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Thursday, February 2, 2012:
California is once again leading the way towards cleaner cars ... and cleaner air. As part of a mandate to reduce smog-forming pollutants by 75 percent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent, the state will require that 1.4 million vehicles on state roads by 2025 be hybrid or electric vehicles. Stated another way, one in seven new cars sold in 2025 must be electric or otherwise zero emissions. The California regulations will, once again, have more far-reaching implications than just within the state as 10 other states, including New York and New Jersey, plan on adopting the standards. Phase-in of the rule will start in 2018 and the new regulations also include requirements for construction of hydrogen fueling stations for fuel-cell vehicles. This is yet another tremendous step forward for the environment, automotive technology and the health of Americans thanks to the Golden State ... Will the plug-in Prius best the Chevy Volt on fuel economy? According to Toyota, it will. Although official numbers from the government are not yet available, Toyota says its plug-in Prius will get, "50 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving running solely as a hybrid, and 95 mpg-equivalent when its lithium-ion battery pack is frequently charged," according to Bloomberg. The Volt is rated as getting 37 MPG after its initial charge wears out and 94 mpg-e when running on battery power alone. The only place it looks like the Volt will do better than the plug-in Prius is on the miles it will run on electricity alone. The plug-in Prius will go 15 miles on a charge versus the Volt's 30 miles ...
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Friday, January 27, 2012:
Some think that youth is wasted on the young but it seems to us that young drivers have the right idea when to comes to driving green vehicles. In what sounds like excellent news for automakers working hard to produce more hybrid and electric vehicles, a recent survey from Deloitte shows that six out of ten Millennials - also know as Gen Y - would prefer to buy a hybrid over any other kind of car or truck. The group, which consist of drivers currently aged 19 to 31, are also looking for technology like smartphone integration and touchscreen controls in their fuel efficient vehicles. Not only do Gen Y consumers know the value of fuel efficiency, they are willing to pay more for it. CBS Moneywatch reports that, "close to half (49%) of Gen Y customers are willing to pay an extra $300 for each mile per gallon of improvement they can get out of a hybrid, according to Deloitte." ... In what sounds like one of the most short-sighted moves ever, Kansas lawmakers are considering imposing a new fee on the power used by electric car and hybrid owners when they charge up their vehicles. As our country makes gains towards lowering our emissions, why any lawmaker would consider a fee that would penalize consumers who are looking to do the right thing for the environment by driving vehicles that get both extremely low or no emissions and are highly fuel efficient is beyond us. Let's hope state legislators come to their senses and figure out another way to recoup possible lost gas tax revenue as cars move towards using less gas in the future ...
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