As far as focusing on their campaigns are concerned, there will always be the issue of global warming and eco-friendly issues governing the world today that will be included in their platform. On whether we like it or not, it can make a difference as far as understanding who is pulling our leg and who is planning to make a difference.

Fuel prices are soaring and alternative measures are needed. But a good planner will always determine where all of this is coming from. Barack Obama for instance, has focused on alternative energy and we all know how much hybrid and electric cars are being wooed as the better alternative.

For John McCain, looking for solutions to the oil problem is indeed commendable. But eventually it will point towards Obama’s way. Now that is good planning and McCain better find a quick antidote for this.

(Source) CBS News

At seven feet and one inch tall, the legendary basketball player Shaquille O’Neal has opted to drive around in the world famous Smart car, which is a surprise. However, it just shows you how much legroom there is inside one of these small cars!

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It is not known whether he was just taking this car for a test drive, or had just bought it from the Smart dealer down the road, whatever the case he sure looks cool in it. Now nobody can say that the Smart car does not have enough room inside.

Source [Ecorazzi]

Not to be outdone, General Motors is not about to phase out its mainstream cars such as the very popular Cadillac. The Cadillac Provoq is GM’s first concept car that aims to show-off its eco-friendly technology as well as installed gadgets that comes with this luxury vehicle. It runs on hydrogen fuel and lithium ion batteries and has a solar panel to power its electronic devices.

The Provoq primarily runs on hydrogen, but uses the battery for peak power output and storing electricity to extend the range when it’s needed. Like others, the battery can be charged simply by plugging into any wall socket. With this setup, it’s reported to get up to 300 miles per one tank of hydrogen. The vehicle also uses GM’s fifth-generation fuel cell which now encompasses far less space than previous versions, allowing for increased interior room and overall storage.

(Source) BLORGE

In the car industry, when one company launches a new model, expect their nearest rival to come up with their own. While the Toyota Prius is having its share of attention for being hybrid, Honda Motors surely came up with a counterpoint.

Feelers buzz that Honda is set to unveil its “Toyota Prius Killer” and this is now confirmed with the 2010 Honda Hybrid. This new green car that Honda is planning to launch is seen as a replacement line for their discontinued Insight model or perhaps the Hybrid Civic.

Although the car is heavily camouflaged, you can see the basic overall design that mimics Toyota’s popular hybrid and is heavily influenced by the shape of the company’s FCX Clarity fuel-cell concept that appeared at the last Tokyo Motor Show.

(Source) Yahoo Autos

The search for alternative vehicles is in high gear. Most people understand the importance and advantages of considering alternative hybrid and electric cars, but some have reservations as far as seating capacity and recharging the vehicle.

For example, electric cars thrive on electric energy that can only be charged when parked at home. The Smart Ed, though not in the market just yet, is one good example. While many consider it a good second car to your normal fuel consuming vehicle, it can only perhaps serve one to two persons at a time. This is where seating capacity becomes an issue especially if you have your own family to think about.

But surely once demand picks up (which is expected to really increase in the coming years), provisions for larger capacity electric cars are sure to be introduced in the market. The Smart Ed is not in the market yet, but once it hits, it is sure to attract a lot of people looking to fight the ongoing oil crisis.

If you are thinking of replacing your existing family car with a smart ed, you’d better wait a few years.

All that said the great thing about the smart ed is that, with any luck, the technology will develop so a four-seater, family size car, with a decent amount of boot space and a substantial range will be possible. And there is also hydrogen cell technology.

The future of motoring has to be away from fossil fuels, so the smart ed is right at the beginning of that process.

(Source) Telegraph.co.uk

Consumers and car manufacturers have focused so much on the private sector of cars that they have forgotten the business side of the equation. Trucks need to be addressed as well, as they tend to be on the road more often and for a longer duration than traditional private cars. Trucks are next on the list to “green” and make more fuel efficient, but the real question is; when?

It is inferred that with the rising price of crude oil in the market, automobile and truck designers are now focusing on such developments. Since the rise of oil is unrelenting, it is also sure to twist the fiscally-savvy arms of the big companies that use trucking to transport their goods. By pushing for eco-friendly alternatives, companies can cut costs and lower their carbon footprint at the same time. In lackluster market times such as these, floundering businesses can use any advantage they can get. It makes it even better that the solution is eco-friendly!

“We are just now starting to see hybrid trucks coming into production,” said Richard Parish of the Hybrid Truck Users Forum, an organization partly supported by the US Army to develop the industry.

Compared to passenger cars, trucks operate for more hours a day at lower fuel efficiency, meaning hybrid technologies could offer greater cuts in fuel use and emissions per vehicle. “Hybrid trucks have developed slowly because the complexity of hybrid vehicles is a bad fit with the way trucks are built,” said Parish.

(Source) One India

In a country where traffic has always been a problem, the good thing about the continued increase of oil in the Philippines is perhaps private and public vehicles which used to throng the streets would rather stay at home or walk. Now that resolves one issue but poses another big problem for people who have to get to places such as the office.

