“So, what was the best car you drove this year?” It’s one of those questions that routinely crops up during holiday party conversations once folks find out what we do for a living here at Motor Trend . And it’s a fiendishly difficult one to answer: The definition of “best” usually involves a highly personal compromise between need and desire. One man’s Ferrari is another man’s total waste of money. This compromise is at the core of every test we do. To get around it, we approach every new car, truck, or SUV we test with a key philosophical question in mind — how well does the vehicle do the job its maker designed it to do? Understand what a vehicle’s intended function is, what market segment it’s aimed at, and what price point it’s meant to hit, and you have the foundation for a first drive, full test, or multi-car comparison. We drove or tested hundreds vehicles this past year; everything from low-buck econoboxes to 200-mph supercars. We picked the good, the bad, and the ugly, and told it like it was. But out of all those vehicles, which are the ones that hit our personal sweet spot between need and desire; the ones that may not have been the fastest, the most stylish, the most economical, or even the best value for money, but simply were the cars we loved? Read on, and find out…  -Angus MacKenzie Angus MacKenzie: BMW M3 DCT There were faster, more exotic, more expensive cars. But nothing touched me like the BMW M3 DCT . The M3’s chassis balance is sublime; the steering surgically precise; the brakes bulletproof; that yowling V-8 utterly intoxicating. And now the lightning fast, seven speed, dual clutch, paddle-shift tranny ties it all together. On one mad, early morning dash across a heaving, twisting, deserted central California two lane, this car made me feel like Kubica on a qualifying lap. Kim Reynolds: Honda FCX Clarity Every now and then you drive a car that seems more like a worm hole into the future than yet another rearrangement of four wheels, and the Honda FCX Clarity was mine for 2008 . While it didn’t completely make me a hydrogen believer, for a few hundred miles at least, I felt like Kubrick had cast me into an automotive remake of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Better buckle up, HAL. Edward Loh: Mini Clubman S Reynolds and St. Antoine expect me to say, “Duh, GT-R”, but my love for 2008 wasn’t the world’s fastest, most attractive (believe it, Kim), all-wheel-drive coupe. It was the lust driven tryst I had with the Mini Clubman S. As I profiled in the Feb. 2008 issue , it was a breathless affair for the ages — a rush of smashed inhibitions and highly irresponsible behavior that came from driving the right car on the right road. Matt Stone: 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Spyder California   Like Audrey Hepburn in a Halston gown, you don’t need anyone to tell you that a Cal Spyder is elegant. And this was special among the special, as it was owned by actor James Coburn for more than two decades.  I trembled as I settled into this triple black beauty.  Driving Coburn’s Spyder around Ferrari’s Fiorano test track in Italy was the highlight of my automotive 2008.  Glad I brought it home in one piece too; the next day, it sold for at auction for $10.9 million. Gavin Green: Ferrari California There has never been a Ferrari with such a broad and breathtaking range of abilities . It can play the easy riding comfy cruiser, a Bentley-by-Ferrari, coupe one moment convertible the next. Or be a Schumacher-at-Spa racer, helped by that brilliant seven-speed paddle gearshift and a handling balance that takes Ferrari to a whole new plane of excellence.  