We Obsessively Cover the Green Scene…

Less than a year after everyone with any sort of say in the matter seemed to agree that 54.5 miles per gallon by the year 2025 was a properly attainable goal, the California Air Resources Board has decided to change things up a bit.

In addition to CAFE requirements of a 54.5-mpg fleet average (using the government's formula, not what you see on window stickers), at least 15.4 percent of all cars sold by any major automaker doing business in California will have to be either fully electric, a plug-in hybrid or be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell by 2025. There are questions about the "over-compliance" section of the bill, which we'll be investigating further.

According to Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, 15.4 percent is "actually a relatively modest goal, but that's all that we're mandating." Most automakers are on board, says Nichols. "Probably the most heartening aspect of this whole rulemaking was the level of cooperation that we received from the industry... Overall, the degree of support for the package was just extraordinary."

Even if automakers are on board, though, there's still a question of who will actually buy the vehicles. While everyone wants better fuel efficiency, not everyone is willing to pay for it, counters the California New Car Dealers Association, estimating that the plan would add about $3,200 to the average price of a new car or truck. Perhaps to help dissuade such fears, Nichols added that "direct incentives to people who buy these cars (like) rebates and credits" are also in the works.

At least 10 more states are likely to follow California's lead, reports Automotive News. That would put the total number of advanced green vehicles (either with a plug or powered by hydrogen) at around three million total units by 2025, 1.4 million of which would be in California.

Bright Automotive Chief Operating Officer Mike Donoughe invoked President Barack Obama's recent call for U.S. companies to create American jobs while developing alternative energy sources for transportation by requesting that Congress speed up the company's federal loan process.

The company, which is developing the Bright IDEA plug-in hybrid-electric cargo van, is "ready, willing and able" to create as many as 2,500 direct and indirect U.S. job once production is up and running. The hold up? Its loan request from the U.S. Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) Program hasn't yet been processed, something that Donoughe said in a statement this week should be done "swiftly."

Bright Automotive said last November that it reached an agreement to make the IDEA at the AM General Corp factory in Mishawaka, IN, where the Hummer H2 was previously built. At the time, the company estimated that about 300 people would be employed there. The IDEA is expected to deliver about 40 miles on electricity, then switch over to gasoline power, giving the delivery van a range similar to that of the Chevrolet Volt.

The company, which was founded in 2008 by the battery specialist who helped develop General Motors' EV1 electric vehicle and spun off from the Rocky Mountain Institute, said late last year that the IDEA may be available for government and fleet purchases as early as 2014. The company had initially planned on having its plug-in truck ready by this year, but development was put on hold during the recent recession and financial crisis.

What's up with the sales, orders and reservations of the Nissan Leaf? Nissan loudly trumpeted the 20,000 reservations it originally collected back in September, 2010 and Nissan's Mark Perry recently told AutoblogGreen that, since then, that number has climbed to around 26,000. Where do things stand today? That's not exactly simple to figure out. Here's what we know:

• Number of accepted Leaf reservations: 26,000
• – Number of Leaf models sold: 10,000
• – Number sold in January: 800 (estimate)
• – Number sold in February: 800 (estimate. Perry recently said these two months were sold out or nearly sold out)
• – Number of people who haven't had a chance to order because they live in a state where the Leaf is not yet for sale: 2,000 (according, again, to Perry)
• – Number of people who cancelled (unknown)
• = 12,400 people or so

Nissan's Katherine Zachary tells Autoblog that the company doesn't share cancellation data, so it's not possible for outsiders to know exactly how many of the 12,400 have raised and then lowered their hands. Zachary added, "We have new people coming into the process every day, so it's really a moving target." Still, somewhere out there, there could be 12,000 people who are patiently waiting to snatch up Nissan's 2012 Leaf production. Even if 50 percent of them cancelled, that still leaves many months of strong sales coming for Nissan in the U.S. this coming year, even as production ramps up.

One thing that Zachary was willing to share were the colors chosen by buyers for model year 2012 Leaf orders. They are:

• Brilliant Silver – 24%
• Blue Ocean – 23%
• Glacier Pearl – 21%
• Cayenne Red – 19%
• Super Black – 14%

Given that Blue Ocean was the Leaf's "Launch Color," we're a bit surprised to see it being outsold by silver, if only just. If you were going to order a Leaf (or if you have), what color would it be? Take our poll below.

