Yellow Taxis Go Green!

Just the sight of 50 million taxis sitting in New York City traffic would be enough to send any tree hugger off the deep end. Well that’s all going to change by the year 2012. Mayor Bloomberg has recently announced that over the next five years the city’s entire fleet of smog emitting taxis will be replaced with more environmentally friendly hybrid vehicles. According to Yahoo News not only will the green taxis cut down on emissions; but they will also increase gas mileage. Now if only the Mayor could get the cabbies to emit less obnoxious emissions!

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It’s a Turtle, It’s a Sardine Can……No it’s a SMART Car!!!

So I was returning home from work one day after sitting on the Freeway for 90 minutes…yes to go 33 miles….I love southern California (don’t ever move here!) anyways my neighbor had this little weird neon green thingy sitting in the driveway. Thinking it was some cool new toy I approached him and asked “what the heck is that?”
“It’s a Smart car,” he replied. Smart like good at math and science? No, smart like it does not require much gas, therefore the owner is Smart!

Right now the Smart car comes equipped with a 3-cylinder engine that makes 70hp. And gets about 40 MPG. Nothing really exciting about that…..Oh except for the price….11-13k will get you one of these Prius MPG matching cars.

The really exciting stuff is on the horizon. Smart not only has a regular gas powered model….it also has a Bio-diesel powered car and an all electric car. The Bio-diesel car gets 70 MPG compared to 40 MPG because it has a more efficient engine than the gas powered version (smartcarofamerica). And of course the price tag will be a little bit higher. And there is also a hybrid model that gets 71 mpg.

Beyond these 3 models lies the holy grail of Smart technology. The first all electric Smart car is ready for America. This car features an all electric engine that can go up to 70 miles between charges and cost only $3 in electricity usage (smartcatofamerica). Now I know the Tesla can go 200 miles or something like that….but this is the first of many attempts I’m sure at a more environmentally friendly mode of transportation that is also easy on the wallet.

So next time you’re on the Freeway and see one of these funny little cars running around….don’t laugh…because in 5 years you too will be driving something similar! And remember Chic’s Dig Environmentally Responsible Dudes!! Smart Car of America

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A Hybrid with no Transmission…..and it gets 160 MPG too!!!

Generally; 10-20% of a car’s power is lost through the transmission. This includes all automobiles: cars, trucks, and even hybrids. The big auto manufacturers have all know this for years and have made more efficient transmissions over time. The factory rating for horsepower and torque are numbers taken from the flywheel…which means that they are numbers taken from the engine only. Real world numbers are gathered from the wheels (wheel horse power). So if you buy a new Nissan 350z rated from the factory at 280 horsepower…..it really is only putting down around 239 hp to the wheels…..Darn transmission!

But now Volvo has come up with an ingenious idea for Hybrid cars. Eliminate the Transmission altogether! Well that was simple enough…but wait….how will the car get going then without a transmission? Ahh…very good young grasshopper. The Volvo ReCharge “packs a small electric motor in each wheel, so that no power is lost in the drivetrain.” (popsci.com/cars/article/2008-03/how-it-works-tomorrows-hybrid)

The electric wheel motors will be powered by electro magnets and computers. All stuff that is way over my head. Just think of it as cool Bullet Train or roller coaster technology. Nevertheless….a pretty smart idea. Of course the car will run on battery power for a certain number of miles before the diesel engine kicks on. And since the engine will not be connected to a transmission; the power made will be transferred more efficiently to the batteries or a fuel cell. All of this adds up to a 160 MPG car…..Hopefully this technology will reach us before our economy collapses due to skyrocketing gas prices!

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Mother Nature Stole My GAS!!!!!

So I got up to go to work and my tank was completely dry. At first I thought that I had been to victim of a crime. Some sap had siphoned all my remaining gas out of my tank. After Beating and Interrogation everyone in the near vicinity (even the bum who does not own a car). I finally gave up and began looking into a solution to the problem.

I couldn’t decide between buying a pit-bull to guard my car at night (no he might chew up my tires), or should I attach my car to some live source of electricity (scraping off burnt skin is a pain), or should I just buy a key locking gas cap? None of the above. You see it wasn’t a human that stole my gas……no it was Mother Nature. Damn her!

Who knew that gas could evaporate? Not me. And if you do not tighten of if you leave the cap off altogether, then it’s like having money evaporate right out of your tank!!! According to the Valley Breeze : “About 17 percent of the vehicles on the roads have gas caps that are either damaged, loose or are missing altogether, causing 147 million gallons of gas to vaporize every year.” So make sure you tighten your cap till you hear that weird clicking noise, or go out and spend $6.99 for a cap so you can throw out the rag you had plugging the hole, you lazy tweeker!

Valley Breeze Article (valleybreeze.com/Premium/EDIT-AAIA-gas-tips-clone-as-needed-clone2008-04-09T12-48-10)
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American Car Manufacturers are either: blind, stupid, or too stubborn to change!!!

They remind me of the big dumb jock from high school…..he was good for something at one point in time….but now that a few years have passed….what good is he?

Recently Edmunds.com published a story about the top 10 most efficient 4-door cars available. They ranked the cars based on EPA fuel economy numbers. And would you guess that not one car from an American manufacturer made the list!

With gas prices on the never-ending rise…..it’s clear that foreign automakers have their finger on the pulse of the car buying world.

Do American car companies just not care about what consumers want?

We do know that there are domestic hybrids out there……such as: the Ford Escape, Saturn Vue, and Chevy Silverado. But these are not cars at all!!!!!! They are SUV’s and Trucks. It seems that American car makers have decided to take aim at areas outside the hybrid car market.

