Do carpool lanes reduce traffic, or are they a waste of space — space that would be more efficiently used if it were accessible to all drivers and not just the ones who are carpooling, driving hybrids or riding motorcycles? There are plenty of commuters arguing for and against carpool lanes, and now both sides have research to back up their arguments. An earlier Miller-McCune.com article suggested that four general-purpose lanes on a freeway carry more people and vehicles per hour and than a freeway with one high-occupancy vehicle (HOV), or carpool, lane and three unrestricted lanes. The ... Read More
Government Rebates – The Uneasy Case For Subsidizing Energy Efficiency
January 27, 2010 • By • 4 Comments
Most people would agree that rebates for more energy-efficient cars and appliances are a good thing: They give consumers incentives to buy more environmentally friendly products. Cash for Clunkers gave people a several-thousand-dollar reason to buy more fuel-efficient cars, got gas-guzzlers off the road and, some say, jump-started the auto industry. But University of Delaware professors Burton A. Abrams and George R. Parsons found that the Cash for Clunkers program cost American taxpayers a bundle — and the environmental returns on their investment don't make up for the millions ... Read More
Be on the Lookout for a Green Squad Car
November 19, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
How would you feel if I told you that a new car could save taxpayer money, create American jobs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions? The E7, Carbon Motors Corporation's new "police car for police," hopes to do just that. It will be the first vehicle built specifically with the civilian police force in mind. (How many Honda Civics do you see with optional "weapons-of-mass-destruction sensors"?) After the loss of thousands of jobs in the American auto industry over the last several years, it may seem surprising that a new automaker has emerged with plans to produce only one product. But ... Read More
A Costly Green Machine
October 23, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
The allure of "going green," it seems, isn't enough for consumers to significantly open their wallets. A Reuters/University of Michigan national survey released at this week's electric vehicle conference in Detroit finds that while there is broad interest in owning an electric vehicle, many consumers aren't willing to pay the premium to purchase one. The survey was conducted between July and November of last year when consumers probably had a little extra change in their pockets. Respondents were first told that the plug-in electric vehicle would save 75 percent in fuel costs compared to ... Read More
Shining a Light on Better Headlamps
September 24, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
You have seen them. Those piercing blue-white headlights from oncoming cars seem to bore into your skull like an icy dagger, threatening to blind you. OK, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But nearly 6,000 people were so bothered by the glare from "high-intensity discharge" (HID) headlamps when they first appeared about a decade ago that they complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which commissioned research to figure out what was going on. That started John Bullough down a path that some day soon could yield "smart" headlamps capable of adjusting themselves ... Read More
Bumblebees for Crash Avoidance
August 27, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
Back in the 20th century, seatbelts and crash resistant materials were critical components of auto safety. Now engineers at Nissan Motor Company are implementing a bigger-picture approach by mimicking the world's best collision avoiders, bumblebees. By integrating the oval-shaped personal space used by bees, Nissan's "Safety Shield" technology is being developed to allow vehicles to instantly change direction when a crash is imminent. Its testing mechanism, a robotic mini-car known as the BR23C, rotates much like a bee does to dodge barriers and obstacles. Moreover, it imitates the insect's ... Read More
Gentlemen, Start Your Clunkers
July 27, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
It was a record race for cars described as "clunkers" — 30 days from a bill signing to administrative regulations on the street. The new "cash for clunkers" program, aimed at getting gas hogs off the highways and autoworkers in the plant, kicked off today with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood telling Americans to start their engines. "With this program," he is quoted in the official Department of Transportation press release, "we are giving the auto industry a shot in the arm and struggling consumers can get rid of their gas-guzzlers and buy a more reliable, fuel-efficient vehicle. ... Read More
Cash for Clunkers: Invitation to Fraud?
July 1, 2009 • By • 3 Comments
As soon as President Obama signed the new "Cash for Clunkers" measure into law last week, a number of phony Web sites popped up offering to take your "registration details." Not that you need to give registration details. "Some (sites) want a lot of personal information, and talk about consumers being able to pre-register," said Eric Bolton, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Consumers don't have to register for this program at all." The program is a simple plan that has worked well so far in Europe, according to conventional wisdom: Trade in your old ... Read More
Reducing the ‘Car’ Part of Carbon
May 5, 2009 • By • 1 Comment
California is not fueling around. Its California Air Resources Board set the world's first carbon-fuel emission standards on April 23 — a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for the first time, proposed declaring greenhouse gasses a threat to public health. That's almost three years after California started acting on the issue, at times in the teeth of opposition from the White House. The Golden State's new standards require fuel providers, refiners, importers and blenders to make sure their products for the state's market — the largest single-state market in the ... Read More
American Idling: The Ecological Cost of Keeping the Engine Running
April 29, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
When academics and policymakers consider ways to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, they tend to think in big-picture terms. But quick, simple fixes could play an enormous role in slowing the rate of climate change, and one of the most promising involves an unnecessary, habitual activity most drivers indulge in every day. According to “Costly Myths,” a paper just published in the journal Energy Policy, Americans idle the engines of their personal car, truck or SUV an average of 16 minutes per day — only half of which involves being stuck in traffic. The remainder is split roughly ... Read More
