President Barack Obama, seen above at the Washington Auto Show Tuesday, hailed the triumphant rebound of the U.S. auto industry. Obama sat inside a 2013 Ford C-Max Energi, which won this year’s Green Car Vision Award, among some gas guzzling trucks, SUVs and muscle cars made by General Motors, Chrysler and Ford.

“The U.S. auto industry is back,” Obama stated to reports, adding that it’s was worth remembering that there were some leaders “willing to let this industry die.” Clearly taking a shot at Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney. Even though Obama didn’t make a statement with Romney’s name, it was quite clear when he told reporters that “it’s good to remember the fact that there were some folks who were willing to let this industry die. Because of folks coming together we are now in a place where we can compete with any car company in the world.”

A spokeswoman for Romney, Andrea Saul, stated that Romney was “thrilled” to see the success of General Motors company but that it was “unfortunate that the government first attempted a bailout, which was precisely as unsuccessful as he predicted, cost taxpayers billions, and left the government improperly entangled in the private sector.”

Since the 2009 bailout GM officially regained its spot as the planet’s top-selling auto manufacturer in 2011. Let’s not forget that the U.S. taxpayers still own about one-third of General Motors equity after shelling out nearly $50-billion US to GM and more than $12-billion to Chrysler. Obama stands behind his decision saying “the fact that GM is back, number one, I think shows the kind of turnaround that’s possible when it comes to American manufacturing.”

Chalk up another win for Ford as they take home the Green Car Journal Green Car Vision award for the second year in a row at the Washington Auto Show. The Ford C-Max Energi has indeed been turning many heads and other still are awaiting the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid that will become available this fall. However, how “Green” can a company be for developing vehicles that are not on the road yet?

Building hybrids with style is on the mind of many, but what about non-hybrids that are purely electric with zero emissions? While the Ford Focus electric is also a zero emission vehicle as opposed to the Hybrid C-Max, one tends to wonder how the C-Max Energi was able to win the award in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, Ford has done an amazing job with these two vehicles. The C-Max gets 40 miles to the gallon versus cars like the Tesla Model S getting 300 miles per charge. The C-Max has a greater range after fill-up, but you are still paying those high gasoline prices. Is it more cost effective to get the greater range? Perhaps on long road trips it could be, but for in town or perhaps the casual drive it could cost more as opposed to a completely electric vehicle. However, 40 MPG is a lot better than what most of us drive and depending on sticker prices, I might consider one.

The design of the C-Max is akin to a minivan without the size. It easily can fit several people with leg room for a comfortable drive. With a sleek, aerodynamic, and sexy design, I wouldn’t be surprised if these wind up being very popular. I can see the C-Max being perfect for family vacations, or families that travel around town together.

At any rate, with the variety of hybrids and electric cars available now, anyone can find something to help the environment and prolong our use of oil byproducts. By going to Ford’s website, you can reserve your Ford Focus electric car for 2012 and view the full specifications for the 2013 C-Max Energi.

2012 buyers of the Chevy Volt, a hybrid-electric vehicle introduced in 2010, will now be allowed to drive in the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in the state of California. Previously sold Chevy Volts did not qualify to receive the sticker required for this privilege. Recent adaptations made for the 2012 model will now allow new buyers to apply for one of these highly coveted spots.

Chevy dealers hope that this will further entice buyers to try out this new technology which, while energy efficient, is also expensive. Having an additional carrot to draw in customers is key, especially in a state such as California which tends to be more willing to adopt new green technology before the rest of the country or world. Even without access to the high occupancy vehicle lane, almost one fourth of all Chevy Volts sold last year were sold in the state of California.

As a car designed for commuting, access to the high occupancy vehicle lanes fits in well with the Chevy Volt’s market objectives. The car is designed to provide drivers with the ability to make it to and from work using electricity saved in batteries without requiring the back up gasoline engine to kick in at all. The goal is to provide users with the ability to use the car on a daily basis without ever having to refill the gas tank. Hopefully, the extra effort made by General Motors to get the Volt qualified for the high occupancy vehicle lanes will pay off as environmentally conscious commuters and carpoolers will have even more reason to give this new technology a chance. The Volt could prove to be part of the solution to the United State’s continuing reliance on both foreign and domestic sources of oil and it is fair to allow it this added incentive.

In Ottawa, Canada, a Mike Nemat is fighting with his condominium complex about charging his electric car, a Chevy Volt. The residents of the complex split the electric bill for the whole complex, so they do not want all the owners to have to pay for his car. He is arguing that charging the car only costs around $1 a night to charge. In addition to that, many of the other condo owners do not care if he charges his car. Most of them are pleased to have an environmentally friendly car at their condo complex.

The problem that condos, or for that matter most places, are having with people plugging in their electric vehicles is they do not know how much it actually costs to charge an all-electric vehicle. In the case of the condo association, they are asking that the owner of the Volt pay to install a meter outlet for his vehicle. This will cost around $3000, which does not make much financial sense for the Volt owner. There are many other cases where people are traveling, and they cannot find a place that will allow them to plug in their car.

The reality is that a hybrid-electric car, such as a Chevy Volt, will cost between $20 – $30 per month in electricity charges. Condo managers, as well as the general public, need to find out the true costs of charging these vehicles before they declare it is not allowed. Electric cars are much better for our environment than gas cars, but unfortunately, buying one is very expensive. People who purchase electric cars should be allowed to charge them, instead they are faced with ignorance. Therefore, people who purchase electric vehicles need to do their homework before they make the purchase. They need to make certain they will have a place to plug the car in.

Checkout this CBC article to see a video with Mike explaining the details.

