Autoblog

Audi has been quietly going about the business of preparing its lineup for a green future, with cleaner and more efficient diesels in Europe, and oil-burners scheduled for the US in the near future. While the German automaker realizes diesel will be big in the next 10 years, it's also planning for life without emissions. Audi exec Rupert Stadler says the four-ringed automaker is primed to offer an electric vehicle in the next five to ten years. Meanwhile, Audi's German competition has been talking up its green position, but Stadler points out that the Volkswagen-owned brand has more research resources to exercise its options.

With the emissions belt being tightened both here in the US and in Europe, every automaker is going to have to make huge changes to its vehicles to stay in the game, and Audi is no different. We're going to be the big winners during these changing times, and while a battery-powered R8 won't sound as good as its petrol-powered twin, we like the idea of plugging in our sports car instead of filling it with gas every few days.

[Source: Reuters]

Efficiency is a large stumbling block if you're looking for a way to replace gasoline. It's pretty hard to better such an exceptional fuel, and several alternatives show promise but are nagged by inefficiencies or cost, and usually both. Nanotech to the rescue; it may soon be possible to produce your own hydrogen at home cheaply and easily, and NiMH batteries and fuel cells also stand to become less expensive and offer much better performance. With claims like that, QuantumSphere might well be selling fairy dust, but the Portland, Oregon-based company has developed a nanoparticle coating that may end up being the key to making alternative fuels actually viable.

QuantumSphere's catalytic nanoparticle coatings have 1,000 times the surface area of traditional materials, which means that more catalytic action can be housed in the same space. It's the the highly reactive nature of the coatings that allows cheap home electrolysis, also boding well for replacing precious metals like platinum in fuel cells with a coated piece of stainless steel. QuantumSphere's president Kevin Maloney claims that his company's technology makes electrolysers so efficient that they can supply hydrogen on demand while driving. The technology will roll out later this year in a battery that uses a coated cathode for a five-fold increase in energy density, which translates into a 320-percent power gain over alkaline cells. If things go QuantumSphere's way, we won't be paying $100,000 for the Tesla Roadster in a few years, and it will have an even better range than already promised.

[Source: Automotive Design Line]

In a move sure to be embraced by environmentalists, a panel of trusted outside experts is finally recommending to federal regulators that light-duty diesel engines and hybrids should be regarded as available technologies to improve fuel economy. Neither of these technologies were included in a previous report released in 2001 when hybrids were not as mainstream as they are today and diesel emissions standards were lower than they are now.

The study is part of an initiative to meet the stricter standards set by our nation's new energy law enacted this past December. That measure calls for a 40-percent increase in both car and truck standards to a 35 mpg fleet average by 2020. While the addition of diesel and hybrid technology is welcomed news, the recommendation is embarrassingly behind the times (at least for hybrids) and this time around forgets to include all-electric and hydrogen fuel cell technologies.

[Source: Automotive News, subs. req'd]

Renault-Nissan president Carlos Ghosn is arguably one of the most effective automotive industry executives, and having just embarked upon a tour of the Middle East, may prove to be more effective than the endless stream of government and military envoys parading in and out of sand-swept capitals.

Ghosn flew to Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres and announced a project to launch an electric vehicle network in the country's burgeoning and overcrowded Mediterranean metropolis of Tel Aviv. The project, called "Better Place", is being led by former SAP executive Shai Agassi (seen shaking hands with Ghosn above), and is financially supported by Israel Corp, the holding company that controls shipping giant Zim and recently embarked upon an automotive joint venture in China. (The Knesset, Israel's parliament that usually has to support any such ventures itself financially, has paved the way by preparing supportive legislation.) Renault will develop the vehicles, which are projected to have a 160-km range on the highway, or 100 in the city, hit 100km/h (62mph) in 13 seconds and top out at 110 km/h. The cars are expected to hit the shuk (that's "market" in Hebrew and Arabic) in 2011.

While he was at it, Ghosn hopped over to Morocco to announce the construction of a new plant for Renault and Nissan. (Yes, we know Morocco is not technically part of the Middle East, but Northern Africa is often grouped together with it. So please don't shoot us.) The new factory in Tangiers will have a capacity of 400,000 vehicles per year and will employ 6,000 directly and 30,000 indirectly. Renault will use the facility to build cars on the cost-effective Dacia Logan platform, while Nissan will manufacture light commercial vehicles there, as well.

[Source: Reuters, Photo by DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty]

Click above for mini gallery of high-res hilarity

Sister site AB Green did a post on the Tang Hua clan yesterday, but we had to get in on the fun, too. A trio of bright yellow Dr. Suess-mobiles are being displayed by the Chinese company in the basement of COBO. As you might imagine, Chinese cars don't necessarily get that much respect here in Detroit, but when they look like these three Disneyland rejects, showgoers can't help but smile. Or laugh. And they don't even have the decency to run on dead dino juice, so that just makes them even more comical here in Motor City. Each of these three "neighborhood electric vehicles" has its own charms, but we tend to like the amphibious one above the best. And what better customer to espouse your product than the "Renowned environmentalists - President Bush..."

