Art Vatsky - Autoblog

For those of you who have saved a LOT of money, say by hedging fuel for some airlines, and want to blow it on a really high level hybrid, there is the Lexus LS 600h L. This is the flagship of the House of Toyota. Built like a tank, finished like a jewel, powered by a strong V-8 and a hybrid drive system, this is the kind of vehicle that travels slightly detached from the road, the local environment, and anyone else that doesn't have a near 7-digit income.

AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) made a very sobering report to the federal commission on highways on May 9. They pretty bluntly stated that the use of the roads by trucking is outpacing the revenue being collected to maintain the roads. Like vehicles without fuel, vehicles without well maintained roads are just stationary tin boxes. All those lane miles of highway, those graceful overpasses and on and off ramps, cost a pretty penny to build and n

John J. Mooney, a native of the proud state of New Jersey, is the recognized co-inventor of the 3-way catalyst that has been on US cars since 1976. It was developed in the 1960s and 70s and has been successfully used to control the emissions levels of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides in 31 years of auto production sold in the US and now other countries. The impact of the "3-way cat" is impressive. In combination with an oxygen sensor and fuel injection and the removal of leaded

As this is AutoBlogGreen, being green is our reason for both writing and reading this blog. This book, published in 2006 and reviewed in Yes! Magazine by Guy Dauncey, talks about the current – not future – challenge we face: How do we adjust our energy use without creating so much greenhouse gas that we tip the atmosphere into an uncomfortable, non sustainable mode. It takes as a given that we will soon hit Peak Oil sometime between now and 2030. How do we respond as individuals and

Call me a mini-minimalist but I like basic cars. Of course, to me, "basic" means at least adequate performance, good fuel economy, good handling, good quality, safety and decent looks. If there is a choice between a fancy nameplate and an extra $10,000 in my pocket, give me basic any day. That is why I am really interested in the Fit and the Versa, and the way they are described in Popular Mechanics.

SAE's Automotive Engineering International magazine reports that General Motors is putting more assets into its efforts to utilize electricity - not only for "telematics" - but for drive systems as well. Telematics is the growing use of electricity for control and features on a car (like this). Navigation systems, entertainment systems; steering and window drive systems are examples of telematics

The New York Times lead editorial on Saturday, May 5, was very clear. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has issued three reports this year. The first, in February, blamed human activity for rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The second report, issued in April, warned of weather and ecological disasters unless emissions were brought under control. Sounds pretty dire, doesn't it? Well, the third report has been released and it "asserts that significant pr

Several sources are reporting (ABG included) that GM will offer hybrid SUVs as soon as the 2008 Model year. Based on technology developed by a team consisting of GM, BMW, and Daimler Chrysler the models are expected to get 25 percent better fuel economy. In addition to the hybrid driveline, the 6.0 liter V8 engine will be able to deactivate half its cylinders during cruise. To save

The features are attractive. Look for yourself: - Cylinder Deactivation for large displacement engines to improve cruise mileage. - Variable Valve Lift and Timing – Would anyone say no to that? - Direct Fuel Injection – Ditto - Turbocharging – Ditto Ditto - Flex Fuel technology to help use the ethanol that is coming from corn and then cellulosic sources. - Advanced Transmissions – more gears in the automatics or automated manual tran

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With a bank-role of $187 million (from selling his Silicon Valley start-up), Martin Eberhard has used his entrepreneurial and engineering smarts to come up with a vehicle that outdoes the lamented GM EV1. As AutoblogGreen has reported, people can actually buy (375 so far) the Tesla EV rather than lease it as GM did. Further, the Tesla uses lithium-ion batteries - 7,000 of them - rather than the lead acid or late arriving nickel-metal hydride batteries of the EV1.