Got a hankering to waste some of your precious Thursday evening on a video game? Like hybrid cars? Well then, we’ve got great news for you! Honda has gone ahead and created the online game of your wildest dreams: 3 Mode Mania. Naturally, the subject of the game is the new 2011 CR-Z, and, as is the case with just about every racing game ever created, the goal is to drive along a course as quickly as possible.

There are three tracks to choose from, a bunch of CR-Zs in multiple colors and, as its name suggests, three different modes (Econ, Normal and Sport), each a bit faster and harder than the previous. Give it a whirl. It’s certainly not the best automotive video game we’ve ever played – in fact, it’s probably one of the worst – but perhaps it’ll give you something to do while passing the time until the So You Think You Can Dance results show comes on… Check it out here.

[Source: Honda via Carscoop]

Take the Honda CR-Z on a virtual race with 3 Mode Mania originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Bill Nye, “The Science Guy,” Jessie Deeter, the producer of Who Killed The Electric Car? and Revenge of the Electric Car, and our own Chelsea Sexton took to the stage at the close of public night at the Plug-in 2010 Conference. With this line-up, it was more than 66 percent the same as last year, when Nye, Sexton and Electric Car director Chris Paine answered audience questions. Given the “preaching to the choir,” audience-led nature of the event, we thought there would probably be a lot of readers who would want to “attend,” digitally, so we’re posting an audio recording of the entire two-hour event after the jump. What does it contain?

How about a short preview (verbal, not video) of Revenge of the Electric Car? Deeter said that the film will focus on three main stories: General Motors and the Chevrolet Volt, Tesla Motors, Nissan and the Leaf and electric car mechanic Gadget. How about the panelists’ predictions of the percentage of new cars that are plug-ins by 2020? Nye said he doesn’t think it’ll be 10 percent, Sexton said it’ll totally be determined by how many the OEMs are willing to build. How about lots of disparaging comments about adding sound to silent electric cars? How about Nye calling lithium supply worries the “reddest of herrings”? How about one member of the audience proudly saying he’s been driving an EV1 since 1998, and Nye replying, “You must be exhausted”? Zing! All these classics and more await you after the jump.

Continue reading Plug-In 2010: Bill Nye, Chelsea Sexton return for public night panel

Plug-In 2010: Bill Nye, Chelsea Sexton return for public night panel originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

As we’re sure you’ve noticed by now, General Motors has been making lots and lots of waves over the past few days announcing the pricing information (finally!) of its 2011 Chevrolet Volt. And, you also likely know that the car is capable of traveling at least 40 miles per charge without using a single drop of gasoline. But hat happens when the time comes that you need to pump some good ol’ crude into the tank? You’ll be using premium.

Yes, you read that right. It’s premium unleaded only in GM’s mostly gasoline-free automobile. It seems a bit odd that The General would force its customers into using higher-priced gasoline if there wasn’t a good reason for it, especially since it doesn’t seem that the engine is highly stressed – 80 horsepower from 1.4 liters isn’t exactly bleeding edge.

There is a possibility, however, that the car’s engineers were able to wrestle a bit more efficiency from its constant-load engine/generator setup by using higher octane fuel. In any case, the automaker has not offered up any specific explanations on why premium is required… or, for that matter, what kind of fuel mileage the Volt will attain when the gasoline-powered engine is in operation.

We do feel compelled to point out that it probably doesn’t really matter all that much that the Volt requires premium fuel considering how little gasoline the average user is likely to go through any given month, but still…

Your mileage may vary, indeed.

[Source: GM, The Truth About Cars]

2011 Chevrolet Volt requires… premium gas? Yup. originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

We’ve met the Nissan Leaf before. First at its coming-out party in Japan, followed by an all-too-brief stint behind the wheel of a Versa-based prototype late last year. Now we’ve had a chance to sample Nissan’s first foray into the world of electric vehicles in production form and the automaker picked one of its most important markets – the heart of Silicon Valley – to give us some seat time.

