Last year, the fifth annual AltWheels festival featured a lot of cool green car goodness - along with things like Darth Vader discussing HUMMER and a vegoil MINI. This year, the show returns to the Boston area for three days one day of greener transportation discussion and presentations, including a one-day fleet-centered show on September 29 that will feature what organizers are calling the "Largest Display of Alternative Fleet Vehicles on East Coast." It certainly looks like a tempting way to spend the day, and should give the people responsible for spending the real big bucks on fuel a chance to figure out how best to reduce costs.

For the general public, the two-day show takes place on September 26 and 27 at the Boston City Hall Plaza (the Fleet Day is in Framingham, MA) and is part educational event and part fun fair. I have no inside information on whether or not the evil Anakin will make an appearance, but the organizers are promising "jugglers, unicyclists, clowns, face painting, and much more fun for families." More details on Fleet Day are in the press release pasted after the jump and the general AltWheels site is here. I'm sure attendees will be posting their own reports online, but if any AutoblogGreen readers are headed to the show and want to share their photos or thoughts, drop us a line.

UPDATE: I misread the AltWheels website. There is in fact no two-day festival this year. One of the organizers wrote in to ABG with the following note: Thank you for posting about AltWheels Fleet Day but there will not be any two-day festival this year, just the Fleet Day. The economy had a dramatic effect on funders and potential funders. The festival was unable to secure enough sponsorship/support to guarantee the vibrant festival we've all come to know and love. Apologies.

[Source: AltWheels]

Here are the last few videos from AutoblogGreen's trip to AltWheels Boston 2007. The video above is a demonstration of the Nuvera Fuel Cells refueling station, some of which are in use today. Below the fold are three more videos from the expo. The first is a description of Honda's cogeneration device. Cogeneration is an old idea that combines the generation of heat and electricity. The second video is a look at a Limo service's Prius that uses nitrogen instead of oxygen in their tires. Nitrogen does not expand as much as oxygen, so it's a better way to keep your tires filled, increasing the life of your tires and your car's mileage. The third video below the fold is a hybrid owners' group with members that have made interesting modifications to their cars. The Civic in the hybrid group video actually has a fifth wheel powered by an electric motor (see also the Insight in this post on hypermiling).

The video above is of an Electrathon racer on display at AltWheels Boston 2007. Electrathon racers travel 50 miles in an hour using a kilowatt/hour of electricity: That's the equivalent of 1,500 MPG at highway speeds on the power of a hair dryer. The next stop for that Electrathon racer is the Red Bull Soapbox Race, a sort of frat party on wheels.

Below the fold are two more videos I shot at AltWheels. One shows the Microfurthur, a series hybrid made from an old farm work vehicle. The other is about the eMotive, a university project that hopes to bring electric cars to the third world.

There were a lot of cool bikes at AltWheels Boston 2007. The video above is all about the New Amsterdam Project (or NAP), a delivery service in Boston that uses bikes. NAP uses the same bike as the Royal Mail service, the largest fleet of bikes in the UK. The bikes are made by Cycles Maximus and can carry 600 pounds with the help of an electric motor. Below the fold is a video of more bikes at AltWheels; folding bikes, recumbent bikes, electric scooters, and more.

At AltWheels Boston 2007, I had an interesting conversation with Robin Chase, co-founder of Zipcar and founder of GoLoco. In the video above, Robin talks about GoLoco, a Facebook web app that allows you to share rides and share the cost of travel with friends online. Robin says ride sharing reduces the cost of travel which, on average, makes up a fifth of a household budget.

Below the fold are two more videos of Robin. In the first video, Robin talks about mandatory GPS in cars. Robin thinks mandatory GPS wireless in cars is just 5 years away but that this is a good thing and it can be made private. In the second video below the fold, Robin talks about something she thinks the press is not reporting enough: We have to level off our carbon emissions with massive efforts before a "tipping point" of 2015.