Arthur St Antoine: Jaguar XF Supercharged Yes, the Alfa-Romeo 8C roared like a lion that’d swallowed Pavarotti, and, yes, driving the ZR1 was a 10-meter platform dive into a pool of adrenaline, but in 2008 I loved the Jaguar XF Supercharged most . Why? Because I’d own one. Superb comfort? Check. Rakish good looks? Check. Performance and handling worthy of a purpose-built two-seater? Check mate. Scott Mortara: Audi R8 We first played with this car last year, but we had it back this year for our Best Handling test , and it won, that’s right, the Audi R8 was my favorite car of 2008. There is nothing I don’t like about this car, the look, sound, feel, everything is fantastic. It might not be the fastest in a straight line, or turn the quickest lap time but it will hang with almost anything out there, and I love it. Paul Horrell: Ferrari Scuderia No question. Many supercars intimidate me by demanding Fangio-like skills, but this one seemed to bestow them on me . Its electronic wizardry augmented my own meagre abilities, while communicating its intentions in an animate, organic manner. Oh yes, the GT-R did that too, but the GT-R didn’t have that engine, those looks, this heritage. Frank Markus: Maserati Quattroporte S Maybe it was the Austrian Alpine scenery or the hip tunes my co-driver Steve brought along for the ride, but I doubt it. The Maserati Quattroporte S’s supermodel-svelte sheetmetal , Armani interior, Ferrariesque chassis and eight-tenors engine-note could probably seduce anybody reading this even on a North Dakota freeway with the radio off.  Ron Kiino: Lexus IS F   The M3 is nimbler and the C63 quicker, but give me the Lexus IS F. Its V-8 warble above 4000 rpm is titillating. Its hunkered-down stance is menacing. Its green factor (no gas-guzzler tax, 18-mpg combined fuel econ) is forests beyond the Teutons’. And its uniqueness (only one to hail from Japan, offer eight cogs, and get standard 19-inch forged alloys) is eminent. Mike Floyd: BMW 1 Series It’s not the greatest-looking coupe in the world, nor is it the fastest or most technically gifted vehicle in the BMW stable (see M3 DCT above), but the 1 Series is hands down one of the most engaging and entertaining vehicles I’ve ever driven, and that goes for both the 128 and 135 — with either six speed tranny on board. Tight, light, and amazingly quick and agile, to me, the 1 Series is the Ultimate Ultimate Driving Machine. Todd Lassa: Audi R8 Not because of its mid-engine balance . Not because with a clutch as light as an A4’s; it’s the next-generation NSX that Acura would love to build. It’s because Audi put Blizzaks on one last January and let us have fun in the cold and snow. And it worked.

“So, what was the best car you drove this year?” It’s one of those questions that routinely crops up during holiday party conversations once folks find out what we do for a living here at Motor Trend . And it’s a fiendishly difficult one to answer: The definition of “best” usually involves a highly personal compromise between need and desire. One man’s Ferrari is another man’s total waste of money. This compromise is at the core of every test we do. To get around it, we approach every new car, truck, or SUV we test with a key philosophical question in mind — how well does the vehicle do the job its maker designed it to do? Understand what a vehicle’s intended function is, what market segment it’s aimed at, and what price point it’s meant to hit, and you have the foundation for a first drive, full test, or multi-car comparison. We drove or tested hundreds vehicles this past year; everything from low-buck econoboxes to 200-mph supercars. We picked the good, the bad, and the ugly, and told it like it was. But out of all those vehicles, which are the ones that hit our personal sweet spot between need and desire; the ones that may not have been the fastest, the most stylish, the most economical, or even the best value for money, but simply were the cars we loved? Read on, and find out…  -Angus MacKenzie Angus MacKenzie: BMW M3 DCT There were faster, more exotic, more expensive cars. But nothing touched me like the BMW M3 DCT . The M3’s chassis balance is sublime; the steering surgically precise; the brakes bulletproof; that yowling V-8 utterly intoxicating. And now the lightning fast, seven speed, dual clutch, paddle-shift tranny ties it all together. On one mad, early morning dash across a heaving, twisting, deserted central California two lane, this car made me feel like Kubica on a qualifying lap. Kim Reynolds: Honda FCX Clarity Every now and then you drive a car that seems more like a worm hole into the future than yet another rearrangement of four wheels, and the Honda FCX Clarity was mine for 2008 . While it didn’t completely make me a hydrogen believer, for a few hundred miles at