While Good Green Cars readers might not mind that Ferrari has pulled out of the Detroit show, you might find it interesting that Nissan/Infiniti has also decided not to bring any cars, and has even asked local dealers not to put up a display. The manufacturer has a hybrid program and plans to introduce electric cars to Oregon in the near-ish future. I was hoping to see those EVs, at least in prototype form, in Detroit this year. I also don’t see Mitsubishi on the press conference schedule, which means no up-close-and-personal time with the adorable iMiev.

What we can expect to see are the new Ford Fusion hybrid, the new Honda Insight, and the new Toyota Prius, all of which have a bunch of buzz surrounding them. Ford is also expected to talk about — but not have on hand — the new EVs it plans to build. I’m sure Chevy will be bringing the latest incarnation of the 2011 Volt PHEV, and that Chrysler will have its lineup of potential EVs on display.

Keep this blog bookmarked for the next week or so, as I report firsthand on the green goings-on in Detroit.

The BMG gets inside the car, too, and plays with the tech features, like iPod integration and the futuristic dashboard readouts, which look like they were designed by Tony Stark. That’s “Iron Man” to the less geeky of you.

The video is about three and half minutes long, the perfect length for a Friday afternoon snack break. The car is set to debut at the Detroit auto show, and I’ll be there, blogging like crazy. Come back in about ten days to see what this sucker looks like in the metal.

The Chevy Malibu Hybrid is the gas-sipping car for people who don’t want to look like an eco-freak. It’s a pretty big four-door sedan with lots of space, a solid feel, and comfy seats. Grandparents and salespeople will love this car. It’s not an incognito hybrid, though: there’s the green hybrid badge on the trunk and a large hybrid decal at the top of the back window.

This car got a little extra testing this week, as we got a load of snow dumped on us here in the Pacific Northwest. I drove the hybrid — carefully — on slick and snowy streets when it was safe. The traction control worked beautifully as long as I was going slowly. When the snow got deep, though, the Malibu stayed parked in the driveway for five days.

As a result of driving in less than optimal conditions, I didn’t get the best mileage. The EPA says the Malibu Hybrid should turn in 26 city, 34 highway, but I averaged in the low 20s in the time I had the car. The most helpful green feature in nasty weather was the automatic shutoff, which was indicated by a flashing green “ECO” light in the dashboard. The Eco mode shut down and restarted smoothly.

The Chevy Malibu Hybrid starts at $26,345, which seems par for the hybrid course. If it makes you, the consumer, feel any better, it’s not the most expensive Malibu trim level available. There’s a 3.6-liter V6 LTZ version that starts at over $26,000, making the hybrid look like a good value all around. Too bad Chevy lists it as having “Very limited availability.”

I checked in with my informal panel of experts, the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association, whose members drive hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and EVs. According to these road-tested experts, I wasn’t imagining things, but I didn’t have the whole story.

First of all, Oregon adds ethanol to the gasoline in winter, which reduces fuel economy by about 4%, which I had forgotten about. Second, the snow and gravel would increase friction, which would lower the mpgs. Hybrids also lose energy heating up the whole engine and keeping it warm. Hybrid drivers can combat the drop in mpgs by turning off the defrost and heat while idling to get the gasoline engine to shut off as it does in more pleasant weather.

Several OEVA members also mentioned that everyone, hybrid and conventional car drivers alike, have been driving more carefully in the snow and ice. The techniques we use to avoid sliding into parked cars are the same ones that save gas overall and extend the range of electric vehicles:

• Start very slowly
• Take your foot off the gas far from the stop sign
• Keep a huge gap between your front bumper and the next car’s rear bumper

One final word of caution: Hybrids are usually fitted with low-rolling-resistance tires to maximize the mpgs. These are pretty awful in winter weather, so if you’ve got a hybrid and live in an area that sees a fair amount of fluffy white stuff, it’s probably worth it to invest in a set of snow tires.

The first thing to note about my week with the Honda Civic Hybrid was that it was very cold. Not negative-degrees cold, but well below freezing cold. I wondered if the hybrid engine or fuel economy would suffer when the car and the street were icy. I’m not sure if it was the weather or my driving, but my mpgs came in way below the EPA estimate.

