There are many people who are trying to live without a car. An entire town in Germany, for example. So why can't American popular culture get behind the idea? The only (mostly) likable, pro-bike character that comes to mind from the recent TV and movies is Michael Bluth on Arrested Development (his brother Gob, of course, rocked a Segway). Back in the '80s, we had Pee-Wee who seriously loved his bike, but he wasn't exactly cool. In fact, the general trend for Hollywood is to equate not having a car with being an outcast. Heck, there's even a (pretty much defunct) blog about the phenomenon, which came up with The Law of Bicycles in Popular Culture:

All adult characters shown riding a bicycle for utilitarian purposes in a creative work will be depicted as either perverts, losers, or both.
Clause A: This law applies only to works set in the years from 1970 onwards.
Clause B: This law applies consistently only to American works, though foreign examples may occur.

Slate recently checked out the evolution of the car-less character in a new piece that starts with a look at Ben Stiller's character in Greenberg. Slate writes:

He's a needy and casually abusive schmuck, a socially awkward and obsessive crank. And if you need any more clues to the extent of his pathological loserdom, here's one: He doesn't drive.

We're fans of green cars, but we're also fans of getting out of the car. Maybe Stiller's character should look into Zipcar? Maybe we need characters who espouse the benefits of a car-free lifestyle (like, for example, the fact they they take cars off the road)? Maybe we need to evolve the role of the car in our life now that we have seriously green alternatives? Maybe you'd like to share a thought or two?

[Source: Bikes In Popular Culture, Slate via Treehugger | Image: andymangold - C.C. License 2.0]

Thirty years ago this week, General Motors opened its first full-scale wind-tunnel at its Warren, MI, technical center. Today, the facility is more important than ever. As automakers strive to hit new fuel economy mandates as well as develop electric vehicles, aerodynamics engineers at GM are working around the clock in the tunnel to best manage the air-flow around and through vehicle. We had the opportunity to take a tour of the facility this week and talk with some of the engineers.

GM engineers did a wind tunnel evaluation on the Firebird I concept vehicle back in 1953. That fighter jet-shaped single-seater was put into the aircraft tunnel at Cal Tech University. Over the next 27 years, GM used a variety of tunnels, including the NASA Ames research center, to test its vehicles. In the late 1970s as fuel economy became more important, GM decided it needed its own tunnel. Construction began in the southwest corner of the tech center campus in 1978 with operations beginning in August 1980. Senior project engineer Frank Meinert took us on a tour of what is officially known as the aerodynamics lab and you can learn all about it after the jump.



Photos Copyright ©2010 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

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Promoting bicycling may sound like a straightforward common-sense idea that could result in less air pollution and an increase in physical fitness, but what if it was actually a well-disguised cover for a United Nations (UN) plot to rob Americans of their personal freedom? That's apparently what Tea Party Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes thinks.

Locked in political battle with the Mayor of Denver John Hickenlooper (if that really is his name) for the "top dog" job in Colorado, Maes has publicly raised his eyebrows at his opponent's support for cycling. If, on the surface, that sounds a little bizarre, consider that the city of Denver became a member of the UN-linked sustainability-promoting International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) back in 1992. Also bear in mind that ICLEI (pronounced icky-lay) is in favor of programs like Denver's B-Cycle bike-sharing project. Clearly, anything that involves the UN is cause for alarm and Hickenlooper, who recently praised the program, is quite possibly a Manchurian candidate for the global elitist. Perhaps Maes summed up his views best when he said,

"At first, I thought, 'Gosh, public transportation, what's wrong with that, and what's wrong with people parking their cars and riding their bikes? And what's wrong with incentives for green cars?' But if you do your homework and research, you realize ICLEI is part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty,"

Hit the jump for video from conspiracy theorists showing Chris Matthews commenting on this situation in a way that makes it obvious to anyone that's done their homework and research that this MSM talking head is totally trying to make Dan Maes seem like a kook. Please Colorado, vote wisely.


[Source: Denver Post | Image: kimbet]

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BYD Auto, the Chinese automaker known for its sometimes outlandish forward-looking predictions, is reported to have "hit a sticky patch" as sales have stalled and the company's dream of selling 800,000 vehicles in 2010 appears to have been dashed by lack of demand. According to data gleaned from J.D. Power & Associates, BYD's sales are up a paltry three percent through June of this year compared to the first half of 2009.

The modest increase in sales is overshadowed by other difficulties encountered by BYD. As the Wall Street Journal reports, sales of BYD's F3, the company's most popular vehicle in 2009, dropped 30 percent for the first half of 2010. In addition, by the halfway point of 2010, BYD had only sold 36 percent of its targeted 800,000 units for the entire year. All hope is not lost though, as BYD is still on track to comfortably exceed sales numbers posted for 2009. Still, the company's lofty production targets look to remain beyond its reach for now.



[Source: Wall Street Journal – sub. req. via Green Car Advisor]

The Formula SAE student design competition started by the Society of Automotive Engineers nearly 30 years ago enters a new phase this week with the start of the first Formula Student Electric competition in Germany. Like FSAE, the new contest requires teams of engineering students to design, build and race single-seat race cars, but in this case they are all powered by electricity.

