If anyone is interested in participating in the Zero Emissions Race around the world in 80 days, I’m sorry. You missed it.  It started yesterday, but you can follow the entire trip on the internet of course!  So, yes there is a race with 4 electric cars that have zero emissions.  Really it’s just a marketing strategy to get people to become more aware of the zero emissions cars.  The cars/teams will cross 16 countries and stop in about 150 major cities along the way. This should take 80 days of travel, but that doesn’t count the shipping time across the oceans.  The 80 days will be actual travel time in the vehicles.  There are 4 cars/teams involved in the Zero Emissions Race.  They are from Australia, Switzerland, South Korea, and Germany.  There cars are neat.  There are 2 what I would call motorcycles.  The organizer is Louis Palmer from Switzerland who was the first person to circumnavigate the world in a solar powered vehicle, which was called the Solartaxi.  He got his message out across the world about renewable energy and wants to continue to get the message out by organizing this race.

People from the Zero Emissions Race will be blogging daily, and if you live in one of the major cities that the race will be stopping at, maybe you should go and check them out yourself.  Might be worth your time. Something to do different either way!  Good luck to the racers.  May the best electric car win!!!!

I was searching for an interesting topic to write about tonight and I learned something new in the meantime. I had never heard of the Big Green Bus, but now that I read about it I really feel that it’s worth discussing.  The Big Green Bus is a bus full of 12 Dartmouth College students that are driving across the country to try to educate people on the little things we can do to be “green” and help the environment.  Their bus is a 1989 MCI coach bus that has been converted to run on waste vegetable oil.

The website is a wealth of knowledge for everyone. It explains all of the green aspects of the bus.  This is the 6th year that the Big Green Bus has travelled across the country trying to educate people.  The bus has bamboo flooring and cabinets.  It has solar panels that provide all the energy that they need.  The first bus that the Dartmouth students used in 2005 (there are different students each year) was a school bus that they painted green.

Most of the students that are currently on the Big Green Bus this summer are environmental studies/science majors at Dartmouth.  Some are in engineering and others in Biology, but all share a common bond to try to make this country a better place to live and helping people to make just some small changes that benefit the environment.

If you have a few minutes, check out the website of the Big Green Bus.  It will be worth your time.  Trust me.  By the way, this year’s bus trip will be over on August 29, ending in Cleveland, OH.  There is a blog on the website too from people who have met the crew members along the way. Check it out!

Another country is coming up with some very environmentally friendly ideas these days.  Paris currently has a great bike rentals system called Velib.  You go to a bike rack, pay your money to a machine, hop on your bike, and ride off.  Then when you are done, you return the bike to a rack anywhere in the city.  Well, the auto rental system called Autolib will be a similar rental system. There will be 3000 all-electric cars available at 1000 parking lots and garages throughout the city of Paris.  You will pay for your car when you need it, and then use it, and return it wherever you want at one of the lots or garages.

Supposedly this rental program will begin in September of 2011.  There are some things that have to be considered though. When the bike rental program began, there were 20,000 bikes and 7800 were stolen and 11,800 vandalized.  The government will have to try to figure out how to reduce the cars from being stolen and vandalized, because clearly it will cost a lot more to replace and fix than a bike.  Also, people will have to get used to the electric car.  What Paris doesn’t want or need are these rental cars stranded, needing charging stuck throughout the city.  Overall, what a great idea. This idea is similar to the Zipcars we have here in the U.S. but even easier to rent.  The idea is to reduce people from needing to have their own cars and reduce traffic and emissions.  I need to see this car rental system in place and successfully working, before I’m sold on it though.  There seems to be some loopholes that could cause a lot of problems and money.