Over the week, I drove about 120 miles, and I managed to average 31.5 mpg combined city, highway, and icy roads. The EPA rates the Civic Hybrid at 40 city, 45 highway. Handling, however, wasn’t compromised, and I was glad to have stability assist, ABS, and 4- and 5-star crash ratings. Not that I crashed. The car is just fine. I’m an excellent driver.

The Honda Civic Hybrid makes heavy use of its Integrated Motor Assist technology, which uses an electronic motor mounted between the gasoline engine and the transmission for extra power. Honda says the electric motor can propel the car from a stop to 35 mph, but I had a hard time keeping the internal combustion engine from kicking in, no matter how carefully I drove.

The car does have an auto stop feature that cuts the gasoline engine out almost as soon as the car is stopped, and it starts back up seamlessly when it’s needed. A blinking green “Auto Stop” indicator in the dash lets the driver know that the car is supposed to be absolutely silent.

The poor-ish mileage was my only complaint with the Honda, and that was likely a function of the weather, not the car. But if you live in an area with regular harsh winters, you may only get 30 or 35 mpg with the Civic Hybrid. Keep in mind, though, that these days we’re calling anything above 30 mpg pretty good.

The first thing to note about the Nissan Altima Hybrid is that it makes use of the Toyota hybrid system. Nissan is working on its own proprietary hybrid system, but in order to enter the HEV market ASAP, they leased the technology from Toyota and dropped it into the Altima, giving the car an EPA mileage rating of 35 city, 33 highway. Not too shabby for a four-door sedan.

But not too smooth, either. The Altima hybrid has a keyless, push-button start. It only takes a second to turn the car on, and a green “ready” light lets the driver know the electric motor is good to go. A few seconds later, though, whether you need it or not, the gasoline engine kicks in — very noticeably. The first time it happened, I wondered if I had done something wrong.

Since the hybrid system was thrown into the Nissan Altima almost on a whim, the gauges lack the depth of fuel economy information seen in other hybrids. The center gauge does display “EV Mode” when the car is running under electric power only, which makes for a fun mpg challenge for the driver. The key is to stay in EV Mode for as long as possible, or to get EV Mode to kick in while driving around. I found that with careful pedal work, I could do most of my Christmas shopping on electric power. That was cool.

The Nissan Altima Hybrid gets good marks for its safety — five-star ratings for front and side crashes — and its low carbon footprint. But the integration of the hybrid system into the existing Altima leaves a lot to be desired, especially at a base price of $25,070. I assume the Nissan hybrid system of the future will work more seamlessly in its own cars.

Top image courtesy Nissan USA.

Electric vehicles have a reputation for being the pokey little puppies of the automotive world, and not without reason. The neighborhood electric vehicles that are available today generally go 35 mph for about 30 miles. Hardly fast enough to muss your hair. That’s where events like the 2009 Battery Beach Burnout in Jupiter, Florida, come in.

The EVs, plug-in EVs, and hybrids that meet at Florida Atlantic University February 21 and 22, 2009, will blow past the slow stereotype. Organizers have acceleration testing, autocross, and more on the docket for participants, plus a ride-and-drive event to give the public a chance to try out what may be an unfamiliar powerplant.

The addition of plug-in EVs and hybrids is new this year, as is a separate vendor area near the event field. The Florida Electric Auto Association is hosting the burnout, and will of course include a show-n-shine for EV owners. There’s no reason for the long-standing tradition of spiffing up your car to impress the ladies to die with the combustion engine.

• What: Battery Beach Burnout 2009
• Who: Florida Electric Auto Association
• Where: Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, FL
• When: February 21-22

When I got back to the States after my vacation in diesel-clogged Buenos Aires, I had a Ford Escape Hybrid waiting for me to test drive. I don’t think I’ve even been so happy to see a low-emissions vehicle in my life.

Before we get to the mpg, a note on space: The Escape fit all of our suitcases, camera bags, backpacks, and whatever else in the back seat and cargo area, with plenty of space for a regular-sized driver (me) and a six-foot-plus passenger. It was far less crammed than the airline seats we had just happily left, and we had satellite radio.

When the Escape is started, the gasoline engine comes on, so there is an audible cue to let the driver know when to stop turning the key. In case that’s still too quiet for you, there’s the little green car-shaped light with a double-ended arrow under it in the dashboard to let you know the vehicle is ready to go. (This comes in handy when stopped at very long red lights and the gas engine drops out. The electric motor is silent, but ready to do your bidding at the green light.)

