AutoblogGreen

Click to view the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept in hi-res

The automotive industry seems to be heading in two diametrically opposed directions: developing fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly cars on the one hand, and a seemingly never-ending race for more horsepower on the other. While BMW continues to produce overpowered performance vehicles like the V8-powered M3 and V10-powered M5 and M6 to gun for top honors in the latter category, executives in the Bavarian automaker insist that their main focus is on the former.

In an interview with AutoTelegraaf, Klaus Draeger, the BMW board member spearheading the EfficientDynamics program, says that, despite the unveiling of the M1 Hommage supercar concept, BMW will not be producing a competitor to the Audi R8 supercar. Citing deployment of the EfficientDynamics system in 850,000 vehicles this year alone, Draeger says that the company will instead focus on green technologies. "That is our biggest investment in the coming years." We'll see.

[Source: AutoTelegraaf via eGMCarTech]

With its compact body and highly efficient range of gasoline and diesel engines, there aren't a lot of cars on the road that return better fuel economy and lower emissions than the Fiat 500. But if the latest reports are to be believed, Fiat isn't about to rest on its green laurels.

According to emerging reports, a hybrid version of the Fiat 500 is in the works. The gas/electric retro mini would start off with Fiat's 900cc two-cylinder engine, hooked up to a battery pack and backed up by a start-stop ignition system and a dual-clutch transmission. The idea of an environmentally-friendly 500 was previewed by the Fiat 500 Aria concept (pictured above) shown earlier this year at the Geneva show, while the 500 hybrid would reportedly be unveiled, oddly, at next year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. The combination of green credentials would surely increase the 500's economy to industry-leading levels, and help the entire Fiat Group come in below impending European emissions standards.

[Source: Auto Express via Auto Unleashed]

Big news: another politician has made an open-ended commitment with little way of seeing it through. In this week's episode, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown -- who previously committed to switch his Vauxhall for a Prius but then went for the V8 Jag once he got into office -- told local newspaper the Sunday Mirror that he'd give his armor-plated Jaguar the boot and replace it with an electric vehicle as his official mode of ground transportation.

Well that's nice, but we can hardly imagine the world leader being driven around in a Prius or a G Wiz, especially when a Downing Street spokesman points out that, "A new vehicle for the PM must meet security requirements like special strengthening and bullet-proof glass." Somewhere, somebody's got to be testing the impact of weighing down a Lexus LS600h with iron plates and reinforced glass.

[Source: Sunday Mirror via All Cars, All the Time]

Click to view a hi-res gallery of the Volvo C30 Green Racer

In the campaign to make racing greener, the World Touring Car Championship has been a leader. Following the example set by its sister company Audi at Le Mans, Volkswagen's Spanish subsidiary Seat began taking race wins in the WTCC in diesel-powered Leons. But the series has announced it is beginning to phase in ethanol, and of all the carmakers in the world, Volvo has stepped up to the plate.

We brought you initial news of the C30 Flexifuel Green Racer when it was unveiled for the local Swedish Touring Car Championship, in which it has already been winning races against fossil-fuel regulars. Volvo has now revealed, however, that the Green Racer is heading to the top-tier World Touring Car Championship. The event will be a one-off demonstration for the time being, as the Volvo won't be eligible for points and will only compete in the one race, next weekend at Brands Hatch. For both Volvo and the WTCC, however, it should be an interesting exercise. Check out the press release after the jump and the images in the gallery below.

[Source: Volvo]

At the beginning of the year we brought you initial news of the planned Green Challenge being implemented by the organizers of the American Le Mans Series. The announcement was made at the Detroit Motor Show, however details of how the initiative – co-sponsored by the Energy Department, the EPA and SAE International – would play out were still being worked on at the time.

The series has now announced that the Green Challenge will kick off this coming October at the "Petit Le Mans" race at Road Atlanta. ALMS race cars running on clean diesel, E10 ethanol or cellulosic E85 will be ranked by how much fossil fuels they use and how many emissions they produce over the course of the race distance. The vehicles which go the farthest on the least with the least impact will receive the lowest scores (i.e. the highest ranking), with winners announced in both the prototype and GT classes. Although only the one race will feature the Green Challenge component this season, in 2009 the initiative will carry through the entire calendar.

