Bill Dube’s Killacycle has been setting electric motorcycle speed records on the dragstrip for quite some time now, but Dube emailed me this morning to make sure I knew about his latest zero-emissions feat: 7.864 seconds at 169 mph. How fast is that, exactly? As fast as a Porsche Boxster convertible with the pedal pressed all the way to the floor. And it’s fast enough to make KillaCycle the fastest electric vehicle in the world.

If that’s not fast enough, Dube reports that the KillaCycle team has got its hands on the most powerful batteries on the planet. They’re also reducing the weight of they bike and increasing horsepower to 560 hp — more than a Ferrari F430.

Congrats to the KillaCycle team on raising the bar for EVs even higher.

Photo of Scotty Pollachek riding KillaCycle at Portland International Raceway in July 2009 by Kristen Hall-Geisler.

The Formula 3-class car is based on a Lola chassis, but as much of the project as possible was converted to sustainable parts, such as a front spoiler made from potato starch and flax fiber, and a steering wheel derived from carrots.

A sampling of the veggie-based goodness found in the car:

• Front spoiler and side mirrors made from a potato starch core and flax-fiber shell
• Steering wheel that uses a polymer derived from carrots and other root vegetables
• Seat with a soybean oil foam and recycled polyester fabric
• Plant-based lubricants
• 2-liter turbo engine running on biodiesel
• “Smog-eating” radiators coated with a catalyst that turns ozone into oxygen
• Non-carbon disc brakes and — coming soon — cashew shell brake pads

The American Le Mans Series will revive its Green X Challenge Award with Michelin tires as the sponsor for 2009. The prototype and GT cars that acheives the best performance and fuel efficiency with the fewest emissions will win the award.

Lest you doubters think Michelin is jumping on the green bandwagon, they’ve been rewarding eco-friendly innovations for a while now. Eleven years ago, they created the Challenge Bibendum for clean vehicles, then in 2006 sponsored the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. In 2008, it extended the Energy Endurance Challenge to all European Le Mans-series races.

For its part, ALMS has been making the most inroads into green racing, with hybrid, biofuel, and clean diesels at the starting line. ALMS President and CEO Scott Atherton has applauded President Barack Obama’s green auto initiatives, and sees the track as a proving ground for new consumer technologies.

Racing will probably never be as clean a sport as, say, competitive tree planting, but initiatives like the Michelin’s Green X Challenge can help sate our need for speed and our preference for breathing cleaner air.

Photo of the E85-powered Corvette at the last ALMS race of 2008 courtesy of American Le Mans.

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.

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):

NASCAR will give the challenge props on its reality show, “NASCAR Angels,” on its weekly radio show “NASCAR Performance Live,” and in podcasts by the likes of Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the Mobil 1 Dodge.  Driver $marter calls NASCAR “a leader in promoting conservation messages,” which I’m not sure is the most apt description of the race organizations eco-efforts.

But race teams would do well to improve their own fuel economy. As I mentioned a few months ago, they’re feeling the pinch of fuel prices — if not the pangs of guilt at sucking up the earth’s resources — at the track, in testing, and in team transportation.

Photo: Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR

As narrator and Globe columnist Alex Beam puts it in the video, “You don’t get there very fast, but you feel better about getting there.” I hope he felt great at the finish line — he was the race’s biggest loser, at just over 50 mpg. To see the winner, take a 3-minute coffee break and watch the video. It’s no Michael Phelps, but it’s inspiring nonetheless.

Three factors will be considered in naming a winner of this race-within-a-race:

• Performance (of course — this is a race)
• Fuel Efficiency
• Environmental Impact

Cars will be ranked by the amount of energy they use, the greenhouse gases they emit, and the amount of gasoline they displace over the course of the race. Which boils down to going as far as they can, as fast as they can, with the least environmental impact.

ALMS has been taking steps all season to lessen the environmental impact of racing. GM, Audi, and others have introduced race cars running on alternative fuels like E85 and clean diesel. You can bet those teams will be vying for the Green Challenge title. Race fans and consumers are winners in this event, too, as technological innovations on the track often trickle down to cars on the showroom floor.

Even NASCAR is dipping a toe in the clean-and-green waters. Michigan International Speedway, which hosts two NASCAR events during the season, stepped up its recycling efforts this year. During the Lifelock 400 weekend in June alone, MIS collected 15.3 tons of aluminum, plastic, and cardboard. They’re even recycling construction materials from some recent upgrades to the facilities, and they’ve instituted an office recycling program.

Eco-friendlier fuels, recycling … What is auto racing coming to? Oh, right. Its senses.