Car Blog

Green Car Journal’s Award for Automotive Environmental Achievement to be Announced Nov. 20

The winner of the 2009 Green Car of the Year(R) (GCOY) award will be announced Nov. 20, 2008 during the Los Angeles Auto Show’s Press Days. Green Car Journal, the leading automotive environmental magazine, initiated this annual award in 2005 and it has continued to grow in significance as consumer demand for more fuel efficient and environmentally positive vehicles has increased exponentially.

“Each year we choose the LA Auto Show to make this important announcement because California — and especially the greater Los Angeles region — has historically been the epicenter for both automotive and environmental innovation, and that’s what this award is all about,” said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com.

The Green Car of the Year(R) award is designed to recognize environmental achievement in the automotive industry. After considering scores of new vehicle models that raise the bar in environmental performance, five automobile nominees will be identified in advance of the press conference.

Last year, the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid was named Green Car Journal’s 2008 Green Car of the Year(R), with jurors noting that a Hybrid SUV achieving a city mpg rating on par with today’s mid-size cars ends the argument that efficiency and vehicle choice are incompatible. The previous year’s winner was the Toyota Camry Hybrid and the inaugural 2006 Green Car of the Year distinction was awarded to the Mercury Mariner Hybrid.

GCOY Selection Process

Green Car Journal staff narrow down all of the eligible vehicles to the five finalists based upon research and the driving experience. The winning vehicle must be in production by Jan. 1, 2009.

“In judging the Green Car of the Year(R), emphasis is placed on vehicles that advance overall efficiency and functionality while decreasing its environmental footprint,” said Cogan. “All current models are eligible for consideration and although ‘newness’ is a factor, it’s the impact that a vehicle and its environmentally positive technologies are likely to have in the marketplace that win the award.”

The winning vehicle is then chosen by a select jury of highly knowledgeable experts drawn from relevant fields such as transportation technology, automotive design, environmental protection and others. Notable past jurors have included leaders of the nation’s most recognized environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, Ocean Futures Society, and World Resources Institute as well as automotive icons such as Carroll Shelby and “Tonight Show” host, Jay Leno.

Green Car of the Year(R)

The GCOY award is an important part of Green Car Journal’s mission to showcase environmental progress in the auto industry. Since 1992, Green Car Journal has focused on the intersection of automobiles, energy, and environment, first with an industry newsletter and then with an award-winning auto enthusiast magazine. Today, the magazine is considered the premier source of information on high fuel efficiency, low emission, advanced technology, and alternative fuel vehicles. Green Car of the Year(R) is a registered trademark of Green Car Journal and RJ Cogan Specialty Publications Group, Inc.

Los Angeles Auto Show

For the third year in a row, the Los Angeles Auto Show will be held in the fall. The show opens for media only Nov. 19 and 20. Media registration opens September 8. Public days run from Nov. 21-30. For general information visit http://www.laautoshow.com/.

Source: Los Angeles Auto Show

BMW Hydrogen 7s Travel Over 4,000 Miles on a Two-Week Tour of 31 Cities Sponsored by U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Energy, the California Fuel Cell Partnership and Leading Automakers

The BMW Hydrogen 7 — the first hydrogen-powered luxury sedan — pulled into Los Angeles this morning to finish a more than 4,000 mile cross-country journey featuring hydrogen-powered cars by the world’s leading automakers in the 2008 Hydrogen Road Tour. The purpose of the tour was to show that leading automakers and energy producers are doing their part to move away from fossil fuels to hydrogen, and showcase the cooperation among forward-thinking lawmakers, NGOs, the DOT, DOE and the industry.

Logging an unprecedented “strictly hydrogen” cruising range of over 200 miles, the BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel completed the two-week, 31 city tour, tour with outstanding reliability, leaving only a trail of potable water vapor in its tracks. The 200-mile cruising range is equivalent to over 25mpg. In the BMW Hydrogen 7 bi-fuel vehicle, the cruising range topped 125 miles. By optimizing the combustion process in the mono-fuel Hydrogen 7, we achieved an increase in range of over 60% over the bi-fuel Hydrogen 7.

Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine kicked off the tour by driving a BMW Hydrogen 7 off the starting line when the tour began in Portland, ME on August 11.

BMW provided a fleet of four hydrogen-powered cars — two BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel vehicles that use only liquid hydrogen and two BMW Hydrogen 7 bi- fuel vehicles that can switch from hydrogen to gasoline. The four BMW vehicles along with the core BMW CleanEnergy team were on the road for the entire two-week tour.

The Hydrogen Road Tour is a partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Energy, the California Fuel Cell Partnership and the National Hydrogen Association. In addition to BMW, participants included Daimler, GM, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, Toyota, and VW. Providing clean, domestically produced hydrogen fuel for this tour were Linde, BMW’s hydrogen fuel partner for the Tour, and Air Products.

“The miles covered on this tour are a highly valuable contribution to the nearly 2 million miles already logged by our global fleet of 100 BMW Hydrogen 7s. This tour has shown thousands of people that hydrogen is truly the best alternative transportation fuel, and hydrogen vehicles are approaching commercial availability. An internal combustion engine, powered by hydrogen should play an important role in the future of sustainable mobility,” said Tom Baloga, BMW Vice President of Engineering, US. “What we have learned in these past two weeks is that there is intense enthusiasm, among the public and among our nation’s legislators, in hydrogen as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. The next step is to extend the nation’s hydrogen refueling infrastructure from coast to coast.”

What was most noteworthy about the Hydrogen Road Tour was the partnership between the world’s leading automakers, key federal departments, influential non-governmental organizations and hydrogen fuel providers to bring the reality of practical, clean energy to our nation’s legislators and the public. The tour visited key members of Congress in their home states to allow them the opportunity to see and drive these vehicles.

BMW Hydrogen 7 was the only vehicle on the tour that stores liquid hydrogen to power an internal combustion engine. Hydrogen is one of the cleanest energy sources available. Essentially the only tailpipe emission is water vapor.

Mono-fuel Hydrogen 7 actually cleans the air

The tour fleet included the mono-fuel version of the BMW Hydrogen 7, equipped with a V12 internal combustion engine (ICE), which has been engineered to run exclusively on hydrogen. It was created to showcase the zero CO2 and low emissions potential and feasibility of a dedicated hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE).

The Hydrogen 7’s V12 mono-fuel ICE produces no CO2 and near-zero emissions, while not sacrificing performance. In fact, the tailpipe emissions are so infinitesimal they pushed the limits of current emission testing technology.

Independent authorities, including the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), have confirmed these results. ANL conducted emission tests on BMW Hydrogen 7 mono-fuel vehicles in early March 2008 and found that not only were the emissions infinitesimally small but when running, the vehicle actually cleaned the air.

Exhaust emissions clean enough to drink

Recent studies have also confirmed the water emitted by the Hydrogen 7 is potable, i.e., safe to drink.

Exhaust from the mono-fuel Hydrogen 7 tested by FGL Environmental was found to be well within the limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for safe drinking water standards. The Maximum Contaminant Limit, abbreviated MCL, is the maximum limit set by the EPA for chemicals found in drinking water. Results showed the MCL from mono-fuel H7 emissions to be in compliance with the health safety standards.

BMW Hydrogen 7 on the road

For more than a year, the BMW fleet of bi-fuel Hydrogen 7s has been an important milestone on the road to a hydrogen future, with more than 150 Pioneers driving nearly 2 million miles so far. The Pioneer Program, as it is called, has provided the flexibility of being able to gather real-world driving experience driving on hydrogen with the peace of mind that comes from knowing you won’t run out of fuel. In addition to the BMW hydrogen pioneers, hundreds of people from academia, students, media, as well as the general public, have had the opportunity to experience the BMW Hydrogen 7.

See the Tour online at www.hydrogenroadtour.com. Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE6-rlbeqlc. Learn more about the BMW Hydrogen 7 at http://bmwcleanenergy.com/. With a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure in place — the goal of the Hydrogen Road Tour — the hydrogen future would be a reality.

