• U.S. court orders NHTSA to draft tougher CAFE rules
• Shanghai Challenge Bibendum featured Venturi Eclectic with solar & wind battery charging
• Mark Deans appointed Motorsport Director, Ford of Europe

A federal appeals court rejected the U.S. National Highway Transport Safety Administration’s corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) rules for 2008-2011 model years on 15 November, a week after California announced that it was suing the Environmental Protection Agency for not granting a waiver from federal regulations for its tailpipe CO2 reducing state legislation.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favour of California, 10 other states, two U.S. city authorities and four environmental groups whose suit alleged that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had failed to address why ‘light trucks’ – pickups and SUVs – should be granted higher maximum fuel consumption limits than passenger cars, and that the NHTSA did not adequately didn't assess vehicular greenhouse gas emissions. ‘Trucks’ were originally given separate status from cars decades ago when pickups were predominantly used by farmers, but they now account for over half the U.S. light vehicle market.

The CAFE standards now rejected by the court, introduced in March 2006, required light trucks weighing less than 8,500 lbs (some large U.S.-market SUVs and pickups weigh more) to achieve 23.5 mpg by 2010, up from 22.5 mpg in 2008. Passenger cars were required to meet a 27.5 mpg average, and some light trucks a target of 28.4 mpg. The rules, which brought over-8,500 lb SUVs into the mpg net from 2011, were expected by the then U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to save the country 10.7bn gallons of fuel.

As a federal agency, the NHTSA has not officially responded to the court’s verdict, but is currently seeking new and updated information regarding vehicle manufacturers’ future product plans, “To aid in implementing the President’s plan for reforming and increasing corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for passenger cars and further increasing the already reformed light truck standards for model year 2010- 2017 passenger cars and in anticipation of setting standards for MY 2012-2017 light trucks”. The U.S. Justice Department is reported to be reviewing the court’s decision.

The court ordered new fuel economy rules to be drawn up without delay, but Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers CEO Dave McCurdy, representing GM, Ford and Chrysler, said in a release: "Announced more than 19 months ago the MY 2008-2011 light truck fuel economy rule represented the largest fuel economy increase in the history of the CAFE program. It has become the basis for product planning through 2011. Any further changes to the program would only delay the progress that manufacturers have made towards increasing fleet wide fuel economy.”

- GM’s Chevrolet Tahoe eight-seater SUV which goes on sale next year won Green Car Journal’s ‘Green Car of the Year’ award on 15 November at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It will be GM’s first vehicle to deploy the hybrid powertrain jointly developed with BMW and Daimler. The vehicle achieves 21 mpg (urban) and 22 mpg (highway), representing a 30% improvement over the gasoline-only Tahoe, and equaling the U.S. Toyota Camry’s urban cycle fuel consumption.

Last week’s Michelin-sponsored Challenge Bibendum environmental car event in Shanghai featured among around 80 entrants the Venturi Eclectic, a three-seater buggy-type battery-electric car featuring a roof clad in 2.5 m2 of solar panels and a small wind turbine to supplement plug-in battery recharges. A day of exposure to sunlight can provide power for up to 7km of travel.Fitted with liquid-cooled NiMH batteries, the Eclectic promises a range of up to 30 miles at 30mph.

The vehicle is the brainchild of the Monaco-based Venturi, which is owned by entrepreneur and former competition driver Gildo Pallanca. Before he acquired the firm in 2001, it was a specialist sports-racing car manufacturer based in the Loire region of France.

The Eclectic was featured in an innovations review in Time magazine (19 November), besides a battery-electric hub motor-driven two-seater designed for urban and airport parking systems to stack like supermarket trolleys, from MIT’s Media Lab; a ‘Trek Lime’ bicycle with automatic three-speed transmission; steam-injected petrol engines in prototype from a retired U.S. racing driver called Bruce Crower (www.crower.com); and the French company MDI’s compressed air car, which is being developed by Tata Motors.

- PSA Peugeot Citroën entered the Peugeot 307 Hybride HDi – a vehicle that emits 74g/km of CO2 thanks to the use of B30 fuel (30% biodiesel/diesel) – at this month’s Challenge Bibendum.

(www.venturi.fr)

Ford of Europe says it is strengthening its commitment to both Motorsport and performance vehicles with the creation of two separate leadership roles. Mark Deans is appointed to the newly-created position of Motorsport Director, and Jost Capito becomes Vehicle Line Director for Ford Performance Vehicles, within Ford of Europe's product development team.

Mark Deans will work alongside Malcolm Wilson, BP-Ford Team Director and owner of M-Sport, Ford's partner for its main motorsport activity, the FIA World Rally Championship. In addition to the WRC, Deans will be also responsible for developing other motorsport activities such as Formula Ford, through extended advertising, sales promotion, sponsorship and merchandising programmes. He will report to Stephen Odell, Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Service, and to Ian Slater, Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs for Ford of Europe.

Deans was manager of Ford’s European motorsport programmes between 1985 and 1989, based at Boreham, the company's former rallying HQ.