The bio-powered Saab 9-3 revisited





On June 24th this year,we first looked at the introduction of more powerful and economical diesel and petrol into the Saab 9-3 range,and the availability of the BioPower flex-fuel engine.The latter capable of delivering 200hp running on bioethanol E 85 fuel (or any blend from 0-85% of the bio-fuel with petrol).

Revisiting this greener model, the Green Car Guide has this to say, "Saab has recently refreshed the styling of its entire 9-3 range, with a new front end inspired by the Aero X concept car, complete with ‘eyebrow lighting’ above the headlights. This makes the iconic Convertible even more appealing, and with the BioPower option, you can even claim that you have a green car – and a sexy one at that. But is it really green, and does it drive as well as it looks?"

There is still a debate out there about competition for the use of crops -food or fuel?Also the the ready availability of the bioethanol fuel is still some way off. There are still only 15 outlets selling this fuel in the UK and they are all owned by Morrisons. Of course ,increased demand for the bio-powered car would increase the investment given over to fuel distribution. On the competing use issue, there appears to be no one solution to bringing down CO2 emissions from cars to required levels to help reduce the rate of climate change. Whether it is hydrogen,hybrid technology,electricity,or super efficient petrol and diesel powered cars, there is probably in the balance of things a place for biofuels.

For more information on this sleek stylish car, you can click here for a road test report.

• Fuel economy extra urban: 42.8mpg

• Fuel economy urban: 23.9mpg

• CO2 emissions: 232 g/km

• Green rating: Band F - £190

• Weight: 1585 Kg

• Company car tax liability (2007): 32%

• Price: £30,360 (From £25,975 to £34,495)

• Insurance group: 15

• Safety: NCAP 5 star

• Max speed: 140 mph (manual)

• 0-60mph: 7.9 seconds (manual)

Fiat 500 Voted Car of the Year 2008

Launched in July and promising to be the most eagerly awaited car for many a year, the Fiat 500 scooped the top award as Car of the Year 2008 when ,this month, 57 out of 58 specialist journalists on an international panel from 22 European countries voted for the super-compact. Auto Express, the car news weekly, in its list of New Cars for 2008 places the 500 at the top of its 10 Most wanted, ahead of the Jaguar XF at number 2.Described as 'retro without being kitsch...fresh,funky and fantastic to drive' ,the 500 is destined to go places.

The Green Car Guide says that 'Fiat has announced prices of the eagerly-awaited new Fiat 500, which goes on sale in the UK in January.

'And the good news is that prices start at just £7,900. At the top end of the range, a highly specified version with a larger engine costs only £10,700 – including air conditioning and alloy wheels as standard.

'The 500 is available with a choice of three Euro 5-ready engines: 69 bhp 1.2-litre and 100 bhp 1.4-litre petrol, or 75 bhp 1.3-litre MultiJet turbodiesel. The base 1,242cc petrol engine returns 55 mpg economy and emits 119g/km of CO2. The 1.3 Multijet diesel can manage 67.3 mpg on the combined cycle and CO2 emissions of 111g/km.

'The 500 can be ordered in three different trim levels – Pop, Sport and Lounge. Standard equipment in the entry-level Pop includes ABS anti-lock brakes with EBD, driver, passenger, side and driver’s knee airbags, radio/CD/MP3 player, power steering, electric mirrors, colour coded bumpers and chrome-plated door handles. The options list includes ESP, glass sunroof, metallic paint and parking sensors.

'Sport and Lounge versions start at £9,300, while specifying a larger engine in any trim level adds £1,400. Standard equipment on both Sport and Lounge versions includes the Blue & MeTM hands-free media system, air conditioning and 15” alloy wheels. Sport specification includes a rear roof spoiler, fog lights, sports interior and dark tinted rear windows, while Lounge trim includes a split, folding rear seat and fixed glass roof.

The Fiat 500 goes on sale through Fiat’s 162-strong UK dealer network in January 2008.'

Copyright (c) 2006-2007 CFM (Services)Limited.All Rights Reserved.

Honda offers a solution with FCX Clarity

At the Los Angeles International Motor Show this month, Honda have unveiled their FCX Clarity hyrogen fuel-cell powered car, with plans to begin a limited marketing of the vehicle next summer.

The FCX Clarity is described by Honda as ' a next-generation, zero-emission, hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle based on an entirely new Honda V Flow fuel cell platform, and powered by the highly compact, efficient and powerful Honda V Flow fuel cell stack. Featuring tremendous improvements to driving range, power, weight and efficiency – and boasting a low-slung, dynamic and sophisticated appearance, previously unachievable in a fuel cell vehicle – the FCX Clarity marks the significant progress Honda continues to make in advancing the real-world performance and appeal of the hydrogen-powered fuel cell car.'

The vehicle's only emission is water!

The plan is to introduce the FCX Clarity into service by a leasing scheme to a limited number of consumers in Southern California,US in the summer of 2008. Presumably, if this works out ,production will be stepped upto to meet market demand. As mentioned previously, a restriction on use will be the current limited availablity of refuelling facilities. One solution, in a recent post here on lec ,is the home generation unit ,also being developed by Honda.(see 16th November 2007)

This latest generation has other ground-breaking features for the driving comfort of the driver, using advanced materials technology to produce,for example , a new eco-friendly bio-fabric ,for the upholstery and door linings,with remarkable stretch and fit qualities.Furthermore,
Honda say you can expect:

* a 20 per cent increase in fuel economy (about 2-3 times the fuel economy of a petrol-powered car, and 1.5 times that of a petrol-electric hybrid vehicle, of comparable size and performance);
* a 30 per cent increase in vehicle range – to 270 miles (approximately 430 km);
* a 120 per cent improvement in power-to-weight ratio, in part due to around a 400-pound (approximately 180kg) reduction in the fuel cell powertrain weight, despite a substantial increase in overall vehicle size;
* a 45 per cent reduction in the size of the fuel cell powertrain – nearly equivalent, in terms of volume, to a modern petrol-electric hybrid powertrain;
* an advanced new lithium-ion battery pack that is 40 per cent lighter and 50 per cent smaller than the current-generation FCX’s ultracapacitor;
* a single 5,000-psi hydrogen storage tank with 10 per cent additional hydrogen capacity than the previous model

Images and other Honda press material can be seen at the Honda (UK)
media web site

Carmakers now producing a better shade of green

When looking at the green credentials of carmakers, we usually go for the absolute performance of a particular model in terms of CO2 emissions. For example,this car is a sub 100g/km,...or that car is within the limit for congestion charge exemption, and so on. Often we lose sight of the improvements in relative performance and emissions control won in recent years, employing the new technologies developed for body-styling,tyres,engine-types,fuels,
gears, brake systems ...the list is long.

Last week the weekly car magazine, Auto Express, featured the results of a survey conducted by the Clean Green Cars website.This showed which cars really had become cleaner and greener during the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2006. Apparently, not all the brands surveyed had improved ,Suburu (6%) and Audi (3%) being noted for some average increase in CO2 emissions. A table of the 10 leading 'reducer' manufacturers was reproduced in the magazine showing the BMW-owned MINI, with 17.1% average decrease in such emissions, at the top. At the bottom ,with 3%, was Hyundai. The MINI range of cars had reduced its CO2 output from an average 182g/km to 151g/km. A significant amount of CO2 still, but a large improvement.

Copyright (c) 2007 CFM(Services) Limited.All rights reserved.

Honda Home-in on a Solution for the Shortage of Hydrogen

How strange to be talking about the shortage of hydrogen! This is one of the few elements in almost limitless abundance on our planet,though it's more often found as a part of water. But for the upcoming generation of hydrogen cars having a ready supply of the gas in the right places for re-fuelling is of course essential if elusive.The demand for a gas distribution system is new. Honda with a vested interest in this are working hard to provide the solution.

The home ,it seems, is where the answer lies. Honda are experimenting with a home generation kit ,which will also avoid the need to use electricity grid supply for the home heating and other domestic use. Natural gas is used in the Home Energy Station IV to generate the fuel both for the hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle and domestic heat and light requirements.

This fourth-generation unit is being 'road tested' in California and

“Honda is striving to address the need for a refuelling infrastructure for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles,” said Ben Knight, vice-president of Honda R&D Americas. “The Home Energy Station represents one promising solution to this issue, while offering the added benefit of heating and powering the home more efficiently.”

So here we are looking at a solution that can reduce CO2 emissions by 30% and save energy costs by 50% for the homeowner who switches from using conventional grid supply and driving a petrol-powered car. Honda claims the current unit, over the first unit produced for test in 2003, is 70% more compact making it a feasible proposition for installation as a dometic appliance.

As usual we shall continue to watch these groundbreaking developments as they move ,hopefully,from the experimental testbed into the home.

All we need now is the commercially produced hydrogen-powered car to take advantage of the refuelling lifeline.More of this tomorrow with the all-new FCX Clarity which had its debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show.

Discover how to Save Money on motoring costs…

…and feel really good about saving the Environment!

We'd all would like to save money, wouldn't we?If you accept this premise, and the fact that buying a 'green' car as your next purchase is not going to condemn you to a life of mundanity and ridicule, then have I got news for you!

The world of motoring is moving on at a cracking pace of change. Fuel consumption is coming down for so many new cars being launched, many of which are leaving behind the more excessive effects of the environment choking CO2 emission internal engine. There are leaner and meaner petrol and diesels, hybrids ,and all electric cars on the market,and soon there will be hydrogen cars. And as to savings? Well ,you can now see dramatically reduced petrol fuel consumption, congestion charge exemption, dramatically reduced road tax, and the admiration of your friends and neighbours, as a realistic aspiration from choosing an environmentally-friendly car as your next set of wheels. Did I mention style? This is in abundance with the current generation of green clean cars. Design, coupled with the development of materials technology ,is producing the most amazing production cars,and if the manufacturers concepts are anything to go by this will only get better and better.

You need to keep an eye on these developments that will so affect your future living conditions.
There is probably no better way of doing this than to invest a modest amount-just £4.95- to purchase the Green Car Guide. In November's issue you can obtain details of the UK's most economical cars in 10 different categories. The current month is also covering diesels with a particulate filter to dramatically reduce emissions into the atmosphere. For full details click here.

Wash n' green-up after Tokyo Motor Show

Well,was it a Honda clean sweep? Or did Toyota come away with the green credentials with its low emission concepts and imminent production models?

The Sunday Times suggests Honda are ahead by a nose with a surprise announcement of having a production hydrogen car for sale next year in America and Japan- the cost (£50,000)will be less than for many current conventional family saloons on the market.This puts them upto 20 years ahead in terms of what was generally expected.The big question,however,is where will you fill it up? Honda is content to say that if there is demand for the new fuel, distributors will make it available to meet the demand.

In the other corner, the other manufacturing heavyweight,Toyota, was banking on electricity to drive its ultra low CO2 emission and low cost runner.Flagged as better than the Prius,the Toyota prototype on test and planned to be on sale in 2009, will most probably be eventually fitted with lithium-ion batteries that are more compact and lighter than its nickel-hydride test kit. Honda ,though,is not convinced that further development of hybrid models is anything more than 'an expensive sideshow'.

We are just going to have to wait and see.But now,it is likely that we are not to be kept waiting too long.

Other 'greening'carmakers were also at the show,of course-Mazda,Mitshubishi,Suburu and Suzuki were there, as were Volvo and BMW. Notably,Mitshubishi are intent to launch its MiEV Sport electric vehicle in Britain by 2009, reports the Sunday Times.

Look-out for the Honda Puyo,Volvo Recharge,Nissan Pivo2,VW Space UP!,and the Mazda Premacy RE hydrogen hybrid (a leasing project initially restricted to Norway commencing next year).The Toyota RIN,Ford Verve,Honda FCX etc...but for New Cars Out Now click here