, Green

Someone really wanted diesel fuel. They wanted it so badly that they took 4,000 gallons from a LA-area station. Just like that. People are getting desperate, but there is always hope. Yesterday, for example, there was good news from Mitsubishi about electric car plans and from Lotus about new projects. And, dare we hope, a little bit of sense from Zap?

• OK, now what: thieves make off with 4,000 gallons of diesel from LA-area station
• ZAP Alias prototype built; the Obvio disappears
• Mitsubishi’s electric car plans revealed
• Honda to revive the Insight name for new hybrid?
• Mercedes launches C-Class Blue Efficiency
• Ford SUV assembly plant workers get 9-week unplanned vacation
• Australian gov’t to help GM, Ford fix fuel economy of large cars
• Hyundai Elantra Hybrid set for 2009 in Korea with no help from gov’t
• Kia adds Eco Driving System to Optima sedan
• Lotus picks up two more green car projects
• Chrysler prices new Aspen/Durango two-mode hybrids, starting at $45,340
• Heavy duty (really heavy duty) electric truck in use at LA port
• Neste oil to build $1 billion biodiesel plant in Rotterdam, Holland
• A two seat unicycle?Toyota UK’s offices go green in June
• Officially, official: Mitusbishi and PSA’s electric vehicle partnership
• High speed trains are killing airplanes
• Bosch and Samsung to team up on battery development
• Dodge Hornet likely to be built by Nissan
• The Lancia Delta reappears

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Nissan developing new hybrid coupe to compete with Honda CR-Z

Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Euro, Green, Nissan

Hot on the tail of the Honda CR-Z Hybrid, Nissan is preparing their own hybrid coupe to go head-to-head with its rival. The front-wheel-drive, hybrid sports car will be built on a modified “B” platform and will offer an aggressive coupe appearance with a wide stance — a look popular in Europe, its primary market. To keep weight at a minimum, Nissan will likely utilize aluminum body panels. For improved aerodynamics, the new coupe may be fitted with flat bottom panels (a trick used on the Nissan GT-R). With engine details sketchy, most anticipate the powerplant to be a four-cylinder 1.5-liter HR15DE, coupled to an electric motor and power would be sent to the front wheels through a six-speed DSG transmission. We don’t expect to see the new Nissan, or the Honda for that matter, in showrooms before early 2010.

[Source: 7tune]

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Bob Lutz on Volt: “no reasonable doubt… this is going to work”

Filed under: Coupes, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Paris Motor Show, Chevrolet, GM

Bob Lutz has come out and said it again: “I would say there’s almost no reasonable doubt in our minds anymore that this is going to work.” And that isn’t just that the Chevy Volt will work — it’s that it will work on time and as promised. In spite of the difficulties GM has had getting Volt technology up-to-speed within its timeframes, the man upstairs is apparently as confident as ever.

Lutz said that engineers have driven the car to and above its 40-mile pure electric range already. Two companies are still trying to win the lithium-ion battery pack contract, although LG Chem says it has a 3rd-gen unit that’s ready to go. Another hurdle is the car’s internal combustion range extender starting up, which Lutz described as “noisy and still a little rough.”

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Lutz piece without him taking a shot at something. Speaking of Toyota’s delay in rolling out lithium-ion batteries (although there could be another reason for that), Lutz said Toyota should have faced a bit more scrutiny for that decision. “They told the world that GM was taking a huge risk, that lithium ion batteries were prone to explode and that we were putting our customers at risk and that they would stay with the tried and true. When it comes to Toyota, let me tell you, the press has a short memory.” After all of this, if the Volt doesn’t show up on time and as promised, GM will need to retool one of its plants to make humble pies.

[Source: Reuters UK]

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