If there’s any area ripe for early-EV adoption, it’s San Jose, CA. And during a quick test loop through the tight confines of Santana Row and a run through the city’s suburban surrounds, it’s obvious that the first mass-produced EV is officially ready for prime-time.

Follow the jump to continue.

Photos copyright (C)2010 Damon Lavrinc / AOL

Continue reading First Drive: 2011 Nissan Leaf doesn’t change the game, just the players

First Drive: 2011 Nissan Leaf doesn’t change the game, just the players originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Speaking at the Plugging Into the Future Forum at the Shanghai World Expo today, General Motors‘ Global Vehicle Engineering VP Karl Stracke announced the creation of a test fleet of battery electric vehicles. The fleet will be deployed in several regions around the world beginning in 2011. Different vehicles will be used in different regions, but no other details were provided during the announcement about which vehicles and which countries would be involved.

Stracke also announced that a prototype electric version of the Chinese market Chevrolet New Sail was being built and it seems likely that this will form the basis of a test fleet in that country. Remember too that GM decided to go it alone on EV development after a deal to produce a low cost EV with Indian manufacturer Reva was dissolved earlier this year. Click past the break for all the details in the official press release.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading General Motors to establish global BEV test fleet, build New Sail EV prototype

General Motors to establish global BEV test fleet, build New Sail EV prototype originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

In racing, planning is everything. This point was proven once again as the bright yellow (Flying Banana, if you will) race machine from Lightning Motors held the lead of the e-Power International Championship until the very last few hundred feet. And then ran out of juice.

Sadly, for Lightning Motors at least, this slight miscalculation allowed the Flying Banana to be passed literally just feet ahead of the finish line by Michael Czysz, who took the win mounted on his own MotoCzysz E1pc electric race bike. For those keeping track, Czysz was 6.7 seconds behind at the start of the last lap.

Michael Barnes took second place on the Lightning Motors machine, followed by Thijs de Ridder aboard the Crystalite bike. Our congratulations to all of the riders!

Photos by Jeremy Korzeniewski / Copyright (C)2010 AOL

FIM e-Power 2010: Last lap lead change at Mazda Raceway originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

TW4XP may not be the catchiest name in the Progressive Automotive X-Prize line-up, but this unusual-looking battery-powered three wheeler does have staying power. As one of only eleven vehicles left in the competition – and one of only six in the Alternative Side-by-Side category (the others are the Aptera 2e, Li-ion Motors’ Wave II, the RaceAbout, Western Washington University’s Viking 45 and the Zap Alias) – the TW4XP still has a chance to drive away with the $2.5 million prize.

TW4XP hails from Germany, and the car was built just for this competition. The name stands for “three wheeler for X-Prize,” after all. We talked with Matt Childress, an American team member, who said that even with the team’s singular focus, it’s been a tough competition. This past week, during the Finals Stage, they had a problem with the X-Prize’s communication system that was connected to the TW4XP to relay data to the judges. The problem was serious; it immobilized the car. Once the telematics device was disconnected, the car operated just fine and the team was allowed to continue. “We are the team with nine lives,” Childress said. The biggest challenge for the vehicle-to-grid capable TW4XP is the range test, which Childress said “is always a problem with electric vehicles.”

Childress has a long-standing connection to the people who are running the TW4XP in competition sine they’re also behind the Twike, a human-electric hybrid that is available in Europe. There are two Twike models, the Easy and Active, and neither one is cheap – prices range from 20,000 to 40,000 Euros, depending on battery size – but almost 1,000 have been sold since they went on sale in 1996. You can read more in this PDF. Childress has been using a Twike as his daily driver for the past few years, and said there are around 20 in the U.S.

Whether or not TW4XP wins the Side-by-Side class, the team plans to bring something to market based on the vehicle, maybe with a partly-removeable powertrain. The idea here is that, if the pedal-power hybrid setup from the Twike makes the jump to the TW4XP, it could maybe be taken out so people can use it as an exercise device in their home. So, instead of driving your car to the gym and then going on the exercise bike, you have your gym with you.

