It seems the National Research Council is trying to recruit pistonheads to the global warming cause. What's the pitch? Climate change could be catastrophic to America's roads and highways. NPR reports that the NRC has identified 60,000 miles of highways, major airports, railroads, low-lying tunnels and ports which could be increasingly vulnerable to flooding and sea-level rise. Hotter summers could also buckle asphalt, stress bridge joints and deform railroad tracks. The NRC's warning comes on the heels of a federal study of 48 Gulf Coast counties, which are expected to experience sea level rise sooner than most of America. That study found that a four-foot rise in sea level would inundate 24 percent of interstates in the area and 28 percent of arterial roads. Oh well… by the time oceans rise four feet, "enthusiast cars" will likely be banned. And the best driving roads are in the mountains anyway.

Last November, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz shot off his mouth boldly predicted they'd have a Volt test mule on the streets when the Easter Bunny arrived. Now he says that ain't gonna happen. In an interview with Reuters, Maximum Bob now says they'll start road testing the Li-Ion battery packs in July, "slightly later than expected." (Ya think?) He also said they may not name their battery supplier of choice until the second half of the year. BUT… "That may also be a little bit longer now, as we need a better handle on who has the technological capability we need and who is going to have the production capability." That seems to be the mantra for the entire Volt program. Anyone want to place bets that December will become the new July in a couple of months?

Automotive News [sub] reports that the Pininfarina family is scaling back its 55 percent majority stake to raise cash for the famed but financially-troubled automotive designer and coach manufacturer. Last year, with revenues of €670.4 million ($1 billion) Pininfarina SpA reported a consolidated net loss of €114.9 million ($174.9 million). One investor, French battery maker Groupe Bolloré, will also partner with the Italian firm to build 15k electric vehicles (EVs) a year under the Pinifarina brand. Using Bolloré's lithium-metal-polymer (LMP) batteries, the four-seat Pininfarina EV promises a top speed of 81 mph, a range of up to 150 miles per charge and production in 2010. Betting the firm on a full-size EV with reliable batteries and a generous range is no sure thing. EV ventures are cropping up exponentially in response to legislation curbing CO2 emissions. So far only small, three-wheeled or low-speed vehicles have actually been offered for sale.

In recent years, Jeep, Mercedes and Volkswagen have all offered U.S. customers diesel-powered products. However, they have not done so in California or any of the other 15 states that have adopted The Golden State's air pollution regs (Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington). Today, Mercedes has announced that they'll equip the ML, R, and GL-Series with a 50-state-compliant Bluetec V6 diesel engine. (The oil-burning E-Class awaits the '09 model year model changeover). The 3.0-liter V6 diesel uses urea injection to eliminate NOx emissions and particulate filters to "almost eliminate" soot. The powerplant makes 210 horses and a whopping 398 lb ft of torque. In the ML and R, it should deliver 18 mpg city and 24 highway (an improvement of 3 city/4 highway over the V6 ML350) In the plenty porky GL, expect about 17/23 mpg. Now, finally, we'll get to see if there's a market for "clean diesels" in the U.S.– at the top end of the market.

Last January, Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said that Canada will match the U.S.'s fuel-consumption benchmarks for new cars and light trucks. Meanwhile, Quebec and Manitoba have pledged to adopt more stringent California standards while Ontario warns that its automakers can't possibly meet them. The Canadian Press reports that Transport Canada is studying the trade-off between fuel-economy and safety. Even before the results are known, Canada's greens are up in arms. Clare Demerse, senior policy analyst at the Pembina Institute: "I would hope that the government would not, in any way, use this kind of research… as an excuse not to go the more aggressive vehicle efficiency standards." George Iny, president of the Automobile Protection Agency: "If you could reduce some of the presence of those large-type vehicles, unyielding full frames, you would be improving vehicle safety most likely." Why let the facts get in the way of PC public policy?