least, I felt like Kubrick had cast me into an automotive remake of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Better buckle up, HAL. Edward Loh: Mini Clubman S Reynolds and St. Antoine expect me to say, “Duh, GT-R”, but my love for 2008 wasn’t the world’s fastest, most attractive (believe it, Kim), all-wheel-drive coupe. It was the lust driven tryst I had with the Mini Clubman S. As I profiled in the Feb. 2008 issue , it was a breathless affair for the ages — a rush of smashed inhibitions and highly irresponsible behavior that came from driving the right car on the right road. Matt Stone: 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Spyder California   Like Audrey Hepburn in a Halston gown, you don’t need anyone to tell you that a Cal Spyder is elegant. And this was special among the special, as it was owned by actor James Coburn for more than two decades.  I trembled as I settled into this triple black beauty.  Driving Coburn’s Spyder around Ferrari’s Fiorano test track in Italy was the highlight of my automotive 2008.  Glad I brought it home in one piece too; the next day, it sold for at auction for $10.9 million. Gavin Green: Ferrari California There has never been a Ferrari with such a broad and breathtaking range of abilities . It can play the easy riding comfy cruiser, a Bentley-by-Ferrari, coupe one moment convertible the next. Or be a Schumacher-at-Spa racer, helped by that brilliant seven-speed paddle gearshift and a handling balance that takes Ferrari to a whole new plane of excellence.  Arthur St Antoine: Jaguar XF Supercharged Yes, the Alfa-Romeo 8C roared like a lion that’d swallowed Pavarotti, and, yes, driving the ZR1 was a 10-meter platform dive into a pool of adrenaline, but in 2008 I loved the Jaguar XF Supercharged most . Why? Because I’d own one. Superb comfort? Check. Rakish good looks? Check. Performance and handling worthy of a purpose-built two-seater? Check mate. Scott Mortara: Audi R8 We first played with this car last year, but we had it back this year for our Best Handling test , and it won, that’s right, the Audi R8 was my favorite car of 2008. There is nothing I don’t like about this car, the look, sound, feel, everything is fantastic. It might not be the fastest in a straight line, or turn the quickest lap time but it will hang with almost anything out there, and I love it. Paul Horrell: Ferrari Scuderia No question. Many supercars intimidate me by demanding Fangio-like skills, but this one seemed to bestow them on me . Its electronic wizardry augmented my own meagre abilities, while communicating its intentions in an animate, organic manner. Oh yes, the GT-R did that too, but the GT-R didn’t have that engine, those looks, this heritage. Frank Markus: Maserati Quattroporte S Maybe it was the Austrian Alpine scenery or the hip tunes my co-driver Steve brought along for the ride, but I doubt it. The Maserati Quattroporte S’s supermodel-svelte sheetmetal , Armani interior, Ferrariesque chassis and eight-tenors engine-note could probably seduce anybody reading this even on a North Dakota freeway with the radio off.  Ron Kiino: Lexus IS F   The M3 is nimbler and the C63 quicker, but give me the Lexus IS F. Its V-8 warble above 4000 rpm is titillating. Its hunkered-down stance is menacing. Its green factor (no gas-guzzler tax, 18-mpg combined fuel econ) is forests beyond the Teutons’. And its uniqueness (only one to hail from Japan, offer eight cogs, and get standard 19-inch forged alloys) is eminent. Mike Floyd: BMW 1 Series It’s not the greatest-looking coupe in the world, nor is it the fastest or most technically gifted vehicle in the BMW stable (see M3 DCT above), but the 1 Series is hands down one of the most engaging and entertaining vehicles I’ve ever driven, and that goes for both the 128 and 135 — with either six speed tranny on board. Tight, light, and amazingly quick and agile, to me, the 1 Series is the Ultimate Ultimate Driving Machine. Todd Lassa: Audi R8 Not because of its mid-engine balance . Not because with a clutch as light as an A4’s; it’s the next-generation NSX that Acura would love to build. It’s because Audi put Blizzaks on one last January and let us have fun in the cold and snow. And it worked.

