Speaking of the centennial celebration of the Ford Model T, Lawrence Tech and the U of M-Dearborn are two of five universities worldwide that Ford Motor Company has selected for a new competition called the Ford Model T University Challenge.
An international contest — which also includes undergrad and graduate participants from Aachen University in Germany; Art Center College of Design in California; and Deakin University in Australia; — the goal of each school in the competition is to design a 21st century vehicle that will recapture the attributes that made Henry Ford’s Model T the revolutionary automobile it was - simple, lightweight, practical, compelling and inexpensive.
[ Read more ]
On Monday, Detroit, Michigan, and the rest of the country kicked off the 2008 edition of National Transportation Week (NTW). Running from May 11 - 17, Detroit is the host city of this annual transportation industry hurrah for the second consecutive year.
Sure, NTW was a great success in Detroit in 2007, but this year’s celebration is extra-special because it also marks the start of “2008: Year of the Car,” a summer-long festival in Southeast Michigan designed to celebrate 100 years of General Motors and Ford’s Model T. More than 120 auto-themed activities are planned for the region through early October. [ Read more ]
Have an older car that you wish could run on E85 instead of regular gasoline?
Thanks to Detroit-based Metropolitan Alternative Energy Incorporated, you no longer need that fancy FlexFuel badge to fill up with ethanol.
Instead, all you need to do is purchase one of Metropolitan Alternative Energy’s E85 conversion kits, which range from the mid-$200s to about $800. The conversion kits are available for everything from four-, six- and eight-cylinder autos to RVs, motorcycles and more. [ Read more ]
National Transportation Week is just around the corner, and you’d be hard-pressed to find an area with transit on the brain more than metro Detroit. There are plenty of events scheduled for this special week — which runs nationwide from May 11 - 18 — including “The Future of Transportation in Southeast Michigan”, a business breakfast in metro Detroit on Thursday, May 15.
[ Read more ]
This summer’s much-anticipated Rothbury Festival isn’t the only big name Michigan event going green this year; the Detroit Grand Prix plans to feature some eco-friendly initiatives of its own when it returns to Belle Isle this August 29 - 31
According to WWJ’s Great Lakes IT Report, “all of the exotic sport cars in the series compete on either diesel fuel or E10 or E85 ethanol blends. In addition, the series will host a Green Racing Challenge among its competitors later this year rewarding teams on overall performance as well as fuel efficiency and ecological impact.” [ Read more ]
GM has released some new information about the release of the Chevrolet Volt. One of the first electric cars to be built in Detroit since the Detroit Electric, this will definitely be one of the biggest launches Detroit has seen in a long time. Here is an update on the development of the electric-powered car.
The biggest news on the Volt’s development thus far is that engineers have come up with an algorithm for testing the durability of the batteries that can simulate 10 years of use — 150,000 miles — in just over two years of testing. Tests using the new algorithm are now going on around the clock in Detroit and Germany. [ Read more ]
What is Michigan doing to develop new green technologies? How is the state thinking differently about the environment?
Those two questions and a slew of others related to the future of the Great Lakes State and its proposed green-energy economy will be addressed at a special conference at Wayne State University on April 22.
Presented by WWJ and the University Research Corridor, “Embracing A Green Michigan - Carbon Culture at The Crossroads”, will feature two panel discussions exploring concepts like the public policies that will be needed at the federal, state and local government levels to create a bioeconomy, and the challenges of changing public behavior and habits to support new energy and environmental technologies. [ Read more ]
When rain falls upon the Lansing, Mich., plant where Saturn Corp. builds one of its models, they do something pretty noteworthy with the rainwater. They recycle it.
Jill Lajdziak is rather proud. As the general manager and top executive of General Motors’ Saturn division, she cites the recycling as an important example — but just one — of the company’s overall approach to sustainability. [ Read more ]
Our friends at Environment Michigan offer 10 action steps to grow a greener Michigan at home and in Lansing. Five for fighting… five for living. [ Read more ]
Travelers will soon move between Detroit Metro terminals on environmentally-friendly shuttle buses. Cheapflights reports of a recent announcement to bring two of Ford’s hydrogen-powered H2ICE buses to DTW. “The buses offer a clean, green method of transport and will help to reduce carbon emissions by 99.7 percent, compared to regular gasoline-powered vehicles.”
Powered by a pump in nearby Taylor, the vehicles are also in place at Ottawa’s Parliament Hill. In addition to the immediate environmental benefit, use of the new shuttles will also provide valuable real-world experience as research of alternative fuels continues. AutoblogGreen has a more detailed report.
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