China is now topping the U.S. with their environmentally friendly ideas and inventions. Most recently, China has developed a bus that will help ease congestion on with city roads.  The 3D Express Coach is an enormous bus that will allow cars that are less than 6 1/2 feet to travel under it.  The 3D Express Coach is also known as the three-dimensional fast bus or the Straddling bus.  As you travel under this bus that can carry up to 300 people per cab (up to 1400 people total,) there will be radar systems that will sound if you get to close to the wheels while under the bus.   China was originally going to have to spend millions of dollars to widen the roads, but instead will be spending $73 million to build the track. Obviously, widening the roads would be greater than $73 million! Plus, these buses should reduce traffic jams by 20-30% and they will be powered by electricity and solar power.  They will use about 860 tons of fuel per year (per the predictions,) saving yearly carbon emissions by 2640 tons.

You will board the bus on the upper level and the construction will begin by the end of this year.  The bus is about 13 feet tall.  The pictures look so cool.  I bet the U.S. will try something like this before you know it. What a great idea.

California has just extended access to the state’s carpool lanes for zero and ultra low emission vehicles until 2015.  If you are unfamiliar with the HOV lanes in CA, they are lanes that are available for cars with more than one person in them. This is supposed to encourage people to carpool and have less vehicles and gas emissions on the road.   Part of the change in law for the HOV lanes is that hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight that were allowed in the HOV lanes will no longer be allowed.  Let me clarify this rule.  These vehicles were/are allowed in the HOV lanes without 2 people. Due to the low emissions, they can be in the HOV lanes without the extra person/people.

Honda has 2 cars that qualify for the HOV lanes, now that the Insight is back with the “regulars.”  The Honda FCX Clarity and the Honda Civic GX.  Currently there are only about less than 10 of the fuel-cell powered Claritys on the roads, and the Civic GX, which is a natural gas-fueled vehicle is not on the roads much either.  These new rules for the HOV lanes in CA could possibly make some people shy away from the hybrids and move towards these alternative fuel vehicles. I guess it really depends on how much traffic a person sits in daily on the highways. If you sit for a long time, maybe one of the zero or ultra low emission vehicles are right for you.

Jerry Flint of Forbes.com has “stuck his neck out” and said that the Nissan Leaf will be “more likely be a sales failure than a sales success.”  Actually if you read the article, Flint really doesn’t have anything really good to say about this car that will be made in the U.S. starting in 2012.  I think he has a point in some of his complaints, but not all of them. First of all, one of his complaints is that the all-electric Nissan Leaf has a top speed of 90 mph.  What’s the problem?  Seriously, who needs to go any faster than 90?  When you are running from the cops????  I don’t think that should or will deter people from buying the Leaf.   

Next complaint, the range of the Leaf. Supposedly it will be able to go 100 miles before needing a recharge, but Flint seems to think that cold weather will reduce that, which could be true. This complaint to me is legit. I would hate to constantly be thinking about where I was to ensure that I can get to a charging station or home before my car dies.  That’s a big inconvenience to me, so I agree with you Flint. 

Price could be a concern as well.  Supposedly, the price of the Nissan Leaf will be around $27,000 but it could be much more when all is said and done, though you will probably get a nice tax credit for buying this eco-friendly vehicle. 

Charging is also a potential problem. It takes approximately 8 hours to fully charge the car.  It’s not a problem if you drive to and from work and then charge it at night at home. The problem is if you are out or travelling. There will be charging stations built, but for right now the majority of the stations will be on the West Coast, so if you don’t live there, it may be hard to find a station. That’s a problem. 

Flint said that “for real car buyers, the Nissan Leaf may be a decade or two ahead of its time. That may be true. I guess we will have to wait and see. Some Nissan Leafs will be sold in the U.S. later today and Hertz car rental will start renting cars in the U.S. early next year. Time will tell.      

I just read in my paper today about a debate that is taking place between General Motors and environmentalists over whether you should start your car and let it sit idle in your driveway or not.  GM says that you need to warm up your car because a warmer car gives off less bad emissions.  GM gives their reasons for this theory and then in return the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) says that cars these days do not need much warming up and “cars run more efficiently when they are being driven rather than idling” according to Jennifer Feyerherm of the Sierra Club’s Wisconsin Clean Energy Campaign.

