I’m dreaming of an automotive landscape where Italian style and engineering will be plentiful. Where we can just reach out and touch an Alfa Romeo 159 sedan the same way we can’t walk too feet without bumping into an Accord or Camry. Alfa has truly improved their quality and overall processes, and their parent company FIAT (fix it again tony) is no longer the laughing stock of the automotive world, at least not in Europe.
already available but sold out!
The good news is that Alfa will be coming to the U.S. in 2011 according to Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. Plans to bring the car here sooner were shelved based on the drepresseed state of U.S. consumer spending but the hope is that 2011 will be that much better. Exact models and price points are to be decided but you’d have to assume the popular 159 sedan would be coming along with some of the higher end coupes. The 159 is definitely a part of Alfa’s global plans and the company is in talk with Chery Automobile in China to produce the 159 in the fastest growing automotive market in the world.
To the surprise of many however, brand new Alfa Romeo’s are already available in the U.S. – but you’re limited to the breathtaking 8C Competizione, all 84 of which have already been sold. Having seen this car on the mean streets of Brentwood and Santa Monica, it’s safe to say it’s in a class all by itself. Let’s hope more Alfas are available in 2011 as planned and more people get to experience a truly alternative to the typical sports sedan for themselves.
The California coast is approximately 840 miles long according to Netstate.com, and with my Toyota Prius averaging a healthy 45 mpg along some of the most breathtaking coastline in the country, I felt truly invincible. Well, I decided not to circumnavigate all of California. However my August 2009 road trip through some of the nature highlights of Big Sur along with a few hidden gems along the central coast gave me a newfound appreciation for the Golden State, and an even greater respect for the most advanced gas-electric hybrid vehicle on the road today.
You could say the trip was all about the scenic drive. Or you could say it was all about finding out what my Prius could handle. But in the end, everything blended into one and the entire journey was about getting that much closer to nature. Sure the automobile has allowed us to get closer to natural wonders regardless of where they might be. But clean automotive technologies including hybrids and clean diesels give us the opportunity to drive vehicles that are both advanced and help us conserve our finite resources in a way never thought possible before.
Thus it was only fitting that my little jaunt would begin in the sanctuary of the automotive kingdom at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, and then end at the most dignified of car shows at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. In between those 348 miles were scenic and manmade wonders like Hearst Castle, and the quaint streets of Carmel-by-the-Sea, and more hairpin turns and thousand foot sheer drops along Highway 1 than there are traffic jams on the 405 freeway. Let the journey begin.
Petersen Automotive Museum
My journey began at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. You simply couldn’t ask for a more complete collection of cars. The permanent exhibit houses some incredibly unique vehicles including the original Batmobile driven by Michael Keaton in Batman 1, all the way to a lifelike Mattel Hot Wheels exhibit. The 1,001 horsepower $1.7 million Bugatti Veyron was on display in a striking two-tone blue-black color scheme as were some incredible cars from the film and television world like the infamous 1963 VW Beetle from Disney’s Herbie. Elvis Presley’s 1971 De Tomaso Pantera was there too, replete with two bullet holes on the steering wheel rim and floor pan from one of Elvis’s outbursts when he shot at his own vehicle when it wouldn’t start. But all these shenanigans aside, some of the biggest personal highlights for me were the alternative energy vehicles on display that most of us have never heard of. Vehicles from visionary companies, created by visionary people who saw something big years before the masses. Not that most of these early alternative fuel vehicles were a success but they were still a testament to what was possible. Take the 1963 Chrysler Turbine car. From 1954 to 1979, Chrysler launched their turbine program in the hopes that exploding gases passing over fan blades in a continuous combustion process would gain more popularity than the traditional piston engine. But the high fuel consumption and high production costs doomed the 50 experimental vehicles built over the lifetime of the program. The turbine engine is not completely dead today, however as it lives in on the form of the Wankel Rotary engine still used on the highly desirable Mazda RX-8. If a turbine engine weren’t exotic enough, my next most favorite highlight at Petersen would have to be the exceedingly obscure 1974 Dutcher. A San Diego company contracted to build a steam driven vehicle by the state of California, the Dutcher had a fiberglass body and a four-cylinder reciprocating engine fed by steam generator. The 1974 Dutcher actually passed testing phases and functioned properly! But the car never caught on because the public did not have an interest in steam driven vehicles. There have been some serious clean technology vehicle advances since the turbine and steam prototypes of the 1970s, but I still respect the scientists and engineers of those times who dared to dream big.
