A hydraulic hybrid is a high-mpg propulsion system that eliminates the need for batteries. Basically, a small diesel motor powers a hydraulic pump that fills an accumulator, which in turns sends fluid pressure to pump motors that power the wheels. Then, regenerative braking grabs back as much as 70% of the vehicle’s stopping energy to charge the system back up. The result is a 50% increase in fuel efficiency.  So far, hydraulic hybrids have been limited to commercial vehicles and military applications–UPS plans on adding hydraulic hybrids to its delivery fleet this year, and a company called Hydra-Drive has developed a hydraulic-hybrid Humvee and is planning to supply the US Army with more vehicles. But now,  Lightning Hybrids, a contender for the Progressive Automotive X Prize, is developing a 100 mpg passenger car prototype for the open market, the first-ever attempt to put hydraulic hybrid technology in a civilian passenger vehicle. The ride has a pretty decent quotient of retro-styled cool, with a carbon-fiber body intended to evoke the ‘63 split-window Stingray, and it opens up like a clamshell in a manner reminiscent of the Saab Aero X concept. Keep an eye on this build–it looks like it’s going to be pretty cool when it’s done. More pics below the jump, and check out Wired to read more.

Continue reading "What’s Next: Hydraulic Hybrid Technology For Passenger Cars" »

If you’re going to kill yourself—which is generally not a good solution for anything—it’s only polite to do as little damage as possible on your way out. Otherwise, you could really ruin some innocent person’s day. Seriously, check out what an errant jumper did to this poor car. Anyway, here’s the news:

• The new 370Z employs a system called "SynchroRev Match," which matches engine and tranny speed automatically, and eliminates the need for heel-toe shifting. And while I’d still like to master the old technique, I have to admit it sounds pretty cool. What isn’t cool? According to this article, only 15% of people know how to drive a stick. Lame. LA Times
• As we all know, it’s a tough time to be a CEO at one of the Big Three. And while a government bailout might help things, maybe there are other solutions worth exploring—like a good old fashioned bake sale! Jalopnik
• While auto plant closures are sure to be painful everywhere, and least one expert thinks the neighbors to the north will get screwed first. Blame Canada! Automotive News
• A wind-powered sports car? While the idea sounds like complete fantasy, Ecotricity founder Dale Vince thinks it can be done. Here’s hoping he pulls it off. Motor Authority

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

SEMA took a small step forward in the green category this year. Some of the top "green" vehicles were the Hi-Pa Drive F-150 (via Truck Trend), the E-85 X Prize Fox Body Mustang, the John Deere Smart, the Electric Blazer and of course the Vertical Doors Prius. Which is your favorite?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

The Progressive X PRIZE, a race to build a functional 100 mpg, 100 mph-capable vehicle, is getting some serious traction at the SEMA show this year. This ‘85 Blazer, built by Physics Lab of Lake Havasu, is powered by dual electric motors and draws some of its power from regenerative shocks—energy is generated every time they bounce, and it’s then stored in an accumulator under the truck. The Blazer retains its original 4WD drivetrain, and is heavy as hell—it started life at around 5500 lbs, and currently tips the scales at over 7000. Right now it tops out at 80 mph, and needs to gain the 20 that’ll make it a true contender for the prize.  But owner Jim Stansbury wouldn’t have it any other way: part of his mission with this project is to prove that plug-in EV technology is possibe even with a heavy vehicle. It’s some pretty innovative technology he’s working with, and he’s had to do it on a serious budget, funding a lot of the project with personal savings. The next step, in addition to gaining speed, is to figure ways to harness solar-thermal and waste heat to help power the motors. The Blazer is a work in progress, and Jim’s only got until September to finish it. See more pics after the jump, and check out his site.

