To say that the Ford C-MAX and Grand C-MAX have got off to an impressive start would be a massive understatement – with sales of the vehicles increasing by more than 100 per cent compared to the previous model.

The C-MAX and Grand C-MAX were introduced in late 2010 and have since sold more than 135,000 vehicles across Europe – indeed by the end of November the C-MAX had sold 118,800 models – that doubles its sales compared to a year ago, helping it to a 12.7 per cent market share.  

Meanwhile, the Grand C-MAX has achieved one third of the overall C-MAX sales volume. It offers twin rear sliding doors, and seven-seat capability with the second row of middle seats able to fold away under the outer seat.

Sales have been boosted by the recent introduction of the Ford ECOnetic Technology badge for the C-MAX and Grand C-MAX. Vehicles with the badge offer CO2 emissions as low as 114g/km, assisting the vehicles’ popularity with drivers who value fuel economy.

Indeed the green offerings from the C-MAX range will be extended in the US where Ford will introduce the C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid and C-MAX hybrid.

The 2012 North American International Auto Show, known colloquially as the Detroit Motor Show, is shaping up to be an exciting event for green car fans with Lexus, Toyota’s luxury brand, the latest to announce an important innovation heading to the event.

Lexus will unveil the LF-LC 2+2 sport coupe at the event – a hybrid concept vehicle that is said to take the Lexus design direction one step further.

Little is known about the vehicle at this stage, but it has been designed by the company’s Calty design studio in Newport Beach, California. It also offers advanced Lexus Hybrid Drive that offers both driving performance and fuel efficiency.

The advancement of electric cars in the short-term could be affected by supply disruptions.

That’s the verdict of a new report from the US Department of Energy entitled 2011 Critical Materials Strategy, which looks at supply challenges for five rare earth metals – dysprosium, neodymium, europium, terbium and yttrium. These metals are used in magnets for wind turbines and electric vehicles or phosphors in energy efficient lighting. Meanwhile, other elements, including indium, lanthanum, cerium and tellurium, were found to be near critical.

According to the report, demand for almost all of the materials has grown more rapidly than demand for commodity metals such as steel – this has come from consumer products including mobile phones, computers and flat panel televisions, as well as clean energy technologies.

However, the report concludes that manufacturers of wind power and electric vehicle technologies are already looking into strategies to respond to potential shortages. It states that manufacturers are currently making decisions on future system designs, trading off performance benefits of elements such as neodymium and dysprosium against potential supply shortages.

As an example, wind turbine manufacturers are looking at gear-driven, hybrid and direct drive systems with varying levels of rare earth metal content while some electric vehicle manufacturers are pursuing rare earth free induction motors or using switched reluctance motors as an alternative to PM motors.

Japanese carmaker Honda is making a concerted effort to reduce the weight of its vehicles.

According to a report in The Nikkei, the company is adopting new design and assembly methods such as welding outer panels to the frame rather than assembling the ceiling, side and other panels – this will reduce the use of reinforcing materials and bolts. In addition, it is combining two steel sheets of different thickness into a single sheet and using thinner steel sheets that are heat treated to boost their strength.

The focus of its early efforts has been on its new mini vehicle, the N Box. It wants to reduce the vehicle’s weight by 10 per cent and also lower manufacturing costs.

Meanwhile, Honda hopes that weight reductions for its larger vehicles will be in excess of 10 per cent as it optimises the way it designs its new cars.

The US state of California has been leading the way in terms of environmental movements – and now the potential success of its efforts has been revealed.

According to a report from the California Council on Science and Technology, total travel demand in the state is expected to increase between 50 per cent and 100 per cent from 2005 to 2050 due to population growth and other factors such as increasing travel demand per capita. However, the same report also suggests that total transportation energy demand in the state could be reduced by 30 per cent over the same period thanks to improvements in vehicle efficiency including the use of plug-in electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.   

The study, entitled California’s Energy Future – Transportation Energy Use in California, focuses on two main alternative scenarios involving plug-in electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles.

It suggests that plug-in electric vehicle adoption will be hampered by factors such as cost, but as battery costs fall the market will move beyond early adopters. Hybrid vehicles are expected to become the dominant type of new car sold – exceeding 50 per cent in 2030 – while plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles will grow to become on quarter of the new car market by the same year. 

Meanwhile, fuel cell vehicles are expected to be commercially introduced in California in 2015 at low volume and in limited markets. However, there will be rapid sales growth for fuel cell vehicles between 2020 and 2030 as new manufacturers begin building the vehicles. Indeed under its realistic scenario, by 2030, 20 per cent of new vehicles will be fuel cell vehicles, 12 per cent plug-in electric vehicles and 67 per cent hybrids – with petrol vehicles no longer sold.

Smaller cars may be seen as the future in developed countries – but in the rapidly developing nation of India, it appears larger and more expensive vehicles are taking off as a symbol of the country’s rising status.