At AltWheels Boston 2007, the Environmental Insurance Agency (EIA) told me they want people that drive less to pay less for insurance. Currently, EIA is working to get laws changed in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The idea of paying for how much you drive is called pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) and it's offered by several insurance companies right now. Progressive's Tripsense offers discounts of up 25 percent based on how much the vehicle is driven. GMAC has offered mileage-based discounts to Onstar subscribers in certain states. Italian insurer SARA offers a per-day insurance policy where customers send text messages indicating they will drive the next day or next week. The Dutch insurance company Pazomat offers 50 percent discounts dependent on the amount of driving you do. PAYD is a great way to reduce insurance costs for people who drive less. Too bad it's an uphill climb to get it enacted.

Related:

• British supermodel Laura Bailey launches eco-friendly car insurance

The video above is Grease Car's Mini at AltWheels Boston 2007. The Mini is lime green and converted to run on vegetable oil. The diesel engine they put in the Mini was a little big, so the front of the Mini has an odd look with the tires slightly pushed out. The Mini was in a sidewalk booth but the organizers later had it moved it to the center of the show where more people could see it. Smart move, as the Mini was one of the cooler cars at the show.

The video also includes a look at a device Grease Car sells called the Co-Pilot. Usually, if you want to use vegetable oil effectively in your conversion, you must first heat the oil with the diesel engine's coolant. You can watch the coolant temperature yourself, then use a toggle switch to send vegetable oil instead of diesel to the engine. The Co-Pilot takes care of all that for you by watching coolant temperature and automatically switching the fuel lines.

Above is another video from my trip to AltWheels Boston 2007. The video is a look at the Phill home refueling station, topping off a Honda Civic GNG (Compressed Natural Gas) car. Natural gas cars are actually the cleanest cars you can buy today, even cleaner than hybrids, but they just don't get the credit they deserve. The reason for the lack of recognition for CNG is they have major problems: natural gas is not available everywhere, for example, and CNG cars cost an extra $7,000 (that's without tax rebates) compared with a normal gas car. If the gas prices keep going up and battery technology promises never pan out though, CNG cars just might have to play a bigger role than many expect.

Related:

• IRS approves Honda hybrid and natural gas vehicles for tax credits
• LA Auto Show: Honda Civic GX quick test drive
• Consumer Reports weighs in on Honda's CNG-powered Civic
• Honda starts selling natural gas Civic in New York state
• Civic GX that runs on natural gas available this fall

We recently wrote about the VW's DIESELUTION tour. I took the video above of the Dieselution tour's stop at AltWheels Boston 2007. IMHO, VW should have called the tour Dissolution. Don't get me wrong. I like VW. I think they are great brand and really could have surfed the green revolution wave. I am glad they are planning on making "a" hybrid soon but VW's focus on re-branding diesel as clean diesel seems a pointless, uphill battle to me.

Take their display at AltWheels. The semi truck they use in the display was idling. The VW semi could have been idling the entire show, for all I know. I am guessing they were using it to power the video displays inside. They could have been getting ready to leave however. The video is dark because it was the last booth I checked out. Why would anyone go to beautiful Boston Hall plaza, an outdoor plaza, only to go into the back of idling truck to watch videos on monitors trying to convince you diesel is really clean now?

The video above is a look at the Ford Edge plug-in at AltWheels Boston 2007. The Edge concept is a plug-in electric car with a fuel cell range extender. If it were for sale, you could charge the Edge's lithium-ion batteries by plugging it into a 110- or 220-volt socket or use the fuel cell range extender if the batteries run low. The Edge has one motor in the back and another in the front allowing it to be a front wheel drive, rear wheel drive or both.

The video includes a look under the hood of the Edge plug-in. The Edge plug-in breaking system is a combination regenerative and standard hydraulic breaking. I was really surprised to see there is a lot space around the electric motor. Why is that? The Edge is based on a production car which has a much larger space for a gas motor. To be fair to the gas engine on size, the hydrogen tanks take up a lot more space than the regular gas tank.

