Autobloggren reader Ron asked us one question: why does it seem that American cars in Europe sip less fuel? As he compared what look like identical models on either side of the Atlantic Ocean and consumption figures seem to differ.

First problem is finding two identical models. Then, pollution regulations are different in the USA compared to the EU. As a general rule, the EPA focus on exhaust air quality while the EU aims about quantity and has longer terms for other pollutants. As a consequence, injection systems might be tuned differently. Some people might think that gasoline is different. Europeans have two different types of gasolines: 95 and 98 RON which are more "premium" than the ones sold in the U. S. but, provided the fact that the injection systems are ready for the gas type, mileage should not affected (remember the "don't use premium if not needed"?). Perhaps the most important factor to consider are the differences between the mileage test procedures. The current EU test cycle is considered to give considerably higher results than the latest 2008 EPA test procedure. Finally, make sure that the numbers you are comparing are in the same units. Numbers from the UK are typically expressed in miles per Imperial gallon. One Imperial gallon is 1.16 US gallons.

Most people are under the impression that trains are a reasonably green sort of transportation. When used in a city to move people about, the environmental benefits seem pretty obvious. Fewer cars are needed on the roads, decreasing congestion and electric trains are more efficient and create less air pollution than their automotive brethren. But apparently that's not good enough for some folks in Kagoshima, Japan. They realized if they placed some midori (green) around and under the train tracks, not only could they improve the appearance of their town but also reduce the heat island effect caused by acres of concrete and pavement. In the newscast discussing this development a reporter takes a temperature reading while standing on the asphalt street of 62.6 degrees Celsius (143.96 Fahrenheit). Moving over to the grass, the temperature drops to a much more reasonable 35 degrees C (95 F). So far they've done just under 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) but hope to green about 9 Km (5.5 miles) by 2012. The effect on the people of the city seemed positive. The one comment the reporter received from a woman about the improvement that we could understand without an interpreter said it looked beautiful. We agree. Thanks to B.T. for the tip!

[Source: Japan Probe]

Photo: splorp - Licensed under CC 2.0

Higher gas prices equal fewer miles driven. Fewer miles driven equals fewer traffic fatalities. At least, that's the assumption, 'cause it's really impossible to know for sure what is driving the current death rate decline on American roadways. Still, that above equation sure makes sense, so we're gonna go ahead and conclude for ourselves that it's true. Add that to the fact that many drivers who can't get off the roads have slowed down to counter the high fuel surcharges which accompany a lead foot, and total motor vehicle fatalities are down 9-percent this year.

There have only been two other times in American history where traffic death statistics dropped so drastically in such short order, one of which was when the country endured its last gas price spike during 1973 and 1974. Coincidence? Hardly. One more good effect from higher gas prices is that fewer drunk drivers are on the roads, as more drinkers choose to consume their alcohol at home instead of driving to the bar. See? High gas prices do have their advantages. Thanks for the tip, Alex!

[Source: AP via AT&T]

Last year we spoke about the Mongol Rally and even interviewed one of the participating teams. What's this? A charity rally departing three European cities (this year: London, Milan and Madrid) that tries to reach Ulan Bator, the capital city of Mongolia. In order to participate in this rally, cars should have engines under 1 liter of capacity (and motorbikes under 125 cm³) and teams have to raise at least £1,000 to participate. This year, the Spanish teams will have a partner, Bosques Naturales, that is going to plant more than 100 trees that will offset the estimated 2-tons (metric) of CO₂ that each car will produce during the event.

[Source: Mongol Rally and Agronoticias]

You thought a 1990 Geo Metro for $7,000 was bad? By now we should all be aware that you should probably never attempt to buy anything of any real value on eBay. The scammers who prey on unsuspecting dupes on the on-line auction site love to make it appear that they are selling something that people really, really want when reading the fine print will reveal it is anything but. Tales of $600 iPhone boxes however don't hold a candle to this deal. A seller is offering up an owner's manual from a 1997 EV1. Not an actual EV1 mind you, since we know that those can't be bought and sold. This is the owner's manual. With a "Buy it now" price of a mere $100,000 even Ed Begley Jr. would have a hard time justifying this one. The seller has received 14 offers on this prize all of which have been declined. At least the free shipping is included although you would think for $100K they would ship it overnight by FedEx rather than the US Postal Service. thanks to vfx for the tip!

