By now, we all know we should be driving hybrid and electric cars. Or perhaps, not driving at all. But many of us don't have an extra $30 grand to spend on a green automobile. And not driving is not always an option. Too often, when our cars starts making funny noises and cautionary lights on the dash stare us in the face, we’re left at the mercy of mechanics to use whatever they deem......read more
Under a proposal from the EPA and Transportation Department, cars could get environmental grades visible to consumers on showroom floors starting in 2012. The grades will account for the vehicles' overall fuel economy as well as its level of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the plan, the average vehicle would receive a B-. On the high-scoring end would be electric vehicles (A+) and......read more
Ladies and gentlemen, (silently) start your engines. After two decades of fits and starts, the electric car revolution is finally upon us. The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf are both slated to start hitting dealerships next month, and combined sales are expected to surpass 30,000 over the next year. Meanwhile, electric utilities don't know whether to lick their chops or wring their hands. A......read more
We all know that cars are responsible for more than their fair share of air pollution. What if the very roads that they drive on could clean up pollution before it hits the atmosphere? Sustainable tech company Pureti is on the case. The firm has a plan to treat roadways with a substance that would actually help dissolve auto emissions. The roadway treatment would utilize "naturally-occurring......read more
While American cities tend to bend over backwards to accommodate vehicle traffic, cities in Europe are going the opposite direction, making planning changes that make it prohibitively annoying and expensive (if not downright illegal) to drive cars in the inner city. NYT environment reporter Elizabeth Rosenthal discusses the traffic-tormenting situation in Europe: Cities including......read more
A new report from Stanford University offers a striking glimpse of our transportation future, and let us be the first to say, it looks pretty sweet. Stanford researchers have designed a system through which electric vehicles could be charged wirelessly simply by driving on the highway. Whoa. One of the main drawbacks of EVs is their limited driving range. This new technology, known as......read more
In the newly unveiled Panamera S Hybrid, Porsche has created a fuel-thrifty, green-minded sports car that drives like, well, a Porsche. The company is calling the Panamera Hybrid the world's fastest production hybrid and "the most economical" Porsche of all time. With a 0-60 mph time of 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 168 mph, you can't deny the speed claims. But with a base price......read more
With gas prices in California hovering toward $5 per gallon, there's plenty of incentive for auto buyers to opt for a fuel efficient vehicle. Now there's even more motivation, with the announcement that buyers of the 2012 Ford Focus Electric -- recently named America's most fuel efficient five-passenger car -- will get a $2,500 state tax rebate. Focus Electric drivers will also have the......read more
The longer we drag our feet to act on carbon emissions, the more difficult it will become to solve the problem of rising temperatures, says a draft report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report, which leaked last week, says that a further 15-year delay in reducing emissions will make finding a solution virtually impossible with current technology. From The New York......read more
Futurists all agree we'll have a car-less future. Personalized pods that contain our favorite music, food, and comfort items that plug into city, country, and even interantional systems tend to be the mode of travel for the prognosticators of transportation. And now we've found French artist Sylvain Viau who's created the 'Flying Cars' photo series. He digitally altered photographs of......read more