DETROIT - You don’t need a reminder of how bad 2008 was for the auto industry. General Motors, Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Company were the poster children for what has happened to American manufacturing as we shifted to a nation that runs on the financial industry. (That worked out well, didn’t it?) By the end of the year, one of the biggest stories — a story as big as President Bush’s 11th-Hour bailout of GM and Chrysler — was Toyota’s revelation that it would post its first loss in 71 years. If the global recession lasts much beyond 2009 at current levels, smaller, weaker automakers are likely to fail. And the big ones will have trouble surviving, too. It’s an academic exercise to try and rank how much more important one story was than another. So instead, here are my choices for the 10 top newsmakers for 2008. They’re not necessarily the most influential people in the business — you can read that in Motor Trend’s 2009 Power List . 1. Rick Wagoner GM Chairman/CEO The average American could not name the chairman and CEO of the world’s largest automaker until Wagoner flew in a private jet to Capitol Hill to beg for federal loan guarantees along with Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli and Ford’s Alan Mulally. Because Wagoner, a GM lifer, has led his company much longer than Nardelli or Mulally, he’s the most likely sacrificial lamb, the most likely to lose his job. Most of GM’s problems go back to the days of Roger Smith, and can’t be blamed directly on Wagoner. While the GM board repeatedly has voiced its support for Wagoner, he has been chairman since 2003 and GM hasn’t posted an annual profit since 2004. 2. George W. Bush 43rd President of the United States Who could have predicted that President Bush would come to GM’s and Chrysler’s aid weeks before they were to run out of money? Here was the president who delayed meetings with the Detroit Three until early ‘07 (only to have Alan Mulally joke about Bush nearly plugging into a hydrogen Ford and blowing them all up) and who maintained, up to the last minute, that Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds were for financial institutions, not automakers. Bush caved only after his fellow conservative Republicans in the Senate killed a compromise that would have used Energy Bill funds for the loan guarantees, instead. 3. Katsuaki Watanabe Toyota Motor President Will he fall on his sword or be kicked upstairs? In December, Watanabe announced that Toyota would post its first operating loss since its founding, $1.7-billion in red ink for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009. Depending on which published report you believe, the 66-year-old president, in the post since ‘05 to warm the seat for the company founder’s grandson, will either resign or he’ll replace Fujio Cho as chairman. In either case, two men have emerged as in the race for Toyota’s presidency; the grandson, Akio Toyoda, and executive vice president for finance, Mitsuo Kinoshita. 4. Richard Shelby Republican Senator from Alabama Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Hyundai all have assembly plants in Alabama. Toyota builds V-8 and V-6 truck engines there. As Senate minority leader, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell is more responsible for blocking a House/White House compromise bill to bail out the Detroit Three. Shelby has been at the forefront of opposition to any sort of money for American-based automakers. Shelby has made his reasons clear: he’d rather not have the United Auto Workers around to try and organize factories in his state. 