The home screen of the display has a little map, radio information, and an mpg meter. For more detailed mileage information, you can call up the HEV screen, which shows a diagram of the engine, electric motor, the battery, and the front wheels. A green outline shows which elements are in play at any time, and the status, i.e., “Idle with Charging,” is spelled out at the bottom of the screen.

The Escape doesn’t have the pep of the Mini I tested a few weeks ago, but I did take it on a variety of roads — surface streets, interstates, and state roads. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get my average fuel economy to budge from 30 mpg. Wait — I did get it to 29.9 mpg while I was passing a string of trucks. This is less than the EPA combined rating of 32 mpg, but still good for an SUV. The EPA also gives it an 8 out of 10 emissions rating.

That kind of mileage and low emissions come at a price, though: the Ford Escape Hybrid starts at $29,305. Hybrids are still hard to find on the lot, as they are expensive to build and popular to buy, so price breaks and dealer incentives are going to be equally as scarce for the Escape hybrid. But if you can find and afford it, the Ford Escape hybrid is a great SUV.

The Los Angeles Auto Show just came to a close, and not surprisingly, manufacturers brought a lot of green cars to the event. There were high-mpg gasoline cars, electric cars, clean diesels, and more. (Ferrari and Bentley also brought expensive gas guzzlers, but I’m willing to bet the market for those is pretty small.)

Here, then, is the Good Green Cars round-up of the enviro-friendly autos that were at the L.A. Auto Show.

• Ford hybrids: Ford brought the all new 2010 Fusion hybrid and 2010 Mercury Milan hybrid to L.A. The cars are nearly identical but for a few styling cues and trim levels, and they share the new lighter hybrid system found in the current Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs. The cars can go 47 mph on electric power only, according to Ford.
• Hyundai Blue Drive: This isn’t a new engine technology; rather, it’s Hyundai’s strategy to reach a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2015. It includes the 2010 Sonata hybrid, high-mileage “Blue” versions of the 2009 Accent and Elantra, and a future crossover with a gasoline direct-injection engine.
• Lexus hybrid SUV: The 2010 Lexus RX 450h gets its first update since its introduction, with more horsepower and better exhaust-heat recovery. It also gets its own distinctive grille. No further word yet on whether Lexus could be Toyota’s all-hybrid brand in the future.
• Mini EV: The Mini E plug-in electric vehicle made its official debut in L.A. Only a handful will be available anytime soon, and those will be tested by private and corporate customers in California, New York, and New Jersey. The Mini E can go 150 miles on a charge, with a top speed of 95 mph.
• Volkswagen diesels: VW expands its clean-diesel TDI technology to the latest Touareg SUV, which means it passes California’s stringent emissions laws. The EPA rates it at 25 mpg, and it will be available in all 50 states. This is the same technology that earned the Jetta TDI the “Green Car of the Year” award at the show.

Oregon Public Broadcasting’s call-in show, “Think Out Loud,” was about the future of the automotive industry this morning. The program focused on the state of Oregon, and most of the guests and callers were from the state, but the show had a lot to say about where personal transportation is headed in the next decade for the entire U.S.

The show, which aired Monday, December 1, was called “A Sustainable Auto Industry.” Guests included John Viera, Director of Ford Sustainable Business Strategies; Mark Perry, Director of Product Planning for Nissan North America; a representative from Governor Kulongoski’s office; and an assistant professor at Oregon State University’s College of Business. So they had their bases covered.

Highlights of the show (though you should listen to the whole thing):

• Viera says Ford will not go back to making so many trucks, no matter what the price of gas is. The company apparently is trying to learn its lesson and produce for the tomorrow instead of yesterday.
• Perry says Oregon will be one of the first launch markets for its new EVs in 2010. Yay!
• He also said Nissan wants to have 10% of its sales to be EVs by 2020 — that’s about 100,000 vehicles in the U.S.
• My favorite phrase came from Chris Warner, Kulongoski’s transportation adviser. He says there is no silver bullet, only “silver buckshot,” which includes alternative fuel cars, bikes, walking, public transportation, and whatever else the future holds.

A lot of basic alternative-fuel questions were answered, like shifting emissions from the tailpipe to the smokestack, and the recyclability of electric-vehicle batteries. It’s a good listen for newbies and alt-vehicle veterans alike.

A Sustainable Auto Industry