So the Japanese have such a stranglehold on the hybrid car market, and the big American manufacturers won’t even give it a try. Actually Saturn does have Aura and that’s about it!! But now there is hope on the horizon…..

The Chevy Malibu Hybrid is coming out late this year. Horary for all you Bow Tie fans out there. But wait….just how good is the Malibu Hybrid….well according to the EPA; 27 MPG is the average you can expect to get out of this car. That is absolutely hilarious….my Nissan Sentra which is 8 years old, tops that number by 3 MPG and I don’t even practice gas saving driving.

But what about Ford all the Blue Oval fans out there shout? Nope…sorry…Ford doesn’t make a hybrid car. But the Escape hybrid SUV gets 32 MPG which is still better than the Malibu hybrid.

So 9 out of the 10 most fuel efficient sedans come from Japanese auto makers. The tenth comes from Kia. Kia……a company that is tiny compared to the big American Automakers. The future does not look good for domestic vehicles.

Of course the reigning champions are still there…..the Civic hybrid, the Prius hybrid, and the Camry hybrid are all on the list. The interesting thing is that 6 of the 10 most fuel efficient 4 door cars are not hybrids at all. They are small gasoline powered cars such as the Corolla.

Fuel Efficient Sedans…….Not A Domestic Insight!!!!!

This information was gathered from:
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/125477/article.html
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_2007_Hybrid_Vehicles

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Go Diesel!!!! Its Your Birthday!!!! You The MAN!!!!!

With Hybrids becoming all the "Rage" these days, Europe has been riding the red headed stepchild of the automobile world all the way to the bank!

Diesel Engines are becoming even more efficient than Hybrid cars netting close to 50 MPG. But what is a Diesel Engine and why is it so much more efficient. Well a Diesel Engine is very similar to a normal everyday combustion engine with one major difference. Diesel Engines do not employ the use of a spark plug, rather they reply on compression in the engine to ignite the fuel mixture, and this causes a cleaner more efficient burn, thus wasting less gas. And when a diesel engine is combined with a turbocharger, which makes power from the spend exhaust gasses, then these engines can be made as powerful as their regular combustion brothers. Diesel engines are often overbuilt and the lack of an electrical ignition seytem only adds to their reliability.

Volkswagen has been at the forefront with their TDI (Turbo Diesel Injected) with their Golf running around Freeways getting anywhere between 42-47 MPG these owners seem to be part of some secret club.

Now there is again big new from our friends to the east. Subaru plans on bringing a Diesel Powered car over to the U.S. that according to Motor Trend will get near 50 MPG. Too good to be true? No, guess again....with the demand rising for more fuel efficient cars, the Big automakers better cash in before its too late!

http://www.transmitmedia.com/golfTDI
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_0801_subaru_boxer_turbodiesel_first_drive/

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Natural Gas Powered Cars in DA HOUSE!!!!

The Arab Oil Embargo happened in 1973, and today we are still as dependant on oil as ever. The point being that after 35 years we are pretty much in the same position; freaking out about oil. Now technology is playing catch-up at an exponential pace. The different alternative fuel cars out there are beginning to gain momentum. There are Hybrids, Ethanol powered, Vegetable Oil powered, Battery powered, and Natural Gas powered car roaming the streets.

We know that the U.S. consumes 21 million barrels per day of oil. As a country we produce about 4.86 million barrels and Import the rest from other countries. Unfortunately our usage exceeds our production. And as far as reserves go we are number 11 on that list. But there is another fuel source that is hardly talked about.

The United States has the 4th largest natural gas reserve in the world (gravmag.com/oil.html). So why are we as a country still so reliant on oil? Beats me….we use natural gas to cook our food, dry our clothes, and heat our bath water. It would seem logical to use compressed natural gas (CNG) to power our automobiles. But alas; there must be some unwritten agreement out there against natural gas powered cars. Well there is at least one automaker with an open mind!

Honda continues to be the only Automobile manufacturer to sell a natural gas powered car on U.S. soil. “Only about 1,000 of the more than 300,000 Civic subcompacts that Honda sells every year in the USA are the natural-gas GX version (usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-05-08-natural-gas-usat_N.htm).” That’s a tiny number of CNG cars. The negatives must outweigh the positives…..Right……Wrong!!!!

Here are some of the advantages of a natural gas powered car.
1) Natural gas powered cars get as good as gas mileage as the regular gasoline powered cars, and in many cases the MPG is better. The Civic GX gets up to 39 MPG on the Freeway!
2) Price per gallon is cheaper. On average…..natural gas is much cheaper than regular gasoline.
3) The little Honda Civic GX produces fewer emissions then the Toyota Prius; making it the cleanest internal combustion engine on the market today (usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-05-08-natural-gas-usat_N.htm).

Now it’s time to air the negatives associated with natural gas powered automobiles.
1) CNG cars are a couple thousand dollars more expensive than their counterparts. It does cost money to be on the cutting edge of technology! On average the GX is only 2 grand more than the Hybrid.
2) The trunk space is slightly smaller due to the natural gas tank and associated parts.
3) There are not very many gas stations around that sell CNG. In fact gas stations across the nation are well behind those that sell E85 or other biofuels.

So now the negative really do not look that bad. And couple that with the fact that there are huge rebates available when purchasing a CNG car; and hybrids really do not look like our saving grace. And of course I have save the biggest and best news for last! Honda has invested some cash in a Canada based company called FuelMaker Corp. which sells natural gas refilling stations for your home. Now you don’t have to worry about finding a station in the real world. And the best part is that it costs a measly $1.25 per gallon (usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-05-08-natural-gas-usat_N.htm)! I cannot wait to buy one of these CNG cars….as soon as I sell my Hummer….any interested buyers?

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