One Nation

Written by Anthony Mangano

I have yet to hear of any of the candidates running for president speak about hybrid cars. Sure maybe considering the global market meltdown is a very serious situation, but if all those mortgage brokers were not trying to scheme every tom ,dick and harry out of there life savings maybe we wouldnt be in this problem. Maybe we as a people should put our lifes and health before greed , then maybe then we will become again the nation everyone looked up to and thought so highly of. Its embarassing when you have people in government bickering and putting down there president. Its expected of the media of course because they are nothing but a bunch of liberals anyway. Yes maybe you can blame the president of which our current state is , but like Kennedy once said "ask not what your country can do for you ,but what you can do for your country. Wake up AMERICA.

Can green cars make it in Russia?

September 21, 2008 Posted by: Paul Lucas

From the USA to the UK, from Israel to India, the world appears to be embracing the green car concept. However, there is one country that is yet to catch green fever - Russia.

The car market in Russia is booming but hybrid cars are certainly not all the rage with few on sale. Now however, car manufacturers are taking a new approach - by appealing to those who like to drive cutting edge technology and who like to set the trends.

The range of hybrid vehicles offered by Lexus is one of the few to enjoy sales success in the country and now Toyota and Honda are considering bringing their most popular models to dealerships next year.

The emphasis is not so much on their environmental qualities, however, as it is on offering something new and different to the young, well-off crowd. As hybrid cars use a rechargeable electric battery in addition to the conventional petroleum engine, the technology should hold appeal.

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GM thinks beyond the Volt

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com senior writer
DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) -- The applause hasn't died down for the new Chevrolet Volt, but General Motors is already planning where the technology for this new electric car can go next.

The Volt, which made its official debut Tuesday, is based on what GM calls the "E-Flex platform." This new type of vehicle uses high-capacity lithium-ion batteries and will be able to go up to 40 miles on a full charge. If a driver wants to go farther, the car's small gasoline engine will generate more electricity, allowing trips of over 300 miles.

But that technology doesn't have to stop with the Volt, according to said Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for the E-Flex program. Different body styles - wagons or small cars, for instance - and versions styled for different brands are under consideration for a future, improved E-Flex use.

"These are some of the alternatives that are being reviewed, even as we speak, relative to the future beyond Volt," Posawatz said in an interview with CNNMoney.com after the Volt's official unveiling in Detroit Tuesday.

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Biofuel musses up electric car fest

By Seattle Times staff

Rami Grunbaum, deputy business editor, and Seattle Times Business staff

At a Cascadia Center conference last week on the future of transportation titled "Beyond Oil," the star was the electric car.

Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids were lined up outside the Microsoft Executive Conference Center during the two-day conference: plug-in Priuses, converted SUVs, even a plug-in yellow school bus.

True believers on grid-powered vehicles happily exchanged factoids inside. In such a crowd, Rob Elam, founder of Propel Biofuels, stuck out like a sore thumb.

Elam's Seattle company is in the down-and-dirty business of distributing biodiesel, an alternative fuel made mostly out of vegetable oil that can be used in almost any standard diesel engine.

Biofuels, now based mostly out of soy and corn, have been criticized for not being cost-efficient — and some scientists have even cast doubt on their environmental benefits.

Others point out that biofuels are merely a halfway measure on the way to electric cars. That didn't keep Elam from telling fans of electric vehicles that biofuels are the right thing to adopt, right now.

In the U.S., there are about 14 million diesel vehicles and 9 million flex-fuel vehicles that can run on biodiesel and ethanol, Elam told the audience.

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