Hybrid, Electric, Plug-in, Clean Diesel Cars for the Responsible Consumers.

The Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS,) or “Cash For Clunkers” program is the federal program that helps consumers purchase a new, more efficient vehicle when an older, less efficient vehicle is traded in. Expect dealer showrooms to have increased traffic between now and November 1, and fewer polluting cars on the roads. But there are downsides as well.
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July 8th, 2009 is the first anniversary of the Pickens Plan. T. Boone Pickens’ Pickens Plan aims to invest some 1 trillion dollars of his own money to build wind turbine farms for power generation. With a new NAT GAS Act bill introduced today in the U.S. Senate, here’s a program status.
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Japan’s transport ministry is considering requiring car manufacturers to add noise-making devices to hybrids and other silent vehicles. Many issues will need to be worked out, but it will be interesting to see where this is going.
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I had a chance to visit with Jim Ruby, Manager of Fleet Services, and Greg Nishihira, Business Manager of Fleet Services at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD.) We talked about fleet operations at UCSD that support numerous university functions and the many programs that Jim and Greg are spearheading to achieve sustainable transportation for the school. Here is part 1 of our conversation, with Fleet Services photos showing electric, hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles in action in and around the UCSD campus.

Maryland Science Center to become the first in the nation to rent all-electric Maya 300 cars. The Maya 300 are made by Electrovaya and powered by lithium-ion batteries. When will Enterprise, Hertz and other rental car companies take note?
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One of the biggest impacts that electric cars will have on the economy is the automobile service and parts industries. That’s right. It’s not just the often-heard positive effects such as lowered emissions and reduced dependency on fossil fuels. And I’m not talking about dealer repairs and parts here. I’m talking the independent service and replacement parts shops.
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Hybrid drivers with the California Clean Air Vehicle sticker on their cars have enjoyed at least one unintended side benefit. The 8-dollar little sticker appears to fetch increased resale and total loss replacement value of hybrids. The premium price of these decals have been estimated at between $1,000 and $1,500.
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Minh Duong was showing off his 3-wheeled street-legal electric car named Xe Điện (‘electric car’ in Vietnamese) among the Priuses, Honda Insights, even a Tesla Roadster at San Diego’s Street Smart 2009. We spent a few minutes chatting about his creation of the electric car, his passion to start such a personal project and what he hopes to achieve in the future.

Here’s a low tech solution that can make a big difference in increased fuel efficiency of vehicles at essentially no costs, and it benefits everyone. If we just change the way we enter highway on-ramps and off-ramps, we’d already be ahead of the efficiency game, regardless of the cars people drive.
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The U.S. needs our leaders to step in and create a national policy to transition in future car technologies. Not doing so will waste time and public money, while stagnating important development.
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