Suzuki has been developing fuel cell vehicles in partnership with General Motors (GM) since 2001. So far, it has tested three fuel cell mini vehicles on public roads with ministerial approval: the MR Wagon-FCV and Wagon R-FCV in October 2003 and the MR Wagon-FCV again in December 2004.

The SX4-FCV delivers superior running performance by means of a GM-made high-performance fuel cell, a Suzuki-developed 70MPa hydrogen tank, and a light, compact capacitor that recovers energy during brake application and uses it to reduce fuel cell loading during acceleration. Suzuki plans to test the SX4-FCV on public roads in Japan and use the results in development aimed at future commercialisation.

Fuel cell technology is still in its early stages. Honda was the first to but a fuel cell vehicle into full production when their FCX Clarity went on sale in the U.S last month. The market is still very much open and competition between major manufacturers to advance this technology is getting fiercer.

All Picanto models are now four-seat versions, reducing the overall weight of the car and in turn reducing CO2 emissions to as low as 117g/km.  This makes Kia’s smallest car not just kind to the environment but kind on your wallet too.

The Rio supermini has also had some attention, reducing emissions on the 1.5-litre CRDi engine to 119g/km.  Continuing to reduce emissions on diesel engines, Kia has adjusted the standard output diesel engine available in the new cee’d and pro_cee’d models.  The 1.6-litre CRDi engine now emits just 119g/km with an economical combined fuel consumption of 62.8 mpg.  This makes its emissions lower than ever taking it into Band B and just £35 VED - a tax saving of £85 from the previous £120 a year.  Couple this with Kia’s unique seven-year, bumper-to-bumper warranty makes Kia an irresistible choice.�

The committee voted in favour of proposals requiring public sector bodies across all member states to consider the environmental impact of any new vehicles they plan to purchase. The committee has also called on the commission to shorten the timeline for introducing the new rules with calls for them to be in place by 2010.

The new rules will see an effective monetary value be attached to a vehicle’s emission levels. Public sector procurement professionals will then be obliged to include these statistics in their running cost equations when making decisions about which vehicles to purchase.

The committee wants the new criteria to apply to all public sector vehicles, barring those that are highly specified, such as ambulances, or that are used to provide operational support.

The new rules will add three euro cents for each kilogram of CO2 the vehicle emits and 0.44 cents for each gram of NOx emissions.

It is expected that this will lead to a significant increase in demand for fuel efficient vehicles. Currently the EU estimates that public vehicle procurement features 110,000 passenger cars, 110,000 light commercial vehicles, 35,000 trucks and 17,000 buses.

The green electricity, generated from renewable sources including wind power, biomass and solar power, will be made available under the Green Power Certification System. Mazda has purchased a Green Power Certificate for 12,000 kilowatt hours and has presented it to the Nippon Professional Baseball Association. It is expected that by using green power during these games, CO2 emissions will be reduced by around 6.6metric tons.

This is just the latest green gesture by Mazda which began commercial leasing of the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE in 2006, a vehicle that runs on hydrogen fuel and does not have any harmful emissions. Mazda has also begun road trials of the Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid, which has twice the range of the RX-8 thanks to a hydrogen rotary engine joining forces with a highly efficient hybrid system.

The green powered games will take place on July 31 at the Kyocera Dome Osaka and on August 01 at the Yokohama Stadium.

The newest car on show won’t actually be on UK roads until 2010. The 308 RCZ Concept,  will be making its UK show debut and has only recently been confirmed to enter production.  Its attractive appearance is a product of the design inspired by the 908 HDi FAP Le Mans Series race car, with its double-hump roofline for low-drag aerodynamics.  The lightweight carbon-fibre roof also saves weight and helps achieve low-emissions of just 160g/km CO2.

Other exciting exhibits on the Peugeot stand include the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMS (Le Mans Series) race car.  So far this year the 908 has won every race - at Barcelona, Monza and Spa.  After a race in Germany in August, the final is at Silverstone on 14th September.  

The recently announced 207 CC ELLE Special Edition is displayed in two of the magazine-readers’ chosen favourite colours and colour interior specification.

A number of environmental displays promote the company’s ‘Blue Lion’ standards including an exhibition of the futuristic 308 Hybrid Simulator.

For those enthusiasts looking for something a little more ‘extreme’ they may be fascinated by a design interpretation of the 207 GTi THP 175.  This particular car features ‘scissor-opening’ doors and a special bespoke leather trimmed interior.�
Peugeot also has a driving experience of its range of vehicles available outside the halls, plus for those too young to drive an electric ‘pedal car’ driving zone experience.  Finally visitors to the Motor Show can view the Peugeot stand early by going to www.peugeot.co.uk/motorshow for a virtual tour.

