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Green Thursday

Green Thursday: Ecooter

Thursday, October 18th, 2007

Ecooter

It’s got four wheels, looks like an alien face merged with some kind of insect, and is one of the Chinese offerings to the world of green motoring, but no one knows quite how to pronounce it.

It’s the “Ecooter,” and it’s an electric commuter vehicle, designed to hold one person, and meant to be used solely for short commutes. More a powered bike than a true car, the Ecooter will be on display at next month’s EICMA International Cycling Exposition in Milan.

If you happen to be in Milan, check it out.

Green Thursday: Hydrogen 7 BMW

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

We’re quite the media trawlers here at AutomotiveBlogger.net this week, but that’s not because we have nothing to say. It’s because beginning Monday we’ll be having longer, linkier, posts, with a couple of shared projects in the works with some fellow 451press.net bloggers.

In the meantime, for Green Thursday, we want to talk about Hydrogen, and while for many of us of a certain age, that brings strains of Smash Mouth’s “Walkin’ on the Sun” into our minds, for the folks at BMW hydrogen is a groovy new fuel source: totally clean, and the by-product is water.

Hydrogen cells aren’t ready for mass-market use yet, but we like that the performance car makers are getting into the mix with alternative energy sources. The Hydrogen 7 BMW is making its official debut at the Rome Film Festival. Tell Mr. DeMille it’s ready for a close-up:

Green Thursday: Subaru

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

Welcome to the first edition of Green Thursday. This will run on alternating weeks with Tech Thursday, and will highlight the efforts of various carmakers to think green. This week, for no other reason than that I drive one, we’re spotlighting Subaru.

You probably know that Subaru was one of the first makers to offer all wheel drive standard on every vehicle, but did you know they also have a zero landfill policy at their Indiana plant? More than 99% of their waste products are either re-used or recyled, and whatever remained is incinerated and used to generate steam.

This same plant, by the way, was also the first to be completely smoke-free - and that happened in 1994.

In addition, Subaru offers Legacy, Outback and Forester models nationwide that are certified to meet PZEV (Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle) standards, and that also meet California’s stricter SULEV (super ultra low emissions vehicle) certification. Not bad, considering there isn’t a hybrid among them. (In fact, Subaru’s gasoline engines often result in fewer emissions than the average hybrid-electric.)

Today, in fact, as I was filling the gas tank in my 2001 Subaru Forester (which still gets 300+ miles per tank), a cop stopped to chat. “I have the same car,” he said. “I love it. Wouldn’t buy anything else.”

Now that’s the kind of conversation you WANT to have with the police.

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