It's been 40 years since Mexico began taxing vehicles. Originally, the money was meant to fund the Olympic Games that took place there in 1968, but the income has apparently proven indispensable as it's still collected to this day. If proposed legislation from the Partido Verde Ecologista (a.k.a. the Mexican Green Party) passes, though, hybrid vehicles may soon be exempted from that tax plus the 15-percent consumption tax. In contrast, older, larger and more polluting cars would be subject to a tax increase. Meant to increase sales of fuel-sippers, obvious benefits include a reduction in petroleum consumption and cleaner air. Proponents also cite a likely increase in sales of new cars in Mexico, which currently trail imported used cars from the United States by some 200,000 units annually. For this reason, lobbying groups representing Mexican automotive dealerships may get on board with the Green Party to push Congress to adopt the new measures.

[Source: Inside Line]

Click above for more high-res shots of the Electruck

Back in the '70s (when the Big 3 were really the Big 4), American Motors flirted a bit with electric vehicles. Perhaps their greatest successes came from the Jeep side of the ailing brand. Known internally as the DJ-5E and to the outside world as the Electruck, the E-Jeep used a 20-horsepower compound wind DC Motor made by Gould. That same company provided the batteries, an odd set of two 27 volt lead-acids which were later replaced by the Postal Service with Eagle-Picher batteries. Capable of hitting 40 miles per hour for up to 29 miles, the USPS got plenty of use out of the three-doored wrong-side drive EVs.

Over three-hundred-fifty electric Jeeps were sold to the U.S. Postal Service along with five sent across the border to Canada. Out of those five, only one is known to still exist and it now being lovingly restored by its current owner. The car is expected to be shown afterwards, so keep your eyes open for this unique piece of history in the next few months. Click here for plenty of information and to track the progress of the build. Thanks for the tip, Glen!


[Source: Electric Jeep]

Canadian-based train manufacturer Bombardier announced two contracts to supply hybrid locomotives in North-America. According to Bombardier, these two will be the first deliveries of such technology, which uses diesel and/or electricity to power the locomotives. The contracts were signed with the New Jersey Transit Corporation (26 units) and Montréal's Agence Metropolitaine de Transport (20 units). The locomotives are to be built in Bombardier's manufacturing facilities in Germany and Poland and delivery is expected in 2011. If the locomotives are proven to be successful, NJ Transit (North-America's third largest mass transit system) expects to order 37 additional units. Likewise, Montréal's AMT (second's largest) could order 10 more locomotives.

[Source: Bombarider, Le Figaro]

Subaru doesn't have any hybrids in its line up and its electric car program, based around the R1e, is still in its (seemingly never-ending) infancy, but it does have partial zero-emission vehicles (PZEVs) and , apparently, pogo sticks. In an effort to promote the sale of its PZEV vehicles in Canada, the company offers a website to explore the two options. It's a close call but we really have to go for the PZEV, if only to avoid any sudden onset of motion sickness.

Although we have our suspicions about whether the car maker is actually a pogo provider, we are certain they make PZEVs. They are already on sale in the US but are mostly sold in California so as to to meet that state's SULEV (Super-Ultra-Low-Emission Vehicle) exhaust emission standard. The provinces of Quebec and British Columbia are said to be wanting to adopt those same standards. Seeing which way the wind is blowing, Subaru is offering the PZEV system as standard in its Legacy model and as an option in the Outback. It doesn't change the horsepower rating but it does reduce smog-producing emissions by some 90 percent, when compared with the average new car. Same power with cleaner air sounds like a great combination to us and we only wish it was much more widely available since the benefits would be astounding. No pogoing required.

[Source: The Canadian Press / Subaru]

Last week, Volkswagen of America announced it would build it's first US factory since it's Pennsylvania factory closed in 1984 in Chattanooga Tennessee. The new plant will build a new mid-sized replacement for the Passat. What CEO Stefan Jacoby didn't announce was where powertrains will come from. The new car will be available with gasoline, diesel and hybrid power-plants. The power-train is one of the most expensive components in the vehicle so getting the most out of building cars in the dollar zone means building them here as well. The gasoline engines will likely be sourced from the Puebla Mexico factory that also supplies the assembly plant there. The Mexican factory doesn't currently produce transmissions. VW is apparently waiting on Audi's decision on a US factory before finalizing plans for new engine and transmission plants. Audi and VW share powertrains, so the two brands will likely want to build in a location convenient to both assembly plants. If VW does decide to build hybrid transmissions in North America they may even end up exporting some of those back to Europe as well.

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

The recent lifting of the low speed vehicle (LSV) ban in Quebec has shone the light of discovery on another electric vehicle manufacturer getting ready to go gangbusters. In Ste.-Therese, Quebec, very close to where the Chevrolet Camaro plant was once located, sits the home of Nemo. Locally designed and manufactured, their vehicle, the Must HD2 has garnered interest from 50 municipalities within "La Belle Province" as well as from individuals. Company president, Jacques Rancourt, says they've sold 15 trucks in the past week and a half since their legal status changed and now expects to move 500 units this year.

