Detroit Goes To Work On Its Green Image - BBC

[hatrack]

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"At the North America International Auto Show in Detroit this week, the companies are falling over themselves to assert their green credentials.

Ford unveiled a hybrid version of its Escape sports utility vehicle - an sports utility vehicle (SUV) powered by a "hybrid" engine that can switch between petrol and electricity as a fuel source, so economising on the burning of gasoline. General Motors presented a prototype of its hybrid SUV called GMC Graphyte and insisted it has several models in the pipelines. It's working with DaimlerChrysler on new engine technology for hybrids.

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All this has to be put into perspective. The Detroit car-makers have changed, there's no doubt about that. It wasn't so long ago that they seemed loathe to admit that there was such a thing as global warming. let alone that burning gasoline might cause it.

But they'll be driven by the market and the market still likes big, powerful petrol engines. As General Motors' Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, put it: "Right now the drive for more and more power in cars is way larger than the drive for more and more hybrids." To emphasize the point, GM unveiled its fastest car ever, the new Corvette Z06, as well as the Cadillac STS-V, powered by a supercharged V-8 engine that delivers the most horsepower of any Cadillac."

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4163967.stm

[hermetic]

1. Then there's this: 'Radiation-Proof' RVs to Launch Soon in U.S.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Two private U.S. companies have designs on building the first luxury recreational vehicle that could withstand nuclear radiation. Parliament Coach Corp., a privately held company in Clearwater, Florida, which converts Prevost buses into high-end RVs, has partnered with Homeland Defense Vehicles to offer consumers a luxury motor coach that can protect occupants against nuclear radiation from dirty bombs as well as biological and chemical attacks.

The idea is to offer the option on the pricey vehicles to consumers worried about terror attacks, officials for both companies said Tuesday. "Many people enjoy the RV lifestyle, but we also live in an era when people have some level of fear about terrorism," Parliament Chief Executive Harvey Mitchell said in a statement. "These concerns about terrorism are linked to states where people with RVs like to travel."

The vehicles, costing from $1.2 million to $2 million, will be introduced Wednesday at the Tampa Super RV Show in Florida.

[midnight armadillo]

2. PT barnum said it best

A fool and his money are soon parted.