Yesterday Porsche GB continued their legal action against the Mayor of London’s decision to increase the congestion charge from £8 ($16) to £25 ($50) for vehicles with CO2 emissions of over … Even residents within the congestion charge zone will see their payments jump from £0.80 ($1.60) to £25 ($50).
Porsche continued their action by pushing forward their judicial review and have asked for it to be fast tracked in the hope of a decision before the charge is imposed.
Commenting on the filing, Andy Goss, Managing Director of Porsche Cars GB, said, “Not only is this new tax on motorists unfair, it is also a disproportionate and illegal use of power by the mayor. The Porsche case is about protecting London and Londoners from a new tax that will not only fail to reduce CO2 emissions in central London, but also increase congestion and damage air quality.”
Press the read button below for more
Full story
BMW’s Chinese partner Brilliance, has signed an initial agreement with two U.S firms Rocket Capital and McCombs, to distribute their sedans in the U.S. The two billionaire firms will also help Brilliance in finding after-sales support.
This is not the first time a Chinese car maker has tried getting into the U.S. Previous attempts were futile as the low-cost copy cars failed in meeting safety and emission norms.
A lot of money will change hands in this deal- Brilliance will trade in 10 to 15% of its shares in exchange for $100 million from both clients.
Other Chinese manufacturers like Geely and Chery are also looking at overseas markets like U.S and Europe. Their profile will then read international as they try escaping fierce competition at home. Ambitions are high for these desirous brands- Brilliance plans to acquire 1 % of the European market by 2010. It is presently doing well at home and is well on its way in completing its second plant in China, which when commences production in 2010, will churn out 100,000 cars annually.
Pathetic brand image and poor quality are the two major issues that Chinese cars have to get rid of. The expectations and requirements of a developed nation is poles apart from a developing one. Safety and eco-friendliness are other prime areas which need attention as they are the basic and compulsory needs in order to qualify selling in global markets. Cater to all that and the market will determine the rest.
Good news for petrol-heads. Your dreams of driving a gasoline-powered automobile far away in the future is not shattered after all. Two scientists F. Jeffrey Martin and William L. Kubic Jr, from the Los Alamos National Laboratory proposed a project “Green Freedom”. Their proposition looks quite possible and interesting-By blowing air over a solution of potassium carbonate, the carbon dioxide in the air will be absorbed. Then the solution is put through a series of chemical reactions that would transform it into methanol or gasoline. In the process, CO2 is capped and gasoline is produced.
The scientists have put this down on paper and are yet to present a working model. They claim that by using an electrochemical process, the gathered CO2 will be detached from the solution. Production of gasoline through this process on a large scale will consume an enormous amount of energy and the scientists believe Nuclear energy will be the best solution for the problem alongside renewable sources like solar power.
Sounds feasible, but the scientists need a $5 billion initial investment, but would produce gasoline for $1.40 a gallon. We at topspeed, wish the two scientists, all the very best with their new venture and hope and pray that the government gives them the required support and assistance for this dream project to turn into reality.
The natural gas-powered Civic GX, stood first in the list of American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) ’Greenest Vehicles of 2008’. The Civic GX wins this award for the fifth consecutive year making it the most eco-friendly car available to the public. Three other Honda vehicles that featured in the list were the gasoline powered Civic, Fit and Civic Hybrid, which made up one-third of the cars.
Introduced in 1998, the Civic GX, is the cleanest internal combustion vehicle certified by the EPA, and is 90% cleaner than the average gasoline-powered car on the road today. Equipped standard with a 5-speed automatic transmission, its 1.8-liter, 4-cylinder engine delivers 113 horsepower and 109 ft-lbs of torque while meeting federal Tier 2-Bin 2 and ILEV zero evaporative emission certification standards and carries the "Cleanest on Earth" title.
"Honda continues to set the standard for socially and environmentally-responsible automotive products and our commitment to alternative fuels will further expand with the zero emissions FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle coming to market this summer," stated John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda.
The entire list of eco-friendly winners for 2008:
HONDA CIVIC GX
TOYOTA PRIUS
HONDA CIVIC HYBRID
SMART FORTWO CONVERTIBLE / COUPE
TOYOTA YARIS
NISSAN ALTIMA HYBRID
TOYOTA COROLLA 1.8L
MINI COOPER / CLUBMAN
FORD FOCUS
TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID
HONDA CIVIC
HONDA FIT
E85.
That’s the mantra at General Motor these days.
Not only do they want to make cars that run on it, they want to make the oil companies sell it to you. If the oil companies won’t cooperate, then they’d like the federal government to force it on them.
But, could it be a huge mistake?
That’s the suggestion that comes from two distinguished reports, one in the journal Science, authored by scientists at Princeton and Woods Hole Research Center, and the other from the University of Minnesota and the Nature Conservancy.
Guess what?
Ethanol contributes more to greenhouse gases than gasoline.
That’s what they say.
(more after the jump)
Full story
