Green Vehicles

Let’s face it - in 2007 it is cool to go green. If we haven’t developed an environmental consciousness yet then we are miles behind! But don’t worry, it doesn’t take tying oneself to a tree to understand the power of a cleaner and healthier environment, and manufacturers are realizing this too.

In the automotive world our most likely chance to go green is to purchase a hybrid vehicle. What is a hybrid vehicle and why is it green? Let’s take a look… [click to continue...]

THE COST OF HYBRID VEHICLES

With the winding road of 2007 before us and more and more people gaining interest in a cleaner and healthier environment, hybrid vehicles are becoming increasingly more popular and more available.

Dealing with an economy where our wallets are growing thinner and issues of cost effectiveness and return on investment are fueling national decision making. Americans are wondering if hybrid vehicles are really worth the higher cost.

There is no doubt that higher gas mileage means lower emissions, which equates to cleaner air and a healthier environment. We can all feel good about that. But, there are still heated industry debates on whether a hybrid vehicle is an economically sensible choice for the American car buyer. [click to continue...]

With soaring gas prices, air pollution and crowded highways what is our on going fascination with SUVs?

I think it comes down to several words - status, power and control.

The bigger anything is in the states the better. We Americans are fascinated with anything larger than someone else’s. My house is X amount of square feet, my SUV is the largest in it’s class. My lawn mower is 5X bigger than yours. My meal was 6X bigger at this restaurant than that one…. My new implants now take me up to a 34 D… and it goes on and on. [click to continue...]

Innovation is an amazing thing. And it is almost like there are two categories of people who have two ditinct ways of reacting to it. We have the open minded interested in innovation and bettering humanity type or the closed minded interested in what worked in the past type. Then perhaps there are those millions that may fall some where in the gray. Damn. I guess black and white comparisons really never work. Right…. anyway….

Back to the point, innovation on the road - think green, think fast, think electric. Yup, take a look at the X1, it will soon be made into a small-production roadster that car fanatics and weekend warriors will happily take home for about $100,000 - a quarter ton of batteries included.

Here is what money.cnn had to say: Ian Wright has a car that blows away a Ferrari 360 Spider and a Porsche Carrera GT in drag races, and whose 0-to-60 acceleration time ranks it among the fastest production autos in the world. In fact, it’s second only to the French-made Bugatti Veyron, a 1,000-horsepower, 16-cylinder beast that hits 60 mph half a second faster and goes for $1.25 million.

The key difference? The Bugatti gets eight miles per gallon. Wright’s car? It runs off an electric battery.

Wright isn’t some quixotic loner. He’s part of a growing cluster of engineers, startups, and investors, most of them based in Silicon Valley, that believe they can do what major automakers have failed at for decades: Think beyond the golf cart and deliver an electric vehicle (EV) to the mass market.

Indeed, the race for the new consumer EV has already begun: Just a year ago, Wright was working for his Woodside neighbor Martin Eberhard, co-founder of Tesla Motors, a startup that has 70 employees and a major investment from PayPal founder Elon Musk, which is building a mass-market rival to the X1. Wright left, believing he had an even better idea.

Beyond that, startups are forming to equip new “plug-in” hybrids that run almost entirely on their electric motors. And around the country, a handful of other exotic EVs are showing up on the road — including George Clooney’s new ride, a $108,000 commuter coupe that’s just 3 feet wide.

To read more on related subjects visit news.com to find out about Tesla Motors amazing and FAST electric roadster. ( 0-60 in 4 seconds!)