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Myths, facts and the Chevy Volt

The election is less than two months away, so it must be time to bash the Chevy Volt. I’m referring to a Washington Post piece titled “GM’s vaunted Volt is on the road to nowhere fast.” I cite the Post piece only because it’s the latest; there have been other similar pieces in other quote-unquote mainstream media outlets. For the most part they trot out the same old arguments.

UK new car average CO2 now under 140g/km

UK motor industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) claims 56% of new cars sold in the UK during 2010 boasted carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions figures below 140g/km. New car emissions of CO2 continued to fall at an increased rate year-on-year, dropping 3.5% over 2009’s figures and representing a cumulative drop in new car CO2 emissions of 20.3% since 2000.  The data comes from the release of the SMMT’s annual New Car Carbon Dioxide (CO2) report for 2011, out today. UK vehicle fleet CO2 continues to fall The presence of lower-polluting new vehicles in the overall UK vehicle parc (the total fleet of new and existing vehicles on the roads) has driven parcwide CO2 levels down 7.8% since 2000, and 2.7% since 2009.  This is partly thanks to new vehicles, and also due to reduction of higher-polluting vehicles via legislation and scrappage incentive schemes. The overall reduction also comes in spite of an increased number of vehicles on the road, and greater average distances travelled compared to 2000. Diesel’s rise continues One notable trend has been market penetration of diesel-powered cars. In 2000 petrol powered cars held 85.9% of the market, with 14.1% diesels.

Ford overhauls plans for the U.S. C-Max to go with fewer seats, all hybrids

Ford has shifted gears on its plans for the C-Max wagon in the United States and will now sell only the five-seat version with hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains, beginning in 2012. Ford has canceled plans to sell the seven-seat version of the C-Max with a conventional gasoline engine in the States. Ford will call the car the C-Max hybrid, and C-Max Energi will be the name of the plug-in version.