Reckon you’re a green driver? You could win £100 of gift vouchers simply by taking a test drive in the all-new Honda Insight.

Every Honda dealership in the UK is issuing a challenge to its local motorists – achieve the highest fuel economy over a set route and win vouchers to spend at ethical goods retailer Biome Lifestyle.

The nationwide challenge is being used to launch the Insight, one of the UK’s greenest new cars. Using hybrid technology, its official combined fuel economy figure is 64.2mpg – an impressive figure for a petrol-powered compact family hatchback that can seat five adults and take their luggage.

The challenge lasts until Thursday 30 April. At each participating dealership, the customer who gets the highest mpg – as displayed on the Insight’s trip meter after completing a set local test route – will win Biome Lifestyle vouchers worth £100.

Bernard Bradley, General Manager – Cars, at Honda (UK), said: “We know that the way in which different people drive has a big impact on fuel economy. So, to help our customers maximise the impressive efficiency of the Insight, it comes with technology that helps them adopt greener driving techniques.”

The system is called Eco Assist. It uses displays on the dashboard to encourage the driver to use the car in a more environmentally aware fashion. For example, the digital speedo glows green if the driver is using less fuel – by driving smoothly – and blue when they’re not. Drivers are then rewarded for efficient journeys with tree graphics, which ‘grow’ leaves to show the driver’s progress.

Other innovations include an ECON button, which puts the car into ultra-frugal mode. It means smoother operation of the automatic gearbox, a gentler throttle response and more efficient use of the air-con no matter how the Insight is driven.

The Honda Insight is more than just a frugal fuel-sipper; with CO2 emissions of 101g/km it’s also ultra-clean. Road tax is just £15 for road tax and the Insight is exempt from the London Congestion Charge.

The all-new Honda Insight is the UK’s cheapest hybrid car. Priced from just £15,490 it puts clean green motoring within reach of more people than ever before. The entry level car is priced £2,880 less than its nearest rival.

Carmaker Proton has announced a partnership with Detroit Electric Holdings Ltd to mass produce pure electric vehicles.  Detroit Electric will integrate its patented electric drive systems into the vehicles.

Under the agreement, Detroit Electric will license two Proton vehicle platforms and contract the company to assemble the electric vehicles that will be marketed under Detroit Electric’s brand.

This agreement will provide Detroit Electric with its first manufacturing base.  The announcement came at a signing ceremony yesterday officiated by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“Today’s agreement with Proton will put Detroit Electric on the fast track to bring a full line of innovative, practical and affordable pure electric vehicles to the global market,” said Albert Lam, Detroit Electric’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  “We chose Proton due to its state-of-the-art production facility, commitment to research and development, cost efficiency, and stable, high-quality workforce.”

By 2012, Detroit Electric plans to sell more than 270,000 Pure Electric Vehicles in Europe, UK, China and the United States.  The vehicles will be priced between USD 23,000 and USD 26,000 for the city range model and between USD 28,000 and USD 33,000 for the extended range model.  Styling changes will distinguish Detroit Electric’s vehicles from Proton’s existing line-up.

The vehicles will be based on Detroit Electric’s unique, patented electric drive system that greatly reduces the electric motor’s size and weight.  The underlying Magnetic Flux Motor Technology and well-proven Lithium Polymer Battery Technology allow pure electric vehicles to achieve a single-charge range of 180km (111 miles) for the city range model and 325km (200 miles) for the extended range model.

Detroit Electric is in the final stage of setting up two subsidiaries: Detroit Electric Energy, which will produce the battery technology, and Detroit Electric Advanced Propulsion Lab, which will manufacture the motor and controller.

The Detroit Electric Advanced Propulsion Lab and Manufacturing Plant is targeted to be in Malaysia close to the vehicle assembly facilities of Proton.  By 2012, the two production plants will produce more than 400,000 electric drive systems, creating thousands of jobs and supporting Detroit Electric’s  internal demands as well as third-party OEM’s needs.

Proton, which currently produces a total of 270,000 vehicles of various models in Malaysia, edged out a host of international brands when its popular Persona was named Malaysia’s Best Model of the Year in the 2008 Frost & Sullivan ASEAN Automotive Awards.  The company is also Malaysia’s largest investor in research and development, spending USD 1.2 billion (RM4.6 billion) between 1993 and 2003.