Continue reading "X PRIZE Contender: Electric Blazer At SEMA!" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

In the midst of an extravaganza that tends to emphasize eye-flattening horsepower and gratuitous fuel consumption, it was pretty funny to run across a whole corral of green vehicles under the cringe-worthy banner "Making Green Cool." While it’s a header that seems at first to protest too much, there were actually some pretty cool rides on display which fit the bill—sorta—for eco-friendliness. The two major themes were green racing performance—like this E98-fueled, NASCAR-engined ‘68 Camaro, finished in water-based primer, which will take a crack at the Bonneville land-speed record on E98 ethanol—and gigantic alt-diesel trucks, like the "Vegistroke" Superduty, which runs entirely on waste vegetable oil. Of course, the underlying message is that you can go "green" without sacrificing anything, which is a nice sentiment. Hell, it’s not like anyone’s ever tried to say that SEMA’s about being realistic! There was also a decent showing by the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE 100 mpg challenge cars, like this fox-body Mustang—more on those later. See more green machines after the jump.

Continue reading "SEMA Top Ten Trends: Green Machines" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

So, we were all betting that no one would show up in a Prius this year, but over in the hilariously-named "Making Green Cool" section, I found this completely unapologetic example of every enthusiast’s favorite car to make fun of. Whoever built it pulled out all the stops: lambo doors, yellow-tinted windows, reflective headlight surrounds, and an interior done entirely in a shiny, carbon-look material. It’s running 19" CCE wheels wrapped in 35-series tires. Yeah, I can’t help myself—it’s awful, and I kind of love it. See more after the jump.

Continue reading "Prius and Proud" »

I had a feeling the eBox would win our "greenest" track car trophy, but I didn’t realize it would be so reliable throughout the day, and so fast. Josh took me on a quick drag run (and this is after the car had been beat on all day) and I can attest firsthand that this electric Scion is quick! It pulled happily all the way to 90mph before Josh backed off, and all the while the car was totally quiet.

The AC Propulsion conversion, done to first generation Scion xBs, costs close to $50k. But the car has a range of 150 miles and the recharge time is quite short. AC Propulsion didn’t do anything special to prepare for the track event. Other than the electric conversion, this is a bone stock xB, including the suspension. It helps that Josh (a vehicle product engineer for AC Propulsion) is a very skilled driver–he normally pilots an M Coupe track car.

Between sessions Josh took the eBox back to his little tent, plugged the car in and ran the AC to bring the battery temps down. Then he’d go back out onto the track and flog the little car some more. It ran in all four sessions, then Josh charged it up once more, hopped in and drove home to Monrovia, which was about 130 miles away.

What did the other racers think? Everyone loved it, and Josh got a big cheer when he got up on the podium to accept his trophy (he also scored third place in Shop Junior Varsity).

So how exactly did it win the "greenest track car" trophy? Well, we had John Fabijanic from Cal Poly on hand to determine the winner, and I have his full methodology after the jump.

Continue reading "The Greenest Track Car" »

It took a bit of poking and prodding, but we managed to round up four "green" track cars for the Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge on Sunday. We have two Jetta TDIs–the Chili Pepper Racing TDI and the Kerma TDI. We’ll also have the AC Propulsion eBox, which currently holds the 1/8th mile record with the National Electric Drag Racing Association for a street conversion. And finally, we have the Organic Racing Lotus 7 replica (an E85-powered WCM Ultralite S2K). These four will compete to see who’s the fastest, and who’s the greenest. Stay tuned for full coverage of Sunday’s event at Buttonwillow.

Kevin and Michelle of Organic Racing have embarked on the unique challenge of building what most people would consider a contradiction in terms: an environmentally sustainable race car. This Lotus 7 replica is built largely with salvaged or recyled parts, including a junkyard Honda S2000 VTec and an STi rear end. This husband-and-wife team is one of the few that’s running the entire One Lap event with an open cockpit, through all the nasty elements. (They’ve got heated racing suits and rain gear, but damn). Crazier still, their homebuilt trailer, known among One Lap participants as "the coffin," will actually be used by whoever’s not driving as a sleeping pod—while running on the highway. Would you dare? The Lotus gets 31 mpg highway on E85, which is great—though with emerging evidence that ethanol isn’t the environmental silver bullet that it was originally touted as, a turbo-diesel swap and a vegetable oil conversion might have to be next! We’ll be keeping an eye on the Lotus as One Lap unfolds, and you’ll be seeing it again real soon at the GRM Green Track Car Challenge in Buttonwillow next month.

