No Surprise: Volkswagen reportedly to take 20% stake in Suzuki

Filed under: Suzuki , Volkswagen Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Though Suzuki CEO Osamu Suzuki would beg to differ , it seems that the old saying has once again been proven accurate. After a ton of rumor, innuendo and speculation on the matter - along with the subsequent denials - a report from Reuters indicates that Volkswagen is indeed on the verge of announcing that it’s procuring a 20 percent stake in Suzuki

Five EVs, one hydrogen car, one PHEV named as finalists for 2010 Green Car Vision Award

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Hydrogen , Washington DC Auto Show Audi A3 TDI - Click above for high-res image gallery The Audi A3 TDI was named Green Car Journal ’s 2010 Green Car of the Year yesterday , and the magazine is already looking ahead to next month, when the Green Car Vision Award will be announced at the Washington Auto Show at the end of January. The five finalists for this award, given to cars that aren’t available yet but show a lot of eco-promise, include the Nissan Leaf, Coda Automotive’s electric sedan, the Ford Focus BEV, the Mercedes-Benz F-Cell and Toyota’s plug-in Prius. That’s a pretty good selection, considering that some other suitable candidates were named as finalists last year, when the winner was the Chevy Volt (the others were: Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Honda FCX Clarity, Fisker Karma and MINI E).

BP prepares output of new biofuels - algae diesel and butanol - starting in 2010

Filed under: Ethanol BP could become the first major energy company to start commercial scale production of cellulosic ethanol in 2010 if all goes according to plan.

REPORT: Panasonic will supply batteries for the Tesla Model S

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Tesla Motors , Green Daily Tesla Model S - Click above for high-res image gallery The battery pack powering the Tesla Model S down the road will reportedly be supplied by Panasonic. Greentech Media broke the news after talking to “sources close to the Japanese electronics maker.” Tesla had no comment. Earlier this week, Panasonic said it had developed a cheaper way to string small laptop batteries together to provide enough power for an automobile.

AltCar 2009: California Fuel Cell Partnership giving out free t-shirts w/winning slogan

Filed under: Hydrogen , Santa Monica Alt Car Expo Readers had a lot of fun with the California Fuel Cell Partnership’s t-shirt slogan earlier this year. The winning slogan wasn’t one of the snarky options - it’s ” Ahead of the Pact with a Fuel Cell Stack ” - and now the CaFCP is ready to start getting the word out about hydrogen via the ever-popular front-of-torso surface area.

Stolen: Zero S swiped from Fuel promotional tour!

Filed under: EV/Plug-in , On Two Wheels , USA Zero S electric motorcycle - Click above for high-res image gallery If you spot a Zero S electric motorcycle resembling the one pictured above - possibly in the New York Metropolitan area - being driven like it’s stolen, chances are it probably was. A sad milestone was met on the weekend when the first theft of a battery-powered bike was reported to authorities in Fort Lee, New Jersey .

Sales of natural gas powered cars increase in Germany

Filed under: Natural Gas , Germany Despite the general economic downturn - felt in Germany as much as anywhere else - sales in Germany of natural gas (CNG) powered cars increased by 14 percent this year. Specifically, the increase saw 6,561 more CNG vehicles sold this year so far, adding about 80,000 CNG vehicles to German roads. Most of these models belong to two home brands, Volkswagen and Opel.

AFVTech working on CNG-powered, 600 hp 1933 Ford Roadster

Filed under: Natural Gas , AFVI Expo , Green Daily Take something old - in this case, a 1933 Ford Roadster body - and make it into something new - a CNG-powered, 600 hp beast, perhaps. That’s what’s happening over at AFVTech, which is prepping the hot rod for the upcoming Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Institute expo that’s coming in May.

REPORT: Citroën preparing low-cost brand

Filed under: Manufacturing/Plants , Citroen , Europe/EU Citroën C-Cactus prototype - Click above for high-res image gallery Citroën is apparently going in both directions with its new range of upscale models, the DS series , and a new rumored line called “essentiele” (essential). The essential line could take the concepts in the C-Cactus model and turn it into a complete low-cost range of cars. The idea is a return to how the automaker marketed vehicles in the 1950s, when the humble 2CV and the DS were on the market at the same time

Volvo announces bio-dimethyl ether partnership

Filed under: Volvo , Europe/EU Dimethyl ether (DME) is one of those fuels that is not well known to the general public but is should be, if for no other reason than it promises up to 95 percent carbon neutrality. According to Wikipedia and my Chemistry 101 book, it’s a clean-burning gas that can be sourced from renewable materials. In the case of a project leaded by Volvo, the source is something called “black liquor,” an energy-rich, highly viscous by-product of the paper pulp industry.

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