Green Car Journal logo

Perspectives

Fuel Cell Vehicles – In the Present Tense

Today, consumers in California can drive and lease the first wave of commercially available fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in the U.S, and additional models are promised from several leading automakers in the next few months and years. Of equal importance, today’s FCEV drivers can fill-up at any of nine hydrogen fueling stations in the […]

Read More

Shedding Extra Pounds

It isn’t all about efficient powertrains. Lightweighting vehicles is having a positive effect on increasing fuel efficiency.

Read More

Documenting 25 Years of Green Cars

Personally experiencing the modern ‘green’ car’s fascinating evolution brings important perspective on how we got here and where we’re going.

Read More

Electric Drive Can Get Us There

It is an exciting time to be involved with the auto industry, or to be in the market for a new car. The auto industry has responded splendidly to the challenge of new emission, fuel economy, and safety standards. The public is offered a greater than ever selection of vehicles with different powertrains, lightweight materials, […]

Read More

Facing Up to the Electric Car Challenge

To bolster the market, battery electric cars will require continuing federal and state incentives that combined typically total $10,000 or more.

Read More

The Auto Industry's Innovation Renaissance

What does Silicon Valley, California have in common with Leipzig, Germany?  They are both home to the most innovative, technically advanced, and possibly the most significant cars of the 21st century. The Tesla Model S and the BMW i3 are the cars that have defied experts who said they couldn't be built. While the key […]

Read More

Sustainable Transport in LEED Developments

Location-efficient affordable housing is key to sustainability. Kalos, the Greek word for ‘beautiful,’ may be the name of an 83 unit affordable housing project in San Diego, California, but it also describes the ‘green’ car capacity the developer, Community HousingWorks, plans for the project as part of its pursuit of LEED platinum certification. We have […]

Read More

‘Greener’ Choices at the Showroom

The evolution of the auto industry has been no less than amazing. I have witnessed this first-hand while documenting the advent of ‘green’ cars over two decades at Green Car Journal and at Motor Trend before that. We had electric cars back in the 1990s as we do now, battling for acceptance, with other alternative fuels also jockeying for […]

Read More

In the Midst of Technology, Efficiency

We are all enamored by the advanced technologies at work in vehicles today. And why wouldn’t we be? The incredibly efficient cars we have today, and the even more efficient models coming in the years ahead, are testament to a process that combines ingenuity, market competitiveness, and government mandate in bringing ever more efficient vehicles […]

Read More

Driving Tomorrow’s Technology Today

About a year ago, I gathered all our employees for a meeting and proceeded to make one bold statement, and an even bolder prediction. I shared my deep conviction that we were at the forefront of a historic opportunity within the automotive, trucking, and transportation industry. My prediction: We were on the verge of experiencing […]

Read More

Lithium's Critical Future

Lithium is a key component of lithium-ion battery packs that power electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles. A recent report from Pike Research forecast global sales of EV charging equipment will grow from 200,000 units sold in 2012 to nearly 2.4 million in 2020, representing a compound annual growth rate of 37%. With lithium a […]

Read More

Fast Forward in Fueling

For most Americans, our transportation choices are limited to the fuels offered at the local gas station. For generations, regular gas stations served our needs pretty well, but America’s transportation needs are changing. Every day we learn about new choices in alternative fuel vehicles, advancements in vehicle efficiency, and new, cleaner types of fuel, so […]

Read More

Clean Tailpipe Standards Benefit Us All

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing ‘Tier 3’ cleaner tailpipe standards that will significantly reduce smog-forming pollution from vehicles. These standards will save lives, reduce asthma attacks, and give Americans cleaner air to breathe. Today, more than one in three Americans live where the air is sometimes unsafe to breathe, due in part to pollution […]

Read More

Change at the Pump

Gas prices are high again at the pump, often topping $4.00 per gallon. This is driving interest in more fuel efficient gasoline vehicles and hybrids.

Read More

High Tech Mobility is the Next Frontier

It is said that today’s teenagers are more interested in cell phones than in cars. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but it does signal a kind of dematerialization that could create major opportunities for sustainable transportation. The triumph of the digital over the mechanical certainly has big implications for the design and use […]

Read More

States Should Follow California's Lead

It’s the beginning of awards season in Hollywood as I write this and we are in the thick of making plans for our annual Pre-Oscar party. It’s been almost 10 years since we launched the Global Green USA ‘Red Carpet, Green Cars’ campaign to help make hybrid and fuel-efficient cars fun and sexy. Once again, […]

Read More

California's Clean Car Program Goes Forward

While Washington was gripped by negotiations over the fiscal cliff, California got a welcome dose of good news. On December 27, the Environmental Protection Agency granted California a waiver to move forward with its Advanced Clean Cars program. Currently, vehicles are responsible for roughly one-fifth of the nation’s smog-forming pollution, and are the second leading […]

Read More

Better Cars Address Climate Change

In the wake of the tragedy of Hurricane Sandy, the government released its findings that last year was the hottest on record for the continental U.S. While exact causes are difficult to pin down, what we do know is that just like the unprecedented droughts, flooding, and heat we all experienced this past year, storms […]

Read More