Two years ago, Les Schwab started working with suppliers to get the toxic lead weights out of the tires used on passenger vehicles and light trucks. The tires with lead weights will be used first, but the company expects to be fully stocked with steel-weight tires by the middle of 2009. Les Schwab has more than 400 locations in seven western states, so a change there can have an impact on the industry and the environment.

In addition to the steel weights, Les Schwab is a major tire retreader and recycler, as well as one of Oregon Business magazines “Best Places to Work.”

NASCAR isn’t going all tree-hugger on anybody, but it is trying to reduce its carbon footprint, according to a report on NASCAR.com. Organizers also hope the mere presence of a hybrid on the track will help crack the alternative-fuel ice with the sport’s fans, who tend to favor high horsepower and big trucks. But in a year of volatile gas prices and growing green awareness, even die-hard speed freaks can see the advantages in a higher-mpg vehicle.

The hybrid version of the Fusion, and its nearly identical twin the Mercury Sable, will be available to consumers in spring of next year. The official unveiling of the car will happen at the L.A. Auto Show, November 21-30.

Image courtesy of NASCAR.com.

One of the most talked-about unveilings at the Paris auto show this month was the all-electric version of the Smart car, called the Smart ED. (That stands for Electric Drive, not the subject of those old Bob Dole commercials.) Parent company Daimler says the cars will go into production in late 2009 for delivery to “selected customers.”

Daimler leased 100 early versions of an electric Smart to Londoners earlier this year to get real-world experience with plug-in vehicles. The second phase of testing, announced last month, will take place in Berlin with another 100 cars.

The updated version seen in Paris at the auto show will have a 90-mile range, which is twice as far as the current crop of neighborhood electric vehicles will go on one charge. No word on if or when the Smart ED will show up at U.S. dealerships.

Now that the new 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid has made its Paris debut, like any model worth her skinny jeans would do, the company has launched two new online outlets for the car.

“Latest Insight” is a blog that follows the car from debut to dealership. The design seems to be final with only the manufacturing step left to go, so I’m not sure what “journey” the bloggers at Honda will be following. You can count on posts and pics from every event and auto show the car graces, though.

Honda also launched a mini site, “Words of Hybrid,”* that showcases all of its hybrid vehicles, including the original Insight and the forthcoming CR-Z. There’s a link at the bottom of the list for a Jazz Hybrid that can’t be clicked. (The Jazz is the name of the Fit in Europe and the Middle East.) U.K. site What Car says the hybrid Jazz could reach the European market by 2010.

*You can also reach the Honda mini site by visiting Honda’s world hybrid site and clicking “Launch.”

Spooky photo of the Insight courtesy of Honda.

Neighborhood electric vehicle manufacturer ZAP reported that its third quarter, which ended September 30, was its best ever, or at least since it launched the Xebra model in 2006. In fact, it shipped 200% more vehicles in the third quarter of 2008 than it did in the same quarter last year.

While this is absolutely good news — the company has even upped its workforce by 30%, something the Big Three couldn’t do this summer — it has to be put in perspective. ZAP is a small company, so a 200% increase in units shipped means 240 went out the door this summer, as opposed to 80 in 2007.

In comparison, the rest of the industry slumped hard in August. Sales were down 15.5% over last year, making it the worst August the auto industry has seen in a decade. GM’s sales were down 20%, Ford was down 27%, Toyota dropped 9% despite the popular Prius, and even steady Honda dropped 7%. But Chrysler had it the worst in August, with a 34% drop in sales.

Here’s the straight dope from the bill, as translated into English from Congress-ese by yours truly.

A New, Qualified, Plug-In Electric Drive Motor Vehicle, according to the recently passed bailout bill, means a vehicle that:

1. Has a battery with at least a 4 kwh capacity (your tax credit will go up with the size of your battery)
2. Uses an off-board source of energy to recharge the battery (an outlet or generator would do)
3. Is certified under the Clean Air Act and meets California’s low emissions vehicle standard
4. Will be put on the road for the first time by the taxpayer
5. Was bought for use by the taxpayer, not for resale
6. Was made by a manufacturer — home conversions do not get this credit

So your 6-year-old daughter’s battery-powered Barbie car doesn’t get the credit, nor does my friend Tim’s Porsche 914 conversion. You have to buy the car brand-new and use it yourself, no dealers or used cars allowed. And any plug-in vehicle should meet the emissions standards with flying colors.

If you have further questions, read the text of the bill here (look for Section 205 on page 186 of the PDF).

Buyers of plug-in hybrid vehicles will receive a $2500 tax credit, plus $417 per kilowatt hour for batteries greater than 4 kwh. This makes the Chevy Volt $7500 cheaper, as GM’s Volt blog was happy to point out. The credit will apply fully to the first 250,000 PHEVs sold, then will be phased out over the next year’s worth of sales after than landmark number is reached. (See Section 205 on page 186 of the bill.)

The bill also extends the 30% clean-burning fuel property tax credit to electricity, and moves the deadline for taking the credit out a year to December 2010. (See Section 207 on page 197 of the bill.)

Since that information, while useful, was dry as sand, here’s  video of a souped up Smart ForTwo beating the pants off a Ferrari in the quarter-mile (38 seconds):

The Green Car Advisor reports that the zero-emissions Texas plant can produce 105 million gallons of biodiesel on its 20-acre site. When Ike came ashore, the plant suffered flood damage, and its power was knocked out. The utility company said it can restore electricity and natural gas service to GreenHunter in six to eight weeks. The company will use diesel- and gas-powered generators in the meantime.

GreenHunter officials stated that the damage to the main equipment seemed to them to be minimal, and that the company would be back up and running ASAP. The second-largest biodiesel refinery is the Imperium plant located in Grays Harbor, Washington, which refines 100 million gallons of biodiesel per year. Here’s hoping they, along with the smaller plants around the country, can pick up GreenHunter’s slack until the Houston location comes back online in November.

Franklin, Kentucky, will be the home of new venture Integrity Automotive, which will build the Zap Alias, among other vehicles. The first shovelfuls of dirt were lifted last Friday, and the first cars are expected to roll off the assembly line in a year. Zap brought a protype of the space-age-looking Alias to the groundbreaking.

The 200-acre site is being prepped for a 1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility that will employ 1000 people and produce electric vehicles for Zap’s global distribution. Currently, most of Zap’s electric vehicles, including the popular little Xebra neighborhood electric vehicle, are built in China. Kentucky put together $48 million in incentives to lure Zap to bring jobs to their state instead of farming them out to Asia, and the city of Franklin has pledged $76 million in industrial revenue bonds. Kentucky’s governor, Steve Beshear, also signed an executive order to expand the use of EVs in the state.

The plant is a joint venture between Integrity Manufacturing, one of Kentucky’s fastest-growing businesses, and Zap. The EV builder has had a shaky reputation in the past for following through on its promises, so let’s hope they see this one all the way through.

GM Next Day, as the company is calling it, will also have a global broadcast at 8 a.m. Eastern (I will not be getting up at five out here on the West Coast to listen in, so you’ll have to fill me in using the comments), followed by a series of live chats with executives, including Vice Chairman of Global Product Development, and leader of his own automotive cult of personality, Bob Lutz.

Oh, and don’t forget — today is the official unveiling of the production Volt design, though you’ve probably already seen the slew of photos leaked to the web last week.

Unofficial official image of Lutz and the Volt from Autobloggreen.com.