This month’s article is going to deviate from our recent topics. I’m a big supporter of green technology so I chose to write about the new trend in the automobile industry. Ever since man started out creating automobiles he has been using petroleum or diesel fuel. As the comfort and the convenience of automobiles got better the man moved to owning a vehicle rather than using other methods of transport. The industry spread into many markets, both large and niche that catered to many of the infinite needs of man. This industry continued to grow without many noticing the underlying power source that powered these machines. Or many may have turned a blind eye on the issue to rake in as much profit as they could get. Crude oil has been and will be a vital part of our lives even if you choose to ignore the fact. Its scarceness has led to many difficulties for the common man especially in terms of the transportation costs. The volatility of the prices of crude oil and its harm to the environment has led to a question whether we are using the power efficiently and whether we have other alternatives. Although few of the big names such as Toyota and Nissan had breakthrough technology which they are using with success, others did not give enough effort until their sales started to get affected. In this article I would not question the motives of the giants in the industry as it is not mine to ask such, but I will elaborate on few of news that allows us to hope for a better day.

“From 20 to 230 miles per gallon within a year?”

It did not take long for the GM to cut their losses, restructure itself, get out of bankruptcy and to unveil a brand new car. Not any car but a car that does 230MPG (MPG – miles per gallon) which is about 98km per litre. Yes this is true. Your good old Toyota must be doing bit more than one tenth of this so I guess this is pretty good news. This vehicle is built for city use which means this car would function best if it was travelled with in short distances. ‘Volt’ would run on electricity which would be powered by the fuel. The engine would consume 25kW of energy per 100 miles which I would say is pretty impressive. The 230MPG value came out from electric only driving so it may not be so high. Another impressive feature is that you could charge the battery using your ordinary power outlet at your home. So just like you charge your mobile phone, when you drive back home you would have to remind yourself to plug in your car too. So how much and when would it ship out? Chevy is giving an indication that it will be around $40,000 so it is bit expensive. Actually Chevy says that it would be losing out on the first few vehicles but surely they would love to have the tax credit that they receive for hybrid vehicles. You probably might see these vehicles on the road in the USA in 2010 which is not far away.

Bizarre design

It did not take weeks for Volkswagen to announce their new hybrid model. The model looks very different from what you and I are familiar of but it gives much more mileage than your ordinary car. At 170mpg Volkswagen L1 is still in the conceptual stage but the firm is very serious about going into production in 2013. It calls itself the “World’s most fuel efficient automobile” but I’m sure Chevy would have a thing or two to say about it. In theory this car could run 100km in just 1.38 liters which is brilliant.

Green is the new red

It would be sometime when the consumer chooses an environmentally friendly car to a red Ferrari. But trend is seems to be catching on. The big luxury brands are looking to make their gas guzzling monsters into more environmentally friendly vehicles. BMW was the third in this latest in introducing these high mileage automobiles. ‘BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics’ concept is not in the same level at the above two but it is far more efficient for sport type vehicles. This concept car encompasses the ‘BMW Active Hybrid Technology’ that is capable of managing the CO2 emission as well as maintaining the driving pleasure. The car is powered by 3 cylinder turbo diesel engine and two electric motors for both front and rear axels. With a top speed of 250km, it is able to run 100kms with just 3.78liters of diesel. CO2 emission is also reduced substantially, only to emit 99grams of CO2 for even 100km. When the electric motor kicks in, this emission rate goes down to 50gram per 100km. But in staying at par with other sports cars, ‘BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics’ is consistent with its aerodynamically designed and lightweight structure. It has 2+2-seater that allows driving pleasure for up to 4 occupants.

Cool to be green

There is no doubt that the popularity in the car industry has become more inline with how environmentally friendly their products are manufactured. There is nothing new in the hybrid concept. Toyota had been manufacturing hybrid vehicles for almost close to a decade. Nissan came out with a new hybrid few months back. It is about time that all the car manufacturers acknowledged the fact that they need to make efficient vehicles rather than introducing advanced features that drink up more gas. But how soon would you see these vehicles used by the common man? I would give at least another decade. In the mean time if you want to be really green I suggest you go for the newest Prius.

Image Sources

http://www.ecoautoninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/chevy-volt1.jpg

http://autogreenmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/volkswagen-1l-concept-630-b.jpg

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/12/2009/08/500x_BMW_Vision_Eff_01.jpg

http://blog.leasetrader.com/images/blog_leasetrader_com/WindowsLiveWriter/ToyotasPriusisLessEfficientandEnvironmen_EA2B/2006.toyota.prius-thumb.jpg