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An image uploaded on Beh Chia Lor's Facebook page of a green taxi parking on a patch of green grass happens to be the talk of the office today. Here's the image for your reference courtesy of Beh Chia Lor. What we know Image from https://www.taxisingapore.com/taxi-companies/hdt-electric-taxi/ This green BYD taxi belongs to a taxi company called HDT Taxi. I've not seen or sat in one, but we know that the company's fleet comprises of fully-electric vehicles with a focus on "Going Green". Also, we know that the patch of grass the taxi is on, is not a parking lot. Some scenarios to consider Maybe, the taxi driver thought his car can blend into the grass like a chameleon Maybe, taxi driver thought he John Cena Maybe, taxi driver army siao, like to "Camo On" But, the truth is, we can still see the taxi ah? What the people say Right? Whut? This taxi driver taking the company mission of "going green" too seriously.

Any new Tesla coming to Sg? Just came back from HK and discovered many Tesla super car (model S) and SUV (model X) on the road, one of the great efforts from HK government to promote electric cars and create awareness of climate change and global warming. When can SG government do the same? We should capitalize their culture and green effort. https://www.tesla.com/

[extract] Ford is poised to take on the Nissan Leaf EV with the all-new Focus Electric that was revealed recently in production guise. This is Ford

At a recent classic car show in Japan a tuning company called Tec Art's, not to be confused with the Porsche tuning company Techart as it has that funny Japanese punctuation, had exhibited another one of those classic Japanese cars that have been tweaked by adding current automotive tech. This makes the a 20 or 30 year old classic run reliably on current technology for the ease of its owners. Tec Art's Eco Hatchi-Roku (86) is one of those type of modded cars but it has a twist. This old AE86 is an eco-mentalist's dream of a tree hugging classic car. According to the design brief, the car is supposed to be more fuel efficient the original 4A-G engine and environmentally cleaner too. The engine is still a 4A-G but it now runs an APEX Power FC stand alone programmable ECU. This allows Tech Art to precisely tune the engine's air-fuel ratio. The power steering has been modernized by replacing the hydraulic motor system with an electric motor (see photo above). It uses the original steering rack but it has been modified so that an electric motor assists in the turning. The only drawback to this system is the lack of feel. The benefit is usually a 3% savings in fuel consumption. I'd rather have the hydraulic system thank you. Another upgrade is that a variable intake system is used. The intake manifold has two intake valves that switches between high and low rpm. To increase torque at low rpm the valve closes on one side (for more tumble and swirl) and at higher rpm both valves opens up. The valve control is manual where the driver can use a setting (for torque) for city commuting and the other for fast road driving. Amazingly, this old 86 can make 18km/l. And at highway cruising speeds 19.6km/l was achieved. This means that this old car is as economical or even more economical than a Honda Jazz. A Levin at the very best made 11-12km/l. The best thing was that no power was sacrificed for this figures to be achieved and the Eco-86 made 129.9ps (at the wheel) and 161Nm of torque from the ancient 1.6 4A-G engine. The stock 4A-G made about 125bhp at the flywheel, so it still is a good improvement. Tec Art's intends to get 20km/l by spending more time fine tuning the system. Quite an amazing achievement, modernizing a classic into something quite eco-friendly. Quite, as nothing had been said about having catalytic converters or stuff like that.

The "added lightness" mantra is well-known in performance circles--cutting weight helps everything about a sports car, from acceleration to braking to handling. Now, it seems to help out in emission figures as well. Lotus announced the 2011 Elise scored 46.6 mpg and a mere 239 grams of CO2 emissions per mile, making it the cleanest and most efficient gasoline-powered car in its performance category. When the revised Lotus was revealed in February, it was announced that it would be powered by the Toyota sourced 1ZR-FAE 1.6-litre engine with Valvematic and Dual VVT-I, producing 134 bhp and 160 Nm. At the time, Lotus estimated the fuel economy and emissions improvements to be around 23 percent and 13 percent respectively. Gains were also made thanks to improvements in aerodynamics, which cut drag by four percent. 134 bhp might not sound like a barnstormer but it projects the 1,934 pound Elise from 0 to 60 mph in 6.0 seconds. For comparison, the 2010 Toyota Prius, which takes just under 10 seconds to reach 60 mph, manages a slightly better 50 mpg combined rating, and emits 148 grams of CO2 per mile. However, it requires a much more complex hybrid system to do so, thought it has a back seat. Even if the 2011 Lotus Elise isn't the greenest car on the planet, it certainly proves that you don't have to give up fun to go green.