2014 Honda Ridgeline Sport on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Zipcar, Honda announce OneWay carsharing with 2015 Fit

Zipcar has been around for over a dozen years, and now shares more than 10,000 cars on a short-term basis with 850,000 members around the world. But there's been one thing missing from the carsharing giant's quiver of options: the one-way rental. That changes today. For a select few in Boston, anyway. OneWay's Boston launch is so soft that Zipcar says it's not even sure how much it will charge. Zipcar has announced a new one-way carsharing option called (annoyingly) ONE>WAY. This new program soft launches in Boston today, and it's so soft that Zipcar says it's not even sure how much it will charge drivers who use the new service. What we do know is that OneWay exclusively uses the 2015 Honda Fit and will allow drivers to rent by the half hour as they pick up and drop off in two different locations. The standard Zipcar model requires the cars to be brought back to the original location and has a one-hour minimum. At least one membership fee will cover both standard Zipcar and Zipcar OneWay. The introduction of shorter-term, one-way rental may sound a bit like Car2go, the successful carsharing program started by Daimler. Zipcar representatives told AutoblogGreen that it did develop OneWay in response to member demand and that there are two main differences between the two carsharing services. First, since OneWay still uses the traditional reserved-for-Zipcar parking spot method (new ones will be established for OneWay), there will always be a guaranteed space when you arrive at your destination. Second, the Fit has a lot roomier than the Smart ForTwo used by Car2go. To see this point in action, check out the four happy hipsters in Zipcar's new ad for OneWay below. There are currently other Fits in Zipcar fleets in other cities, but the specially branded vehicles in the Boston trial program will need to be used with the OneWay vehicles. That means, for now at least, that users will specify a pick-up and drop-off location before renting the vehicle, said Kaye Ceille, the president of Zipcar. The 30-minute minimum might also someday be changed, depending on user feedback. There's a lot up in the air right now, but Zipcar did say that despite the fact that OneWay is intended for short trips and has reserved parking, the Fit EV will not be involved. That car simply doesn't offer the cargo flexibility that the standard Fit does and some of the reserved parking spots will be on the street, where putting in a charging station isn't feasible.

Honda finds new Green Path to reduce CO2 emissions

In the wake of the Volkswagen diesel scandal, it's impossible to hear an automaker talk about its overall environmental efforts and not think to yourself, "for real?" Still, we're willing to listen. And Honda representatives gave it their best shot yesterday in Marysville, OH as they introduced a small group of journalist to the company's expanded initiative aimed at cutting CO2 emissions and the total life-cycle environmental impact of Honda products. Called Green Path, the initiative now includes a $210-million expansion at Honda's Marysville, OH manufacturing plant to install a better, cleaner paint shop. Speaking at the facility yesterday, Honda representatives said that the plant room is not only better for the environment (it uses limestone dust instead of water to capture paint particles, for example, reducing water usage by about 2 million gallons annually. Overall, the new paint shop will have 60 percent less VOC emissions and reduce CO2 emissions by 18 percent), it also makes the cars look better. That's whey the two-step temperature curing process will initially only be used on Acuras to differentiate them from the competition. Honda will fire up trials in late 2017. There's more to Green Path than the new paint show, of course. The company wants to reduce - in some cases eliminate - what it calls substances of concern (SOCs), things like lead and mercury. There are also new wind turbines in Ohio to supply power to Honda plants, the Environmental Leadership Program for independent dealerships to make their own green moves, and swapping out fluorescent light bulbs for LEDs, among other efforts. In the Marysville Auto Plant, for example, the Assembly department has over 10,000 task light bulbs. The fluorescent ones used to need to be replaced every three years, but the new LEDs have a life span of 16 years. Honda says that calculating up the impact of all of these little changes will remove an average of 3.822 kilograms of CO2 from the production tally of each car it makes. The company's stated goal is to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent (compared to 2000 levels) by 2050. You can find out more in Honda's press release and video, below. Honda Announces New "Green Path" Initiative to Reduce Total Life-Cycle Environmental Impact MARYSVILLE, Ohio (Sept.

2014 Honda HPD CR-Z

Honda invited us to its Southern California North American headquarters last week to take a spin in a very special CR-Z - one modified with a full complement of Honda Performance Development (HPD) components. While the company has been racing with HPD parts for years, this is the first time the automaker has offered them for its street-legal vehicles, and it has chosen this year's SEMA Show in Las Vegas to be the launch venue. Last year, Honda introduced the HPD Supercharged CR-Z Concept at SEMA - this is the slightly modified production version.
The complete transformation gives the normally placid hybrid hatchback a serious shot of adrenaline thanks to a bolt-on supercharger combined with suspension, tire, brake and exhaust upgrades. In addition to the blower (detailed in a bullet point below), new HPD suspension components lower the car by about half an inch, and firmer spring rates stiffen the ride. Stock 16- or 17-inch wheels are then replaced with HPD 18-inch alloys wrapped in sticky Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires (215/40ZR18 at all corners). The clutch is upgraded, a limited-slip differential is installed and new HPD monobloc four-piston calipers are fitted over slotted and ventilated iron rotors up front (the single-pistons over solid discs on the back axle are unchanged). In the rear, the stock hidden single exhaust pipe is replaced by a free-flow twin-tip exhaust that peers out of a new HPD lower diffuser. Other cosmetic enhancements include an HPD front lip spoiler, rear deck lid spoiler and an HPD emblem kit for each side. To say the CR-Z is transformed by the complete HPD package is an understatement.
Driving Notes