Formula Student is the international equivalent of the FSAE program and both the conventional and electric competitions are taking place at the Hockenheim race track. Representatives from Audi are among the jurors for the competition, along with people from numerous other automakers and suppliers.

The student teams are judged in static events where they have to present a business plan, the engineering rationale behind their vehicles and the cost. Once they hit the track, the cars are judged on handling, braking, acceleration and fuel efficiency. 76 teams with over 2,000 students are competing in the general event with another 15 teams going for the electric honors. The judges from Audi will also be paying close attention to how the cars are constructed and giving out a special award for the most innovative lightweight concept.

[Source: Audi, Formula Student Germany]

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Great start, but long road ahead

I just returned from the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Management Briefing Seminars in beautiful Traverse City, MI, and don't have much electric vehicle (EV) news to report from there. Instead, the seminars were focused on getting more diesels into the U.S. and increasing the efficiency of liquid-fueled vehicles.

The Advanced Powertrain Forum session, for example, was led off by Ford global powertrain engineering VP Barb Samardzich, who talked mostly about power and torque upgrades for Ford's new heavy-duty diesel V8...important to work-truck customers, not so much to the rest of us. She was followed by Dr. Johannes-Joerg Rueger, senior engineering VP, diesel systems, Robert Bosch LLC, who touted increasing acceptance of U.S. buyers to diesel cars.

Then came Larry Nitz, General Motors' hybrid and powertrain engineering executive director, and Justin Ward, Toyota's advanced powertrain program manager. Both offered predictions of the next 20 years of automotive powertrain segmentation, and both showed the internal combustion engine continuing to dominate, but its share gradually diminishing as gas/electric hybrids (HEV) and range extender (EREV), battery (BEV) and fuel cell FCEVs slowly grow.

Nitz pointed out that the last 37 years have seen vehicle fuel efficiency improve 180 percent for cars and 90 percent for trucks. He said that while the cost of EV batteries will come down and their energy density will increase over time, they will still carry only a tiny fraction of the energy of a tank of liquid fuel of equivalent size and weight. Ward talked at length about Toyota's soon-to-come plug-in hybrid, which (because, like the Chevrolet Volt, it will operate for some miles on electric energy alone) will deliver better overall fuel economy than today's Prius. (this post continues after the break)

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During a speech at the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, MI on Wednesday, Hyundai America CEO John Krafcik became the first executive to commit to a 50-mile-per-gallon fleet average and plans to achieve that goal by 2025. That goes well beyond the 35.5 mpg already mandated under corporate average fuel economy rules for 2016.

Hyundai rose to the top of the CAFE rankings in the U.S. in 2008 and scored a 30.9 mpg average in 2009. Krafcik used the 2011 Sonata as an example of what to expect from Hyundai going forward. When it was redesigned this year, Hyundai opted to forgo the V6 engines available in its competitors and used only four-cylinder engines. The standard Sonata is rated at 35 mpg on the highway and the hybrid coming this fall may hit 40 mpg.

To get to 50 mpg in 2025, Krafcik plans to ramp up hybrid availability with as much as 20 percent of the lineup being partially electrified. Another five percent will be either full battery or fuel cell electric vehicles.

[Source: Hyundai]

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Tesla has reported its first earnings statement as a public company and, not surprisingly, the numbers don't exactly paint a rosy portrait. The company announced that while it managed to bring in around $28.4 million, it lost $38.5 million. That loss marks the second such dip in earnings for the company this year, though analysts are saying that the drop in cash flow is to be expected. The company just handed over $42 million to purchase a manufacturing facility for the Model S, and odds are the company will continue to funnel money into the structure as we get closer to the sedan's production date.

Speaking of the Model S, it's likely that a fair portion of the company's funds are being shoveled into development of this second Tesla model. With those two hefty projects on the company's plate, odds are we won't see the electric vehicle manufacturer turn a profit for some time – possibly until after the end of this year. The news doesn't seem to have had too much of a negative impact on the company's stock price, though. As of writing, TSLA stock was still at $20.18 – down around a dollar from opening.



[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Last year, Japan was toying with the idea of introducing a green car subsidy as a way to help boost slumping sales and decided that it was worth a shot. As anticipated, Japan's green car subsidy, which awards 300,000 yen ($2,991 U.S. at the current exchange rate) for each fuel-efficient vehicle purchased, immediately pushed up sales and helped bolster the struggling industry. For the month of July, Japan reports new vehicle sales of 486,606, representing a 12.9 percent increase over June.

Sales of hybrids and subcompacts witnessed the most growth as consumers jumped on the opportunity to save some cash before the subsidy expires in September. Owing to the success of the Prius, Toyota displayed a 19.1 percent increase in sales for July, with Honda following closely behind by reporting a 13.3 percent spike in sales, largely attributed to the success of the Fit. Meanwhile, hot sales of the Demio (Mazda2) subcompact helped Mazda's sales volume leap up 25.3 percent. With the subsidy set to expire soon, Japanese automakers are actively urging customers to get in on the action now before it's too late. Why wouldn't they?



Photos copyright ©2009 Damon Lavrinc / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Nikkei]