Filed under: Hybrid, Ford, Honda, Lexus, Mercury, Nissan, Toyota, Legislation and Policy, Natural Gas

As tax day approaches here in the United States, those who bought a new hybrid or natural gas powered vehicle during 2006 shouldn't forget to claim their tax breaks. Cars.com has published a list of the eligible vehicles and how much of a break you can get on each one. Depending on when you bought your car, your tax credit may also be less, as they are ratcheted downwards once a manufacturer sells more than 60,000 units starting from January 1, 2006.

So far Toyota is the only one to hit that threshold although Honda is also expected to hit it this year. At the current sales rates after October of this year Toyota hybrids will no longer be eligible for federal tax breaks. Besides the federal tax credits, there may also be state and local incentives to buy a hybrid, so be sure to check those rules too. As usual your mileage may vary, so when in doubt consult with a tax professional.

[Source: Cars.com]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Manufacturing/Plants

Several German states have recently implemented environmental impact standards to try and proactively minimize pollution. Robert Bosch GmbH has signed an agreement with the state of Bavaria to follow those standards at all of their facilities in the state. Several Bosch sites were already members of the Bavarian pact and the rest of them will be taking additional actions to reduce energy use and emissions.

Bosch has announced some of the measures that they have been taking for many years, including putting heat pumps in new buildings and retrofitting older buildings when they are renovated. They have taken other actions such as adding insulation and ventilation systems with regenerative heat exchangers.

[Source: Just-Auto.com - Sub. req'd]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Biodiesel, Diesel, Ethanol, EV/Plug-in, Flex-Fuel, Hydrogen, Chevrolet, GM, Geneva Motor Show

As we mentioned last week, Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of GM spoke to the crowd at the Geneva Motor Show last week, and here is a video to prove it. He spoke quite a bit about alternative fuels and alternative propulsion. He went on to state that GM is committed to providing vehicles that can operate on many different sources of energy, and that GM supports the EU and their goals of reducing harmful emissions from automobiles. Wagoner highlighted that GM has recently been focusing more heavily on electric vehicles, both powered by electricity from hydrogen fuel cells, and "extended range electric vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Volt." Extended range being the on-board internal combustion engine powering a generator providing electricity to charge the batteries, I presume. Wagoner said that GM is also pushing forward with their alternative fuel programs such as E85, and working to improve the efficiency of their gas and diesel offerings. GM would like to displace the use of petroleum based fuels with alternatives such as bioethanol, which he mentioned was the fastest growing biofuel. Wagoner showed off the new Saab 9-3 BioPower vehicle that will be available for sale soon in Europe. The new 2.9 liter diesel V6 engine was also on display as well.

Of interest to us here, Wagoner mentioned the GM Sequel, and announced that a test fleet will be released into Europe of ten fuel cell vehicles. Also, regarding their E Flex platform, Wagoner spoke of using many different sources of electricity to power it, and said that there would be new concept vehicles using the platform at the Shanghai Motor Show and Frankfurt Motor Show. These vehicles would likely have nameplates from GM's European brands. That is certainly something to look forward to!

Thanks for the tip on the video, Linton!

[Source: Youtube]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Thomas LaSorda argued before Congress that the US should follow the European example and use market forces to help drive demand.

The combined temperature for the December-February period was 1.3 degrees F (0.72 degree C) above the 20th century mean.

Porsche, Volkswagen, and others underestimated the difficulty of developing the engine technology and thus will bring their hybrids to market later than planned.

London's hybrid buses are powered by a small diesel engine and electric power, thereby cutting emissions by up to 40% per bus.

the amount of money involved is still relatively small compared with the boom years. Over all, venture funding last year was still less than a third of the nearly $34 billion venture capitalists invested in the region in 2000, the peak of the bubble.

The key contrast to BART is that the CyberTran system runs in an on-demand fashion controlled entirely by passengers themselves.

The Lexus hybrid being considered would not be a hybrid version of an existing model. It would have its own body style, like Toyota's Prius sedan.