Clean Vehicles » Green Cars

Nissan LEAF to hit UK in March 2011

admin — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:55:26 +0000

Amid strong global demand for the world’s first affordable mass-produced, zero-emission vehicle, Nissan will open order books in the UK from 1st September.

The ordering process is a first step in securing a place on the list to receive the Nissan LEAF, and means Portuguese, Irish and UK customers will be first in line to receive the car in Europe. Nissan LEAF deliveries begin in Portugal in January, Ireland in February and UK in March 2011. Since March this year, more than 12,000 customers in Europe have signed up for regular updates on Nissan LEAF’s introduction, and in the US and Japan pre-orders have exceeded 23,000 units since online reservations began in April.

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New Hertfordshire Sustainable Energy Technologies Centre launches to build "greener" cars

admin — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:52:00 +0000

The final touches are being put on the building at the University’s College Lane campus, which will house the Sustainable Energy Technologies Centre (SETCE), an operation which will bring very significant advances in the global quest to move to zero carbon fuels.

Mr Derek Eade, Director of SETCE, commented: “As petrol and diesel are not able to be sustained in the coming future, we have needed to think about other ways of running cars.”

As a result of this drive to minimise overall emissions of carbon dioxide by vehicles in the future, the University has entered into a Knowledge Transfer Project (KTP) with ITM Power Plc in developing the use of electrolytic hydrogen in vehicle engines, which will be developed at SETCE.

The aim of the joint development programme is to improve internal combustion engine emissions; with the potential to bring very significant advances in the global quest to move to zero carbon fuels.

The programme includes the following objectives:

· To develop a safe, low-cost modification package for a town car to run on hydrogen and to provide the ability to refuel the vehicle at home or at work, independently of the current fuel delivery infrastructure.

· To investigate the conversion of existing petrol fuelled electrical generating sets to run on hydrogen produced from zero carbon sources, such as solar and wind.

· To investigate how the addition of hydrogen to the diesel combustion process can either reduce fuel consumption or pollutants and to provide the necessary on-board hydrogen generator system for diesel engines.

ITM will own all the intellectual property (IP rights) including any new discoveries made during the development carried out under this programme.

Jim Heathcote, CEO, ITM Power Plc, said: “We believe this development programme will help to demonstrate the importance of electrolysers for use in the automotive industry. The University is renowned for its close automotive industry relationships, excellent test facilities and high calibre engineers. These capabilities are crucial to the success of this development programme.”

Mr Eade added: “We believe that the development programme that we are jointly undertaking could be significant to the automotive industry. We hope it will accelerate the market penetration of clean renewable transportation fuels. Widely distributed electrolysers could address the cost and availability problems that have prevented the adoption of hydrogen as a competitive fuel. We hope the programme will successfully place the University and ITM Power at the forefront of the hydrogen economy.”

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Lib Dems support insurer’s call to use the tax system to incentivise drivers into ‘green’ vehicles

admin — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 23:04:00 +0000

Seven in ten drivers would consider swapping to ‘green’ cars if they were cheaper. Early Day Motion tabled to incentivise green drivers.

With seven in ten drivers prepared to help reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by converting to environmentally friendly cars, insurer swiftcover.com is today calling on the Government to provide positive tax incentives to get drivers out of high emissions cars and into green vehicles.

Swiftcover.com’s Going Green1 report surveyed 1787 motorists and highlights motorist’s attitudes to ‘going green’. The findings show that having an eco-conscience spans all generations and regions, with 73% of drivers across all age groups stating they’d like to be kinder to planet.

Road transport currently accounts for around a quarter of UK green house gas emissions2 and less than 1%3 of the UK’s 32 million drivers4 own an environmentally friendly car. In the wake of its findings, swiftcover.com is calling on the Government to give tax breaks to green drivers who currently pay around £5,000 more each for cars that do the least to damage the environment.

Andrew Blowers, Chief Executive Officer at swiftcover.com, said: “Our report’s findings should act as a massive wake-up call for the Government who has clearly underestimated the number of drivers who are prepared to invest in environmentally friendly cars if they become more affordable.

“There is an almost £5,000 difference between the cost of a Toyota Prius5, a hybrid6 car and a Ford Mondeo7, a standard family car. Providing a tax incentive on the environmentally friendly option would bring the cost more in line with standard petrol vehicles. This would make green cars a viable alternative to their gas guzzling counterparts.”

Concerned by the research findings, Chris Huhne Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in support of swiftcover.com’s call to give incentives to consumers to purchase low emissions vehicles.

Chris Huhne comments: “The trouble is some low emission vehicles find it difficult to compete on price with equivalent standard cars so motorists have no incentive to go green. If the Government is serious about meeting its Carbon reduction targets, they should reform Vehicle Excise Duty so that there are tax incentives to encourage motorists to opt for low emission cars.”

Andrew Blowers concludes: “The research sends a clear message to the Government: Britain’s drivers want to go green, it’s up to you to help them achieve it.”

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