ford

This is a complete slap in the face to any green movement. Ford in all it's wisdom has decided that the f-150 isn't insulting enough to the environment, so they "doubled up" with the f-250 Chief. And get this they made it run on hydrogen so that makes it "green". Thanks Ford, by the way how much material went into the production of this oversized monstrosity?

Think paying $100,000 for an electric car is obscene? How about $100K for an F-250? The NYTimes reported last week that if you account for total ownership of a full-sized truck, including insurance, interest, repairs, taxes, and gasoline, a big vehicle like Ford’s F-250 will now set you back $100,000 in the first five years of ownership. Five years is the average amount of time an owner keeps one of these trucks.

Could it be that Americans are finally warming up to the idea that life doesn’t revolve around how good your car looks and that putting food on the table is more important than driving an SUV? I mean really, it’s about time, no? The pundits have been saying it for the past year, but it looks like the prediction that the average American would rather eat than spend money on fuel is finally coming true. Not only that, it’s coming in droves.

New diesels will get better mileage and have cleaner emissions than your average car. Pictured: 2009 Jetta SportWagen 2L TDI Clean Diesel.Later this year (see the timeline below), we will finally begin to see an influx of new model diesels in the United States. While diesels make up 50% of the market share of vehicles in Europe, they’re still trying to shrug off the stigma of being dirty, noisy beasts here in the US. So what changed?

A group of activist investors including the state of Connecticut on Wednesday dropped a campaign targeting Ford Motor Co after the No. 2 U.S. automaker detailed plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions over the next 12 years.

Ford Motor Company will be replacing up to 40% of their petroleum-based seat cushions with a new material made from soybean oil. “Soy foam” costs roughly the same to manufacture as traditional petroleum derivatives, but requires less energy to produce and may reduce environmental impacts by 75%.

Small cars led sales in a slumping U.S. auto market in the first quarter of 2008.

As usual, Google is at the forefront of, well, everything. But this one is a little surprising: their philanthropic branch, Google.org, is putting $10 million into plug-in electric hybrid research and real-world testing.

The Detroit Electric car, which first when into production in 1907 is being revived and transformed into the Zap Alias due out in 2009.

The Ford Explorer America concept showcases a new kind of utility for the vehicle customers have known and loved for years: even betterfuel efficiency.

Ford Motor Company is introducing a new technology called EcoBoost that will deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy on half a million Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles annually in North America during the next five years.

 

Body panels from a synthetic resin made up of 85 percent post-consumer waste, soy-based seat foam, and “reconstituted” oak veneer used trim. More updates from Detroit in this new car review.

Daimler has long believed hydrogen will be the fuel of the future, and today it joined Ford in making a $228 million bet that it will be right.

John E. Bryson, Chairman & CEO, Edison International; Alan Mulally, President & CEO, Ford Motor Company announce a partnership to explore
ways to make plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) more accessible and affordable to consumers, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the cost-effectiveness of the nation's electricity grid.

The UK government is providing £500,000 worth of funding for a project which is aiming to develop the world’s first recyclable vehicle made from hemp based materials.