A green car that appeals to supercar drivers? That’s the target for BMW as it considers bringing its Z10 ED to life.

According to reports by Autocar, the vehicle will be a two-seater using all the technologies in the company’s EfficientDynamics model line-up. This means that it will be equipped with a lightweight carbon-fibre and aluminium chassis and body parts, a new engine and exhaust technologies and green electronics.

A spokesperson for BMW states that the idea brings all the latest technology together without overburdening the environment.

There are several engines under consideration for the model including a high-pressure turbocharged direct-injection version that is actually smaller and lighter than the 3.0 litre engine used in most new BMW models as the company bids to produce vehicles that drastically improve efficiency and lower emissions across its range without sacrificing the performance and power that drivers have become accustomed to.

Certainly the Z10 ED has plenty of power – it is expected to produce around 400 horsepower, with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. To make it more environmentally friendly, it will employ regenerative braking, a lithium-ion battery pack, an electric starter-generator and engine stop-start technology which will help to drastically improve fuel economy.

The question is, how much of a market will there be for a green supercar if petrol prices remain low?

What do you think about green supercars? Should companies be producing these models or should they be concentrating their efforts on greener solutions that are more conventional and affordable? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Imagine if the gases emitted from diesel engines were actually pure. Well, Riso, the National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy at the University of Denmark, is attempting to produce just that by looking into electrochemical methods for purifying exhaust.

The idea is based on selective membrane processes where only an electrical current is used as a reagent. The electrodes effectively act as catalysts for electrochemical reactions.

Research has actually been under way since 1975 and Dinex Filter Technology, a participant in the Riso project, has demonstrated the electrochemical oxidation of soot by capturing the soot in a porous structure. Reactive oxide anions are pumped into an anode where they react with the soot particles and form carbon dioxide (CO2). The electrochemical oxidation of hydrocarbons has also been studied by several authors.

Riso believes that in principle it is possible to combine all the processes in one porous filter built with alternating layers of electrodes and electrolytes.

According to Riso, this exhaust gas treatment has a number of advantages over existing filters as the purification of carbon particles, unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides can all happen in the same filter unit. It is also unnecessary to add other substances to the fuel – conventional SCR technology often uses the nitrogen-containing urea to remove nitrogen oxides from the exhaust.

The aim of the project is to develop the technology into a prototype that could be used under realistic conditions for a diesel engine. The project will last for four years and has received $2.9million of support from the Danish Council for Strategic Research.

In tough economic times with the auto industry reeling, some would say that motor shows carry less and less relevance. However, the Washington Auto Show is determined to buck that trend with a clear focus on green cars.

In total there will be more than 700 new cars, trucks, minivans and sport utility vehicles on display at the 67^th edition of the show which Washington Area New Auto Dealers Association (WANADA) chairwoman Tamara Darvish describes as “the auto industry’s first opportunity to present their technological advancements to the new administration and other policymakers”.

The Green Car Journal will host its Green Car Pavilion at the show with a number of fuel efficient models on display including vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, E85 ethanol, electric power and other alternative fuels.

There will also be a host of celebrities on hand to support the automakers’ efforts including local sports starts from the Washington Redskins, Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards as well as the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders.

The show takes places from February 4-8 at the Washington Convention Centre with weekday tickets costing $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens and military personnel, $5 for children aged 6-12 and free entry for those younger than six. Weekend tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and military personnel, $5 for children aged 6-12 and free for those younger than six.

If you’d like more information on upcoming motor shows, check out our green car events calendar 2009.

In one of the biggest investments into alternative fuels yet, the US Departments of Energy (DOE) and Agriculture (USDA) will be pouring up to $25million into funding for research and development of both technologies and processes used to produce high-value bio-based products, biofuels and bioenergy.

The departments have come together to support several projects which hope to increase the availability of alternative renewable fuels. It is hoped that the projects will help to create a large group of environmentally sustainable sources and that ultimately advanced biofuels can cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent.

The FOA will fund projects across feedstocks development; biofuels and bio-based product development; and biofuels development analysis.

It is expected that the awards will range from $1million to $5million for projects lasting up to four years. The money could be spread across non-profit organisations, higher education, national laboratories and more.

The closing date for pre-applications is March 6 2009 – applications must be submitted online at www.grants.gov.