Now it was time to focus on my own alternative fuel vehicle. Escaping Los Angeles county and heading north on the PCH was a relief, and the Prius was a great car to do it in. The massive panoramic sunroof helped me feel as close to nature as possible while traveling hundreds of miles between fill-ups thanks to 3rd generation “Synergy Drive” that allowed for an average of 45 mpg throughout the rolling hills and sweeping turns of Highway 1 north. Life was good, and it would only get better.
Hearst Castle
One of my first stops of note was Hearst Castle. The best part about Hearst castle is that for anyone who’s been, it absolutely pops up out of nowhere. Driving down that desolate but beautiful stretch of highway one you’re all of a sudden confronted with this Mediterranean, stucco-tiled wonderland complete with Las Vegas style pool, manicured gardens galore, and the realization that William Randolph Hearst lived well, very well indeed. I would highly recommend taking any of the guided tours, and though I didn’t have the chance, the “Evening Tour” seems to be extremely popular allowing visitors to see the castle lit up from the inside and out, reminding you of what the opulent and spare-no-expense lifestyle of the 1930’s was all about. Another great but lesser known way to experience “castle life” is to actually go camping in nearby San Simeon state park and then take a short drive to the castle. That way you can be part of the proletariat and part of the ruling class all in one day.
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
One of the top destinations in Big Sur,Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park makes you feel like you’re worlds away from fluorescent office lights and a miserly 2 weeks of paid vacation a year. The park has two environmental hike-in areas with incredible views of the Pacific Ocean. The views are so nice in fact that Sunset Magazine rated the park one of the four best places to pitch a tent on the Pacific Coast. There is also the “Julia Pfeiffer Burns Underwater Area” which makes for really good scuba diving. That should come as no surprise given that the water here has an almost azure-like color but is too frigid to swim in unless your genealogy traces back to Minnesota or a northern Canadian province. Another advantage to being here is that chances are the place won’t be swarming with tourists. Most of the scenic coast in this area just doesn’t lend itself to becoming overly commercialized or crowded. The coast is too rocky for development, the homes that do exist are few and far between and usually in excess of $2 million, and those that do live in Big Sur make sure that the environment comes first, and everything else a distant second. That approach has worked well for years, and is probably the main reason why I’m in awe of just about everything Big Sur has to offer.
Carmel By-The-Sea
What trip along the California coast would be complete without a visit to Clint Eastwood’s old stomping grounds? Though he’s not mayor any longer, Carmel makes life easy for residents and visitors alike with no parking meters anywhere and the chance to actually walk to most of the cities attractions without breaking a sweat. Full of great art galleries and great eateries, Carmel By-The-Sea is truly a place to unwind. As a gourmand myself I recommend eating at Le St. Tropez for fantastic French cuisine on Dolores between Ocean and 7th St. If you’re looking for what’s going on in Carmel that’s environmentally friendly, check out Green’s Carmel Camera Center at the corner of Fifth and San Carlos near the Post Office. The camera store has instituted new processes that eliminate the toxic chemicals usually used for photo processing. Whether you’re carrying a digital camera or a 35mm, you’ll want to take lots and lots of pictures in this enchanting little town.
Pebble Beach – Concours d’Elegance
And for the Pièce-de-résistance, the crown jewel of the trip would surely be Pebble Beach and the annual Concours d’Elegance. Take all the natural beauty of Pebble Beach and combine that with some of the rarest manmade automotive wonders on the planet and there you have the Concours d’Elegance. Though I didn’t get too up close or personal with either of them, Jay Leno and Arnold Schwarzenegger m.c.’d the event and helped introduce the crowd to cars that you’ll probably never see anywhere else. The best example would be Germany’s 1937 Horch 853 convertible that also took home “Best in Show” honors. For those with supreme automotive knowledge, Horch, along with Wanderer and DKW all basically merged to create Auto Union, which then became Audi as we know it today. There were a few Packard Deitrichs to be seen as well as Ferraris galore. But there was one “green” surprise at the show which is hopefully a sign of what is to come at these types of events in the future. I got to see the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid in the flesh, and it was a sight to behold. Seeing this car again at the Los Angles International Auto Show in early December simply confirmed that its timeless design will forever change the way people think about plug-in hybrids. Priuses are somewhat cool, but the Fisker Karma is like the Batmobile Michael Keaton wishes he had driven back in the day. The car has two 201 hp electric motors and will get much better gas mileage than nearly any other exotic, and is arguably better looking and more menacing than any other exotic on the road. Given that Henrik Fisker has also designed the BMW Z8 and the Aston Martin DB9 it’s no surprise that anything he touches turns to gold.