5. Alan Mulally Ford Motor Company CEO Was Ford really in such hot water? That was the big question, when the company hocked everything up to the Blue Oval corporate logo in exchange for a $23 billion line of credit a couple of years ago. Now, Ford has about $1 billion more in reserves than GM, which is twice as large. Mulally told Congress that Ford doesn’t want an immediate loan guarantee, but would like access to a $9-billion line of credit. Now Ford is seen as the healthiest of the Detroit Three, and ex-Boeing exec Mulally, who knew nothing about the auto industry when he came to Dearborn in September 2006, looks like the smartest man in town. 6. John Snow Chairman, Cerberus Capital Management Whoever drove the failed “merger” talks between GM and Chrysler, it wasn’t anyone running Chrysler. Its private equity owner, Cerberus, had previously said it was into working with Chrysler for the long haul. In 2008, it became clear that Cerberus was funding Chrysler with a minimum of capital, and was eager to unload it on another company, domestic or foreign. Snow, the super-private equity company’s chairman and former Treasury secretary to President Bush, surely was a driving force behind all this. 7. Barack Obama 44th President of the United States The president-elect’s early support for the auto industry - with strings attached - pushed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) into backing financial support for the Detroit Three in late ‘08. Before getting keys to the White House, Obama has already indicated he’ll be more supportive than Bush, with plans to name a “car czar” in 2009. Further loan guarantees for GM, Chrysler and Ford should come easier under the new president, so long as the automakers can show they’re making progress in restructuring and in shifting production to more fuel-efficient cars. 8. William Clay Ford, Jr. Chairman, Ford Motor Company While he’s been off the Motor Trend Power List for a while, and has acceded most of his power to Alan Mulally, the Ford scion deserves attention for one major reason: Ford’s financial position. The company is turning down federal assistance, for now, for rather personal reasons. By taking loan guarantees, GM cannot pay dividends to its investors until the loans are paid back. If Ford did the same, William Clay Ford and the rest of Henry’s heirs would lose its sole source of income. 9. Takeo Fukui Honda Motor Company president/CEO Like GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW…the rest, Honda has cut production to meet slower demand for new cars and trucks. Under Fukui, the company has maintained its position as a relatively small producer of comparably fuel-efficient vehicles. Right now, that’s serving Honda well, compared with GM, Toyota, Ford and the other bigger automakers. More recently, Fukui has made smart cuts, even though they don’t impress us enthusiasts. He’s cancelled the V-10 NSX replacement (and probably any chances for a RWD, V-8 Acura RL) and is about to launch an affordable line of hybrids with the new Insight. And as a sign of the times for automaker budgets and racing programs, he’s pulled Honda out of Formula One. 10. Lewis Hamilton 2008 Formula One Champion He’s the youngest world champion and the first of color. More importantly, he’s a true sportsman and a fierce competitor. While Honda has pulled out of F1, McLaren-Mercedes’ Hamilton will be a key part of the sport’s future as it seeks more sustainable solutions, both environmentally and financially. Hamilton’s close, storybook win almost made me forget Max Mosley’s sex scandal. Almost. And besides Mosley, there were a number of men and women who just missed the list this year, including Representative Henry Waxman (D-California), Speaker of the House Pelosi, Volkswagen Group’s Porsche scion, Ferdinand Piech, Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking, GM’s Fritz Henderson and GM CFO Ray Young, Chrysler co-president Jim Press and Ford’s Jim Farley and Mark Fields.