Heather Peters, a former litigation lawyer, feels that she’s a groundbreaker, and hopes others will follow her by filing small claims lawsuits against Honda for deceptive advertising on Honda Civic Hybrid vehicles. Honda advertised on window stickers that vehicles would get 42 mpg., when the actual mileage was more like 32 mpg.

Heather owns a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid and chose not to sign onto a lawsuit filed and settled out of court in 2009. She has until February 11, 2012 to sign onto that lawsuit, if the suit she’s filed is not successful. Filing her small claims lawsuit in a Torrance, CA court, she’s claiming that the settlement in the previous lawsuit isn’t nearly enough. Ms. Peters is seeking $10,000 in damages that she hopes to receive from her private small claims suit.

A Honda representative didn’t show up to the first court date. When he did show up to the second date, he brought along a stack of paperwork for the courts consideration. The paperwork consisted of testimonials from satisfied Honda Hybrid owners, which was dismissed by the judge. While some Honda owners are happy with their mileage, many are not, and Heather hopes that others will follow and file their own lawsuits against Honda.

The Honda representative, Neil Schmidt, claimed at first that Heather didn’t follow the recommended service guidelines for her vehicle, which resulted in her experiencing lower mileage. Then he claimed that Honda used results from EPA testing that showed that 42 mpg was possible, but that lower numbers were also experienced. Honda chose to go with the higher number on window stickers to appeal to those influenced by “the green revolution,” which motivated them to buy a Honda Hybrid.

A software update was made to 2006-2008 Hybrid vehicles. Some believe that the update caused the lower gas mileage. The update was to extend the life of the battery, effectively causing the cars to rely more on gasoline.

Heather Peters has been using the internet to rally other Hybrid owners to follow her. A decision is expected in the case in the next week.

California air pollution has kept law makers and particularly Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resource Board, very busy. As we all know, air pollution has been a growing problem, but it seems they have finally found a solution to move in the right direction. Something that many believe will greatly reduce air pollution. The Advanced Clean Cars Proposal will guarantee 15% of all vehicles sold will be fully electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, or hydrogen fuel vehicles by 2025.

This law goes hand in hand with a federal proposal to increase the fuel efficiency of cars to 54.4 miles per gallon. The proposal from the California Air Resources Board will include cars, SUV’s and pickups. It also includes a plan to make sure there are plenty places to fill up all those new hydrogen fuel vehicles. I think this is a great idea. Even though many people have been pushing for a plan like this for over a decade now, I am just glad law makers are coming around. In fact several other states are likely to hop on the bandwagon. I can only hope they will all follow suit.

It is estimated that by doing this the average cost of a vehicle will go up by about $2,000-$3,000, but consumers will be saving around 25% on fuel. Consumers can look forward to saving $5,000 or more over the life of their vehicle. The Advanced Clean Cars Proposal will affect vehicles made from 2017 and later. The ARB expects to see a large decrease in air pollution between 2017 and 2025.

I think this is a big step forward for us nature lovers, and those who simply wish to preserve our earth for future generations. To quickly recap what this proposal is offering you get more miles per gallon on your car, save more money on gas, and we could possibly reduce air pollution by almost 20% by the year 2025. How can anyone argue against that? These laws will also put us, as a country in the forefront of helping create greener laws and a greener planet.

Tremendous amounts of water is used in most manufacturing, and auto makers are right up there as main offenders when it comes to massive water use and waste. In fact, some studies suggest that every new car built require 40,000 gallons of water.

Auto giants Ford Motors recently announced some new goals for 2015. They say that since 2000, they have reduced water usage by 49% – a total savings of just about 10.5 billion gallons. Their new goal is to drop that another 30% by 2015.

“Water remains one of our top environmental priorities,” Sue Cischke, group vice president, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering said in a statement from Ford, “and our aggressive reduction target helps ensure continued focus on this critical resource.”

Hybrid and electric vehicles are going to increase in numbers, but are those numbers high enough?

Hybrid electric vehicles and EVs combined will represent 3.1% of worldwide auto sales by 2017, according to a new report from Pike Research.

These kind of cars will account for 5.1% of total US vehicle sales in 2017, due to higher penetration rates in the country, the report, “Electric Vehicle Market Forecasts”, said.

Pike Research senior analyst Dave Hurst said this market is expected to miss many of the targets set by governments because the programs that create them have not been starting as quickly as they were meant to.

“Those targets aside, though, the EV market will grow at a rapid clip in the next six years – at a rate of nearly 20% a year, compared to fewer than 4% for the worldwide market for vehicles of all kinds,” Hurst said.

Congresswoman Bachmann has recently stated that as part of her bid for the Republican presidential nomination she pledges to reduce the cost of gasoline for American drivers to under $2/gallon of gas.

Since the average price at the pump right now is $3.58/gallon, this is a very bold claim and it of course begs the question of how on Earth she plans to pull this off. As a supporter of drilling for oil in Alaska perhaps she thinks there’s enough there to bring down the price. This, of course, would be tragically naïve if that’s her plan, so let’s give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she knows better. What methods then remain for her to pull such a feat off?

Well we here at EcoAutoNinja are at a bit of loss unless of course she’s talking about an invasion of an oil rich Middle Eastern country, we’re looking at you Iran.

Anyway, please let us know what you think. Does a president have the power to force the cost of gas down that dramatically without sending troops abroad for a trumped up war?

As expected, the Obama Administration set an official Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) target for 2025 at 54.5 MPG. While this is down from earlier expected numbers that went as high as 62 MPG, it’s still a substantial increase that seems to have found a happy medium for opposing voices.

President Obama made the announcement today amid some of the most important people in the auto industry. There was also a small parade of eco-friendly vehicles like the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and several hybrids and eco-friendlier trucks like the EcoBoost backed Ford F-150.