Honda is about to offer the hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity to "customers" on a limited long-term lease basis. For 600 bucks a month, a handful of lucky leaseholders will get to boast that their car is cleaner than Mitt Romney's closet, and fill-up… at home. According to American Honda chief executive Tetsuo Iwamura, the Clarity is a "shining symbol of the progress we've made with fuel cell vehicles and of our belief in the promise of this technology." Belief in a promise. Gotcha. Just in case you didn't quite catch the fact that Mr. Iwamura is standing in a wiggle room, AFP found an expert to throw a little cold water on Ye Olde hydrogen economy. Texan Timothy Wilkins, an attorney for the firm Bracewell & Giuliani (yes, THAT Giuliani), warns that "producing hydrogen like the gasoline scale, to fully integrated in the vehicle fleet and [provide] the infrastructure for fueling stations will take one century." As Napoleon told his generals when they informed him that growing trees along French roads to shade his troops would take 100 years, "Better get on with it then, mate." Luckily, we don't have to wait that long for a test drive report on the Clarity. Once and future TTAC'er Jonny Leiberman reports to us via podcast below.

Of course, they kinda have to, as the Maranello Mob don't have "get out of global warming free" card to hand the European Union when new CO2 regs come into force. As Reuters reports, the semi-democratic bureaucrats in the European Union (EU) are preparing legislation that will require manufacturers' fleets to average 120 grams of CO2 per km by 2012. And so Ferrari's GM has announced his employer's intention to reduce their bella machinas' CO2 production by 40 percent by the EU deadline. "We have to face the challenge of reducing consumption but not affecting the performance of the car," Amedeo Felisa told Reuters in Frankfurt. "Otherwise we move [away] from our position in the market and we do not want to do that." Felisa also took the opportunity to remind the world that the integrity of the Earth's polar ice caps doesn't depend on the CO2 levels emitted by Ferrari's 6k annual production run. "Our volumes will not … affect the environment," he said, piercingly glimpsing the obvious. And anyway, improving mpg with high-tech, lightweight materials shouldn't be that hard for Ferrari, an automaker whose products are not exactly what you'd call "price sensitive."  

Now we know where GM is going to get the technology for the Volt's drivetrain: the Easter bunny. BusinessWeek reports that Bob Lutz escalated the war of the war of words between GM and Toyota at a meeting of the Western Automotive Journalists association. According to Lutz, Toyota's executive VP of R&D and product development said that the Volt is just an advertising ruse with battery technology that's "completely wacky." Max Bob's response? "Let's wait for the Easter Bunny," referring to his dream claim that GM hopes to will have a test mule with the Volt's drivetrain on the streets by spring of 2008. Maximum Bob also hinted that the General's the victim of a Japanese conspiracy. Japanese companies failure to bid on GM's battery proposals indicates "Lithium battery technology is being husbanded in Japan. It's like a secret weapon." Continuing his trip down paranoia lane, Maximum Bob blamed ethanol's bad press (re: questionable economic and environmental benefits) on a "multi-million dollar smear campaign" by the American Petroleum Institute. "They make it sound like ethanol is taking food out of the mouths of babes [and causing] taco riots in Mexico…" Let's just hope Santa Claus brings GM's Car Czar a clue for Christmas.

In case you were wondering how U.S. automakers could meet presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's ambitious plan to raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to 55 mpg by 2030, Wall Street Journal columnist Joseph P. White's got your answer. Actually, his solutions come from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). White joins the chorus of environmental campaigners quoting liberally from "Factor of Two: Halving the Fuel Consumption of New Automobiles by 2035." "Consumers will have to accept little further improvements in acceleration performance, a large fraction of new light-duty vehicles sold must be propelled by alternative powertrains, and vehicle weight must be reduced by 20% to 35% from today." So go slow, go hybrid and go on a diet. White then shares one of the report's case studies. "A hypothetical Camry that weighed 2,525 pounds (1,148 kg), and had a 1.4 liter, 128-horsepower engine could accelerate to 60 miles per hour in 9.2 seconds, but would average 42 miles per gallon (5.5 liters per 100 km.) The same exercise applied to a Ford F-150 pickup would produce a vehicle that weighs 877 pounds less than today's vehicle, gets around on a 162 horsepower engine and averages 27 mpg, compared with 17.3 mpg today." White concludes his diatribe by dismissing Ye Olde Lutzian industry cost kvetching– and completely fails to mention safety. Side note: I'd LOVE to see White driving a Messerschmitt into Manhattan.  

