Green Tech

Dodge, Ford, Mazda, and Toyota nominated for Green Car award

Each year, Green Car Journal names its Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show. For the upcoming award, the field has narrowed down to five contenders, each using technology to achieve high fuel economy.

Here are this year's nominees:

Dodge Dart Aero Ford C-MAX Ford Fusion Mazda CX-5 SkyActiv Toyota Prius C

The Aero version of the new Dodge Dart uses aerodynamic components, low rolling resistance tires, and a grille shutter to get 41 mpg highway from its turbocharged 1.4-liter engine. However, its combined city/highway fuel economy is only 32 mpg.

Ford gains … Read more

Recycled-plastic Levis: Do these bottles make my butt look big?

Your next pair of Levi jeans may include black trays, brown beer bottles, clear water bottles, and green soda bottles. The new WasteLess collection uses polyester fiber made from crushed plastic recyclables. The bottles are collected from municipal recycling programs around the country.

Both jeans and trucker jackets will be available. Plastic pants don't sound very comfortable, but the plastic parts only take up about 20 percent of the cloth. The recycled fiber is mixed with cotton fiber so you get a pant that feels like regular denim.… Read more

EcoATM phone recycling kiosks proliferate (video)

A few years back, we introduced you to EcoATM, a San Diego-based start-up that had just hit the scene with an innovative kiosk that lets consumers trade in old phones for cash on the spot.

A "CBS This Morning" report this week checks back in with EcoATM, a maturing company that now boasts 181 kiosks set up in malls and retailers around the country. … Read more

Tesla announces Supercharger network

In the early days of the internal combustion engine, gas stations were generally spaced a tank apart, or the distance the average car could go on a single tank. History is repeating itself with Tesla's announcement it would build a network of fast charging stations on major traffic corridors around the U.S.

The first six stations have already gone up in the California towns of Folsom, Gilroy, Harris Ranch, Tejon Ranch, Los Angeles, and Barstow. The placement seems designed to support road trips from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Lake Tahoe, and from Los Angeles to Las … Read more

Newest Popemobile is an EV

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then ecology must be right there beside it, as this week the Pope took possession of a new electric vehicle, built specially for his Holiness by Renault.

The new Popemobile is based on the Kangoo Max Z.E., an electric van-type vehicle not sold in the U.S. The drive system, composed of a 44-kilowatt electric motor and 22 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack, is similar to that used in the Nissan Leaf. The Pope will be able to ride for about 110 miles on a charge.

Instead of the simple rear bench or … Read more

2014 Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid preview

Honda can boast just as much hybrid history as Toyota, yet Honda's hybrid cars have not met with the same level of success. Where the Prius can drive under pure electric power at low speeds, especially useful when creeping along in traffic, Honda's hybrid system was not as robust, its motor merely giving extra boost to assist the engine.

For a time, Honda offered an Accord Hybrid with this system, but it only lasted three years. Now, Honda is ready to bring a Accord Plug-in Hybrid and Accord Hybrid back, with an entirely new hybrid drive system.

The … Read more

Mobile 'bots work to increase solar panel efficiency (video)

Here's the problem with solar panels. Most of the time they're static and unable to rotate with the sun, which in the end means less electrical output. Menlo Park, Calif., based startup Qbotix has built a commercial prototype that offers an answer. It's called SolBot, and it's a set of mobile robots that quickly move around a railroadlike track and mechanically pivot the panel.

The engineers at Qbotix say their setup is different than conventional tracking systems, which require each photovoltaic panel to have a controller and motor. One mobile robot can manage up to 200 … Read more

Obama sets fuel economy average at 54.5 mpg

After more than a year of negotiations between government agencies, auto manufacturers, and other interested groups such as the United Auto Workers, the Obama administration has finalized rules that will raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) to 54.5 mpg by 2025.

The administration had already set aggressive targets, previously calling for a CAFE of 35.5 mpg by 2016. As new advances in fuel-saving technologies showed that this target could easily be met, rules were drafted for the higher mark.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation devise the formula by which CAFE is calculated. The … Read more

Solyndra plant may find a buyer in Seagate

Solyndra may be bankrupt, but that doesn't mean its California facility is out of commission. Disk-drive maker Seagate is making an offer for the property, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Seagate has offered $90.3 million to buy the sprawling Solyndra solar-panel factory in Fremont, Calif., the Merc reports. That price is about 70 percent below the $300 million it cost to construct the plant, according to bankruptcy court records cited by the newspaper.

The Obama Administration, via the Energy Department, essentially underwrote the formation of Solyndra with a $535 million loan guarantee.

If Seagate's offer succeed, … Read more