2007 Audi Q7 Base Sport Utility 4-door 4.2l on 2040-cars

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Audi creates new diesel fuel from carbon dioxide and water

What if you could power cars of the future with pollution created by the cars of the past? That's what German automaker Audi is hoping to achieve by creating a new synthetic fuel using renewable energy to turn water and carbon dioxide gas into a new kind of fuel they call "e-diesel." The new diesel is being produced at Audi's pilot plant Sunfire in Dresden, Germany. Only a few gallons were created, which the German Federal Minister of Education and Research Johanna Wanka put into her Audi A8 to prove the fuel's bonafides. The base fuel is known as "blue crude" and begins from a green source. Audi uses electricity from wind, water or solar power sources to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water. The hydrogen is then mixed with carbon dioxide which has been converted in carbon oxide. The blue crude is then further refined to create the e-diesel. The carbon dioxide is currently supplied by a biogas facilities, but some of that CO2 was captured from the air. "The engine runs quieter and fewer pollutants are being created," says Sunfire CTO Christian von Olshausen. The fuel can be combined with conventional diesel fuel, as biodiesel fuels already and would be competitively priced against regular diesel, according to Gizmag. Sunfire can produce about 42 gallons of e-diesel a day. That seems like barely a drop in the bucket in terms of Europe's energy use, but Audi is ready to commercialize the technology with plans to expand production with a bigger facility in the future.

2015 Green Car Of The Year finalists announced, run alt-fuel gamut

The 2015 edition of the Green Car of the Year award is following right in the footsteps of previous years with a variety of alt-fuel powertrains making the just-announced finalists list. You've got your plug-in vehicle (the BMW i3), your compressed natural gas (the Chevy Impala Bi-Fuel), your high-efficiency diesel (the Audi A3 TDI), your 40+ mile-per-gallon gas engine (the Honda Fit) and, finally, a car that can do a little bit of everything (the VW Golf). The Golf is available – at least in some parts of the US – with three different powertrains: a 2.0-liter diesel, a gasoline engine and all-electric drive. The Impala can burn either natural gas or gasoline in its 3.6-liter engine. The A3 is an efficiency champ, able to get 73.5 mpg on some European tests. The i3 can be a pure electric vehicle or come with a short range extending engine. And the Fit brings 41 miles to the gallon in a practical, affordable package. The GCOY award is announced every year at the Los Angeles Auto Show by Green Car Journal. The committee doesn't just take the fuel-saving technology into account, but also a vehicle's "availability to the mass market." Last year, the Honda Accord Hybrid/Plug-In Hybrid won top honors, following up on wins from the Ford Fusion models (plug-in hybrid and hybrid) for 2013, the Honda Civic Natural Gas for 2012 and the Chevrolet Volt for 2011. FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2015 "GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR"" Green Car Journal to Reveal Winner of 10th Annual Award at LA Auto Show" Press & Trade Days, November 20 LOS ANGELES, CA (October 21, 2014) – Green Car Journal has announced its five finalists for the magazine's high-profile 2015 Green Car of the Year® program. The 2015 models include the Audi A3 TDI, BMW i3, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel, Honda Fit, and VW Golf. The Green Car of the Year® award, an honor widely recognized as the auto industry's most important environmental accolade, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. An increasing number of vehicle models are considered for the Green Car of the Year® program each year, a reflection of the auto industry's expanding efforts in offering new vehicles with higher efficiency and improved environmental impact. Green Car Journal has been honoring the most important "green" vehicles every year at the LA Auto Show, since its inaugural award announced at the show in 2005.

GRAND-AM, IMSA announce deal to bring DTM racing to US

It won't be until 2015 at the earliest, but the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), Grand-Am and the Internationale Tourenwagen-Rennen have agreed to a licensing and cooperation deal that could bring a version of Germany's DTM series to the US.
When the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am are officially combined next year, the resulting body will be called United SportsCar Racing (USCR). IMSA will be the sanctioning body for that series, and DTM races could be run as support events. It was also suggested by an ALMS chief that DTM races could be standalone or join NASCAR and IndyCar weekends.
With the so-called DTM America finally agreed to, there is now a way for manufacturers to run the same DTM-type cars in Europe, the US and Japan - last year Japan's Super GT series agreed to adopt "the basic technical regulations" of DTM for the GT500 class, the top class in the series. That already puts six manufacturers in play: Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW that run in Germany's DTM and Honda, Nissan and Lexus that run in Super GT. The DTM oversight body has invited American brands to Germany for the opening round of the 2013 season, and will begin actively courting their participation in the US series. Check out the press release from Audi with comments on the deal below.