CQ Politics | Innovations - Search Results

Could Multi-Fuel Cars Be in Your Future?

August 26, 2008 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Fiat Siena Tetrafuel can run on gasoline, ethanol, blends of gasoline and ethanol, and also natural gas. Photo: Fiat Brazil

Lots of people are working on developing the best new fuel to power automobiles. At IEEE Spectrum one writer asks, why not design cars that can run on whatever fuel happens to be available at the moment. In Brazil, the magazine says, Fiat has already created its Siena Tetrafuel, which can run on pure gasoline, pure ethanol, any blend of gasoline and ethanol, or natural gas. That gives drivers the option to purchase the cheapest fuel, or use a better fuel that's only available some of the time.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: cars, ethanol, Fiat, gasoline, IEEE Spectrum

The Two-Lane Toll

August 14, 2008 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

from Governing.com Idea Center

Half of the 42,000 automobile-crash-related fatalities that occur in the United States each year are on two-lane rural roads. To help drivers and public officials make smarter, safer choices about transportation, especially in rural areas, the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety at the University of Minnesota created a new interactive map that plots out every traffic fatality in the nation in 2006.

Tags: cars, Governing.com Idea Center, highway, Safe Road Maps, traffic, Unviersity of Minnesota

Continue reading The Two-Lane Toll.

Cars Have Each Other's Backs in Anti-Theft Network

July 30, 2008 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Car thefts could be reduced by having the cars in a parking lot keep tabs on each other, according to a plan by Sencun Zhu, a professor at Penn State University. MSNBC reports that Zhu would equip cars with small sensors that would wirelessly communicate with nearby parked cars, forming a mesh network. When the owner used his key to drive away, the car would send a goodbye signal, but if it stopped responding the other cars would send an alert to the parking lot owner.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: cars, MSNBC, Penn State University, thefts

Japan vs Detroit on Green Cars

July 4, 2008 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

General Motors is working hard at putting its electric car, the Volt, on the streets by 2010. But Business Week wonders if Detroit will be able to catch up to Japan's lead on green cars. Toyota, for instance, is planning to more than double its sale of hybrids by the early part of the next decade.

Business Week says that, to meet its targets, "Next year, Toyota is expected to add two new cars that it will sell only as hybrids, one badged as a Toyota, the other a Lexus."

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: Business Week, cars, General Motors, hybrid, Toyota

Will Hydrogen Push Aside Gasoline?

July 4, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hydrogen is being touted as the transportation fuel of the future, powering cars without polluting the atmosphere or relying on foreign sources of energy.

But Scientific American, reviewing the issues surrounding hydrogen, says the jury is still out on whether hydrogen can actually replace gasoline. The big questions: Can hydrogen be generated and stored on a practical scale? How can the high cost of manufacturing hydrogen vehicles be reined in? How can a hydrogen refueling network be built?

Web pick by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: cars, hydrogen, Scientfic American

Google Promotes Electric Cars

June 16, 2008 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

posted by Neil Savage, xconomy.com

Even with greener asphalt, the vehicles traveling our highways are still a major source of greenhouse gases. Google's Public Policy Blog thinks plug-in hybrids may provide one way of reducing emissions. Along with the Brookings Institution, they're sponsoring a conference called "Plug-in Electric Vehicles 2008: What Role for Washington," to discuss how the federal government can encourage such cars.

Tags: Brookings Institution, cars, electric vehicles, global warming, Google's Public Policy Blog