Good Green Cars » green cars

Honda FCX Clarity Names World Green Car

kristen — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:26:37 +0000

Last month, the finalists for World Green Car were announced, and now we have a winner: the Honda FCX Clarity. It beat out the Mitsubishi i MiEV and Toyota iQ for the title at the 2009 New York Auto Show.

Currently, the hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Clarity is only available for lease in California. The i MiEV and iQ are available in Japan, though Mitsubishi’s little EV is hell-bent on global domination.

Past winners of the World Green Car have been:

2008: BMW 188d
2007: Mercedes-Benz E320 BlueTEC
2006: Honda Civic Hybrid

Photo by Kristen Hall-Geisler.

Find Your Alternative Fuel Station

kristen — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:14:29 +0000

If you’ve been considering an alternative-fuel vehicle for your next car but were wondering where on earth to fill up, look no further than the U.S. Department of Energ y. That’s right — the DoE has put together a handy web site where you can search for refueling stations for just about any kind of fuel except regular, ol’ gasoline:

Biodiesel (B20 and above)
Compressed Natural Gas
Electric
Ethanol (E85)
Hydrogen
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Propane)

It should surprise no one that California leads the way in most types of alternative fuel stations. E85 is huge in the Midwest, which is another no-brainer, but biodiesel is big in Georgia and the Carolinas, which I did not know. Texas has hundreds of propane filling stations, as anyone who watches “King of the Hill” would probably guess.

There is a ton of information on the Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center, and it will be a valuable resource as more alternative-fueled cars come to market in the next four years or so. Bookmark it now, folks, and tell all your friends who love green cars.

L.A. Electric Motors: Too Good to Be True?

kristen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:15:28 +0000

Like a lot of people interested in green cars, I recently saw a press release from a company called L.A. Electric Motors. They announced that they had a “total electric SUV.” The 5-seat Testament has, according to the release, lithium-ion batteries, and can go 70 mph with a range of 350 miles per charge. The company claims to have a web showroom with physical locations on the way, but the link to the site didn’t work.

With claims like that, I was a bit suspicious. Now that green cars and alternative fuels are in the public eye, we have to watch out for outrageous claims from companies that seem unlikely to deliver. I mean, the Tesla Roadster gets 244 miles per charge from its Li-ion batteries, more than almost any EV out there right now, and look how long its taken to get those cars on the road–with a placeholder transmission, no less.

My radar really went up when I noticed that the company wanted to save consumers from “ever flocculating gas prices.” Further investigation turned up a web site URL that didn’t go anywhere and an email address that bounced back when I asked for more information.

So keep your skeptic hats on, readers. Many fantastic-sounding breakthroughs are real (remember when veggie diesel was funny? Now it’s a booming business), but if it sounds downright miraculous, do a little research before you repeat it as gospel. And if you see anything that makes you cock an eyebrow and say, “Really?” pass it on to me in the comments. I’d be happy to look into it and share what I find.