According to a JD Power Asia Pacific study, more than one-half of repeat car buyers in the country buy a vehicle that is either larger or more expensive than the model they previously purchased. The premium compact car segment is gaining the most with one third of car buyers moving upmarket selecting a car from this segment – mainly because previously these owners had compact car models that are smaller and less expensive.

According to Mohit Arora, the executive director of JD Power Asia Pacific, vehicle ownership is tangible with progression and growing demand reflecting rising aspirations.

The study looks at what gratifies car owners inIndiaacross a range of performance categories and finds overall satisfaction with new vehicle design and performance in 2011 averages 829 (on a scale of 1,000) compared to 817 in 2010. It also finds that newly launched models earn higher satisfaction ratings compared to refreshed and carryover models.

Could kicking your car to the curb be the key to better health? That appears to be the verdict of a new study by researchers at University College London.

According to the Department of Health, only 39 per cent of men and 29 per cent of women in the UK complete the recommended level of health enhancing physical activity – and so the answer to the UK’s obesity problem may revolve around swapping car journeys for walking and cycling.

Commissioned by the Department for Transport, the report suggests that physical inactivity is costing the UK in excess of £6.5billion a year and directly costing the NHS an additional £1.08billion a year.

Now the authors of the study suggest it would be wise to increase physical activity through more walking and cycling and that the best way to do this is by reducing car use. They state that car ownership is entrenched into people’s lifestyles and reduction is only feasible if households can maintain access to cars when they really need them but make rational and economical decisions for each journey.

Car clubs are suggested as one possible solution. This would help people to shift away from owning cars and using them for all journeys and instead only turning to them when they really need them. This in turn could help households save money.

Whether you’re checking us out on the brand new laptop that Santa delivered; just looking to escape the family for a few minutes; or simply can’t go without your daily dose of green car news, we’d like to wish you a very merry Christmas.

What did you ask Santa for this year? Perhaps a brand new hybrid or electric car? Maybe an LPG conversion for your existing motor? Some eco-friendly floor mats? Or perhaps just a bottle of vegetable oil to keep your wheels turning?

Seriously, whatever you got for Christmas, and wherever you are in the world, your support means a great deal to us all. So thank you for stopping by – and may you have some fantastic celebrations.

From all the staff at TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk – HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

One of the leading lithium-ion battery makers in theUSAis set to expand into China after announcing $30million in new private equity.

The company has received investment from GSR Ventures, as well as Oak Investment Partners and Foundation Asset Management. It follows on from an announcement in September of $125million in growth capital and Chinese government stimulus programmes that is being used to boost manufacturing, research and development in the country.

Boston Power has started work on a new manufacturing site in Liyang and hopes the facility will be open by the end of 2012 – it will be capable of producing 400MWh of lithium-ion battery cells every year. Meanwhile, the company is also establishing an electric vehicle battery research and development, and engineering facility in Beijing. 

Of course this doesn’t mean that it is turning its back on its Massachusetts roots. It will still have a team in Westborough that focuses on intellectual property development, global customer support, research and development and business development and partnerships.

We probably think that Santa has one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable methods of transport for Christmas, but not according to Ford.

In designing a new fuel-efficient sleigh for Santa using the firm’s EcoBoost engine technology, Ford calculates that its new petrol-powered sleigh would be greener than running nine carrot-powered reindeer on Christmas Eve.

With methane one of the most destructive of greenhouse gases, the car maker says we should consider both the cost of the carrots and the emissions produced by the deer on their 200,237,360 km world journey. According to its calculations, a reindeer team emit a total 9,335 tonnes CH4 (methane) -equivalent to 214,670 tonnes of CO₂.

Meanwhile the petrol-powered sleigh, with emissions of just 114g/km CO2 using a 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine, is both lower emission and cheaper to run, and yet boasts 125PS and 170Nm peak torque (with 200Nm overboost); the highest power density of any Ford production engine to date.

The benefits of switching to the concept sleigh go beyond the environmental. Travelling around the world means Santa currently spends in excess of £122 million on carrots to fuel his reindeer each year, based on the assumption that a reindeer would need 182,033,964 lbs of food to make the journey.

Meanwhile the 1 litre EcoBoost sleigh would reduce Santa’s fuel costs by 90 per cent to just £12 million, based a use of 10,011,868 litres of fuel at £1.218 per litre to complete the round trip.

Whilst Santa himself was unavailable for comment, Mrs Claus explained: “I am not looking forward to telling Donner and Blitzen the news, but the polar bears in the North Pole will certainly welcome the Ford EcoBoost-powered sleigh.”

Ford car designer Paul Wraith: “Our tongue may be firmly in cheek as we launch this sleigh design, but our heart is in the right place,” Wraith said. “At Ford, we’re dreaming of a Green Christmas. We’re already thinking of the concept sleigh mark II. With electric vehicle battery technology developing all the time, we are keen to get to work on a zero-carbon version of our sleigh.”

The redesigned sleigh also incorporates other Ford technologies including EcoMode software to help the driver (Santa) achieve better fuel economy and Active City Stop & Blind Spot Information System safety systems.