Forget about the electric Elise. How about an electric Mustang? That’s what HST International is working on, along with a Shelby Cobra. Think they’ll be wussy? Think again. Their EV Mustang will do 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and their EV Cobra will do it in a blistering 3.2 seconds. Price? $80k and $125k respectively, and they’re taking orders now. More at AutoblogGreen.

Continue reading "912 Electric" »

GM’s PR office was in high gear yesterday reminding us that the Volt is still an active project over at Warren Tech Center. Make no mistake–it’s the biggest project at Warren and for that matter all of GM since the Cobalt. But if you read between the lines carefully, you’ll note that the releases are just out of step enough to confirm what we’ve already said here on CD: the Volt is not just a really big project, but it’s also on schedule. My sources over there have been pretty up front about it–everything in those releases is already in the bag. The lithium ion technology is moving forward and mules are out in the field. But don’t get too excited–things can get hung up for all sorts of reasons. And that is why Mr Lutz is asking the entire engineering staff to keep the Volt in the number one position. The only way to insure every possible solution gets examined is to keep the problem at the front of everyone’s mind. Think of it as a Lutz-It (R) note to Warren.

Read the GM press release. And Jalopnik has some Volt video that was snuck out of GM yesterday.

Pro surfer Taylor Knox managed to get his sponsor, Rip Curl, to finance the grease-car conversion of his F-250 diesel pickup. Now that’s using your sponsor dollars wisely, since the side-effect of the stunt is, of course, free gas for life: "I transfer all their [restaurants'] unwanted grease into the tank, and I’m good to go," Knox says. What could be better? Rip Curl paid Grease Not Gas $3700 to install the necessary parts to run the truck on waste veggie oil, including a massive 73-gallon tank. The price seems a little steep compared to the original Greasecar conversion, but when you’ve got a multinational footing the bill, it probably doesn’t hurt to pull out all the stops. Knox says he’s "only had to fill up a few times" since the conversion. With that race-hauler-sized tank, I should hope so!

Source: PacSun via Auto Motto

It’s ultra-compact, it’s a fully rechargeable plug-in electric… and it’s from 1962. A company in California called Electrodyne made a few of these little runabouts back in the day, and a surprisingly well-preserved one has shown up on eBay. Like a lot of the EV conversions that showed up in the 80’s, it runs on a traction motor and a trunk full of lead-acid batteries. No word on its top speed, so it’s hard to say if it’d be a viable street car or just a glorified golf cart. The seller’s accepting offers, so it could be gone at any time!

There are two kinds of projects automotive engineers have at any given time–those they are supposed to talk about, and those they are not allowed to talk about. It looks like the A/C system on the Volt is one of the second type. I’ve been fishing around for a while about it, and stepped up my efforts after last week’s profile of Mark Weber (the Volt project leader) in the Detroit Free Press. While everyone I contacted was very forthcoming in agreement that electricity-sucking A/C was definitely going to cause problems with the vehicle’s range and fuel efficiency, no one was willing to address any of the potential alternative cooling technologies out there. Particularly interesting was the response to my inquiries about Peltier cooling, a type of electrical circuit that acts as a heat pump and dispenses with the mechanical losses of a compressor. "Yeah, we’ve looked into that," followed by a complete and rather stony silence. If that response means what I think it means, then the Volt will not only showcase GM’s new drivetrain, but possibly some lower power-consumption accessories to go with. Get ready geeks, this thing is going to be a toy box!