At the Washington Auto Show today, Chevrolet introduced a sticker.

Okay, the new Ecologic environmental labels that will be coming to all new Chevy vehicles – starting with the 2013 Sonic – is a lot more than just an adhesive piece of paper. Last year, the EPA revamped its mileage stickers, and GM has realized that many people like more information about the environmental impact of the vehicle they may be buying. GM North America President Mark Reuss said at the show that, "Customers want companies to be honest and transparent about their environmental efforts and sustainability goals, and rightly so." This is why the information on the labels will be verified by the independent organization Two Tomorrows. The label campaign will be backed up with a website that includes "more information on the audit process and environmental features for each vehicle with an Ecologic label."

What's on the labels? Information about the car from its time "before," "on" and "after" the road. This means that environmentally friendly steps that GM uses in the manufacturing process (before), steps taken to improve fuel economy (on) and information on how much of the vehicle can be recycled at the end of its life (after). You can see a detailed example of the Sonic sticker by clicking on the picture above. Since Ecologic is going to be on all Chevy models, we'll admit we're interested to see how GM finds the eco side of the Camaro ZL1.

Toyota is working on a method of making electric-drive powertrains without using magnets that require pricey rare-earth metals such as neodymium and dysprosium, and may start integrating that process into vehicle production within two years, Reuters reported, citing Japan's Kyodo News.

The world's biggest maker of hybrid-electric vehicles is trying to find ways to cut costs by reducing dependency on rare earth metals, which are expensive and which are primarily produced in China, the wire service said. The Japanese automaker is one of the reasons why Japan accounts for about a third of the world's rare earth consumption.

Finding a way to produce electric motors without magnets that require rare earth metals has become increasingly important, since production and demand of electric-drive vehicles are expected to surge during the next few years. Last year, government officials in China reportedly ordered three rare earth mines in Jiangxi, a province in southern China, to halt extraction. Jiangxi province extracts nearly 40 percent of the country's rare earths. China accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's rare earth production, though its reserves may account for about a third of the world's total, meaning that any reduction in China's rare earth production would likely result in nothing more than a temporary shortage while mines are opened or reopened elsewhere.

Last September, UK-based Sevcon said it would work with Cummins Generator Technologies and Newcastle University's Power Electronics and Drives Research Group at developing next-generation electric-drive systems that do not require rare earth metals. The group is developing a technology that uses steel instead of the contested materials.

Better Place, the Silicon Valley company founded by former high-tech executive and Israel native Shai Agassi in 2007, has delivered the first 100 electric cars to Israeli customers. After years of tests and trial programs, the deliveries mark a big step in the company's efforts to build out an electric-vehicle charging and battery-exchanging network throughout the country.

Better Place has delivered the Renault Fluence Z.E. EVs to Israel, Bloomberg News reported, citing an e-mail from Better Place Israel Chief Executive Officer Moshe Kaplinsky. The company will deliver more EVs to Israel and is planning on rolling out a similar network in Denmark. Better Place said last month that it would roll out the program with Eldan Group, Israel's largest rental car company, and would target private consumers and corporate fleets.

Better Place is looking to promote the concept – based on the cell phone model – that motorists should be able to lease batteries and battery charging time so that buying an electric vehicle does not require them to also purchase a battery pack that can cost as much as the car itself.

The company said late last year that it raised another $200 million in equity financing from companies such as General Electric and UBS AG and that it would use the funds to expand its electric-vehicle battery swapping network throughout Western Europe and other parts of the world. The funding brought the company's total to almost $800 million in equity financing and almost doubled the company's valuation to $2.25 billion since its previous round of equity funding in January 2010.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was sued by an auto-safety firm over the federal regulator's probe into the possible case of unintended acceleration in a 2003 Toyota Prius, the New York Times said, citing legal documents filed by the firm.

Massachusetts-based Safety Research and Strategies alleges that NHTSA withheld documentation that may have proven that the occurrence of unintended acceleration of a Prius owned by a U.S. government official may have been the result of the car's electronic systems, not the floor mats or pedals that have been subject to Toyota recalls, the newspaper reported. Safety Research is seeking documents from a May 2011 visit by NHTSA investigators to the Pennsylvania home of car owner Joseph McClelland, the Times said.

NHTSA confirmed the investigation of the 2003 Prius and the findings stating that there was no proof that the car's electronic throttle system caused the acceleration, the Times reported, adding that McClelland hasn't responded to requests for an interview.

