With Chrysler and GM out of the running, China is vying to become the world leader in hybrid and electric vehicles.
The New York Times reports that China is aiming for a production capacity of 500,000 hybrid or all-electric vehicles a year by 2011 – outnumbering the amount of eco-friendly vehicles the U.S. and Japan will be able to put on the roads in the same time frame.
China, who gets three-fourths of its electricity from coal, is offering subsidies for taxi companies and municipalities that switch to electric or hybrid vehicles. The government has also ordered construction of electric-vehicle charging stations for Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, the Times reported.
San Fransicans are saying a big “hells yeah” to the Ford Escape hybrid taxis roaming the city streets. San Francisco’s first 15 hybrid taxis, all Ford Escapes, all reached the taxi retirement age of 300,000 miles and are being taken off the road. Their staying power shows that hybrid technology is more durable than expected; and according to the LA Times, these eco-friendly vehicles have saved taxi drivers approximately $9,000 a year.
Today, 14% of San Francisco’s 1,438 taxis are hybrid vehicles. Yellow Cab has ordered ten new Ford Fusion sedans, which offer better gas mileage than the Escapes. They are currently testing Nissans.
“We’re still looking for the perfect cab,” Yellow cab company manager Hal Mellegard said. “There’s new technology all the time. They may make something next year that runs on dirt and has zero emissions. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
The American Idol kids revealed their latest Ford commercial tonight and good news for hybrids – they were promoting the 2010 Ford Fusion Hyrbid.
Megan Joy, Adam Lambert, Lil Rounds, Anoop, ect. all sang “Pocket Full of Sunshine” around the sexy green Ford Escape Hybrid and Ford Fusion Hybrid. The folks over at American Idol are pushing their latest contest, the Ford Music Video Challenge, which asks viewers to answer trivia about the latest Ford Music Video for a chance to hang with the Idols, plus win your very own limited edition American Idol Fusion.
Sadly, Micheal Sarver was sent packing this week. But he’ll always have the Ford Fusion commercial! Sarver seemed fine with his elimination, saying, “I’m going on tour,” referring to the summer “American Idol” tour.
Kia has jumped on the hybrid bandwagon. Can we get a hoo raah? Kia introduced its first mass production hybrid model, the Forte LPI hybrid, in South Korea.
The Forte LPI Hybrid uses the same hybrid system launched last year in the Hyundai Elantra, using a 1.6L liquefied petroleum gas engine, which produces 114 horsepower. The Kia Forte LPI also has an electric motor powered by a lithium polymer battery pack, adding an additional 20 horsepower.
Although the Kia Forte LPI Hybrid is intended for global markets, the U.S. market may not be included in Kia’s plans. Autobloggreen writes that Kia spokesman Alex Fedorak contacted them to say that unfortunately there are no plans for U.S. release. However, they do say that it seems likely that a Forte hybrid with a gas engine will arrive at some point.
IKEA, the makers of furniture that we love to hate, have created a viral marketing campaign that will supposedly unveil a new, eco-friendly car. Now if this thing comes in a trillion pieces along with an allen wrench, well, you may want to give this one a long, hard think before you purchase. Chances are, they’ll leave out two screws, which will send you screaming to the nearest white-padded room, but hey – if you’re into challenges, knock yourselves out.
On their website, designer Christophe Grozs stands next to an apparent car draped with the word LEKO and the tagline “la voiture selon IKEA.” We’re not exactly sure what he says, as it’s in French, but we’re guessing he’s telling you it will be a breeze to put together.
Apparently, the car is a modular design which can operate as a coupe or as a convertible, and has the full backing of the World Wildlife Fund. The website counts down to April 1st, so the joke will be on you when you wind up staring at a box filled with disassembled car.
If this is an April Fool’s joke on the part of IKEA, well, it just ain’t that funny. I mean, we’re not rolling on the floor laughing our asses off or anything. Nice try though.
Are you ready for the “world’s most affordable hybrid”? We sure are! And thanks to Honda, starting tomorrow, this promise will be made a reality.
Costing consumers a mere $20K, the Honda Insight uses the most cost-effective hybrid technology – giving the Toyota Prius a run for its money by already topping Prius’s current sales in Japan. And in retaliation, Toyota has announced that the current Prius model will be available for a few thousand dollars less than before at $19,250 USD (1.89 million yen), making it the same price (in Japan) as the Inisght.
Honda is hoping that the Insight could bring a turnaround for their luck with hybrids. Their previous attempt at selling hybrid vehicles was a bust and they discontinued a previous Insight model in 2006, believing consumers were not willing to shell out the cash. However, with the success of Toyota’s Prius coupled with a spike in oil prices, Honda is back with a new Insight. Who will win the battle of the hybrids?
As we reported earlier, the Honda Insight has been selling like hotcakes in Japan and there were rumors bubbling that the Insight’s main hybrid competition, the Toyota Prius, might see a price drop to better compete with the Insight.
Well that rumor has moved into the realm of fact as Toyota has announced that the current Prius model will stick around for a while and will be available for a few thousand dollars less than before at $19,250 USD (1.89 million yen), making it the same price (in Japan) as the Inisght.
The 2010 Toyota Prius price point has not been set yet but there are rumors that Toyota is planning on releasing an even cheaper hybrid model which may be priced as low as $14,000 USD.
President Barrack Obama has made it clear that he considers the environment a priority of his administration. He started back when he was a mere presidential hopeful in August of 2008 when he called for a million plug-in hybrids by 2015. He even traded in his V-8 Chrysler for a hybrid while on the campaign trail.
Now, in office his economic stimulus package provides about $80 billion for renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, improving and expanding mass transit, updating the electrical grid and research.
This Thursday, President Obama will continue to emphasize the role that hybrids and other clean vehicles play in America’s future by visiting the Southern California Edison Electric Vehicle Technical Center in Pomona to check the progress being made by SCE and Ford on their clean vehicles like the Escape hybrid.
We here at Eco Auto Ninja also take hybrids pretty seriously, but, well, we don’t bite people. Well, not often anyway.
A female New York City transit passenger bit the arm of a veteran driver because she was extremely pissed to learn that his bus wasn’t a hybrid.
“She came on the bus, and she said she waited more than an hour for a hybrid,” said MTA driver Peter Williams, 42. “I said, ‘I’m not in control of what bus is assigned to me.’”
That’s when 49-year Shelia Bolar started screaming at Williams and then chomped down on his arm. Now Bolar has some serious teeth, managing to bite through a jacket, a sweater and a thick shirt, not breaking the skin but causing a bruise and some swelling.
“She bit through all that,” exclaimed Williams.
Bolar got off the bus and managed to escape, but police managed to catch up with her and she now faces assault charges and is being without bail, pending a psychiatric examination.
There’s been so much buzz about Chrysler’s 200C Concept that we thought those who couldn’t make the auto show this year would enjoy a closer look at this slick hybrid vehicle. Will the Chrysler 200C ever see production? If Chrysler survives rumor has it that this is a concept vehicle that will actually see the light of day.