[Source: eBay]

The Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., better known to us in the west under the Panasonic brand, has "informally decided" to spend about $951 million (100 billion yen) constructing what would be one of the world's biggest li-ion battery factories. This would triple the company's current capacity with its three existing plants, place it ahead of Sony and very close to the worlds number one, Sanyo. The three companies together currently control about 70 percent of the consumer electronics li-ion market.

The additional 50 million units a month capacity would help the company meet surging demand and be used in laptops, cell phones, and, of course, automobiles. They have been studying what it would take to make li-ion for automotive applications via their joint venture with Toyota that goes by the catchy moniker of Panasonic EV Energy. They expect the new plant to be able to ship product as soon as two years from now.

[Source: Yomiuri Online / Reuters]

The Coast to Coast Am late night radio talk show, hosted nowadays by George Noory, often lends a sympathetic ear to those with a bizarre tale to tell or folks making outlandish claims. After being deluged with calls and emails to the show asking about assertions made of increasing gas mileage using kits such as those sold by Water4gas, (they claim to break water down into HHO and burn it along with your gasoline) George decided to try a "real life" experiment to see if it actually worked. With his producer's car.

It took some time for the results to come in but last night, after an update on the latest in alien implants, producer Tom Danheiser came on the air to let the audience of millions hear the result. Before installing the device under the hood of his Mustang, Danheiser calculated his gas mileage to be 17.99 mpg. After driving around with the device for a week his mileage went down to 16.56 mpg. To add insult to HHO hoax injury, he had to have his car serviced. Twice. The bottom line can be summed up with a pair of truisms; there is no free lunch and the laws of physics just aren't made to be broken.

[Source: Coast to Coast AM]

While it seems the public must wait until September to get a glimpse of the final production version of the Chevy Volt, GM is letting John McCain cut to the front of the line to take a good look at the architecture that the company hopes will propel them into the next decade. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was given a tour of the GM Design Center Dome at Warren, MI today where he later held a Town Hall meeting with hundreds of GM employees. We guess they're not holding that "Some of the jobs that have left the state of Michigan are not coming back," line from the primaries against him.

McCain seems not to caved to the auto industry's wishes on national emissions standards on this visit. Though last month he told the Detroit News that he would like a national standard that would make state standards unnecessary, today he clarified his position by saying, "I guess at the end of the day, I support the states being able to do that,[set their own standards]." He also recounted his earlier ideas for helping the industry get its groove back by giving $5,000 tax credits to low-emission vehicle purchasers and, of course, his $300 million battery challenge.

[Source: Detroit Free Press / The Detroit News via GM-Volt.com]

What, an eco label not given to Toyota? Yes, the Japanese Ministry of Environment has awarded Nissan Motor Corp with the "Eco First" environmental label. This distinction is given to the Japanese marque for its commitment towards a better environment, specifically, Nissan's "Green Program 2010." Nissan's program not only aims for reducing its vehicles' emissions, but reducing other pollutants that affect waters, soil and air, a 100 percent rate of recycling in Japan, and raising environmental awareness. Nissan can now use it in advertising and promotions and it undoubtedly will. The "Eco First" program was launched to promote the recognition and encouragement of ecological actions for all types of businesses, according to the Kyoto Protocol.

[Source: Nissan via Autoplus]

There has been quite a lot of speculation about a low-consumption Ferrari, or well, just one that uses less fuel (maybe not that little) but some prayers might have been answered by this: Because Fiat and Ferrari are linked, owners of Ferraris will have a special Fiat 500 as replacement vehicle when they take their cavallini rampanti to the dealers for maintenance. The Fiat 500 is the sportiest version available, the 1.4 liter with 100 HP, and before you comment let me be the one to say that they will surely find a difference in acceleration. The 500 will have Ferrari spirit in the sense that it will be painted in rosso corsa, the "Ferrari red." However, don't take out your checkbook yet, the 200 planned vehicles won't be on sale. At least for now.