Toyota in September 2009 recalled 3.8 million vehicles – the Japanese automaker's largest ever – because of what the company and NHTSA said were floor mats that caused some of the vehicles' accelerators to get stuck in the wide-open throttle position. The 2003 Prius that's the subject of the Safety Research lawsuit wasn't part of that recall, which included 2004-2010 model year Prius vehicles as well as Camrys, Avalons and other makes ranging between the model years 2004 and 2010.

Is 54.5 mpg achievable... and what will it cost?



Ask the average driver whether he or she would like better fuel economy from they car they're driving now, and the answer will, of course, be "Yes!" Ask whether the feds should continue forcing automakers to improve fuel economy on a very aggressive schedule, and most will, again, agree. But many people have little real understanding of what that will take... or what it will cost.

The lasting legacy of America's first major fuel crisis in 1973 remains the federal government's response to it: Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) laws. The first one required automakers' 1978-model "sales-weighted fleet averages" to be at least 18 miles per gallon. This was no challenge for imports selling mostly small cars, but a tall order for domestics at the time. It meant U.S. makers would have to balance sales of profitable larger vehicles with (usually loss-making) smaller ones, whether or not anyone wanted to buy them. Light truck standards followed for 1979, beginning at 17.2 mpg for 2WD and 15.8 for those with 4WD.

Critics contend CAFE is a sorry substitute for reducing fuel usage through higher fuel taxes.

Critics contend CAFE is a sorry substitute for reducing fuel usage through higher fuel taxes, as other countries have done, because it puts the onus on automakers, regardless of market demand, and drives up vehicle prices. Still, CAFE was toughened each year through the early 1980s, softened slightly in the mid-'80s, then leveled off at 27.5 mpg for cars for 20 years, from 1990 to 2010. The truck number accelerated slowly to 20.7 mpg (combined for 2WD and 4WD) for 1996, stayed there through 2004, then climbed again to 23.5 mpg for 2010.

Then, on May 19, 2009, President Obama announced a new "national fuel economy program" mandating a fleet average of 35.5 mpg for by 2016 – a daunting 29-percent increase that moved the requirements of an existing 2007 law forward by four full years. Since 2012 models were essentially done, automakers would have just four model years to achieve it.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is holding meetings that could put the hammer down on getting more zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) on the road – or so it seems at first glance.

CARB, which always looks far down the road, is discussing how it will change the ZEV program that concerns the model year 2018 vehicles and beyond. The proposal (PDF, but watch out: it's 670 pages that are not searchable!) could force automakers to add half a million pure electric or fuel cell vehicles and another 900,000 plug-in hybrids by 2025, writes the New York Times. Overall, CARB's proposal would increase the market segment of advanced clean cars from four percent in 2025 to up to 15 percent. CARB is also asking for more hydrogen stations to be built.

That may all sound good, but there's another side to the story, one that's a big loophole. Plug In America is calling on its members to oppose a portion of the proposal that could actually reduce the number of ZEVs on the roads in the future. Comparatively, anyway. In a letter to the DOE and EPA, CARB Chair Mary Nichols wrote:

California commits to propose that its revised ZEV program for the 2018-2021 MYs include a provision providing that over-compliance with the federal GHG standards in the prior model year may be used to reduce in part a manufacturer's ZEV obligation in the next model year.

The details are that, for every two grams per mile of GHG overcompliance, an automaker could "cut the number of pure electric-drive vehicles [it has to offer] by as much as 50% over the 2018 to 2021," writes Plug In America, which also calls it a "sweetheart deal" and "a bad deal for California and for the United States." PIA writes that Honda, Hyundai and Toyota lobbied for this overcompliance language. We'll keep following this one.

Revenge of the Electric Car filmmaker Chris Paine's sequel to 2006's Who Killed the Electric Car? is now available on DVD and videostreaming. The film, which was released in theaters last fall, became available on Tuesday through retailers such as Wal-mart, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy and Amazon.com. The title is also being distributed via video-on-demand through companies such as Verizon, DirecTV and Netflix.

The film, which was released in theaters last fall, follows the progress of industry executives and electric-car players such as former General Motors executive Bob Lutz, Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn and Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk, and includes commentary from Wall Street Journal auto writer Dan Neil. AutoblogGreen reviewed the film here. The home-video version includes extras such as footage of a 35-minute panel discussion at the Tribeca Film Festival that included Paine, Musk, Ghosn and Neil that was moderated by actor David Duchovny.