DETROIT - You don’t need a reminder of how bad 2008 was for the auto industry. General Motors, Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Company were the poster children for what has happened to American manufacturing as we shifted to a nation that runs on the financial industry. (That worked out well, didn’t it?) By the end of the year, one of the biggest stories — a story as big as President Bush’s 11th-Hour bailout of GM and Chrysler — was Toyota’s revelation that it would post its first loss in 71 years. If the global recession lasts much beyond 2009 at current levels, smaller, weaker automakers are likely to fail. And the big ones will have trouble surviving, too. It’s an academic exercise to try and rank how much more important one story was than another. So instead, here are my choices for the 10 top newsmakers for 2008. They’re not necessarily the most influential people in the business — you can read that in Motor Trend’s 2009 Power List . 1. Rick Wagoner GM Chairman/CEO The average American could not name the chairman and CEO of the world’s largest automaker until Wagoner flew in a private jet to Capitol Hill to beg for federal loan guarantees along with Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli and Ford’s Alan Mulally. Because Wagoner, a GM lifer, has led his company much longer than Nardelli or Mulally, he’s the most likely sacrificial lamb, the most likely to lose his job. Most of GM’s problems go back to the days of Roger Smith, and can’t be blamed directly on Wagoner. While the GM board repeatedly has voiced its support for Wagoner, he has been chairman since 2003 and GM hasn’t posted an annual profit since 2004. 2. George W. Bush 43rd President of the United States Who could have predicted that President Bush would come to GM’s and Chrysler’s aid weeks before they were to run out of money? Here was the president who delayed meetings with the Detroit Three until early ‘07 (only to have Alan Mulally joke about Bush nearly plugging into a hydrogen Ford and blowing them all up) and who maintained, up to the last minute, that Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds were for financial institutions, not automakers. Bush caved only after his fellow conservative Republicans in the Senate killed a compromise that would have used Energy Bill funds for the loan guarantees, instead. 3. Katsuaki Watanabe Toyota Motor President Will he fall on his sword or be kicked upstairs? In December, Watanabe announced that Toyota would post its first operating loss since its founding, $1.7-billion in red ink for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009. Depending on which published report you believe, the 66-year-old president, in the post since ‘05 to warm the seat for the company founder’s grandson, will either resign or he’ll replace Fujio Cho as chairman. In either case, two men have emerged as in the race for Toyota’s presidency; the grandson, Akio Toyoda, and executive vice president for finance, Mitsuo Kinoshita. 4. Richard Shelby Republican Senator from Alabama Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Hyundai all have assembly plants in Alabama. Toyota builds V-8 and V-6 truck engines there. As Senate minority leader, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell is more responsible for blocking a House/White House compromise bill to bail out the Detroit Three. Shelby has been at the forefront of opposition to any sort of money for American-based automakers. Shelby has made his reasons clear: he’d rather not have the United Auto Workers around to try and organize factories in his state. 5. Alan Mulally Ford Motor Company CEO Was Ford really in such hot water? That was the big question, when the company hocked everything up to the Blue Oval corporate logo in exchange for a $23 billion line of credit a couple of years ago. Now, Ford has about $1 billion more in reserves than GM, which is twice as large. Mulally told Congress that Ford doesn’t want an immediate loan guarantee, but would like access to a $9-billion line of credit. Now Ford is seen as the healthiest of the Detroit Three, and ex-Boeing exec Mulally, who knew nothing about the auto industry when he came to Dearborn in September 2006, looks like the smartest man in town. 6. John Snow Chairman, Cerberus Capital Management Whoever drove the failed “merger” talks between GM and Chrysler, it wasn’t anyone running Chrysler. Its private equity owner, Cerberus, had previously said it was into working with Chrysler for the long haul. In 2008, it became clear that Cerberus was funding Chrysler with a minimum of capital, and was eager to unload it on another company, domestic or foreign. Snow, the super-private equity company’s chairman and former Treasury secretary to President Bush, surely was a driving force behind all this. 7. Barack Obama 44th President of the United States The president-elect’s early support for the auto industry - with strings attached - pushed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) into backing financial support for the Detroit Three in late ‘08. Before getting keys to the White House, Obama has already indicated he’ll be more supportive than Bush, with plans to name a “car czar” in 2009. Further loan guarantees for GM, Chrysler and Ford should come easier under the new president, so long as the automakers can show they’re making progress in restructuring and in shifting production to more fuel-efficient cars. 8. William Clay Ford, Jr. Chairman, Ford Motor Company While he’s been off the Motor Trend Power List for a while, and has acceded most of his power to Alan Mulally, the Ford scion deserves attention for one major reason: Ford’s financial position. The company is turning down federal assistance, for now, for rather personal reasons. By taking loan guarantees, GM cannot pay dividends to its investors until the loans are paid back. If Ford did the same, William Clay Ford and the rest of Henry’s heirs would lose its sole source of income. 9. Takeo Fukui Honda Motor Company president/CEO Like GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW…the rest, Honda has cut production to meet slower demand for new cars and trucks. Under Fukui, the company has maintained its position as a relatively small producer of comparably fuel-efficient vehicles. Right now, that’s serving Honda well, compared with GM, Toyota, Ford and the other bigger automakers. More recently, Fukui has made smart cuts, even though they don’t impress us enthusiasts. He’s cancelled the V-10 NSX replacement (and probably any chances for a RWD, V-8 Acura RL) and is about to launch an affordable line of hybrids with the new Insight. And as a sign of the times for automaker budgets and racing programs, he’s pulled Honda out of Formula One. 10. Lewis Hamilton 2008 Formula One Champion He’s the youngest world champion and the first of color. More importantly, he’s a true sportsman and a fierce competitor. While Honda has pulled out of F1, McLaren-Mercedes’ Hamilton will be a key part of the sport’s future as it seeks more sustainable solutions, both environmentally and financially. Hamilton’s close, storybook win almost made me forget Max Mosley’s sex scandal. Almost. And besides Mosley, there were a number of men and women who just missed the list this year, including Representative Henry Waxman (D-California), Speaker of the House Pelosi, Volkswagen Group’s Porsche scion, Ferdinand Piech, Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking, GM’s Fritz Henderson and GM CFO Ray Young, Chrysler co-president Jim Press and Ford’s Jim Farley and Mark Fields.