[Source: Le Blog Auto]

Gajillionaire Donald Trump wants to spend £1 billion ($2,005,048,751.80) building the world's largest golf resort. It would feature two golf courses along with a 5-star hotel on 1,400 acres of "spectacular sand dunes" at Balmedie Beach in northeast Scotland. Not surprisingly, there is some amount of environmental criticism of the plan. To silence the critics, "The Donald" is planning on supplying each of the 500 planned properties, and possibly some for the 950 other holiday homes intended for the area, with their very own Smart ed.

If you're worried that Mr. Trump is just using some electric cars to greenwash his project, don't. His assistant in Scotland, George Sorial, assures, "We aim to protect and enhance the environment in everything we do." While it seems likely the development will eventually happen, we suggest the local inhabitants "see" his electric car and "raise" him a wind and solar farm. Check out the gallery below for photographs by Brian Morgan, Richard Le Sueur and Derek Ironside of the breathtaking seaside vistas Trump plans to destroy enhance with his development for wealthy vacationers.


[Source: Scotsman.com]

[Source: BBC]

The debate over global warming is something that's a bit tough to wrap ones head around. There are a lot of facts, and even more opinions on the subject. While there is a general scientific consensus that the earth is warming, the reasons and the role humans play in it is the subject of near endless debate. If you think global warming is tough to understand, try to imagine what a movie that blends documentary, mockumentary and reality TV styles would be like. Now imagine that this film tries to explain global warming and you might get what Sizzle, premiering July 19 at the Outfest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, is all about.

The film follows the quest of Randy Olson - Dr. Randy Olson - to make the film (yes, it's meta from the get-go). At first, it's a little confusing when the documentary style blends into obvious set-up jokes (i.e., we see shots of something happening that simply would not be possible with only one camera), but the blending effect of actually grew on me as the film progressed.

I'll get into some details - and you can watch the trailer - after the break.

[Source: Sizzle]

Low rolling resistance tires aren't just for hybrids anymore. In search of every improvement to fuel consumption figures they can find, FoMoCo is shoeing its entire 2009 compact SUV line up in eco-rubber. They expect the 16-inch Michelin Latitude Tour tires, like the one pictured to our right, to net an extra one mpg on its 4-cylinder Escape. While that may not sound like a lot, it should dozens of gallons of fuel over the tires'lifetime.

Ford isn't the only automaker taking advantage, either. GM is using low-resistance Bridgestones on its full-size pick up hybrids and claims a 2 mile-per-gallon improvement. If you want to try out low-resistance treads on your own vehicle, just remember that fuel savings aren't the be all and end all of tire technology. Low resistance tires don't flex as much as regular tires and can add a few feet to emergency stopping distances. They are also not recommended for driving off road. The environmental qualities of the tech are undeniable though. Michelin says the 570 million energy-saving tires it has sold in the past 15 years have saved 2.38 billion gallons of fuel from being burned. Just thinking of that fact almost makes you want to sing, "Rollin' rollin' rollin'..."

[Source: The Detoit News]

For the seventeenth consecutive year, this Wednesday will mark the annual Ride to Work Day. The event, which falls every year on the third Wednesday of July, is intended to promote fuel savings and the reduced traffic which comes as a result of motorcycle and scooter riding. This, of course, is an event we can get behind. As motorcycle and scooter sales worldwide increase due to fuel prices which have likely not yet hit their apogee, more and more ex-drivers are ditching their automobiles in an effort to save big money on their fuel bills. Still, it is currently estimated that just over 1-percent of these riders choose to commute to work on their two-wheelers.

Benefits to ridin' to work are many, including the aforementioned fuel savings and lower traffic, less damage to roadways, quicker commutes in places where lane-sharing is permissible and the fact that riding is fun. Don't think that riding to work makes a big difference? If every day were Ride to Work Day, fifteen-million gallons of fuel, and the associated CO₂ emissions, could be saved per year. That, friends, is a big number although it is probably a conservative estimate given that American drivers consumed 9.3 million gallons of gasoline per day in 2007.

[Source: Ride to Work Day]