recharging the battery using the momentum of the car, energy which otherwise goes to waste. When the car is stopped, the gas engine is shut off and the electric one kicks in, to spare the gas. The combined power of the system reaches 198 HP.

The on-board display and interior are also amazing. You can graphically see how the energy is transferred to the wheels, when the gas or the electric engine is functioning – you can practically follow the energy flow in real time.

The driver will definitely feel save in the car. The model is equipped with 6 air bags and has received 5 Stars from NHTSA – the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and has reached a rating of 9,9 out of 10 regarding it’s security on the roads.

Of course, the car features some other accessories, such as blue-tooth, an in-built-navigation system, rear-view camera or a surround sound system, which could rise the price up to $35,000.

The hybrid cars market was recently diversified, by new product, a hybrid luxury car, a hybrid sedan(limo), a PHEV car, called Fisker Karma. This luxury hybrid car has almost all qualities listed above: it is a large hybrid,has two powerful engines(two 101.5hp electric motors), it also offers a high safety level, and the efficient lithium-ion batteries are improved by an ECOTEC engine, which must be started when you drive (the luxury hybrid car can run 300 miles on a single ccarge).

The power of this luxury hybrid is acceptable, reaching 60 mph in 60 seconds and maximum speed achieved is 125 mph. The company producing this car has serious plans for next year,they want to produce 15,000 hybrid limousines, at a price that may be a little too high ($ 87,900).

The stakes are high for the team. Their ultimate goal is to go reach the 1000 km mark with only one liter of fuel. That would ensure them the title of “favorites”  at the Global Green Challenge contest, an event held every 2 years. They will have accomplish their target pretty fast, because the 3,000km – from Darwin to Adelaide – challenge starts in October this year, in Australia.

The excitement of the students is great, only when it comes to money and sponsorship, they lack of it. Sakarya University is less known for projects of this magnitude, and is a pretty new “player” in the eco-car building industry. But that didn’t stop the from being most successful. In fact, they overtook more prestigious Universities from Turkey such as Boğazıcı Üniversitesi and Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ), that have some background in the domain. Following their success, the team hopes that investors will show interest and remark the potential of this environmentally friendly vehicle.

   GM’s attention is currently concentrated on Volt model, a small electric car that will be used also in urban traffic.This electric car will be launched in 2010 and GM say that it will be a huge success.Volt electric car is equipped with a small gas engine for extended-range driving, and for a small quantity of co2 emissions.Another quality of this electric car is taht it can run approximately 40 miles on a single battery charge.
  

   Another electric car model from GM was announced last year when the “plug-in”concept appeared.The launch of this car was stopped because of the decision to abandon the Saturn SUV project.”plug-in” technology was abandoned for Saturn project, but the leaders and engineers from GM have announced that plug-in technology will be developed and applied in the near future to one of the following brands: GMC, Chevy, Buick or Cadillac.

The new bus, measuring 18 meters in length, is powered by a large 19.4 kWh lithium-ion battery mounted on the roof  which can generate  totally up to 320KW.  The highly acclaimed hybrid (Winner of the DERKA Environment Award) is expected to be seen in European cities in the early months of 2010, when deliveries start.

Mercedes-Benz

“The new Folding Bike from Mercedes-Benz is perfectly attuned to today’s urban mobility needs. Whether it’s a weekend trip in the Cabriolet or the daily drive to work, the high-tech bike can be unfolded effortlessly in seconds, making it ideal for flexible use in the city. The unique, patented mechanism also allows the bike to be folded in stages. The ergonomically shaped quick-release fastener on the seat dome means that the bike can be folded in seconds. In just one move the front and rear wheels fold together. The advantage here: despite its compact transportation size, the cycle can still be pushed effortlessly. Folded in this way, the bike is perfect for urban “ bike and ride” mobility. ” – www.autospectator.com