Conclusion
Getting back into my Prius, it was clear that the trip had been worth every mile of road traveled. No the Prius doesn’t look like a Fisker Karma but it was an extremely comfortable place to spend those hundreds of miles with its spacious interior and the fun of seeing the interplay between the gasoline and electric motors on the easy to read futuristic display. A car that respects nature and helps you get closer to it.
The California coast, including Big Sur, has so much to offer that there are countless ways to do a trip up north and never have the same experience twice. Nature has always been green, and now we as humans are finally catching up. So grab your Prius, or grab your Karma, and start driving!
P.S. For even more in depth reviews of these sites, and other great coastal getaways, check out the UpTake travel review website: www.uptake.com
For the price of mortgage, you Tesla now allows potential customers to lease their high performance electric cars at monthly rate of $1658 and a whopping down payment of $10,759 plus acquisition fees. Ok, we know what you’re thinking they must be nuts, but then again for a car with a 6 figure purchase price, a roughly 10% down payment isn’t too outrageous. Not sure who the exact target market is for the lease but it could be the very financially comfortable performance electric car buyer who wants to use the lease as a tax-write off for their business. Or maybe, with electric cars still being in their infancy, even well-heeled buyers are hesitant to go in completely on a purchase and would rather try the car out for a few years. Either way, Tesla is proving what’s possible with electrics, as long as you don’t mind a second home mortgage every month.
I recently had the opportunity to meet Vasken Yardemian, Senior Staff Specialist at California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) in Diamond Bar, CA. AQMD is the air pollution control agency for all of Orange County and the urban portions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, which happens to be the smoggiest region of the U.S. The AQMD is committed to protecting the health of residents, while remaining sensitive to the economic needs of businesses in the region. It’s no small task trying to reduce pollution without hurting economic output, but in today’s world it’s the only way to go.
Fairly Sleek, and Very Green!
More importantly Yardemian told me of AQMD’s Clean Air Choice Vehicles list for 2010. The list is made up of both partial zero-emission vehicles and advanced technology partial zero emission vehicles (including gas-electric hybrids) and the big news is that a lot of the vehicles on this list are actually fun to drive and desirable. Take the 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid – which has been getting great reviews all around and is setting the standard for a hybrid drivetrain that actually communicates some road feel (sorry Prius!). Some of the other fun to drive cars to make the list include the highly efficient but traditional gasoline powered Audi A3, BMW 328i, Volkswagen GTI, Ford Focus, Mazda 3, and Chevy Cobalt Coupe.
The total package
Vehicles in the list are listed by MPG rating and their carbon footprint in tons per year. 0-60 times aren’t listed, but thankfully some of the top rated vehicles in carbon footprint emissions also happen to have good acceleration so we can all breathe a sigh of relief that being green and clean doesn’t mean having to being stale and boring. The clean tech movement is moving forward and becomes more mainstream everyday, and that’s definitely something to smile about.
The 2009 list is embedded here. There are a few changes between 2009 and 2010 but this should give you a good idea about the wide diversity of types of vehicles on the list.
Which is to say, it’s gonna be dismantled. GM thought it had a buyer in China, but Chinese regulators didn’t approve of the deal and now Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co has pulled out of the deal leaving GM with no option other than “shuttering” the brand. Shuttering, such a nice and eloquent way of saying, kill off, but in the end that’s what’s going to happen. It seems that Hummer could have lived on, carving out a super-limited niche, and with some possible clean burning diesels and a new, less thirsty V6 (which had already come out in the H3) the brand might have been viable among the ritzy, individualistic set, but it looks like that’s out of the question now too.