“We are proud to be able to integrate our electric drive systems upon one of the best cars out of Asia.  Our customers around the world will enjoy the level of quality and comfort offered by Proton, an award-winning manufacturer,” said Lam.

Detroit Electric will be responsible for the homologation of the vehicles and for vehicle certification in the U.S. and European markets, where models are targeted to be sold in the first quarter of 2010 EU, UK, China and closely followed the US.  Detroit Electric will assume all warranty and liabilities for the Electric Vehicles, while Proton will warranty the vehicle’s build and standard components.

“Our vehicles will be reliable, meet all quality and safety requirements, and quite simply outperform internal combustion engine vehicles of the same class.  They will be affordable as we look at the competitive market and come without the polluting carbon emissions,” said Lam.

Today’s agreement also initiates the test and validation program in which Proton will evaluate Detroit Electric’s electric drive system with the intent to license the rights to distribute, market and sell vehicles under the Proton brand in Asia.

Detroit Electric is looking to repeat similar contract production partnerships with manufacturers in Europe and the United States.  This will allow the company to extend its range of models very quickly to meet demand in the different automotive segments in these markets.

“When you are trying to redefine the automotive industry, you need to bring many partners along,” said Lam.  “Our contract manufacturing business model will breathe new life into current manufacturers, leveraging existing unutilized global resources and accelerating the technological advancement of pure electric vehicles.”

On the current global downturn in automotive markets, Lam expressed confidence that Pure Electric Vehicles will attract a diverse base of consumers despite the tightening credit market, lowered consumer confidence, unstable oil prices and stricter fuel economy regulations.

“Our target audience are those who purchase practical and affordable vehicles. This makes our products fit the pockets of a very wide audience – from professionals and executives, to mothers, students and small business owners.”

Roll-up, roll-up for the first ever Green Car Day in London with a packed day of events centred around the City Hall.

The event takes place on Monday, June 8, with What Car?, the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership and Revolve, all joining forces to provide some memorable moments.

The day will kick off at 9:45am with keynote addresses from the Secretary of State for Transport Geoff Hoon MP and London Mayor Boris Johnson. From there, there will be a debate at noon about the impact of the credit crunch on the automotive industry and where investment should be focused.

At 15:30, participants in the third annual Revolve Eco Rally will begin to arrive at City Hall before the night concludes at 18:00 with the annual What Car? Green Awards with the announcement of the Green Car of the Year.

According to the group’s editor, Steve Fowler, this year’s awards could be the most important ever as green cars remain big news for car buyers.

Don’t rush out to fill your tanks with Coca-Cola – the headline is a tad deceptive. However, Coca-Cola Enterprises has taken a Eurocargo diesel-electric parallel hybrid urban distribution vehicle from Iveco – the first time a vehicle of this kind has been operational in an urban European environment.

The prototype represents a partnership between Coca-Cola and Iveco to test the feasibility of hybrid technology for commercial trucks. The vehicle will deliver Coca-Cola products in Brussels until the end of July.

According to Iveco’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Franco Miniero, this innovation marks real progress on the journey towards sustainable growth.

“Iveco, like the whole Fiat Group, makes huge investments for environmental and social sustainability and our company believes it is a leader in this field. Innovation is the key to finding new sustainable transport solutions and for generating wealth for our stakeholders in a responsible manner,” he said.

“For Iveco, innovation does not mean concept or futuristic vehicles but affordable technological solutions available in the immediate future, allowing vehicle operators to optimise their environmental footprint, which is a benefit to us all. We started several years ago to introduce hybrid vehicles into the market, especially urban buses and now with our medium range product, Eurocargo, we begin field trials with a diesel-electric hybrid power train in this product range. Our partnership with Coca-Cola Enterprises is very important to us and it is an example of advanced and affordable innovation to achieve noteworthy fuel consumption and CO2 emission savings of up to 30 per cent.” 

The hybrid truck is scheduled to follow a specific delivery route for four months which is around 20km long. The vehicle, which is able to start from a stand-still in electric mode only, features a stop-start function and regenerative braking.

British engineer, Richard Jenkins has broken the land speed record for a wind-powered car, the BBC reports. His Greenbird car reached 126.1mph across the plains of Ivanpah Lake in Nevada.

American Bob Schumacher set the previous record of 116 mph in 1999, driving his Iron Duck vehicle.