Residual values have yet to settle themselves for the Cee’d as it is a relatively new model and Kia are a bit of an unknown performer in this car sector. The 7 year warranty can only enhance them though and if you want an outstanding 2.0 litre diesel unit which rivals much more expensive marques in its performance AND Miles per gallon then you would struggle to find it elsewhere at the price of the Kia Cee’d 2.0 CRDi sport.

Kia cee’d 2.0-litre CRDi Sport road test

“In 1990, a carmaker made an announcement about lithium-ion batteries. The next day we launched an investigation into the source of lithium-ion batteries. It took about six months for us to discover that these batteries have real high potential in terms of performance. Lithium-ion batteries have an incredible amount of energy, and at the time of our discovery, we thought that the power we could extract would be almost limitless. From this starting point, our research has resulted in us being able to draw a great amount of energy from lithium-ion batteries.”

Hideaki Horie - Electronics and Power Electronics Engineering Division EV Energy Development Department Next Generation Battery Development Group

According to the research, Britain could see a 50 per cent rise in green activity as drivers and homeowners attempt to tackle their rising costs. Thirty nine million Brits already willingly recycle their household waste while two thirds make sure they switch their appliances off at the mains rather than leave them on standby. Incredibly, 76 per cent of those surveyed have even installed energy saving light-bulbs to cut down on electricity costs around the home.

However, more than one in six admit that they could do more for the environment with around 800,000 Brits confessing that they do nothing at all. Around one in five claim that ‘going green’ is still too expensive.

In terms of motoring, they could have a point with green cars such as hybrids and electrics generally only available at higher retail prices than their more conventional alternatives despite the money they can save over the lifetime of the car.

However, even if you can’t afford a green car at this point you can still reduce your fuel costs by driving more efficiently. Check out our guide ‘how to reduce your environmental impact‘ for more information.

New tax laws came into effect on Tuesday which are aimed at encouraging Austrians to buy more green cars - and to hit those that still choose to drive petrol guzzling alternatives.

According to the laws, consumers that buy vehicles that emit less than 120g/km of CO2 and less than 60mg of nitrogen oxide per kilometre could pocket tax bonuses in the region of €500. By contrast, motorists that choose a vehicle emitting in excess of 180g/km of CO2 will pay a penalty of €25 per excess gram. The most high-polluting cars could face tax penalties ranging from €4,000-€10,000. Value added tax of 20 per cent is added to the vehicle’s price.

The goal outlined by the grand coalition of Social Democrats and conservatives is to cut carbon emissions by 33,000 tonnes per year. It is also believed that the new penalties could raise around €21million for the government.

The Green Party in Austria however, has brandished the idea for not going far enough. It states that the tax penalties and breaks will only apply to around 20 per cent of new vehicles as most fall in the bracket of emitting between 120 and 160g/km of CO2.

There are more incentives however for the most environmentally conscious drivers. The city of Vienna is offering a premium of €1,000 to anyone who purchases a natural gas powered car or who refits their car to drive with natural gas.

The project, funded by the Technology Strategy Board, is being led by Jaguar Land Rover and managed by Prodrive with advanced technology from Flybrid, Torotrak, Xtrac and Ford. Ricardo is examining alternative flywheel concepts in parallel with this project. During the two year programme, the group will develop the new technology and build a demonstrator vehicle equipped with the system.

The flywheel hybrid system will be based on technology recently developed in accordance with new Formula One regulations. The entirely mechanical system recovers the kinetic energy of a vehicle during braking in a high speed rotating flywheel, rather than using an electric motor to store it in batteries, as in current electric hybrids.

Such kinetic energy hybrid systems have several potential advantages over full electric hybrids, depending on the application. They are more efficient in recovering energy during braking and should be substantially cheaper to produce than electric hybrid systems. The flywheel is also better at �deep cycle� charge and recharge, whereby all the energy is either released or recovered from the unit, with no loss in performance over the life of the vehicle, as can be the case with electric-based systems where batteries can lose their ability to fully charge and discharge.

The compact layout of the system also makes vehicle packaging and integration simpler. The aim for this flywheel hybrid system is that it will require no change to the base vehicle platform.

The targets for the new system are to have a round trip efficiency of 70%, with a fuel economy improvement over the NEDC (New European Drive Cycle) of 20%. One of the key advantages is that improvements in real world fuel economy are expected to be at least as good as that recorded over the NEDC cycle which is not always the case for conventional electric hybrids.

Technology Strategy Board - more information