As IT Wire reports, the European Federation for Transport and Environment (EFTE) is kicking ass and naming names. Well, naming names. The environmental pressure group– claiming to represent 49 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in 21 countries– compiled a list ranking auto manufacturers by tailpipe cleanliness, based on 2006 date. And who's the fairest of them all? The EFTE gives the green gong to PSA Peugeot Citroën SA. On average, the French manufacturer's cars emit 229 grams of CO2 per mile. Fiat SpA was next with 232 g/mile. The worst? BMW with 297 g/mile and Daimler AG at 303 g/mile. Here's how EFTE's ratings shake down:

1. PSA – 229 grams CO2/mile
2. FIat – 232
3. Renault – 237
4. Toyota – 246
5. Honda – 248
6. GM – 253
7. Ford – 261
8. VW & Suzuki (tie) – 268
10. Hyundai – 269
11. Nissan – 271
12. Mazda – 279
13. BMW – 297
14. Daimler AG – 303

After inadvertently posting incorrect prices for their hybrid Tahoe and Yukon on the Internet, GM finally released the real sticker. The base prices [including destination charges] from a GM press release via Autobloggreen are: Chevrolet 2WD Tahoe – $50,490; GMC 2WD Yukon -$50,945 (I guess GMC hybrid badges are more expensive than Chevy's); Chevrolet 4WD Tahoe – $53,295; and GMC 4WD Yukon – $53,755. All these hybrid SUVs come well loaded, including a "tire inflater kit"– which gives you an idea of the games hybrid makers play and how GM expects these SUVs will be used. TrueDelta lists the price difference between a loaded Tahoe and a similarly equipped Escalade as $15K, so you can make an pretty good guess what the 'Slade hybrid will run. Autobloggreen is estimating a $3 – $4K hybrid premium over a comparably equipped 5.3L version of the Yukahoe, but that doesn't factor in the usual discounts and rebates piled on the gas E85 versions. So even with a claim of "the same city fuel economy as the 2008 Toyota Camry with the base four-cylinder engine," buyers will have to do a lot of driving to yield any hybrid-related savings. But the PC halo remains in place at all times.

Not content to stand on the sidelines and watch GM and Toyota grab all the planet saving glory, Ford is jumping onto the green bandwagon. Again. According to Bloomberg, FoMoCo's CEO Al Mulally says The Blue Oval Boyz will make a "significant investment" into "more fuel-efficient vehicles that emit fewer greenhouse gases." They'll concentrate on smaller, turbocharged engines, lighter vehicles, diesels, hybrids, hydrogen and hamster wheels (just kidding). Big Al better be careful. A lot of people still remember Billy Ford's promise in 2000 to increase the fuel mileage of Ford's SUVs by 25 percent by 2005; a noble goal that remains resolutely out of reach. But SUV's won't be Ford's primary focus this time. The first model to receive the benefits of their greenification will be the Lincoln MKS. Changes to the drivetrain will be made "less than year" after it's introduced. Mulally didn't explain why Ford doesn't make the changes before the big Lincoln's showroom debut.

The Detroit Free Press reports GM's Vice Chairman of Global Product Development's most recent product prognostication: the Chevy Volt wil be "on the road" by November 2010. The comments came after the usual Lutz blusterfest, during which GM's Car Czar trash-talked Toyota. Or was it TTAC?  Anyway, Bob promised that his employer will have a test Volt on the road in early '08, and then couldn't resist adding "About Easter, we'll find out who's right and whose credibility takes a hit." Yes, well, there's a big difference between getting a hand-built prototype on the road and producing said vehicle. Considering Chevy's just taken delivery on experimental battery packs from A123 and LG Chem, considering how long it will take to gear up production of thousands of said  battery packs, considering that GM has had to totally redesign the car, and considering how long it'll take to gear up for production and train the line crew how to assemble a radically different drivetrain, you might think Lutz would reel back the rhetoric a bit. Or not. After all, spin doctors have families to feed too.

GM plans to be the first automaker to produce one million fuel-cell-powered vehicles in a year. When? Good question. In May, GM's VP for R&D, Larry Burns, said his employer aims to have fuel-cell vehicles in the showroom "around 2011 or 2012" then ramp-up production to a million worldwide after that. But today in Shanghai, where GM unveiled "environmentally friendly" models to the Chinese market, Elizabeth Lowrey (another GM VP) told Reuters they now have no target date for mass production. In a blinding flash of the obvious, she revealed "You have to bring the technology along before you know when you are going to get to a million vehicles." Then to show her environmental acumen, she added "You have to make sure that any of these technologies are out there in great volume to make a difference for the environment." With executives like this waiting in the wings, it shouldn't be hard selecting a suitable sound-bite successor to Maximum Bob Lutz if he ever when he retires.

Right after WW II, a group of 10 former military officers known as the "Whiz Kids" became a brain trust for Ford Motor Company. The most famous member: Robert McNamara, who went on to become the first non-Ford president of Ford. Bob and his cronies managed by numbers, cut off from the realities of operations and markets. As they say, those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. CNN Money reports that Ford executive chairman and washed-up CEO Bill Ford has announced he's forming a "'Transformation Advisory Council' of senior Ford executives and outside sustainability thought-leaders." But instead of focusing on fixing the company, this latest Ford think tank is taking on all of "society's sustainability challenges." Yes folks, the man who led FoMoCo to the brink of bankruptcy and the executives who helped him push it there are going to "propel us along the road to sustainability," using Ford's "long heritage of environmental innovation, and … commitment to finding solutions that work for everyone." God help us all!

