Back on the March 20, we recapped a bit of news from the first ever meeting of the so-called "Volt Nation" which took place at the New York Auto Show. Now, Lutz would like to thank the Volt Nation, along with ringleader Dr. Lyle Dennis (left, in the photo above), creator of the popular GM-Volt fan website, for meeting with Lutz and Volt design chief Frank Weber. The Volt Nation meet-us was where enthusiastic members of the community were able to ask their questions of the GM officials (You can watch videos of the entire meeting here).

A few details came out of the meeting, mostly regarding the batteries, along with the revelation that GM was willing to lose money on the Volt. This stance is echoed once again by Lutz on the GM Fastlane blog, to which he adds, "We made that mistake once. We won't make it again. I think the whole company has learned when you step out and do bold things, you win and when you're cautious and let other people do the bold things, you lose." Lutz laments losing, and he proclaims yet again that the Volt will get done. We tend to believe him.

[Source: GM Fastlane Blog]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Scion Hako Concept

First, the quote: "Will we have a truck in our lineup? Does it make sense to have a hybrid powertrain? Is a subcompact roadster the answer? Or will an SUV ever be viable for us. We don't know the answers but we're very open-minded." That quote comes courtesy of Jack Hollis, vice president for Scion. So, Scion is considering a hybrid, huh? That's an interesting thought, considering the low price-point that Scion operates in. Surely, a hybrid Scion would be pushing into Prius territory price-wise, which might be inconsistent with Scion's image. Whatever the case, we sure hope that the hybrid wouldn't be anything like their new Hako concept. Wow, is that sucker ug... eh, interesting looking.

In other related news, Hollis mentioned a Scion pickup. That's something worth considering, we think, and it's an idea that's been thrown around before. Ideally, we'd like to see Scion axe the Hako, make a real coupe to replace the aging tC and consider a hybrid drivetrain for that machine; test the waters for a compact unibody pickup and reduce the weight of the xB, making it more in line with the original model. Alas, nobody asked us.

[Source: The Detroit News]

It's not like there has been a lack of news about New York's hybrid taxis recently (see links below), but I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of it now: Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that all of city's yellow taxi will be switching over to hybrid models within five years. The AP notes that Bloomberg is most concerned with the environmental aspect of the move. "There's an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City," Bloomberg told the AP. "These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes. This does a lot less. It's a lot better for all of us."

The hybrids should do well in the city. Hundreds of them have been tested over hundreds of thousands of miles over the past year and a half. There are 400 hybrid taxis operating now, and Bloomberg plans for 1,000 by next year and all 13,000 vehicles in the fleet will be hybrids by 2012. CNN says that the city has approved the following hybrids for yellow cab use: Toyota Highlander, Lexus RX 400H, Ford Escape, Saturn VUE Green Line, Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Honda Civic. City spokespeople said using a hybrid should save taxi operators $10,000 a year per vehicle, compared to driving a standard vehicle.

I wonder if there will a tussle with GM over the "Live green, go Yellow" slogan...

Related:

• Hybrid Technologies lithium-battery-powered taxi cruising NYC
• Cleantech Launches Hybrid Taxi Initiative
• The "Greenest City in America" can win a free fleet of hybrid taxis
• Ford Escape hybrid taxis top 175,000 miles
• Yellow cabs turning green at New York Auto Show
• Bloomberg to announce $8 congestion fee for cars entering NYC

[Source: CNN, Yahoo!; h/t to Patrick]

Loyal AutoblogGreen readers will feel like the New York Auto Show is a reunion of old friends. For the last few months, we've been talking about the Saab BioPower 100, Ford AirStream, Chevy Volt, and the Toyota FT-HS hybrid. All these vehicles will be on display in New York, along with some vehicles we haven't been as obsessive about: the Jeep Trailhawk concept (it has a Mercedes BlueTec diesel V-6 engine) and the Honda Accord Coupe Concept (which features a "more powerful and lower-emissions V6 engine will provide higher fuel efficiency with the incorporation of Honda's next-generation Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) technology").

There's a complete list of concept cars that we know will be coming to the show after the jump. AutoblogGreen will keep you in the know on news about the cleaner concepts, and if you're big into the pure craziness that some concepts offer (like the 40-inch movie screen in the Suzuki Flix), keep a browser tab open to Autoblog once things get rolling in the beginning of April.









Related:

• Getting ready for the New York Auto Show: tickets

[Source: New York International Automobile Show]

I know that the Geneva Auto show is right around the corner, but for our North America readers, the New York International Automobile Show is probably the more likely target for attending. We haven't heard much about what types of green cars will make an appearance in NY, but AutoblogGreen will be on hand to check them all out. If you're interested in going yourself, the show organizers just announced that getting tickets to the show should be a smoother process this year, thanks to online and kiosk ticket sales, on top of the standard box office method. E-ticket and kiosk ticker buyers will also be allowed to use special entrances to the Javits Center. There will be almost 1,000 cars and trucks on display at the show. People who sign up for the Public Sneak Preview can get in April 6, and the show runs through April 15.

Now, back to Geneva.

[Source: New York International Automobile Show]

Land Rover North American VP Richard Beattie was on the podium in New York to show Americans the Land Rover Land_e, which makes use of the company's e-Terrain technology to provide improvements in emissions and fuel economy, without impacting on- or off-road performance. Included in its technology portfolio are an integrated starter-generator, an electric motor in the rear drive axle that provides tractive power and also enables the "seamless" propshaft disconnect and use of Ford's Powershift dual-clutch semiautomatic transmission. The concept was billed in Geneva as being powered by a biodiesel oil-burner, but apparently Land Rover thought that we'd be more impressed if they told us 'mericans that it ran on E85 (when the prototype is a series of flashing lights and not actual hardware, it's easy to make such changes).

The chaps from Land Rover also announced Go Beyond TV, which makes the brand "the first auto maker to offer [its] own broadband TV station". The programming is said to focus more on the "Land Rover brand spirit" than the SUVs themselves, with six different "channels" (Places, People, Adventure, Sport, Culture, and Land Rover) of lifestyle programming.

We've posted a few more live shots of the Land_e after the jump.