University
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This week, we received a press release from the University of Michigan with a stunning subject line: "Emissions from new vehicles down a record 20% in five years". "Okay", we thought, as we opened the email, "what's the catch?" As it turns out, that's a little complicated. Researchers at the University's Transportation Research Institute track a lot of statistics. For example, they keep tabs on fuel economy of new cars sold in the U.S., and they always let us know whether it's rising or falling. (Note: it's currently on the rise, but as fuel prices fall, that may change.) UMTRI also tracks...
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Forget the Toyota Prius: Meet the Pius, An Electric Car You Build YourselfThere was a time when wanting an electric car meant you probably had to build it yourself, either creating a car from scratch or converting an existing gasoline car. With great production electric cars on the market, fewer enthusiasts are building their own electric car, but now a company from...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Ford Uses Zipcar To Get College Kids To Test-Drive Its Cars
If you're an automaker, how do you get the next generation of car buyers to pay attention to your new models? One way has traditionally been by putting your cars into rental fleets. But some companies only rent to drivers 25 and up, so what to do about college students? For Ford, there's now a...
John Voelcker -
'Flow Cells' May Let Electric Cars Recharge With Liquid Refills
Just two months ago, we published an April Fool's piece about a fictional new BP cell research project that would allow battery packs to be refilled at fuel station pumps. Truth is stranger than fiction, truly. Yesterday, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology described a nascent research...
John Voelcker -
EcoCar2 Will Challenge College Teams To Build Greener Cars
The winning team for the third and final year of the first EcoCar Challenge has yet to be announced, but the next three-year competition has already been unveiled. On Wednesday, representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors officially launched EcoCar2, whose tagline will be...
John Voelcker
