Photo credit: lammersch

The car industry is currently undergoing a green revolution, with a number of exciting new technologies vying to challenge the predominance of petrol and diesel and put an end to the internal combustion engine’s negative effects on the environment.

For many years now, private cars have been a favourite target of environmental campaigners, mainly due to the harmful emissions that all internal-combustion engines release into the atmosphere. Their effect was illustrated starkly several times in the 1970s when ‘car-mad’ cities like Los Angeles and London were frequently shrouded in a thick, polluting smog. Car manufacturers have been working on improving their products’ environmental credentials for quite some time now. The most significant developments of the last quarter of a century include the rollout of unleaded fuel, as well as the mandatory fitment of catalytic converters, which remove many of the most harmful elements of vehicle exhaust fumes, to all new cars. But as the 21st century dawned, talk of diminishing oil supplies and the ongoing threat of global warming has incentivised both carmakers and governments to accelerate development of the technologies that will one day take over completely from those in the cars for sale today, which remain dependent on fossil fuels.

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Photo credit: Mike Babcock

Hybrid cars have well and truly entered the consciousness of the car-buying public in the last few years, as ‘greener motoring’ has become a hot topic. We have all heard that these cars are more eco-friendly than ‘normal’ vehicles and recently it has became trendy to own a hybrid. But how many of us know just what is under the bonnet of a hybrid car? Let’s take a look at exactly how a hybrid works and why it’s a greener option than a regular car.

Put simply, a hybrid car is one that combines an internal-combustion engine with an electric motor, powered by sizeable batteries, to propel the vehicle. There are two types of hybrid car: parallel and series (also known as serial). In the first case, both the combustion engine and electric motor are connected to the mechanical transmission, which means that both engines are capable of powering the car, at the same time or separately. In series hybrids, only the electric motor is linked to the transmission, and it alone propels the car. The combustion engine is connected to a generator and is used purely to recharge the electric motor’s batteries.

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Photo credit: Brave New Films

The well-known Oscar and Emmy-winning director Michael Moore says goodbye to GM today as the failed auto company files for bankruptcy. Moore says the “big three” auto companies in the USA are responsible for their own demise and that they have created “some of the greatest weapons of mass destruction responsible for global warming”.

“We are now in a different kind of war — a war that we have conducted against the ecosystem and has been conducted by our very own corporate leaders. This current war has two fronts. One is headquartered in Detroit. The products built in the factories of GM, Ford and Chrysler are some of the greatest weapons of mass destruction responsible for global warming and the melting of our polar icecaps. The things we call “cars” may have been fun to drive, but they are like a million daggers into the heart of Mother Nature. To continue to build them would only lead to the ruin of our species and much of the planet.”

But Moore says he feel “joy” about the fact that the American people now owns 60% of GM and that he is confident “we can do a better job”. He is also calling for a swift transformation of GM into a modern and environmentally-friendly company that produces cars for the future, and that the old GM factories start to produce windmills and solar panels. In short Moore is suggesting the following:

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The Robo Taxi is just what it sounds like. A robotic taxi meant to be used in larger cities. The Robo Taxi has no driver, minimal space for luggage and only holds two passengers. It’s powered by two electric motors that are connected on the vehicles back wheels. The taxi will be built with lightweight materials and run for 20 hours before a recharge is needed. The designer Kubik Petr believes the Robo Taxi will be able to reach speeds up to 90kmh.

If you want to use the Robo Taxi you will need to call to an operator who will then send a taxi to your location. Passengers will be able to enter their destination on a touch screen interface.

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European car makers Pininfarina and Bolloré have created BlueCar, a hybrid vehicle powered by lithium-polymer batteries. According to the car makers the first units of this electric car will be delivered in about a year. Leases for the BlueCar will be available in six European countries at a cost of €330 per month.

BlueCar will be able to be charged from a standard domestic main socket and will have a range of 250 km (153 miles). The car will have a top speed of 130 km/h (80 mph) and will feature potent acceleration, reaching 60 km/h from a standing start (0 to 37 mph) in 6.3 seconds. According to Pininfarina and Bollore the BlueCar will be able to run about 30 km (20 miles) on only a charge of a few minutes. The car will also be equipped with solar panels on the roof to help power the electrical equipments as well as its heating and air-conditioning system. Critics say the solar panels are a cool addition to the car but that it will make the car more expensive.

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Tesla Motors, the electric car startup company, recently unveiled their new Model S car in Los Angeles. The electric prototype car will cost $49,900, after a $7,500 tax credit and will be available for purchase in late 2011.

“Model S doesn’t compromise on performance, efficiency or utility — it’s truly the only car you need,” said Tesla CEO, Chairman and Product Architect Elon Musk. “Tesla is relentlessly driving down the cost of electric vehicle technology, and this is just the first of many mainstream cars we’re developing.”

The Tesla Model S will have a range of 300 miles with the possibility to buy less expensive batteries that will give you a range of 230 or 160 miles. The charging time is expected to take 4 hours, or 45 minutes by using a “quickcharge”. The car will do 0-60 mph in less than six seconds (5.6 seconds), a sport version of the car is promised to achieve 0-60 mph “well below five seconds”.

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photo credit: Nrbelex

George Monbiot says that the motor industry has long sabotaged eco-innovations and that they are now demanding billions to cut its carbon emissions. The green subsidy for car makers, Monbiot says, is just a disguised corporate bail-out.

“Their sabotage of green technology has been both subtle and comprehensive. The film Who Killed The Electric Car? shows how the manufacturers, working with oil companies and corrupt officials, sank California’s attempt to change vehicle technologies. Having bumped off battery power, they persuaded the federal government to pour money instead into hydrogen vehicles, aware that the technological hurdles are so high that a cheap, mass-produced model might never be possible. Electric cars, by contrast, have been ready for the mass market for almost a century. The $1.2bn that the US government is spending on research and development for hydrogen cars – like the €2bn pledged to the same quest by the European Union – is a subsidy for avoiding technological change.”

Continue to read over at the Guardian.

The Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has released his “New Energy for America” plan. If elected some of the things in his plan are 10% renewables by 2012, one million plug-ins by 2015 and energy efficiency now.

John McCain’s energy plan in comparison is, let’s say, a bit weaker. He is all about nuclear energy, a $300 million battery prize, nothing on energy efficiency and an opposition to clean renewable energy.

Here are some of the energy plans Barack Obama has for America:

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