The Greenbird is a carbon fibre composite vehicle that is solely reliant on wind for power. The only metalwork used is for the wing bearings and the wheel unit.

The designers describe it as a ‘very high performance sailboat’ but one that uses a solid wing, rather than a sail, to generate movement.

Mr Jenkins spent 10 years designing the vehicle, with Greenbird the fifth vehicle he has built to try to break the record.

Due to the shape of the craft, especially at such high speeds, the wings also provide lift; a very hazardous for a car. To compensate for this, the designers have added small wings to “stick” the car to the ground, in the same way Formula 1 cars do.

“Greenbird weighs 600kg when it’s standing still,”  Mr Jenkins told the BBC. “But at speed, the effect of the wings make her weigh just over a tonne.”

“It’s great, it’s one of those things that you spend so long trying to do and when it actually happens, it’s almost too easy,” Mr Jenkins commented on his success.

Over fifty thousand British jobs could be created if the government invested in an energy efficiency programme that would also help tackle climate change, according to a report released today.

The report coincides with research from New Economics Foundation (Nef) showing that new funding for greening the economy amounts to just 0.6 per cent of the UK’s total stimulus package. Gordon Brown recently claimed to the House of Commons liaison committee that around 10 per cent of the UK package was directed towards “environmentally important technologies”.

While Nef found new and additional spending on a green economy comes to just £120 million, bonuses paid to staff at RBS – which is now almost entirely publically owned – were around seven times greater. And the car industry is set to receive £2.3 billion – over 20 times as much as new government investment in a green new deal.

Today the TUC, the Federation of Master Builders, leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg and Greenpeace will lend their support to a separate report calling for real green investment in the form of an energy efficiency programme. The report shows that an annual £5 billion investment in domestic energy efficiency would create around 55,000 jobs directly. Hundreds of thousands of jobs would be created indirectly. And every year it would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by about 1.6 million tonnes while also addressing fuel poverty.

Such a programme could be a central plank of a green new deal, but so far Brown’s support for creating jobs by greening the economy has been so poorly funded that, according to the new nef research, the UK new spending would only delay the UK’s climate change emissions by five and a half hours in three years time.

In January, Gordon Brown claimed that, relative to the size of the UK economy, his green spending would be bigger than Barack Obama’s planned multi-billion-dollar plans. And earlier this month business secretary Peter Mandelson and the prime minister backed plans to lift the economy out of recession by investing in the environmental sector.

Commenting on the potential for slashing emissions and creating jobs by investing in energy efficiency, Nick Clegg said:

“As thousands of people lose their jobs every month and more businesses go under, there’s a danger that green issues will slip off the agenda, but in fact protecting the environment offers us the best route to economic recovery.

“Action taken now to insulate schools, hospitals and homes would create thousands of jobs, protect the environment and help families struggling to pay their fuel bills.

“The extra money we borrow during the recession to stimulate the economy must be invested in projects that create jobs and build green infrastructure that will benefit us all in the future.”

Andrew Simms of Nef said: “We face a unique alignment of economic and environmental interests. Investing in rapid transition away from the UK’s fossil fuel dependence could provide a parachute for a troubled economy.

“But, it feels like the government has cut the parachute strings and pushed green energy, efficiency and conservation from the plane.”

Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said: “Brown’s high-flying green rhetoric just isn’t matched with real action. His support for green industries when times are tough is nothing short of negligible.

“The government should abandon the unfocussed cut in VAT, which is costing nearly £1billion every month, and divert the cash into an efficiency programme which delivers real value – providing jobs, improving housing, boosting the economy and tackling climate change.”

Greenhouse gas emissions of city dwellers are often far smaller than the national averages and lower than rural areas, says a study in the April issue of Environment and Urbanization by David Dodman of the International Institute for Environment and Development.

Dodman argues that the tendency to identify cities as major culprits in causing climate change diverts attention from the main driver of greenhouse gas emissions, namely unsustainable consumption, especially in the world’s more affluent countries.

The paper examines published reports of emissions from cities in Asia, Latin America, North America and Europe.

It shows that greenhouse gas emissions for New Yorkers are less than a third of those of the national average for the USA. Those of Barcelona residents are half the average for Spain.