Then on the flip side again, the AAA says that cars are “sluggish” in cold weather and need to be warmed up to let the car “comes to its senses, so to speak, before you put it in gear.”  You also need to warm up your car alittle bit to get the frost off your windows and possibly melt ice and snow.  Also, people need to be warm. I know that I can’t stand to get into my freezing cold car and start driving. My instincts are slower, my hands and feet don’t work as well.

I understand and see the other side saying that warming up your car is just a waste of gas and puts emissions into the air that don’t have to be there, but I think that the benefits or warming your car outweigh the negatives. Interesting tidbit….the city of Madison, WI and some other cities in Wisconsin have anti-idling ordinances to reduce the greenhouse gases and in Toronto, it’s actually illegal to allow a car to idle longer than 3 minutes!  Just think about it, how many of us idle for longer than 3 minutes like 10 times a day??!  I know that I do.  As I said, I understand their reasoning of trying to reduce pollution, I’m just not sure that this is the best way to do it.

Do you own a dirty vehicle?  One that has low gas mileage and gives off high tailpipe and greenhouse gas emissions?  Well with all the talk about green vehicles and high gas mileage, we still have many vehicles on the lots with problems, I guess you could say.  Chrysler is the worst automaker for dirty vehicles with 6 (Jeep Commander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen, Dodge Ram 1500, and Dodge Dakota) last year and 5 this year.  Just another problem for Chrysler. They can’t seem to do anything right these days.

Here are the top 5 dirtiest vehicles driven in the U.S. these days: (I wouldn’t be too proud to be on this list or driving one of these vehicles for that matter!)

Jeep Grand Cherokee

BMW M5

BMW M6 (Sedan and Convertible)

Chevrolet Trailblazer

Mercedes-Benz CL600

Tough go for these vehicles. Maybe they will figure out what is wrong and correct it sooner rather than later, though the Cherokee has been on the top of this list for quite some time.  Oops.

A website called fuelclinic.com has been started that will allow you to track your actual gas mileage online and “will teach you safe and efficient driving techniques that will improve your gas mileage, and help you monitor your progress as you continue to practice better driving techniques,” according to the website.  Fuelclinic.com says that it can improve your gas mileage by 10-20%, possibly more. I’m all ears I have to say.  The developer of the website, Michael Bragg, owns a Toyota four-wheel drive pickup truck and he has improved his gas mileage from 18 or 19 mpg to 23 mpg. That’s pretty good, right?  I’m interested. 

Basically, we as drivers have to change our driving styles in order to successfully improve our gas mileage. Plain and simple.  We need to not be in such hurries,  accelerate and brake gradually, avoid traffic jams (though I’m not sure how you do this, who really wants to be in a traffic jam?), and “in general just calm down” Bragg says.  Easy right?  I know that this won’t be easy for me, but I think I’m going to sign up at fuelclinic.com and try to track my gas mileage. I’ll track it for a few months, then report back. 

Have any of you heard about the new idea of pay-as-you-go car insurance that is being thrown around in California?  Well, it’s true. I found an article on autoweek.com that says that California is seriously considering doing this and as early as November.  What would happen would be that you could buy insurance coverage by the mile.  This way the consumer could just pay for the insurance that they use and save money.  Another thought of lawmakers is that people would drive less, therefore there would be less emissions, which equals healthier air, etc. 

So, how it works is that you can prepay for a specific number of miles. You could buy a blocks of miles for a certain amount of time, if you need more you can buy them.  There will be discounts available to you if you use this new insurance option.  Part of the plan can be that you report your miles to the insurance company and their insurance agent or repair shop will check your odometer. 

This pay-as-you-go insurance option is definitely not worthwhile for the commuter with a lengthy commute or people that drive a great deal one week and then not so much the next. It would be too hard for these consumers and probably cost them a lot more.  I guess it’s a good idea if it truly works out like California is hoping that it does. I don’t know if people will truly drive less to save some money.  I’m sure there are some people that will do that, but a great number of them?  I don’t know. I know I probably wouldn’t.  I don’t love to drive now, I do it when I have to, therefore nothing would change for me with this new pay-as-you-go insurance.  But that’s just me, I’ll be interested to see if it does begin in November, and how many people choose to go this route.