Related:

• AutoblogGreen Drives the HySeries Ford Edge and fuel cell Explorer
• Ford unveils PHEV Ford Edge with HySeries Drive at DC Auto Show

The video above is a tour of the GM booth at AltWheels Boston 2007. Sir Mix-A-Lot would be proud to know that GM described its new Tahoe hybrid, the company's first full hybrid, as a "big ass hybrid" in the video. That colorful wording proves GM definitely wants the public to think hybrids are big, powerful machines. The Tahoe is the heaviest car GM makes and in the video, you can hear how I was told the hybrid version even has a larger engine than normal. But hey, GM reduced weight in the Tahoe hybrid by making the doors and hood out of aluminum.

The video also includes a tour of GM's fuel cell Equinox. The Equinox has two connections for refueling, as you can see in the video: a data connection below the back license plate that tells the pump the status of the tank as well as a hydrogen connection. Finally, the video includes a quick look at the Malibu hybrid. The Malibu is a mild hybrid and will only get 34 mpg on the highway and 22 in the city. The Malibu mild hybrid starts production in October. The Tahoe full hybrid starts production in November. Oh, and don't forget about Sir Mix-A-Lot's Baby Got Back video below the fold.

Related:

• VIDEO: Driving the GMC Yukon Two-Mode Hybrid
• ABG First Impressions: Two-Mode hybrid Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon
• GM will provide the fuel cell Equinoxes to customers for free
• Technical Analysis: 2008 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell/HydroGen4
• Detroit Auto Show: Hybrid option for 2008 Chevy Malibu
• 2008 Chevy Malibu Hybrid to debut at Baseball All-Star Game

[Source: YouTube]

I just got back from AltWheels Boston 2007. Over the next few days, I am going to write about interesting things at the show. There is not much to this article right now but I will update it with links to all the articles about the AltWheels Boston 2007. Until I begin to update this article with links, enjoy the teaser video I made of funny and interesting moments from the show. Warning: GM uses a curse word to explain the hybrid Tahoe.

Update: Here are all the articles about 2007 AltWheels Boston.

AltWheels Video: GM describes Tahoe hybrid as a "big ass hybrid," Sir Mix-A-Lot would be proud
Boston AltWheels ABG Video: Spend some time with Ford's Edge plug-in concept
Video: VW's Dieselution tour pollutes at AltWheels Boston
Video: natural gas Honda Civic re-fueling
Video: Mini that runs on veg oil at AltWheels Boston 2007
Video: Environmental Insurance Agency at AltWheels Boston 2007
Video: Robin Chase, founder of Zipcar, GoLoco at AltWheels Boston 2007
Videos: bikes at AltWheels Boston 2007
AltWheels Boston videos: Electrathon, Microfurthur, eMotive
AltWheels Boston 2007 videos: fuel cells, cogeneration, nitrogen tires

[Source: YouTube]

The fifth annual AltWheels Alternative Transportation and Energy Festival is coming up in Boston later this month and for the first time Chevrolet will be one of the sponsors of the event. Chevrolet will be showing off their flex-fuel Impala and Avalanche as well as the new Tahoe and Malibu Hybrids. The Malibu starts production in October using GM's mild hybrid belt-alternator-starter system. Chevy will also be showing the fuel cell Equinox that will be used for Project Driveway.

The festival will also features lots of displays from other carmakers including the Ford HySeries Drive Edge. There will be demonstrations of how to make biodiesel and discussions on hyper-miling along with lots of other activiities. The festival takes place September 28-29 at the Boston City Hall Plaza. Stay tuned, as AutoblogGreen will have reports direct from the event.

[Source: Chevrolet, AltWheels]

Organizers are preparing for the 4^th annual AltWheels Festival to be held in Boston Sept. 22-24.

More than 8,000 attendees are expected, including corporate and government officials. All types of alternate transportation vehicles will be showcased, and there will interactive exhibits, test rides and children's activities. Historical vehicles such as the Stanley Steamer and a 1914 electric car will also be on display.

A symposium will be held at the Museum of Science a week earlier with seminars, displays and panel discussions covering a variety of topics. An invitation-only fleet day will be held on Sept. 25 so officials can learn more about reducing fuel costs and emissions when converting their fleets.

Many of the events are free. Check out altwheels.org for more information.

[Source: The Auto Channel]