Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Legislation and Policy Since Monday, the state of California has been offering tax rebates for eligible zero-emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles under the $4.1 million Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP). The rebates are worth up to $20,000 for commercial vehicles and up to $5,000 for new light-duty vehicles. The list includes pure electrics like the Tesla Roadster and the Nissan Leaf , NEVs from GEM and a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle: the Honda 2010 FCX Clarity. The all-electric Zero DS and S motorcycles are eligible for $1,500. See a full list of eligible vehicles here . Electric drive advocates at Plug In America are in favor of the program. The group's legislative director, Jay Friedland, said in a statement that, "Our mission has always been to help consumers adopt clean plug-in vehicles and hefty rebates are the best possible way to get these cars out of the showroom and onto the road." PIA also says that the list of vehicles that qualify for the rebate is expected to grow when more plug-in vehicles become available later this year and in 2011. Of course, not everyone is happy with the program. There's the impact the rebates will have on the state's tremendous deficit, and Gas2.0 wishes the start date could have been pushed back a bit, until the Leaf, for example, becomes available. $5,000 means a lot more when the car costs $35,000 (or whatever ) and not the $109,000 for a Tesla Roadster. [Source: Plug In America , Gas2.0 ] Continue reading Why California's new electric vehicle rebates are good, and why they're not so good Why California's new electric vehicle rebates are good, and why they're not so good originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Filed under: Car Buying , Coupe , Performance , Japan , Lexus Lease-only Lexus LFA - Click above for high-res image gallery The rich are very different from you and we, now more than ever. First off, we don't have the mental fortitude for jumping through all of the hoops that Lexus is making potential LFA customers limbo beneath. Let alone the cash. Thing is, the rigamarole involved never mattered because Lexus is only making 500 examples of the LFA and we're simply not going to lose sleep over the process it takes to park one in our garage. However, a potential LFA owner sent us a copy of his order guide, and like any good train wreck, we can't look away. Also, remember, this info ain't intended for public consumption. For your living-vicarious pleasure, here's how it works: As reported, you cannot buy Lexus' first ever supercar. You have to lease the mostly-carbon-fiber-and-unobtanium LFA . That's sort of good news for the non-disgustingly wealthy, right? After all, leases are the cheap and easy way to get into a new car. Are you sitting down? The monthly lease payment on the Lexus LFA is $12.398.44. For 24 months. That's $297,562.56 worth of lease payments over two years, at the end of which you own nothing

Exclusive First Ride: 2011 Ford Edge Sport Yee-Ha! in a 2011 Ford Edge Sport - Click above for high-res image gallery Manufacturers used to roll out all-new cars every five-to-eight years. Somewhere around the halfway point -... BMW confirms plans for front-wheel-drive models If there's one thing that's certain in this crazy world, it's that Ultimate Driving Machines are driven by their rear wheels. Sure, there's an occasional all-wheel-drive model thrown in for good... GM gives us sneak peak of next-generation heads-up display technology GM's next-generation HUD concept - Click above for high-res image gallery Currently, automakers use head-up displays to project important vehicle information (speed, navigation directions,... Also of interest: AOL Autos debuts official iPhone app for new car shoppers Video: Tanner Foust drifts Mulholland Drive in his 600-horsepower Scion tC 2011 Ford Mustang V6 to pace NASCAR race at Bristol Report: Congressmen spending thousands of dollars a month to lease ordinary vehicles Once and For All? Lutz text message reportedly confirms Cadillac Converj is dead Reader Spy: Next Ford Explorer with Lincoln-esque grille caught in LA? Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 3.17.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Filed under: Hybrid , Honda 2011 Honda CR-Z - Click above for high-res image gallery In its home market of Japan, the Honda CR-Z has proven to be a sales success in the early stages. In less than three weeks the company has reported sales nearing the 8,000 unit mark. That's nearly eight times higher than expected since the sporty hybrid went on sale at the end of February Higher than anticipated sales volume may lead Honda to rethink its initial yearly sales target, currently set at 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles worldwide. According to the company, one aspect stand outs amongst the 8,000 CR-Z buyers: 40 percent have chosen the manual transmission option, a stark contrast to the Japanese automotive market which is dominated by automatics. Even with a sales spike, Honda still trails competing Toyota by a wide margin in the hybrid market. For comparison, Toyota sold 27,000 Priuses last month while just 3,500 Insights left dealer lots. Honda has a lot of work ahead to catch Toyota. Initial demand in the Japanese market does not always translate into worldwide success. It's worth mentioning that the Insight also saw early sales success in Japan , only to end up with lower than anticipated volumes worldwide. Several reviews critical of the Insight certainly did not help sales either. Still, if success in Japan is any indication of what to expect here, Toyota may have to share a little more of the market. [Source: Reuters ] Honda reports 8,000 orders for CR-Z hybrid in less than 3 weeks originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds

Filed under: Concept Cars , Japan , Nissan , Electric Nissan Leaf - Click above for high-res image gallery Interest in, and " pre-orders" for , the Nissan Leaf remains high, but a report from the Japanese newspaper the Mainichi Shimbun might put a damper on things. Apparently, the price for the all-electric car in Japan will be somewhere between 3.5 million and 4 million yen, which is about $38,667 to $44,191 U.S. at today's exchange rates. Granted, even if these prices are accurate, they certainly don't automatically equal the MSRP for the U.S. market, but they are higher than what we've been expecting - i.e., under $30,000 after the $7,500 federal tax credit . We went and looked at the prices for a couple of other cars in Japan, to see how the Leaf's 3.5 million compares. The Toyota Prius runs between 2.0 and 3.27 million yen ($22k-36k USD). The Honda Insight ? From 1.89 to 2.2 million ($21k-24.4k USD). We suspect that Nissan's going to have to do better than this to beat the Chevrolet Volt . Yes, yes, we know the powertrains are quite different, but a lot of people are going to learn about these cars at the same time (late this year), and we believe that the pure electric will need to be quite a bit cheaper than the plug-in hybrid to hold its own.

Sometimes preconceived notions get you in trouble. That might the case—at least to some shoppers—with the 2010 Nissan Maxima; but with a little more time chances are you're going to love this sedan for what it is. And that might not be a four-door sports car, exactly. Nissan sets the bar high in calling the Maxima that in nearly all advertising...

Filed under: Emerging Technologies , MPG , BMW , Green Daily , Lightweight If there's one thing that's certain in this crazy world we live in, it's that Ultimate Driving Machines are driven by their rear wheels. Sure, there's an occasional all-wheel drive model thrown in for good measure, but even those revert to the tried-and-true RWD when extra traction from the front two contact patches isn't deemed necessary or desirable. Well, alert the media (oh, wait...): BMW has confirmed the rumors that it will build front-wheel drive automobiles. At the Annual Accounts Press Conference for 2010, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW, had this to say: [The small car] segment is expected to grow further. And we will take advantage of this opportunity. We are exploring the possibility of developing a joint architecture for the front and four-wheel drive systems of these cars. In other words: There will be front-wheel drive BMWs in the smaller vehicle classes in the future. Heresy, BMW fans? We wouldn't worry too much - there seems little chance that BMW will make a wholesale switch from powering the rear wheels to the fronts, especially for its mainstream models like the 3 Series , 5 Series and 7 Series - but the addition of a FWD chassis will make it easier for the automaker to share platforms with other companies and to "reduce [its] fleet's carbon-emissions worldwide by at least another 25 percent between 2008 and 2020." In fact, take it from Reithofer himself: BMW will continue to be a sport-inspired brand. We at the BMW Group continue to deliver maximum performance, tackle new challenges and sharpen our competitive edge. The BMW head is also high on composites . "We consider carbon fiber a cutting-edge material for the auto industry. Our efforts will make sustainable mobility possible in urban environments." Could the day finally have come that carbon fiber composites are ready for prime time ?

General Motors on Wednesday showed off its vision for future head-up display technology that uses lasers to "paint" the edge of the road onto the windshield, among other things.

Filed under: Emerging Technologies , Etc. , USA Sad news for those of you waiting for a next-gen lead acid battery. It isn't coming. At least not from Firefly Energy . Originally spun off from Caterpillar, the Illinois company had developed a carbon graphite foam lead-acid battery that was supposed to have a bright future in the military and trucking industry . Instead, the company has just filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Co-founder and CEO Ed Williams puts the blame for the failure squarely on the downturn in the economy disclosing that they were unable the past 15 months to raise a needed $20 million in equity capital. While there is no doubt they didn't benefit from state of the economy, we can't help but wonder whether this is a case of the lithium-ion video killing the lead-acid radio star. The Firefly group 31 Oasis battery had an energy density of 39 Wh/kg and was thought to be quite pricey while lithium batteries usually have double to quadruple that capability with prices that are cheaper than expected . [Source: PJstar ] Firefly turns off the lights, files Chapter 7 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:03:00 EST.

When the Hyundai Sonata Turbo and the Hyundai Sonata Greenwash Hybrid are unveiled at this month's New York Auto Show, Hyundai exclusively told Jalopnik they believe the two will cancel each other out. "No harm, no foul," we're told. More