It’s clear that in the green car race, the USA and Europe are still playing catch-up to Japan where the models introduced continue to get more and more innovative.

The latest green vehicle to take centre stage was the new T10 from Takeoka Jidosha Kogei Ltd, which was unveiled at the International Automotive Electronics Technology Expo in Japan.

The vehicle, which has been dubbed the ‘egg car’ because of its unique shape, is a one-seat electric that has just one door on its right-hand side and is charged via 100 and 200 volt power sources. If you think that this unique vehicle will probably never see the light of day then think again – it is scheduled to be released later this year and is expected to sell for between $10,000 and $15,000.

Also turning heads is the Nissan Denki Cube which sports a boxy hull and lightning bolt headlights. It made its debut at last year’s New York Auto Show but remains a concept only so there are no details yet available about a release date or pricing.

Participants in ‘People Power’, an energy saving challenge running this winter as part of the Government’s ACT ON CO2 campaign, reduced their fuel consumption by over twenty per cent (20.5 per cent) when trying out smarter driving techniques.

The People Power challenge follows thirty ordinary citizens in Newcastle, Portsmouth and Birmingham as they try to reduce the energy they use in all aspects of their daily lives.  Ten of the participants were given ‘smarter driving’ lessons from ACT ON CO2, to try and shave pounds off their fuel bills, and reduce their emissions.

Newcastle saw the greatest improvement, with the city’s four drivers achieving an average reduction in fuel consumption of 24.4 per cent after just one lap; this was followed by Birmingham at 18.7 per cent and Portsmouth at 17.1 per cent.

In the lessons, participants were being taught smarter driving techniques such as using fewer revs and avoiding unnecessary braking and acceleration. ACT ON CO2 estimates that if all the car drivers in England committed to smarter driving, collectively they could shave £3.4 billion off their fuel bills, and save over 8.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year.

Commenting on her lesson, Elaine Stamp from Newcastle said:

“I couldn’t believe the difference it made.  I tend to a bit of a speed demon and, as well as saving me money, the new techniques made me feel a lot more relaxed, and safer, behind the wheel.  I’ll definitely try my best to follow them from now on”.

Andrew Adonis, Minister of State for Transport said:

“At a time when we are all looking for ways to save money, smarter driving offers a real opportunity to cut fuel costs. It is also an easy and effective way of cutting our carbon footprint by reducing car CO2 emissions. Having taken a smarter driving lesson myself I was surprised to see just how big the fuel savings can be, and it is good to see the techniques being rolled out further so that more and more people can benefit.”

All the People Power participants are currently monitoring the CO2 emitted as they drive. To see the impact of the lesson on their miles per gallon (MPG) as it is tracked over the course of the competition, go to: www.direct.gov.uk/ActOnCo2/PeoplePower

The European Commission has start infringement proceedings against 10 of its Member States for failing to comply with the EU’s air quality standard for dangerous airborne particles known as PM10.

The particles, emitted mainly by industry, traffic and domestic heating, can cause asthma, cardiovascular problems, lung cancer and premature death. The average UK concentrations of PM10 decreased slightly in 2008, but has exceeded permitted levels for the last three years. 

The Commission’s action follows the entry into force last June of the new EU air quality directive, which allows Member States to request, under certain conditions and for specific parts of the country, limited extra time to meet the PM10 standard in force since 2005.

Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for Environment, said: “Air pollution has serious impacts on health and compliance with the standards must be our utmost priority. While the new directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe allows time extensions for compliance if certain conditions are met, these must not delay measures to reduce emissions. It is also essential that where time extensions are not applicable the standards are fully respected. The flexibility given to Member States will therefore be complemented by strict enforcement action by the Commission.”

The Commission has sent first warning letters to 10 Member States that have not yet achieved compliance with the PM10 limit values in force since 1 January 2005. The other European countries  concerned are Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The exceedances addressed in these letters affect 83 million people in 132 different air quality zones.

The Member States have not notified requests for extra time to meet the standards in all air quality zones where the PM10 limit values are being exceeded. The new Air Quality directive which entered into force on 11 June 2008, allows Member States to request limited time extensions to meet the PM10 standard under certain conditions. Time extensions will apply only in those air quality zones for which it is demonstrated that an effort was made to achieve the limit values in 2005 but that compliance was not possible due to specific external circumstances. Member States must also demonstrate, through the establishment of an air quality plan for each zone, that compliance will be achieved by expiry of the new deadline.

Eleven Member States have so far notified requests for time extensions for all the zones. The Commission is currently assessing whether these requests satisfy the conditions for extensions and will decide within nine months of receiving the notifications whether to raise objections or not. Four Member States – Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain – have not notified requests for all the air quality zones that exceed the limit values.
Several other Member States have informed the Commission that they are drafting air quality plans for non-compliant zones and intend to submit time extension requests in the coming months.

Bulgaria and Romania reported exceedances for the first time in 2008. They have been reminded of the
Article 226 of the Treaty gives the Commission powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not respecting its obligations.

If the Commission considers that there may be an infringement of EU law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a “Letter of Formal Notice” (first written warning) to the Member State concerned, requesting it to submit its observations within a specified period, usually two months.

Transport Minister, Lord Adonis, has announced that the target for the use of biofuels in road transport fuel under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) will be 5 per cent by 2013-14, following a revision of the original target promoted by the recommendations of the Gallagher Report which studied the indirect effects of biofuel production.  

The original target was 5 per cent biofuels in road fuel by 2010-11. The Government has also conversely has slighted lifted the earlier limit of 3 per cent for 2009-1- to 3.25 per cent.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) set up by the Government oversees the implemention of the RTFO which came into force on 15th April 2008. Since biofuels production attracted concerns from environmental groups, as encouraging the destruction of natural habitat, pushing up food prices and for its copious CO2 emissions savings, the RFA were requested to investigate early last year leading to the publication of Gallagher Review.

The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) quoted Lord Adonis as saying : 

“The potential carbon savings from biofuels are too big to be ignored – however we must proceed carefully to ensure the renewable fuels we use are truly sustainable.

“Renewable fuels is an incredibly exciting and fast-moving area of science and we must adapt our policy to reflect new and emerging evidence. I believe an obligation of 3.25 per cent for next year provides the balance we need between questions over the sustainability of biofuels and the predicted effect of the drafting discrepancy.”

The Transport Minister also announced that two new fuels eligible under the RTFA-  biobutanol and renewable diesel.

The number one contract hire and leasing website in the UK, ContractHireAndLeasing.com has revealed its inaugural award winners, with a green-friendly Smart ForTwo deal from Cars2vans limited walking away with the Best Supermini/City Car Deal of 2008.

The Smart ForTwo has been seen on the streets of Britain for over 10 years and the current second generation has CO2 emissions ranging from 88 g/km to 116 g/km, which for VED purposes makes every variant either Band A or Band B.

The deal structure advertised on ContractHireAndLeasing.com offered the ultra-small Pure variant of the car at a tiny £77 per month, based on a 3+23 10,000 miles per annum on a contract hire basis.

Currently on trial around the UK is the all-electric version of the Fortwo, the Smart Fortwo ED – which stands for Electric Drive. Production is expected for 2010, with Tesla expected to provide the batteries which will propel the car to a top speed of 70mph, with a range of up to 72 miles on a single charge.

Richard Lawton, Marketing Manager at Really Good Domains added:

“The supermini and city cars are becoming ever more popular with people looking for a car that is fun to drive and feels more luxurious than what you would expect. We felt the Cars2Vans.com offering was particularly eye catching with a monthly payment almost as tiny as the car itself.”

 “We have been delighted with the response to these awards, in what was a very busy year in the contract hire and car leasing world, we felt it important to recognise those companies which offered exceptional deals on the UK’s number contract hire and leasing website.”

“Each winner can rightly be very proud in offering some terrific car leasing deals on a wide range of cars.”

For full details on who won what in the ContractHireAndLeasing.com Awards, click the link.

REVA Electric Car Company Private Ltd. (RECC), based in Bangalore, India, was established in 1994 as a joint venture between the Maini Group India and AEV LLC, California USA, to manufacture environment-friendly and cost-effective electric vehicles. REVA is best known in the UK as the manufacturers of the G-Wiz model electric vehicle. Shot to fame through the sales to celebrities such as Jonathan Ross, Jerry Hall and Kristin Scott Thomas and due to the cost-effectiveness of their vehicles; REVA’s G-Wiz quickly became inner-city icon.

TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk interviewed Keith Johnston (pictured) in January 2009.

REVA interview (January 2009)