[Source: AutoWeek]

Click above to watch the video

With fuel prices skyrocketing worldwide, everyone is clamoring for a solution. So, who better to turn to for a conservation plan than a leading Conservative? Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, presents a three-part plan that entails tapping into the Strategic Oil Reserves, the deregulation of offshore oil drilling, and investment in alternative fuel technologies. According to our old pal Newt, "What you've got to have is a rational plan that says: Here's how you punish the speculators this morning, here's how you produce more energy in the near future, and here's how you have breakouts that are fundamental."

Gingrich might not have the clout in the green community that his rival Al Gore enjoys, but does that mean he doesn't have a point? Follow the jump to watch the video of his speech and leave your thoughts in the comments section below (just keep it civilized).

[Source: American Solutions via The Auto Channel]

Click above for hi-res gallery of the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel

British sportscar-maker and engineering firm Lotus may be known for its lightweight vehicles, but in the industry it still packs a punch as a heavyweight. It's that weight which Lotus is throwing behind methanol as the most viable alternative fuel.

Towards that end, at this year's Geneva motor show Lotus unveiled the flex-fuel 270E prototype based on the lightweight Exige sportscar. The vehicle is designed to run on gasoline, ethanol or methanol, but it's the latter which the company feels is the most viable for the near future. Like bio-ethanol, methanol can be made from natural materials, or can be made from hydrogen combined with CO₂ pulled out of the thin air, which allows for zero-emissions operation. The most convenient aspect, however, is that most car engines on the road today could be converted to run on methanol.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - subs. req'd]

Lamborghini could very well be the antithesis of the green car movement. Their cars burn just about everything they can, including prodigious amounts of fossil fuels and vulcanized rubber, to say nothing of our ear-drums. And the company's CEO says he has no intention of changing that, nor that he should.

In an interview conducted while the newest Gallardo LP560-4 was being demonstrated at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Stephan Winkelmann re-opened a big can of proverbial worms. Justifying that because his company sells so few cars (it sold 2,604 vehicles last year, more than any year before) and that those cars accumulate such low mileage (most owners keep them in climate-controlled garages and only take them out on leap years), Winkelmann recognized that his company will "have to see about the social acceptance of super sports cars like ours," but that Lamborghini "will never reach the emissions that are asked for." In tangible terms, Winkelmann makes a point. The question remains whether, in our worsening environmental and geo-economic situation, cars like his can should be banned altogether or whether there is room for exemptions.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

In partnership with French industrial group Bollore and Indian automaker Tata, Italian design house Pininfarina is preparing to launch its new electric minicar by 2010. Initial production of the car, which will be sold across Europe, Japan and in the United States, is scheduled to begin at 2,000 units, mounting up to peak manufacturing at 15,000 vehicles annually by 2012.

Italian design houses like Pininfarina and Bertone, however, have been struggling to make ends meet. While the latter struggles to emerge from bankruptcy, Pininfarina is raising 100 million euros in capital for the new electric car project by selling shares. The Pininfarina family will be selling an undetermined part of its 55 percent majority stake to some of the biggest names in the Italian automotive industry: Piero Ferrari, the scion and vice-president of the Maranello-based sportscar-maker; Alberto Bombassei, chairman of Brembo brakes; and the Marsiaj family, founders of seatbelt manufacturer Sabelt.

[Source: Automotive News Europe via Autoblog]

Click to view more of the Gumpert Apollo in hi-res

Endurance sportscar racing continues to lead the way in green motorsports, as independent German automaker Gumpert prepares to campaign a hybrid version of its Apollo supercar at the upcoming 24-hour race at the Nurburgring next month. Known as "the green hell," the Nurburgring Nordschleife makes a rather fitting debut for the hybrid race car.

The Apollo hybrid will use a 100kW electric motor – charged under braking – to supplement the gasoline-burning 630hp twin-turbo V8, and will be driven by former F1 pilot Heinz-Harald Frentzen alongside Dirk Muller. Gumpert noted that with the upcoming kinetic energy recovery system being instituted in Formula One and its star F1 driver, it hopes to spur the development of green racing when the hybrid Gumpert lines up on the grid on May 24 alongside such alternative-energy racers as the Audi R10 TDI and Peugeot 908 HDi. View the images in the gallery by clicking the thumbnails below and read the press release after the jump.