Filed under: Etc. , Green Daily Photo by glenn.batuyong . Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0. Remember those $4 a gallon gas prices ? They were costing America a lot, more than I realized. According to the chief oil analyst for Oil Price Information Service, Tom Kloza, today’s lower gas prices are the equivalent of Americans saving a billion dollars a day on gas. While that certainly takes a bit of the bite out of people’s energy budgets, there are other ways to look at what Kloza is saying. While the Detroit Free Press highlights the money saved in comparison to the $1.6 billion or so that Kloza estimates Americans were paying each day in July; some of us might prefer to note that we will pay $611.5 million for gas today. And we’ll will do so again tomorrow. And we’re not even using that much less gasoline than we were in the summer. What a way to ring in the new year. [Source: Detroit Free Press via Blogging Stocks ] Low gas prices are kind of like a $1 billion daily bailout originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Emerging Technologies , USA For those “eenthusiasts” who still hold out hope that EEStor will come through on it’s game-changing supercalifragilistic-capacitor pledges , a newly-awarded patent may offer some comfort. No, not the patent that EEStor itself was recently granted , but rather one that military application rights holder Lockheed Martin was just given for body armor that contains its own energy storage devices. While generic lithium ion batteries are mentioned as a potential energy source for the protective vest, the EEStor device, with its calcined composition-modified barium titanate coated with aluminum oxide and calcium magnesium aluminosilicate glass configuration, gets a specifical mentioned as a possible component as well. What may be the “cherry-on-top” for the eemotionaly-invested is the fact that Lockheed patent title, “Garment Including Electrical Energy Storage Unit” uses the same language EEStor uses to describe their device, namely, an electrical energy storage unit (EESU). Of course, patents themselves don’t power cars, so until the company actually produces something that does, we’ll be keeping our eexpectations in check. [Source: Clean Break ] EEStor partner patent may keep eenthusiasts eexcited originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Emerging Technologies One of the primary reasons that current wind turbines have to be so large is that most of the energy is lost as the air flows off the end of the blades. That size increases the cost and reduces the density of turbines that can be installed. FloDesign has developed a wind turbine that incorporates ideas from jet engines, including a shroud to duct air over the turbine blades. Unlike previous ducted turbine designs, this one is claimed to be able to self align and still work effectively at up to 20 degrees off axis from the wind direction. FloDesign also claims that the turbine can operate effectively over a much wider range of wind speeds. This new design should theoretically be much less expensive to produce and install. The smaller size would also allow up to three times the installation density compared to current conventional types. You can check out a video here. [Source: MIT Technology Review via CleanTechnica.com ] New wind turbine could dramatically increase generation efficiency originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Emerging Technologies One of the primary reasons that current wind turbines have to be so large is that most of the energy is lost as the air flows off the end of the blades. That size increases the cost and reduces the density of turbines that can be installed. FloDesign has developed a wind turbine that incorporates ideas from jet engines, including a shroud to duct air over the turbine blades. Unlike previous ducted turbine designs, this one is claimed to be able to self align and still work effectively at up to 20 degrees off axis from the wind direction. FloDesign also claims that the turbine can operate effectively over a much wider range of wind speeds. This new design should theoretically be much less expensive to produce and install. The smaller size would also allow up to three times the installation density compared to current conventional types. You can check out a video here. [Source: MIT Technology Review via CleanTechnica.com ] New wind turbine could dramatically increase generation efficiency originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Emerging Technologies A rear seat that faces backwards. Powered by compressed air. Name like the AirPOD and FlowAIR . A windshield that doubles as the door. There are a lot of hurdles that MDI’s compressed air line of vehicles needs to jump before people will consider them “real” cars - or at least a solid alternative. At least one North American journalist was recently given the chance to see if riding in a prototype AirPOD is anything like a true car experience. The verdict: the vehicle is noisy, but maneuverable and takes some getting used to. Granted, MDI representatives say that there is a lot of work to do on the AirPOD - sound insulation and a better suspension were named by Green Car Advisor - before the vehicle goes on sale. MDI (which stands for Motor Development International and is based in Luxembourg) is saying that the first production models will be ready in March or April for around $8,300. These will be fleet vehicles used at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Consumer sales - whether in India with Tata Motors or in the US with an as-yet-unnamed partner - will have to wait. Gallery: New York 2008: MDI Air Car, X-Prize competitor [Source: Green Car Advisor ] Taking a ride in the Air Car originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Emerging Technologies A rear seat that faces backwards. Powered by compressed air. Name like the AirPOD and FlowAIR . A windshield that doubles as the door. There are a lot of hurdles that MDI’s compressed air line of vehicles needs to jump before people will consider them “real” cars - or at least a solid alternative. At least one North American journalist was recently given the chance to see if riding in a prototype AirPOD is anything like a true car experience. The verdict: the vehicle is noisy, but maneuverable and takes some getting used to. Granted, MDI representatives say that there is a lot of work to do on the AirPOD - sound insulation and a better suspension were named by Green Car Advisor - before the vehicle goes on sale. MDI (which stands for Motor Development International and is based in Luxembourg) is saying that the first production models will be ready in March or April for around $8,300. These will be fleet vehicles used at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Consumer sales - whether in India with Tata Motors or in the US with an as-yet-unnamed partner - will have to wait. Gallery: New York 2008: MDI Air Car, X-Prize competitor [Source: Green Car Advisor ] Taking a ride in the Air Car originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments