Renault to produce zero-emissions EV in France

Renault has today confirmed it will be manufacturing its new zero-emission electric car at the Flins plant in the Paris region.

The Zoé Z.E. Concept, first seen at the Frankfurt Motor Show is a preview of what the new car will look like.
The Flins plant was chosen to manufacture the electric vehicle (EV) because of its [...]

BMW tops the chart in global CO2 cuts

For the second year running BMW has cut its average CO2 emissions per car by more than any other automotive manufacturer.
According to an independent report published by the European Federation for Transport and Environment, the average reduction across the industry was 3.3 per cent, while BMW more than trebled that amount with 10.2 per cent.

BMW’s [...]

Toyota iQ Review

If this is where small cars are headed, consider me a convert.
Model Tested:

2009 Toyota iQ3; 1.3-litre, four-cylinder, petrol; CVT automatic; three-door hatch – $21,560*

By Matt Brogan. Tokyo, Japan.
This may be the shortest first steer of the smallest car I’ve yet driven, but my 20 minutes behind the wheel was enough to tell me that if [...]

Toyota first with Australian made hybrid

Toyota Australia is set to make history in just over three months when it launches the first hybrid car to be built in this country – Hybrid Camry.

A limited number of pre-production cars have already been tested on public roads and closed tracks with insiders saying the Hybrid Camry out performers the standard car in [...]

Global Green Challenge Winners

The Global Green Challenge 2009 has come to an end so here is a table of all the winners for each category.

Eco Challenge Awards
Production Class Small Car Diesel
Ford Fiesta ECOnetic
Production Class Small Car Petrol
Suzuki Alto GLX
Production Class Ute/Light Truck
HSV Maloo Ute
Production Class Large Car Petrol
Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo
Production Class Large Car Diesel
Skoda Superb
Production Class Medium/ Off [...]

BMW 330d Review & Road Test

BMW’s 330d is an extraordinarily capable car with performance and fuel consumption figures that seem utterly implausible until you drive it.
Model Tested:

BMW E90 330d; 3.0-litre, six-cylinder, turbo-diesel; six-speed automatic; sedan – $87,250*

Options Fitted:

Larger Navigation Screen with added functionality including Television and Voice recognition $4,100; Sunroof $2,290

Awesome performance and refinement
Gearshifts could be [...]

Toyota’s Tsutsumi Plant – tour a green role model

By Matt Brogan. Aichi, Japan.
Every fifty-seven seconds a new Prius rolls off the line here at Toyota’s Tsutsumi production plant in Aichi, Toyota City.
But this plant is more than a highly-automated car building machine, Tsutsumi is a prototypical plant of the Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) used for promoting some of the company’s many sustainable initiatives.

Tsutsumi, [...]

Mini D Global Green Challenge final update

It’s all over. After six days and more than 3,140 kilometres, the Global green Challenge cars crossed the finishing line in Adelaide’s Victoria Square with the South Australian Premier Mike Rann greeting contestants and delivering his welcome-to-the-new-technology speech.

And according to the winning criteria – the best percentage improvement over the manufacturers’ claimed fuel consumption figures [...]

Ford Fiesta ECOnetic triumphs at Global Green Challenge

Ford’s Fiesta ECOnetic is Australia’s most fuel efficient car, consuming 98 litres of fuel on the 3147km trip from Darwin to Adelaide for the Global Green Challenge.

This result rates the Fiesta ECOnetic as the most fuel efficient of all entrants in the Global Green Challenge, and the most economical through the entire event.
The Fiesta averaged [...]

Tesla Roadster sets EV distance record during Eco Challenge

While the HSV Maloo may have claimed top honours, another stand out entry in the 2009 Global Green Car Challenge has been the Tesla Roadster which set a new distance record for an electric vehicle.

The Tesla Roadster, piloted by owner Simon Hackett and co-driver Emilis Prelgauskas, completed 501km on just a single charge between Alice [...]

Honda & industry body drive UK hybrid technician awards

Honda is working with the Institute of Motoring Industry’s (IMI) presenting body awards to bring out nationwide qualifications for maintaining hybrid cars in the UK.

To be made available to mechanics across the industry, the Automotive Internal Combustion and Electric Hybrid Technology Components and Operation Award includes practical and theory components as well as a skills-based [...]

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