Green Vehicle Disposal – Automotive News Blog

Republicans are calling on Congressional investigators to expand their probe of the Obama Administration’s “green energy” loan program to include Fisker, the start-up electric car company that received more than $500 million in federal support but is assembling its high-end sports sedan in Finland.

“We need to extend the investigation,” Rep. Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican who sits on the committee that has been investigating the government’s loan program, told ABC News in an interview for reports on World News and Nightline that air tonight. “If they couldn’t find someone to build the car in the U.S., then don’t do it. Find another way. Find something else.”

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I was shocked as will most readers be.  Which is more environmentally friendly: a motorcycle, with its little motor, or a car, with its big one?

The surprising answer, as it turns out, is the car, according to a segment on the Discovery Channel series MythBusters, which opened its new season on Wednesday.

On the show, the MythBusters tested three cars and three motorcycles, one each from 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. They measured fuel efficiency as well as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitric oxide emissions. Kent Johnson, an assistant research engineer at the University of California-Riverside, oversaw the analysis of the data that showed harmful pollutants from the tested motorcycles exceeded those from the cars tested, the university reports.

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It is pretty much anticipated that over the next 20 years everyone will be considering a green car!  As more variety and styles become available more people are taking the leap over to the green-side!   Do green cars make sense – dollars and cents?

Jessica Anderson is an associate editor for autos at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

“It’s kind of a mixed bag depending on which green car you buy,” she says. “You may end up saving more money than the gasoline version of the car or you may not.”

For its September issue, Kiplinger ran the numbers – the cost of ownership for the average driver over a five-year period. The question: do the fuel savings make up for the higher sticker price of a green vehicle.

“We figure five years is enough because it’s the typical length of ownership for most people, and if you haven’t seen your gas savings by five years, you’re probably going to be very frustrated,” says Anderson.

She says they were surprised at how well the two electric vehicles, the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf did when compared to the closest gas-powered match. They compared the Volt with the Chevy Cruze LTZ and the Nissan Leaf SV with the Nissan Versa S Hatchback.

“And while both of them cost about $18,000 more than the gasoline models, the Volt comes within $1,500 of Cruze’s ownership costs over five years, and the Leaf is only $800 more than a Versa over five years because they do save so much,” Anderson says.

Hybrids are the most popular green machines. They do cut gas use. They are good for the environment. But what about your pocketbook? Anderson says they’re all over the place – depending on the model.

“You can be getting a really great deal like the Mercedes-Benz S400 hybrid. It’s actually the cheapest S-class that you can buy. And you save about $7,000 over five years. Conversely, another popular model, the Lexus LS600 hybrid, it costs more than $36,000 more than its gasoline counterpart and you lose all of that. It does not save money over the gasoline engine.”

After looking at all the numbers, Anderson tells me the decision whether to buy a green vehicle has a lot to do with what you want.

“If your goal is to be good to the environment, the premium and the savings is not going to be something that is ultimately a make-or-break situation for you. But if your goal is to save money, run the numbers, really do as much as you can to find out about the long-term costs because some of the green cars will save you a lot and some of them really won’t.”

Make sure to do your research and find not only a car that will help the planet stay green, but one you will enjoy driving!

For all of you that love Beemers, the names of the two cars are the i3 and i8. The i3 is a fully electric green car that seeks to corner the market on luxury urban travel. The SUV style vehicle is projected to get 93 miles to a charge which may seem short to some, but for urban driving this is more than enough. BMW has also announced that the i3 will be able to charge to 80% battery power in an hour, meaning it will easily be able to charge during work or a lunch for those with an overly long commute.

Additionally, the production of these cars will be conducted under green standards at BMW’s Leipzig, Germany plant. The plant will produce the cars using renewable energy sources and the production itself will be carbon neutral. These green manufacturing standards are essential to green car production and it is good to see the German car manufacturer taking them seriously.

With the i3 concept car BMW is showing the world they are taking the green car revolution seriously.

Great news for the planet and for consumers pockets as well!

In a letter to ARA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Wilson, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week affirmed the use of recycled automotive parts in warranty repairs. In the letter, the FTC says: “Warrantors may not claim that a warranty is void simply because a consumer has used an authorized or recycled part.”

“Tying warranties to the use of new, authorized replacement parts is illegal under the Magnuson-Moss Act,” said Wilson. “Several months ago we asked the FTC to review position statements by several automobile manufacturers that implied that recycled parts are lesser quality parts than new OEM parts and that there use could void a manufacturer warranty,” said Wilson.

ARA raised concerns with the FTC that the position statements of the automobile manufacturers might mislead consumers into thinking that using recycled parts in a repair could void their warranty. As a result, the FTC announced the update of a consumer alert entitled Auto Warranties, Routine Maintenance, and Repairs: Is Using the Dealer a Must? The revised alert specifically notes that the mere use of recycled parts does not void a warranty and that it is illegal for warrantors to void a warranty or deny coverage simply because a recycled part was used.

I agree the manufacturers were being  vague on the use of recycled parts and I am happy to see Mr. Wilson confirm the truth.