The Must HD2 sells for around $20,000, is built on an aluminum chassis and can handle a 1,000 lb payload. Being an LSV, it's limited to 25 miles an hour but has a 70 mile range. Since it's made in the North, it does has a robust heater and many options ranging from lithium ion batteries to an AM/FM radio with CD player. We think it's a pretty cool looking truck, seemingly capable of handling a range of chores and so we wish the makers of this little brute, "Bonne chance!".


[Source: Nemo / Canada.com]

High gas prices have us all feeling the pinch ($65 bucks last night for me), and as you're all well aware, many folks are changing their driving style, the amount of driving they do, or, in some cases, saying good-bye to their cars or trucks entirely. One beneficiary of people's changes of heart is Zipcar. The car-sharing service announced this week that its average monthly signups are triple what they were a year ago, with 40% of its new members citing fuel prices as the reason they've decided to join. Services like Zipcar allow people to use cars by the hour or by the day, and the vehicles are generally situated in urban areas where car ownership can be inconvenient, expensive, or, in many cases, both.

According to Zipcar (their announcement is pasted after the jump), members who opted to participate in the company's latest survey are saving as much as $600 per month by choosing the service instead of owning a car of their own. Figure in a car payment, insurance, gas budget, and garage/parking costs, and that number gets believable in a hurry, especially for someplace like Manhattan. The company also says that its members are more likely to also use public transportation as they settle into their car-free (or "car-reduced", so to speak) lifestyles, and that the environmental benefits of the service are myriad. If any readers are current Zipcar users or patrons of a similar car-share service, we'd like to know your experiences and hear how well (or badly) it has worked out for you in the comments below.

[Source: Zipcar | Photo: akseabird]

Considering that the legacy left behind by American car companies has little to do with being clean, there seems to be an increased sense of urgency by some U.S. states to replace the older fleet of vehicles with newer, and therefore cleaner, vehicles. The states with the two largest vehicle fleets, Texas and California, have both implemented new programs which offer cash-based incentives to owners of older vehicles which fail current emissions testing. In Texas, up to $3,500 is offered towards a vehicle three-years old or newer, though income restrictions do apply. In California, there is no maximum income number, though the far-left state is a bit less generous, offering $1,500 towards the purchase of a replacement vehicle.

Canada is also getting in on the act with a program slated to begin on January 1 of next year. In a move close to our hearts, the incentive is applicable to new vehicles, new bicycles or even bus passes. Sadly, the value is a rather low $300. Way to go Canada; perhaps upping the ante a bit would make the program a bit more meaningful.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Oil sands mining transforms the landscape Photo: David Dodge, Pembina Institute

American mayors attending their annual meeting in Florida this week adopted a resolution that "supports federal legislation that prohibits government use of unconventional or synthetic fuels" derived from CO₂-intensive sources such as oil sands or shales and "encourages" mayors to boycott the use of these fuels in their own municipal fleets. Although it seems to have gone largely unmentioned in the American press, the same can not be said of the Canadian media. There, newspapers and and other media outlets are crammed with articles and editorials denouncing the decision with headlines such as, "Oilsands boycott bad for U.S., premier warns" and "Critics say US mayors ignoring energy reality".

Already on the defensive on the domestic front after the deaths of hundreds of ducks from mining pollution and opposition to the Conservative-led federal governments willingness to sacrifice over a dozen lakes to tailings contamination, advocates for the mega-money oil sands projects seem none too happy to hear criticism emanating from South of the border. Their reminders that China and India would be only too happy to buy their "dirty" oil do seem a little over the top though since the resolution was more of a toothless wish than an actual ban. Text of the resolution after the jump.

[Source: CTV]

Making fuel from waste is just brilliant. Up in Edmonton, Canada, a company called Enerkem is ready to set up the world's first industrial scale municipal waste-to-ethanol facility. Hopefullly, the implementation will be as brilliant as the idea.

Enerkem and its partner GreenField Ethanol and the city of Edmonton have agreed to a 25-year partnership whereby the government will spend $70m on a facility that will be capable of making 36m liters of biofuels each year. The governments of the city and Alberta will chip in $20m and the city will spend the other $50m on a related processing facility and research facility.

You can get the press release of this announcement here. Canada is also considering wheat-to-ethanol plants.

[Source: Enerkem Inc.]

Back in 2005, when gasoline cost $1 Canadian per liter and it was already considered expensive, Canadian Driver inaugurated the 50-liter challenge. This event highlights the fuel-saving benefits of driving a compact car, and tries to promote an efficient driving style. But why choose 50 liters (13.21 gallons U. S.)? Even though 50 liters isn't a complete fill-up, most of the cars in the test have a 50-liter tank and this amount would give a fair level of comparison between the contestants.

