A 'Green' car that doesn't bore the crap outta ya? - Check out the Citroen C-Cactus Concept

Yes, the Elettrica in the last post is very...responsible. But it's basically a golf cart. And yes, the Prius makes people feel good about their environmental mindedness. But it's a horrible, fish-shaped, boring, cloth-seated five-door hatchback. So, at this year's Frankfurt Autoshow, Citroen is showing off a concept that won't have you shrugging your shoulders until they're sore and discolored. Instead, marvel at the chunky Citroen's curves and bulges, windows that look like they were crudely drawn with a crayon. That's what you want from a car that gets about 70mpg - which totally craps on the Prius's 40 and change to the gallon.

Plus, the C-Cactus achieves this gas economy through fancy diesel technology, variable valve timing and other cleverness. Not just using electric when going slow. And, finally, while Prius uses damn-near-impossible to recycle batteries - lots of them, the C-Catus is made to be easier to recycle and more green to produce. Now let's hope Citroen actually produces it!

Check out more pix from Autoblog Green - Citroen C-Cactus Concept!

New Elettrica electric vehicle take on GWiz and NICE Mega City on London streets

Today, Future Vehicles in UK, best known for retrofitting original Minis with electric running gear, announced that they'd be making the first electric car actually manufactured in UK. While India-made GWizzes and French NICE are abound in central London, the tiny Elettrica will be able to offer more range, taking two passengers up to 70 miles on a single charge - as opposed to 50 like the NICE or Gwiz.

The added range is thanks to a Lithium battery. The GoinGreen and their GWiz expect to offer these on new models and as upgrades in early 2008. Another important feature of the Elettrica, if you like living, is the safety. The GWiz got into some hot water because, since these EVs aren't classed as cars by the EU, the safety standards are pretty lax. Future Vehicles created a safety 'shell' for the Elettrica similar to the on Smart ForTwos.

The Lithium-powered Elettrica will gost £12,750 inc VAT - compare that to the newly-reduced cost of £7,299 for the AC-drive GWiz or around £10K for a Mega City - both can (uncomfortably) seat four. Expect to see these funky-looking green machines on the streets of London soon. Test drives are already being scheduled in the capital. Check out the link when you click the title.

Hybrids pay for themselves? Why don't they...buy me one, by themselves then.

A think piece.

My main man Bobby S picks up on the CNN story about Hybrids paying for themselves. Sure, it might take six years - and, by that point, gas will be so expensive that hybrids will pay for themselves even faster. This is making my head hurt. However, a fun note is that an unidentified source at Galpin Ford - the kick-assingest Ford dealership in California - actually pointed out to me that...big finish...The Hybrid Escape gets worse gas mileage than the terrorist loving, baby seal clubbing, wood-burning, none-hybrid model.

But Basic Transportation, how the hell can that be? Because of added weight and the fact that - I'll say it again - hybrids only run on electricity at or below around 30MPH - the whole thing is a conspiracy to make you forget that electric cars exist, that ethanol/biodiesel is a lot cheaper and easier to produce, that fuel-cells are more treehuggy and that Honda actually made a Civic that ran on water and made muffins in the glovebox, but the CIA covered it up.

Only the last one is made up.

The Electric Car We All Want.

- New-School technology, oLd sKool flAva.

There's just nothing quite like cruising yo six fo. Today, you can put Lambo doors on your Chrysler 300 - rim it up, drop in some amps - and you've got a pretty cool car, one that looks right in front of the club. If you trying to roll extra hard, you might spring for some airbags, remote-controlled ones - so you can drop it like it's hot as you walk away. Doing all this to the current breed of electric cars, what few there are, just wouldn't work.

However, there's West Coast tech-hippies (think Burning Man) that have been converting ordinary, pimpable cars to electric for years (some, decades). The article you can see by clicking on the title is from L.A. Weekly about an L.A. comedian who's had a '48 Oldsmobile, like the one pictured, converted to an all-electric, lowrider. Though the juice box takes up most of the backseat, it's a small price to pay for an electric car that can actually do burnouts - and, presumably, other stuff regular cars can do - like not making you look like a lamer to the ladies. You've just witnessed the future of sustainable motoring. Remember where you were at this moment.

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