In the latest installment of Tesla Motor's Mythbusters, the erstwhile EV maker's Director of Energy Storage Technologies says that Tesla's lithium-ion batteries are eco-friendly. That's because they're "manufactured in Japan, a country with very strict environmental laws." Kelty then lists all the nasty stuff their battery pack doesn't contain (leaving out dead kittens and powdered rhinoceros horn). In short, Tesla's Li-ion cells contain no toxic materials and "by law, could be disposed of by putting them in a landfill." Before that, Kelty recommends using the efficiency-challenged batteries "as a power source for off-grid backup or load leveling." Once the cells die, they'll be shipped off to Toxco's recycling plant in British Columbia. The copper cobalt will be sold for recovery, the slurry "sent off as non hazardous effluent for proper disposal" and the "fluff" (mostly plastic) "trucked back to the U.S. border and properly disposed" (in landfills). Kelty proudly points out that Tesla's disposal process "does not involve any smelters." He doesn't say how much smelting is needed to produce the battery pack but hey, we appreciate the info.

In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz said proposed California tailpipe regulations are "an absolute mistake" that would be "impossible to meet." And yet, Maximum Bob predicted that The Golden State is likely to win the court battle over the stricter standards. "The judges aren't scientists," Lutz said. Maximum Bob warned that diesels would not be an easy route to clean air compliance. "We can currently meet 50-state Bin 5 standards, which is six times stricter than the Euro 5 norms, with our existing particulate-catalyzing systems. But these new California standards are not achievable in my opinion." GM's Veep of Global Product Development said that high diesel fuel prices and the $2k premium for oil burning engines made diesel-powered passenger cars unpalatable to American consumers. In other words, diesels and California regulations are a crock of shit. 

According to the National Post. the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 restricts Americans from importing alternative fuels if making them generates more greenhouse gases than conventional refining. That would certainly seem to apply to fuel from Alberta's tar sands (a.k.a. "oil sands"). To make the change to petroleum, the Canadian bitumen must be mechanically mined, then intensely heated. Yes, well, Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson (currently blamed for the NAFTA leaks in the Obama-Clinton race) argues that the Act shouldn't include Alberta's million barrels a day output. In a letter to US officials, Mr. Wilson warned that compromising the tar sands– a key supply of oil to U.S. naval fleets– might have "unintended consequences" for both countries. Meanwhile, after five days of record oil prices, gas prices have risen to $5.20 a gallon in California and even £5 a gallon (110.9p per litre) on UK motorways.

Iconoclasts that we are, we love it when people experiment with automotive irony. Case in point: LHT Performance's K20a Insight. The Floridian tuners (tunas?) stripped a red Honda Insight of its earth-friendly gas – electric innards and dropped in a Civic Type-R K20A engine. We're talking over 200 horses mated to a six-speed tranny. (How kinky does that sound?) The resulting car "goes like a rocket" and still gets 48mpg. The K20a is no stripped-out street racer. You got your power steering, AC, ABS, and an uprated suspension and frame. While building what could be the ultimate sleeper, LHT has raised (however unwittingly) an important eco-point. While automakers spend billions in a technological arms race to develop ever more complex drivetrains, these guys have proven that simple, small, aerodynamically efficient cars can be fun, fast and frugal. Who knew?

Thomson Financial [via Forbes] reports that BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has raised the specter of an all-electric Bimmer (Beemer?) for the U.S. market by 2012. Reithofer may be yanking our schnitzels; he says production of the theoretical EV could be outsourced to a "major US automaker." Raising the weirdness stakes even further, Reithofer asserts that "BMW will be considered a so-called large vehicle manufacturer in the US from 2012, [obliging them] to offer an ecologically compatible car." The prospect of an eco-friendly BMW with outsourced production reminds us more than a bit of the Isetta. Does this mean that the Bavarian bubblecar will make a revamped comeback a la MINI? We're not sure, but an Avarvarii photochop would certainly be a giggle.

At a press breakfast this morning, GM CEO Rick Wagoner dismissed Bob Lutz' comment that "global warming is a crock of shit." "The comments weren't coming out of our company," said Wagoner [via Detroit News]. "The data is pretty clear that the temperature on the earth is rising. There's all sort of debates as to why but we've clearly come down on the side it makes sense for us to put our business in a position where we can participate proactively in reducing the amount of (carbon dioxide) emissions." At the same time, Wagoners said the General would keep fighting to prevent California and 16 other states from eventually getting to impose their own strict tailpipe emissions standards. Such standards could force passenger cars to average 43.7 mpg by 2016. "I don't think it's the right thing for the country,"  Wagoner said. Wagoner went on to blame the gas – electric plug-in Volt's development "issues" on the fact that the United States "is way behind, way behind" in battery technology. That's right folks, GM blames the feds. What a crock.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Renewable Energy Technologies Grants Program is forking-over $1.5m of residents' hard-earned tax dollars to an incipient E85 producer making ethanol from sweet sorghum juice– rather than corn squeezins. Discounting all the Starbuckian Fair Trade blather– the Renergie company wants to build small local plants, give farmers a royalty from [theoretical] E85 sales, etc.– sorghum's advantages over corn include less pesticides and water requirements, higher yield (4700 to 7500 liters per hectare), rapid growth and the ability to grow marginal soil. Yes, well, as Checkbiotech reports, the song remains the same: subsidies! "Once state approval is received, Renergie’s variable blending pumps will be able to offer the consumer a choice of E10, E20, E30 and E85. Via use of the Blender’s Tax Credit, Renergie will be able to ensure that gas station owners are adequately compensated for each gallon of fuel-grade ethanol that is sold via Renergie’s variable blending pumps at their gas stations." 

The Register reports that MIT scientists have unveiled a new, "stacking vehicle" concept which will "reinvent urban mobility." The concept is based on stacks of small vehicles which fold up to stack together into small racks which would be located near subway stations or bus stops. The vehicles would be powered by "wheel robots:" tiny, self-contained, digitally controlled reconfigurable electric motors in each wheel. In theory, the system provides all-wheel power and steering, easy navigation of urban areas and best of all, sideways parking. The vehicles would charge while folded on their racks; the user would "simply take the first fully charged vehicle from the front of the stack." The concept's website states that "The City car is NOT a replacement for personal vehicles, taxis, buses, or trucks; it is a NEW vehicle type that promotes a socially responsible and more effective means of urban mobility." That doesn't conform to automotive safety standards. Never mind. Team leader architecture professor Bill Mitchell say he'd like to see the system in production in three to four years. Team member Christopher Borroni-Bird is a little more skeptical. "What we have is a very intriguing concept. It is certainly a very promising idea," GM's Director of the Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts said. "but I don't want to say it is ready for production… there's still a lot of work yet to take it from concept to production." This from the people who champion E85, the Volt and two-mode hybrids.

According to a new study revealed in The Washington Post [via MSNBC], the world needs to cease carbon emissions altogether, within a matter of decades, to avert global warming. And in case you’re wondering who’s the bad guy in this incipient environmental catastrophe, the lead photo shows a [choose one] jet contrail, a coal-burning plant, a ship at sea, traffic on the smog-filled streets of Beijing. Correct! So pull over and take Lord Humongous' advice: just walk away. “The world must bring carbon emissions down to near zero to keep temperatures from rising further,” Gavin A. Schmidt, of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies warns. "The idea of shifting to a carbon-free society appears to be technically feasible. The question is whether it's politically feasible or economically feasible." I’d blog the rest of this story but what’s the point, really? If all of these conclusions bear out, Hell will freeze over the oceans will come to a boil long before our entire planet reduces carbon emissions to near zero. Party on?

In his seminal work "The Origin of Competitive Strength," former Toyota chief of Product Planning Akira Kawahara claimed that platform-sharing was a main source of early strength for Toyota. As proof that Kawahara-san's strategy of multiple brands on similar platforms still holds favor at ToMoCo, According to Automotive News [sub], the Japanese automaker is considering launching a new Prius brand. Executive VP for R&D Kazuo Okamoto confirms that Toyota is developing plans for an entire Prius range, as "Prius recognition levels [are] rising." Calling the development "a reasonable direction," Okamoto admitted that Toyota may use the Prius platform for coupes, wagons and sedans. Having already invested in a Scion dealership network which is seeing sagging sales, Toyota could leverage some considerable synergy (pun intended) with the introduction of a Prius brand alongside its ostensibly "youth-market" brand. Then again, if Toyota marketers are to be believed, criminals with hearts of gold just want a Prius with a bigger trunk.