Canadians are buying gasoline at $1.50 per liter (Canadian) and the challenge, which included fuel saving techniques, seems more useful today than ever before. The theme - "Drive a fuel efficient car fuel efficiently, and save money at the pump" - seems right. Lucky for Americans, most of these models are also sold stateside.

The test route consisted of a combination of main and secondary highways, mainly flat roads with very heavy traffic in the morning, changing to fairly steep hills and remote forested areas in the afternoon. Skies were mostly grey, but the temperature was 24 ºC and rather humid. All calculations were done with GPS. The test also included a Ford Escape Hybrid as support vehicle and the organizers purchased carbon credits to offset the emissions.

The winner? Find the results after the jump.

[Source: Canadian Driver]

One of the hurdles in the way of the widespread adoption of electric vehicles is the ability to pull into a fuel station for a quick fill-up. A "multi-million" dollar injection from Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital could very well give Dutch company Epyon just what it needs to leap over that obstacle. The company claims their technology can charge lithium ion batteries in as little as five to fifteen minutes instead of the hours it typically takes now. How do they do it? By using "state-of-the-art power conversion techniques and intelligent control systems" combined with high-power lithium ion and supercapacitor storage. The needs of each cell within the battery are evaluated and met through communication between the charger and battery management system (BMS). Also, by incorporating an energy reservoir into its system, Epyon avoids the predicament of overloading the grid with extreme demand spikes.

You won't see an Epyon station on the side of the road tomorrow though. The first thing they need to do is build some installation demonstration units and partner up with an appropriate battery company. The company, a spin-off of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, plans on concentrating their initial installations in large commercial facilities such as airports or other industrial environments. Let's just hope the technology doesn't take too long to trickle down to personal vehicles since this is the kind of energy-charging solution that American electric vehicle manufacturers would seem to prefer.

[Source: Clean Break / Earth2Tech]

Click the new Maxima for a high-res gallery of 60+ photos

According to Yo Usaba, senior veep of powertrains for Nissan, the upcoming clean diesel engine for the next Nissan Maxima may be paired only with a manual transmission. Although the stick would likely be the most efficient transmission choice, it doesn't seem all that appropriate for the American market, where automatic transmissions are the rule. It seems that Nissan is concerned with turbo-lag, which is the lull before the turbocharger kicks in and delivers the power. For this reason, the new diesel X-Trail for the Japanese market will come only in a shift-it-yourself flavor.

Apparently, diesels have the same poor reputation in Japan as in the U.S. and many Japanese drivers are stick-shift neophytes. Since this information hasn't kept Nissan from launching its first diesel in its home market with a manual transmission as its sole option, many are concluding that the same could be true in the states. We hope not, as sales would surely be negatively impacted by such a decision. A CVT would likely be a decent choice for this application, and Nissan has proven rather adept at making its seamless transmissions sell in America. We hope that it can make that combination work.

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

Click above for more shots of the Can-Am Spyder

We are certain that there are quite a number of people on the roads who don't quite know what to make of the Can-Am Spyder. In case you've forgotten about this unique vehicle, it places two wheels at the front with one in back. Powered by a Rotax V-Twin engine which offers over one-hundred horsepower, the Spyder offers quite a thrill to its pilot. While this vehicle is surely not right for everyone, the fact that over three-hundred owners were scheduled to attend the Inaugural Spyder Homecoming Owner Event in Canada proves that there are certainly a few satisfied owners of the reverse-trike.

We recently got the chance to ride a three-wheeler in the form of Piaggio's MP3, in both 400cc and 500cc guises. We found that the extra contact patch up front did indeed provide some extra confidence and would likely be a very attractive feature to many new riders. Unlike the MP3, though, the Spyder does not lean into the turns. Instead, complex computers control the speed at which riders can corner and stability control combines with anti-lock braking to provide a surefooted ride.

If you live in a major city on just about anywhere on the planet and had reason to be out and about Saturday afternoon you may have noticed a large group of cyclist causing traffic chaos. It wasn't only that they were on a large group ride, in many cases carrying signs protesting pollution and promoting cycling, they were also naked. Yup. Nuda. Divested of apparel. Disrobed. Attired in only their birthday suits.

Apparently, June 7th was the fourth annual "World Naked Bike Ride Day" according to the official (NSFW) website. (There's also a safer wiki.) While we aren't sure if the ride was effective in helping end "indecent exposure to vehicle emissions," we are pretty sure lots of people enjoyed the happening and are already looking forward to next year's edition of this increasingly popular event. One last thing, if you do want to bicycle naked, do it as part of an organized effort and not solo in Oklahoma.

[Source: worldnakedbikeride.org / enjoy your bicycle.de]