There’s a video about the TW4XP team at the X-Prize after the jump. You can also follow the TW4XP blog here.

Photos by Sebastian Blanco / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Automotive X-Prize: TW4XP evolves human-hybrid Twike three-wheeler for competition

Automotive X-Prize: TW4XP evolves human-hybrid Twike three-wheeler for competition originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

In the past, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) typically issued grants for the advancement of proven technologies and rarely offered up government money on projects that some would consider experimental. As environmental concerns rose in recent years, the EPA created its emerging technologies program to fund unproven, cutting-edge advancements that offer the promise of reduced emissions and improved air quality. The program kicked off in 2008 with an aim to offer assistance to companies that take an innovative approach to solving environmental concerns.

Recently, the EPA issued $5.6 million in grants to several cutting-edge clean diesel technologies. According to the EPA, recipients of the grants include:

• City of Los Angeles Harbor Department for $731,000 for a hybrid crane with a small diesel generator combined with a battery to be used at ports.
• California Air Resources Board for nearly $1.2 million for a NOx reducing device for locomotive engines.
• University of Houston for $1 million for NOx reducing technologies installed on school buses.
• Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for nearly $1.2 million to use a seawater scrubber, which removes pollution from large ship engines.
• South Coast Air Quality Management District for $1.5 million for an exhaust capturing mechanism used on a variety of ships while at port.

$5.6 million is but a fragment of the $120 million investment planned by the EPA under the diesel emissions reduction program. More grants are coming soon and this latest round of funding should culminate by summer’s end. Follow the jump to find out more about the clean diesel projects awarded by the EPA.

[Source: Environmental Protection Agency | Image: respres - C.C. License 2.0]

Continue reading EPA awards $5.6m for cutting-edge clean diesel technologies

EPA awards $5.6m for cutting-edge clean diesel technologies originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Whenever automakers introduce some substantially new technology, the dealer network has to be trained to provide sales and service. Very often, this is mandatory before the dealer is allowed to sell any cars. Such is the case for Chevrolet dealers that want to handle the Volt when it goes on sale in December. Initial supplies of the Volt will be restricted to California, Michigan and Washington, D.C., as well as parts of Texas, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Since Chevrolet invited dealers to sign up for certification last month, about 600 dealers – about 90 percent of the outlets in the initial sale regions – have signed up. Certified dealers will have to install Level 2 charging stations for the Volts while sales staff will learn how the extended-range EV works so that they can explain it to customers. Service technicians will have to learn how to diagnose and repair the cars. Initially, if there are any battery-related problems, they will be replaced and the batteries will be sent back to the Brownstown plant to be checked. Eventually, dealers will be able to service the electronics and primary modules in-house.

Photos by Sam Abuelsamid / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: GM]

Continue reading 600 Chevrolet dealers sign up for Volt certification

600 Chevrolet dealers sign up for Volt certification originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The idea of driving around with a glass of water on your dashboard may seem a bit ludicrous, but if Toyota told you that a single glass of water could help reduce fuel consumption by 10 percent, would the craziness of placing that glass on your dash fade away. Toyota doesn’t want you to literally place a glass of water on your dash – that could get wet – instead, the company is pushing the idea that driving in such a way that your theoretical glass of water remains full would reduce fuel consumption significantly. To spread the word about its fuel-saving concept, Toyota has created a site appropriately called “A Glass of Water.”

So, how do you keep this imaginary glass of water topped off at all times? Well, provided you aren’t in a hurry to get somewhere, it should be quite simple if you follow these guidelines: begin by accelerating with graceful ease, leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle ahead, brake gently and apply tactics used by hypermillers. If you need more help to keep your glass full, head over to the Glass of Water site and hit up the coach section. Alternately, iPhone users can download a virtual glass of water app by clicking here. If you’d like to learn more about Toyota’s “A Glass of Water” challenge and are interested in giving it a try, then click here to begin saving fuel by the cupful.

[Source: A Glass of Water]

A glass of water a day can help keep your fuel consumption at bay originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments