Advanced Vehicles and Sustainable Design

I’ve witnessed the advanced technology vehicle field unfold for some time, since my days as a freelancer when I drove the Die-Hard electric car that Sears fielded in response to the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, to my years at Motor Trend when my attention was drawn to electric and alternative fuel vehicles. That early interest spurred the launch of Green Car Journal as a newsletter in 1992. There was a lot to say then, as there is now. But the pace has certainly quickened.

Green Car Journal’s Winter 2006 issue is a reflection of that pace. In it, readers will find Green Car editors’ behind-the-wheel reports on two hydrogen fuel cell concepts from GM and Honda that drive just like conventional vehicles. Then there’s our review of a hydrogen internal combustion BMW sedan we took for a spin on the autobahn, and the advanced Mercedes-Benz BLUETEC diesel we put through its paces on desert roads in Nevada. Driving a near-zero emission gasoline sedan is also a seamless and satisfying experience, as noted in our long-term test updates in this issue. If you’re in the market for an ethanol powered sedan, pickup, or SUV and live in a state where these are available, you can pick from the 30 models showcased in our guide to E85 vehicles.

We detail our experience with two hybrid SUVs and also name a new hybrid the 2007 Green Car of the Year, which Green Car Journal editors picked along with the leaders of the country’s major environmental groups, and of course our good friend Carroll Shelby. Other pages carry news of electric-drive concepts, coming plug-in hybrids, and more clean diesel models in the pipeline. There’s a lot going on.

An integral part of Green Car Journal’s mission is to educate consumers, political leaders, and the media on the importance of more technologically advanced, environmentally positive vehicles of all types. We do this through the magazine and Green Car Journal Online. Increasingly, we are also doing this by hosting ride-and-drives of advanced vehicles that allow media and consumers to experience these vehicles on the highway, at venues like the Sierra Club’s National Convention, the Society of Environmental Journalists Annual Conference, and the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Our latest effort, at Art Center College of Design’s Designing for Sustainability summit in Southern California, enabled designers, educators, and others involved in shaping the future of automotive design to personally experience the latest advanced vehicles of today, and those coming soon, on public roads. Combining vision with hands-on experience is a powerful tool.

Art Center’s summit represents an important step forward toward a more sustainable future. While it’s crucial to build vehicles with lower emissions, higher efficiencies, and the ability to run on cleaner and more sustainable fuels, it’s also vitally important to aim toward sustainability early by integrating environmental imperatives in the design process. Volvo started this years ago with its Environmental Priorities System, but the process is not widespread in the auto industry. That needs to change.