Mass transit has been the alternative the Filipinos use and apparently the issue at hand now is on accommodation. For sure with the large population that the has right now, the current mass transit structures are insufficient to handle them all.

So while they are at it, applying an eco-friendly touch certainly seems to be a good way to improve the transport issue as well as the growing concern for green living in one of Asia’s premier spots.

“Mass transit will not only address the problem of high fares it will also result in the decongestion of traffic and clean air because the trains will be running on electric power,” Mamondong stressed.

(Source) Gulf News

Thanks to the continuous rise in oil prices, do not be surprised to see more compact cars or even eco-friendly developed vehicles on the roads in the coming months. With all hope for a decline in the outrageous oil prices, the wise consumer needs to act quickly. Compact cars which save more fuel or even the eco-friendly cars that run on alternative fuel are sure to be the next boom and demand that consumers will be looking for.

With that in mind, if you are a car manufacturer boss, you will be thinking profit. Surely that is a given and the next thing you have to do is to make sure that supply meets demand. Prices may fluctuate but they would be wise not to push their luck. There is always the alternative of taking public transport so car manufacturers shouldn’t be so complacent at the trends.

WITH fuel prices spiralling, driving a car that doesn’t have an endless thirst for petrol is becoming increasingly attractive.

Now Gordon Brown has pledged to speed up the move to eco-friendly cars, with new measures that could see conventional petrol engines become a thing of the past by 2020.

That’s the date by which G8 members have agreed to reach their targets for cutting emissions of carbon dioxide, meaning cars using greener technologies could become amore common sight on our roads.

(Source) Daily Record

At first it would seem to be a contradiction in terms, Ferrari and Eco friendly! These words would not normally be associated together, but Ferrari may be a brand that has been built on speed, but they are also a business and a business will only survive if it adapts to the world around it.

The president of Ferrari Luca di Montezemolo has said that Ferrari intends to bring out a hybrid car and that they are working to reduce the companies Co2 levels by forty per cent by the year 2012. But an eco friendly Ferrari would still have to be first and foremost a Ferrari!

Source [Electric Pig]

There is no doubt that an electrically powered car will be good for the planet, Gordon Browns suggestion that he would like to see all cars in the UK should be all electric or hybrid vehicles that produce under 100 grams of Co2 per Km.

But there is a problem with this, government ministers have access to a Toyota Prius, but for most people these cars are just too expensive and if somehow everyone managed to get their hands on a Toyota Prius then the National Grid would not be able to cope with the power requirements.

It’s a good idea, but more thought is needed to make this happen.

Source [ETA]

In a business aspect, expect the car manufacturing sector to exhaust all means to provide new vehicle choices in the market. We have heard from companies such as Ford and Toyota already introducing and sending feelers that there are new models in the horizon and do not be surprised if you see most people wanting to buy one for their own.

This is not to say that the modern day cars will go extinct or be gotten rid of. People are just looking for an alternative car to help accommodate their daily needs. But in instances such as perhaps short driving or even going to the Sunday mass, expect them to use their old vehicle. In short, people are just looking for hybrid cars to help bring down cost but not really to make it their typical family and everyday car.

But just the same Toyota, long known to be the best solution for these economical choices has its crew and production on the way.

Andrew Kirby, Toyota SA’s senior vice-president in charge of sales and marketing, said it would launch the Lexus GS 450H hybrid medium-sized luxury sedan and the Lexus RX 400H hybrid sports utility vehicle in the fourth quarter of this year.

Kirby said two duties were applicable to vehicle imports: a motor industry development programme (MIDP) import duty and a financial ad valorem duty. Toyota SA would reapply to the government for relief from the MIDP duty, which increased the retail price by as much as R50 000 per car.

(Source) Business Report

There is some good news for the drivers of the UK as Smart, the car company famous for their small and innovative design are at the moment the company is building the diesel powered Smart fortwo CDi in right hand drive, for the British market.

Smart claim that this car has the lowest Co2 emissions of any car on the market today at 88 g/km. it will also travel for a lengthy 670 miles on just one tank of fuel. Roll 2009 when the Smart fortwo CDi will go on sale.

The focus on using electric cars today has certainly been something forthcoming and thanks to the outrageous oil prices making it impractical to rely on fuel and gas, alternatives over the horizon will show that the age of electrical cars is upon us.

However, unlike before when we have limited choice to pick from, most car manufacturers today have introduced their own version of electrical cars each varying in price, length of battery life and distance. Depending on your need, you can certainly explore them now. Here are some of the well-known electric cars in the market today:

1. Tesla Roadster ($109,000)
2. GEM Car ($7,000 to $13,000)
3. Dynasty iT Sedan ($14,000 to $25,000)
4. ZENN ($16,000)
5. Zap Xebra ($11,700)

These are only some of the cars you will see in the market today. Expect more to come out in the coming months.

(Source) Yahoo Finance