The cheerleading team over at The Detroit News (DTN) is happy to report the GM is set to launch "a massive, worldwide [environmentally-themed] marketing campaign and a lineup of vehicles that uses a variety of fuel-saving technologies — including some that have yet to be created." Skating over the potential irony of that statement (and the obvious connection to the Doobie Brothers' "What A Fool Believes"), they also reveal that "As part of the announcement, GM today will debut its gasoline-electric Chevrolet Silverado, the nation's first hybrid pickup." Huh? What about the Sierra SLE Hybrid we reviewed in July 2004, and the, uh, Silverado version launched at roughly the same time? Never mind. Apparently, "the automaker is struggling to overcome a less-than-stellar reputation when it comes to the environment, and trying to do so without an iconic hit like Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid." Ya think? Oh, and here's the real news, GM will also provide Walt Disney with 10 more fuel-cell-powered Equinoxes to let the Hollywood entertainment company claim green credentials while their execs and stars shuttle around in limos transport workers and "others" at Disney facilities in California. Just in case you think we're being too hard on GM's newfound love of all things green (as if), we'll give the last word (as does the DTN) to Michael Robinet of CSM Worldwide. "Robinet said GM has the product to become credible, even among import-loving East and West coasters who want to drive green vehicles." Fair and balanced enough?

The New York Times has issued a stern warning to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Leader Harry Reid not to accept a smaller hike in federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. In an editorial entitled "Where's the energy bill?" (the word "frickin'" didn't make the cut), the Old Gray Lady asserts that "The single most effective way to address the problem of oil imports and consumption is to improve the efficiency of cars and light trucks, which use more than two-thirds of all the oil burned in the United States." After that failure of imagination, the piece hits Congress with both barrels. "Efficiency standards have changed little in 30 years. The Senate bill mandates an ambitious 40 percent improvement by 2020. The House ducked the issue — but Ms. Pelosi promised to fight for stronger standards in later negotiations. She must now honor that pledge." Or what? The Day After Tomorrow? Anyway, if you're a free marketeer with an anger management problem, you might want to give the link a miss. 

If you're want to run a bunch– OK 30– hydrogen cars without answering uncomfortable questions about how much energy you used to make the hydrogen inside the hydrogen fuel cells and how much carbon releasing the process involved, where better to plunk your water vapor emitting vehicles than Norway? I mean, these guys are serious about switching to hydrogen– as is the prerogative of a country flooded with petro-dollars harvested from selling the black stuff on the world market. To that end, Auto Spectator reports reprints a Mazda press release revealing that the Japanese automaker has signed a "memorandum of understanding for collaboration and support in the development of a Hydrogen Economy" with HyNor （Hydrogen Road of Norway）. More prosaically, Mazda's selling them 30 RX-8 Hydrogen RE vehicles for their "real life implementation of a hydrogen energy infrastructure" along a route of 580 kilometers from Oslo to Stavanger. HyNor's side of the press release is all about "climate change mitigation," "Hydrogen Society," "carbon neutral infrastructure," "real hydrogen world" (as opposed to?), etc. For its part, Mazda wants the world to know that Norway's RX-8s are the first hydrogen-powered vehicles they've sold outside of Japan. Way to keep your eye on the ball!

Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington. All these states want to follow California's lead and implement new tailpipe legislation designed to curb greenhouse gases. Problem: automotive emission standards are a federal gig. So California applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a waiver that would allow them to, in effect, usurp Uncle Sam's powers in this regard (commercial considerations would continue to force all automakers to meet the California standard). The EPA said we'll think about it and get back to you by the end of the year. Seems that ain't good enough for California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the AP reports, the former Hummer H2 driver/promoter's Attorney General has filed suit against the feds yesterday to force a right now dammit decision. The battle lines are drawn. Automakers are, obviously, against state standards; they're appealing a Vermont decision that allows The Green Mountain State to use California emissions legislation. For their part, the EPA says California "is more interested in getting a good headline than allowing us to make a good decision." They're also considering legislation that's tougher than CA standards. Meanwhile, Ahnold is determined to win this battle. If the lawsuit is unsuccessful and the EPA says go fish, "We'll sue again, sue again and sue again until we get it."

You may not  be able to put a tiger in your tank any more, but you can put a cow in your crankcase. Gizmag reports that Green Earth Technologies has introduced G-OIL, a biodegradable motor oil made from beef tallow. The oil will hit the U.S. market next year in a variety of  viscosities and performance levels. To jettison your G-OIL, you mix it with G-DISPOSOIL, which breaks the goop down into biodegradable particles. Manufacturing is just as efficient; the company claims they can turn one barrel of animal fat into one barrel of motor oil. Plastic surgeons take note.