Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green

Sometimes, we wish two posts on different topics would somehow magically merge together. The story of Hertz winning out against Zipcar for carsharing at the Ohio State University would be so much cooler if one of the cars you could rent by the hour is the Lotus-developed biofueled Antarctic speeder you can see on the left up there. I mean, who wouldn't want to go cruising over a frozen Ohio lake in that thing, and for nine bucks an hour, too? As for two things that should just not go together, check out this coal-powered Caddy. Yikes.

• It's not clean and certainly not green - it's a coal-powered Caddy
• Toyota halts all Japanese production - that means the Prius, too - for 11 days
• All new cars in California now carry smog, global warming scores
• Hertz puts the hurt on Zipcar at OSU
• Chery QQ gets sequential gearbox and a boost from the government
• Mercedes may pop smart fortwo clone lawsuit against the Bubble
• Car and Driver hosts hybrid hoedown, hearts Ford Fusion heaps
• Detroit preview: Cadillac SRX is direct injected but not flex-fuel
• Bond would kill for this Lotus-developed biofueled Antarctic speeder
• Dale Vince's wind-powered car could be the Storm, the Zero or the Nemesis
• Honda advertises cars with green hybrid billboards
• Honda S2000, CR-Z convertible follow Acura NSX and V8 to scrap heap
• India getting Porsche Cayenne Diesel
• Gordon Murray talks about his 80 mpg T25
• Consumer Reports tests plug-in Prius conversion, finds it lacking
• Montana gives grant to make great green goo from CO₂

AutoblogGreen for 01.07.09 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Trends, Lifestyle

We end 2008 with the hopes that 2009 will be better, and we'd wager the same could be said of nearly every single automotive executive in the world. It was a rough year to be selling anything, and car sales took multiple shots from seemingly every direction - from high gas prices over the summer months to the credit crunch that brought the year to a close. Still, vehicles were sold, numbers were tallied and lists were compiled. Click here to see which vehicles managed to weather the storm better than their peers.



[Source: Kicking Tires]

Top 10 Best-Selling Vehicles of 2008 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Concept Cars, Hybrids/Alternative, Sports/GTs, Green, Motorcycles, Special/Limited Editions

KTM, the Austrian purveyor of both two- and four-wheeled motoring lust, has made it clear that it's a force to be reckoned with as it branches out into other enthusiast markets with such ridiculously awesome products as the X-Bow roadster and its RC8 superbike. Two things that remain a constant feature through all of the firm's recent products are the orange, black and white color pallette and its angular design language. These features, along with KTM's race-ready heritage, makes conceptual vehicle design for the company extremely interesting and proof comes in the form of six concepts designed by industrial design students at FH JOANNEUM University.

• KTM AX - A radical off-road four-wheel vehicle concept
• KTM sr 85 Deuce - An environmentally-friendly lightweight vehicle
• KTM CX - A racing vehicle that brings motocross to the water
• KTM 360° - A super-light, silent electric bike
• KTM Ascender Flight Vehicle - A gas turbine-propelled flying vehicle
• KTM Barracuda - A hydrofoil boat
  

This is an instance where pictures speak louder than words, but we've copied the designer's stated vision for each machine with captions in our gallery below. Each of these concepts was designed in conjunction with KTM, so they may offer an early glimpse into what's coming from the company. In a word: awesome. We'll take one of each. Thanks for the tip, Marc!


[Source: FH JOANNEUM University]

KTM concepts could point the way forward for Austrian brand originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: New York Auto Show, Sedans/Saloons, Suzuki

Reports of the premature death of the Suzuki Kizashi are apparently... premature. After a story surfaced yesterday detailing Suzuki's cancellation of its mid-sized sedan program, the scribes at Automotive News went to the source to get the details. Suzuki spokesman Jeff Holland told AN, "The production version will debut at this year's New York auto show in April." So there. When the Kizashi concept was revealed at last year's New York show, it garnered a fair amount of praise thanks to the sedan's swooping lines and road-hugging proportions. The Kizashi has been spied doing laps around the Nurburgring and for a mainstream mid-size sedan that can't be a bad thing.


[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Reports of Suzuki Kizashi's demise highly exaggerated, coming to NY originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Gadgets, Hybrids/Alternative, CES, Green

Panasonic first showed off its HD-PLC system at CES in 2004 and, being car nuts, we totally ignored it. Other than letting all our gadgets talk to each other over a house's electrical lines, it did nothing for what we drive.

Now, Panasonic is announcing the ability of its PLC system to also communicate with that electric car charging in your garage. Officially, Panasonic is touting the technology in the name of security. The company claims that electric car owners can view video from an in-car camera to make sure their EV is charging safe and sound, while keeping tabs on the charging status of their cars from inside their home.

Unofficially, The Earth Times speculates that the system could also transfer music to the car's stereo, along with sending travel routes and movies to the in-car entertainment system. The setup could also include a command to adjust the seats for individual drivers.

HD-PLC Magazine says Panasonic's PLC has the potential to make electric cars lighter, replacing looms of wiring with a smaller, simpler, PLC-linked wiring system. We'll have to wait until Panasonic's press conference this week at CES for the official announcement.

[Source: The Earth Times]

CES 2009 preview: Panasonic connects your electric car to your house originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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