Paine's Who Killed the Electric Car? documented the demise of GM's beloved but ill-fated EV1.

For the second year in a row, Ford drove off with the Green Car Journal Green Car Vision award at the Washington Auto Show, this time with the C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle. In 2011, Green Car Journal (GCJ) editor Ron Cogan handed the award to Ford's Sue Cischke for the Focus Electric. This year, the retiring Cischke was on hand once more to accept the award (look at this picture compared to the one above. It's déjà vu all over again), a fine cap on a long and ambitious career.

GCJ's decision will likely not sit well with our readers, who overwhelmingly picked the Tesla Model S to win this year. Our unscientific poll had the Model S winning with 83.6 percent of the vote, followed by the BMW i3, (6.5 percent), the Cadillac ELR (5 percent), C-MAX (2.9 percent) with the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell picking just 1.9 percent to take up the bottomw spot out of the five nominees.

Each year, GCJ's Green Car Vision award goes to a "green vehicle" that is not yet available on the market, but does show a possible way forward to increase fuel efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions or in some other way have a lower environment impact. The 2010 Green Car Vision award was won by the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt won in 2009. Speaking at the press conference today, Cogan said the C-Max can meet the utility requirements of a wide variety of drivers because the interior space and powertrain are both versatile.

If you can't be at the Washington Auto Show today but want to know what's going on, join John McElroy and the crew of Autoline in just a few minutes for the skinny.

Starting at 12 p.m. EST, Autoline will be broadcasting from the floor, interviewing a few industry execs about the automotive political goings on in the nation's capitol. The expected list of participants includes Margo Oge, director of the National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory at the EPA; Roland Hwang, transportation program director, National Resources Defense Council; Jake Jones, executive director, external affairs and public policy, Daimler, and Phil Murtaugh, CEO of Coda Automotive.

You can watch the stream, live, after the jump starting very soon. If you'd like to get particular questions answered, use this link to submit them.

We don't imagine that many new-car buyers are cross-shopping their local Infiniti and Porsche dealerships, but there's at least one segment of the automotive industry where the two automakers both play ball: high-performance hybrid luxury sedans, which may be the single most conflicted niche of the automotive sphere in the known universe.

In any case, here we are with the Infiniti M35h and Porsche Panamera S Hybrid. Each one is marketed as both a somewhat greener luxury vehicle and a performance sedan. We'd guess it's the performance side of the equation that would be most interesting to the majority of buyers, leaving fuel efficiency a welcome bonus.

So, which one is faster? That's an interesting question. Usually, we equate that term with top speed, as "fast" connotes velocity. When acceleration is being contested, we generally ask which machine is quickest. And, if it's quickness you're after, Infiniti wants you to know that its M35h will out-accelerate its competitor from Germany. How quick is it? According to Motor Trend, the hybrid M goes from 0-60 in 5.1 seconds, but that's not the stat Infiniti is claiming. According to the post-jump press release, the M35h is "faster" than the hybrid Panamera from 0-100 (11.54 seconds) and in the quarter mile (13.41 seconds).

As for the rest of the relevant statistics, the EPA estimates that the M35h will manage 27 miles per gallon in the city and 32 on the highway, for a combined rating of 29. The Porsche Panamera S Hybrid is rated at 22 city, 30 highway and 25 combined. Seems the M hybrid takes both the acceleration and economy awards. Check out a video released by Infiniti after the break, where you'll also find the press release, if you're into that kind of thing.

Following the announcement that Škoda would make its own version of Volkswagen's little Up! city car that burns gasoline, it looks like the rumors that first flew over two years ago about an electric version will come true. The Czech automaker is apparently going to put an electric Citigo (Skoda's name for its Up! clone) into production in 2014, the site In Auto News reports, citing Škoda CEO Winfried Vahland.

Details are, unsurprisingly, quite slim at this point, so we don't know how big a battery the new EV will carry inside. Actually, we're not even 100 percent certain that it's the Citigo that will get the plug-in treatment, but that's the most likely candidate.

Last year, Skoda started down the EV road with a limited-production run of the Octavia Green E Line. That car, much bigger than the Up!, uses a 26.5-kWh lithium-ion battery pack to offer a range of 87 miles.