Source: BMW of North America, LLC

What you don’t know about your car insurance policy could be draining your wallet right now. Insure.com, Inc. has revealed 12 factors that may be costing you money.

1. You’ll pay for your friend’s bad driving

If your friend borrows your car and crashes it, you’ll have to file a claim with your insurance company. You’ll have to pay any deductible that applies and your rates could go up as a result of your claim, especially if you have made other recent claims.

2. Your personal property in your car isn’t covered by your auto insurance

Stolen or damaged items like compact discs aren’t covered by your car insurance.

3. You may be entitled to payment for sales tax and registration fees for a new car

Most states require insurers to pay sales taxes on total loss settlements. Some states require the insurer to pay it at the time of loss while other states require it to be paid only if you purchase a replacement vehicle within a certain time period. Make your request for a sales tax reimbursement no matter where you live.

4. You may be entitled to a diminished value claim in some states

Diminished value is based on the idea that any car that has been in an accident, regardless of how well the repairs are done, is worth less than the exact same car that hasn’t been in an accident. However, most states allow car insurers to use policy language that officially disallows diminished value claims.

There’s one way you may be entitled to a diminished value claim: If someone else hits you and you make a damage claim on that person’s insurance. That’s called a third-party claim and it’s possible to get diminished value damages as a third party.

5. You may be able to “stack” your coverage

Stacking uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage means you can collect payment more than once within the same auto policy or across two auto policies. There are two scenarios for stacking: First, if you have multiple cars, you can collect the limit of your UM/UIM policy to cover full payment for damages. Second, if you have more than one policy with UM/UIM coverage, you can make a claim under each policy until all your damages are recovered. Check the language of your policy.

6. Making a claim could increase your car insurance rates, but by how much?

When an insurance company decides to raise your premiums because you make a claim, it doesn’t follow any hard and fast rules; many factors are involved. For example, if you make a claim and have a birthday before renewal time, your birthday might bump you into a higher risk category along with the claim.

Some insurance companies have “accident forgiveness” guidelines. When you buy or renew your policy, ask how to qualify for accident forgiveness.

7. If you don’t drive much, “usage-based” car insurance could save you money

“Usage-based” car insurance allows you to buy coverage based on how much you actually drive. If you don’t drive much, this can save you up to 60 percent on your insurance. Progressive is the first insurance company to offer “pay-as-you-drive” policies through its MyRate program. Your mileage will be measured by a wireless device installed in a car port.

If your insurance company doesn’t offer usage-based coverage, inquire about “low-mileage discounts.”

8. Your credit history may affect your car insurance premium

Car insurers believe that your credit history is an indicator of whether you are going to make a claim, and price your insurance policy accordingly where states allow it.

9. You must officially cancel your insurance policy when you switch insurers

You can cancel your coverage at any time by notifying the company in writing of your intended date of termination. Most consumers assume that if they decide to terminate the policy at the end of the coverage period, they can simply ignore the bill. Insurance companies don’t see it that way. They will send you another bill for the next premium payment, and when you don’t pay it, the company can cancel you for nonpayment, which goes on your credit record.

10. You can wait to add your teenager to your policy until he or she is licensed

In most cases, insurance companies don’t require you to add your teenager to your policy until the teen has his or her driver’s license. The exception may be if you are in a high-risk insurance pool; you may then have to add your child when they receive their permit.

11. Paying in installments will usually increase your overall bill

“Fractional premium” fees are usually charged when you divide your annual premium payment into installments rather than pay for a year of coverage all at once. It can be as little as a few dollars per payment, but the more you break it down, the more it adds up. When you apply for the policy, ask what the fees are for paying in installments. If you can, pay your annual premium all at once.

12. Your car model affects your premium, but by how much?

Auto insurers have a premium-rating system for every car model, usually based on “Vehicle Series Ratings” (VSRs) received from the Insurance Services Office (ISO). This rating indicates how comparatively expensive your vehicle should be to insure. Factors include susceptibility to theft and typical claims losses for the vehicle.

If you are shopping for a new car, contact your insurance company and ask about the premium difference among the cars you are considering.

Source: Insure.com, Inc.