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

Uh-oh. The big day came and went and you forgot a present for that pint-size kiddie on your shopping list. This is gonna cost ya. We'd charge you for information on the ultimate "stop crying, let me make it up to you" gift, but our lawyers insist it's legally questionable and our life coach says it's "wrong", whatever that means.

So here's what you want to get to make the kid forget the conspicuous and disappointing void under the tree: an Alfa Romeo. Okay, not a real one, but everything is relative and to a child, this will seem just as cool – trust us. These downsized rideable Alfa Spiders are available with a choice of body-styles – 8C Competizione or Brera – and powertrain. A hair under three bills will get pedal-power, or an extra two hundred nets the 6-volt electric version. Shipping's extra if you live outside the UK, and the roadsters are made for kids ages 2-5. Oh, and they're available only in red.

If your kid's passion lies elsewhere than with Alfa Romeo, we'd recommend a better education. In the meantime, don't fret: Turbo Toys has a variety of similar ride-ons, including a Maserati, Audi TT, Jag XK, Porsche, and several Ferraris.

You can thank us later.

[Source: Turbo Toys via Carscoop]

Mercedes-Benz is confusing the blog out of us with its nomenclature. Sure, it's usually pretty straightforward: one letter for the class, three numbers for the (approximate) engine displacement. Tack on 4Matic for all-wheel-drive, chop off a zero and add AMG for the performance models. But they just about lost us on this one.

In Frankfurt Mercedes unveiled two new hybrid versions of the S-Class: the S300 Bluetec Hybrid with diesel-electric power, and the S400 Hybrid with gas-electric power. In Los Angeles, however, they took the wraps off the S400 Bluetec Hybrid. Still with us? Well, they lost us, too. This version packs a V6 diesel coupled with an electric motor to provide 265 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque, resulting in what Mercedes calls V8 performance with four-cylinder economy: 0-60 in 7.2 seconds and 40.5 mpg on the highway.

While the previous S400 Hybrid unveiled in Frankfurt was gas-electric, the S300 Bluetec Hybrid unveiled with it was stated as producing 413 lb-ft of torque to this S400 Bluetec Hybrid's stated 465. Still, the press materials didn't specifically differentiate it from its Frankfurt-revealed stablemate, and nobody at the Mercedes booth here in LA could tell us if this was actually a different model. Think you can make sense of it? The press release is after the jump.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

A little over a year ago, Alan Mulally's time was spent managing Boeing, and here in LA just 14 months later he's the keynote speaker for at an international auto show. He's a year older, and he also knows a heck of a lot more about cars than he did when he took the helm at Ford Motor Company. In that time, Ford has begun on reversing its massive losses, a new contract with the UAW has been ratified, and new products like the MKS introduced today are on the verge of production.

Much of Mulally's keynote speech focused on the green initiatives that Ford is undertaking, and we've attached the above video clip with the meat of Ford CEO's message. Click play above to check it out.

NY Times writer Lawrence Ulrich didn't merely disparage the Lexus LS 600h L, he grabbed the car by its back tires, dragged it around back, and while the Times readership looked on, gave it a big city back alley whoopin'. Invoking Nick Nolte, John Matuzsak, Jor-El, Jared from Subway, and blasting the big hybrid's gas mileage, weight, 0-60 time, price, carbon footprint, and the very reason for being, Lexus' standard-bearer could certainly use some private time to recover.

What compliments there were in the article -- and it did garner some genuine compliments -- were little defense against Ulrich's ultimate assessment that "the hybrid may have set a new standard for automotive hyperbole." While it's possible that Lexus didn't expect such a scathing critique from the Gray Lady, it had to know that there would be questions about the paradox of a big, thirsty hybrid. However, Lexus is only making 2,000 of them, and it's a good bet that there are at least that many rich folks looking for what it calls "the progressive person's alternative." The LS 600h L is a shot across the bow. It will really get interesting when we get a glimpse of act two, and the responses from its competitors.

[Source: New York Times]

GoWheel brings you an electric motorbike that's going to cost you some money, but it looks and goes just like the real thing. Almost. Starting with a Triumph Daytona, the folks at Go replace the inline DOHC 3-cylinder with a li-ion battery pack that adds 100-190 pounds depending on how many batteries you want. The bike still gets to 60 in 2.9 seconds, and will cruise at 93 mph for 143 highway miles or 49 miles of hard street use. As this whole electric thing gathers steam -- no pun intended -- it's nice to see more and more rides that look like their fire-powered equivalents. But for now, there are always caveats: the bike isn't DOT approved, and it sports an enormous Plexiglas fairing to improve aero efficiency that looks more like a giant shield. And one more thing -- if the bike ever gets made, it will cost you $77,000 to ride in silence.

[Source: Motorbiker via Engadget]