It's only green in color, not in any other way
Truth be told, most will not miss the Hummer. This anachronistic attempt at cool just didn’t hold water in an eco-friendly world where even the average large SUV is struggling to remain acceptable. Hummers were flashy but they sucked at just about everything else. Huge on the outside, but small on the inside with horrible ergonomics. Very expensive, very thirsty, and still devoid of a premium driving experience. GM will learn from their failures and maybe the world didn’t really need someone to turn Hummer into something other than what it truly was; something with an expiration date that is long past.
As much as we all lust over cars, some of us love people too. Relatively attractive men and women are never a bad thing to talk about and over-analyze – and to that end, we will be featuring profiles on charming male and female celeberties that have in some small way, pushed the green revolution further into our everyday lives. These celebs are more than just botox infused, silicon implant shop-a-holics. They are indeed real people, with warm and fuzzy emotions, that care about mother earth.
Let’s take Alicia Silverstone for example. If you thought the only thing she could do well was act coy in front of the camera, you’re dead wrong! She’s a staunch soldier for the green movement. Silverstone is a strict Vegan, doesn’t wear fur, leather and even avoids milk and honey.
Silverstone resides in a solar paneled home in Los Angeles with an organic veggie garden and has a family of 4 rescued dogs that are all vegan as well. She’s married to musician Christopher Jarecki and the pair even had an eco-friendly wedding with recycled invitations, organic food and organic flowers.
If the only thing you know about the multi-faceted Silverstone is that her film debut was in “The Crush” then its time you take another look at this queen of green and, heck, maybe send her an organic flower or two.
This interior must look familiar, and well, that’s because it sort of is – it’s not the interior of the mother of all hot hatches (the GTI) but it is the Polo GTI, another example of high sophistication and cutting edge design in a very affordable package. It’s unclear whether Americans will get the GTI version of the Polo, but we’ll be definitely be getting a more standard version of the Polo very soon.
Seeing the car in Europe and in these pre-release pics tells me that VW is right on the mark once again, producing some of the most timeless and clean designs in the every-man price range. The Polo GTI actually takes it one step further and uses both supercharing and turbocharging in the same package. The supercharger is activated at low rpms, and the turbo takes over as rpms climb. The last time I saw that much sophistication was when Chris Farley did his “living in a van down by the river” motivation talk on Saturday Night Live – just kidding, but truly this is as advanced as engined technology gets in this price range.
If the Polo GTI did make its way here, it would get some buyers but I think most people really would prefer the larger GTI. The base Polo that does make its way here will be class a leader though in the small but slowly expanding compact compact hatch segment in the U.S. The car of the people soliders on and the fan base becomes bigger and more cult-like. Now if we could only get the new Scirocco here, US-German trade relations would reach a new nirvana.
In what could have been the greatest Superbowl video from one of my favorite companies, comes the “Green Police”. The Audi A3 Clean Diesel. Totally practical, totally green, and hell of a lot more fun than most hybrids:)
It’s coming to a car near you, but only if that car is an Audi or Ford,(initially!) – Ford will launch full web-enabled capability in their bread and butter Ford Focus in model year 2011 and Audi will follow suit. Now Skyping, surfing the web, and google maps are a touch screen away from you, in your brand new entry-level vehicle. Web surfing speeds will obviously be slower than if you were at home, but should sync up well with your 3G enabled smart phone. Read on!
There's red wine. Then there's white wine. Then there's "green" wine. Do you like where I'm going with this?:)
A few surprises today concerning the world of “fine wine” transport – yes, this is quite a niche. But VINLUX provides these very services, offering concierge service in “storing and handling wine deliveries throughout California” and 2 of the trucks in their fleet are hybrids. You don’t typically think of companies that handle freight with semi trucks being green but maybe then again Vin Lux looks to be way ahead of the curve and could spur some good copycat behavior among other specialized freight / material handling companies.
VINLUX also gets to operate the first two hybrid trucks built by Peterbilt – the otherwise traditional and extra masculine trucking company that has had the foresight to go green. Also noteworthy, are that Vin Lux uses low energy and motion sensor activated lighting in all its warehouses, and all cardboard paper and plastic wrap material is recycled and baled on site.
Now you can get your wine delivered by a truck with perfect temperature and humidity control, that uses 30 to 40% less fuel than conventional diesel or gas only trucks. Drink your chardonnay gently, or pound those $8 bottles of red in the discount rack, but either you’ll be drinking with the confidence that even wine deliveries are going green.