Londoners have little more than half the greenhouse gas emissions per person of the UK average. Brazil’s two largest cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have less than one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions per person of the average for Brazil.

“Many cities have surprisingly low per capita emissions but what is clear is that most emissions come from the world’s wealthier nations,” says Dodman. “The real climate-change culprits are not the cities themselves but the high consumption lifestyles of people living across these wealthy countries.”

The paper points out that emissions from manufacturing are currently allocated to the countries in which these greenhouse gases are produced, rather than to the locations in which the finished products are purchased and used.

Dodman adds that wealth need not imply pollution and that rather than blaming cities for climate change, policymakers should see well-planned and effectively governed cities as potential solutions.

“Tokyo has considerably lower emissions per person than either Beijing or Shanghai and this shows clearly that prosperity does not lead inevitably to greater emissions,” says Dodman.

“Well designed and well governed cities can combine high living standards with much lower greenhouse gas emissions.”

Volkswagen has been building estate versions of its Golf hatchback since 1993 and the company has high hopes for this third generation. The Golf Estate is a good alternative for growing families, offering plenty of space and all the usual reasons for buying a Golf from just over £15,000. Launched with three engines – 1.6-litre petrol and 1.9 and 2.0-litre diesel – and three trim levels – S, SE and Sport Wagon – there are enough options for all potential buyers, although VW estimates that most will go for the basic S trim level in combination with the 1.9-litre diesel engine.

Volkswagen Golf Estate full road test report

Fuel consumption for the petrol-engined version is 38.2mpg, rising to 54.3mpg for the 1.9 TDI and 51.4mpg for the 2.0 TDI. There’s also a version using VW’s eco Bluemotion technology that returns 61.4mpg. CO2 emissions are 176g/km for the 1.6, placing it in Band E for road tax (£170 per year), while the diesels are both in Band C (£120 per year), emitting 137g/km (1.9) and 143g/km (2.0). The Bluemotion is, despite its lower 122g/km, also in Band C. Insurance groups are 6 for the 1.6 petrol and 1.9 diesel, and 12 for the 2.0-litre diesel. The Golf consistently returns the highest residual values in the class, with second-hand demand being strong – helped by the fact that two-thirds of Estates will be used by fleet owners. Volkswagen also claims reduced repair costs, hence lower insurance, as well as better dealer support to reduce repair and maintenance times.

RoadTestReports.co.uk provides road tests reports written by members of the Guild of Motoring Writers. These reports are complemented by car reviews submitted by the members of the public who drive the vehicles day in day out.

Kansas City, Missouri, will be the home of Smith Electric Vehicles US Corporation’s first US assembly plant.

The plant, which is expected to create around 120 jobs by 2010, will be located on a portion of an airline overhaul base at Kansas City International Airport with production of zero-emission commercial trucks to begin in the third quarter of 2009.

The company will initially focus on battery electric powered vehicles for depot based predictable route delivery fleets with the first truck to be the Smith Newton – currently the world’s largest battery electric powered truck. The vehicle has a range of more than 100 miles on a single charge and a top speed of 50mph.

SEV US Corp is also working with the Ford Motor Company through its UK partner The Tanfield Group Plc to create an electric version of the Ford Transit Connect. The Transit Connect is scheduled for production in 2010 with the company also likely to expand its zero emission product line with other van and light truck models based on demand.

Around $10million will be invested in the metro area of Kansas City and the assembly plant will occupy 80,000sq ft. The company will receive nearly $3million in job training funds and other incentives from the state and the city.

While the automotive industry across Europe may be floundering, at least one country can boast a rise in sales of green cars.

Figures from the Belgian Federation of Carmakers, Febiac, show that 14,000 new green cars were registered in the country last year. According to Febiac spokesman Joost Kaesemans, this was due to a number of factors including more vehicles complying with stringent environmental legislation creating greater choice and the increase in the number of green cars linked to stricter carbon dioxide (CO2) norms that are now being introduced.

Sales of green cars have also been boosted by tax incentives – up to 15 per cent of a car buyer’s outlay can be refunded. During the credit crunch, this represents a significant boost to the sales power of car buyers.

According to Febiac, the rise in the sales of green cars has continued during the first few months of 2009 although there are concerns that the tax incentive may soon become unaffordable for the authorities.

Currently, Febiac is requesting a review of car taxes that take environmental and ecological considerations into account.