Friends, this is the Exxon-Mobil-Electrovaya Maya 300. My first thought at gazing upon this diminutive electric vehicle, which at least is made out of proper metal (unlike yesterday’s Wike Electric Sun), was that it looked like one of the following. Make a guess and see if you’re right after the jump!

a) a toad’s scrotum
b) a shrunken head covered in phlegm
c) an ill-conceived green transportation idea by a not-green company
d) Ann Coulter’s gallbladder

Where can I sign up?

Hot on the heels of all of the novel incentive programs instituted by major automakers (”We’ll buy back your car if you become unemployed or if your half-brother’s girlfriend doesn’t like the color!”), Valvoline announces their newest program: guaranteeing your engine for 300,000 miles if you use their oil. Make the jump to read all of the juicy details.

Ford hasn’t always been the bold leader of sound automotive judgement that it is today. Though in fairness, most of the god-awful Mustangs listed below were the result of fuel shortages and government regulations, and actually many were sales successes initially. Taking a more zen-like approach let’s remember that without evil or ugliness in the world, true beauty and goodness may not exist either. Nevertheless, to quote Sealab’s Dr. Quinn, “Mistakes were made.” Mistakes indeed. As promised, in Part 2 of a look back at some of the best and worst Mustangs, here are five versions of the ‘Stag that we wish never existed. And actually when WAS the last time you saw a Mustang II on the road?

E10, 10% ethanol, on sale in the US.

A group of ethanol industry representatives has requested that the EPA approve a gasoline blend that increases the ethanol content, up to a possible 15%. This new blend could be called E15, although a lower percentage could be approved. What does this mean for your warranty?

Natural Gas Fueled Honda Civic GX

The future of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles as envisioned by T. Boone Pickens has inched back from oblivion following an announcement that the only producer of CNG refueling technology in America will be acquired by Fuel Systems Solutions.  Though not finalized yet, Fuel Systems Solutions announced yesterday that it has agreed to acquire specific assets and technology for compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling products manufactured by FuelMaker Corporation, a company that Honda had recently forced into bankruptcy.  Honda’s decision was met with a lot of head scratching and conspiracy theories given that the Honda’s own Civic GX is the only vehicle in this country capable of running on CNG. 

America’s Only CNG Vehicle: Honda Civic GX

Confirming many allegations, both here on Ridelust and elsewhere in the industry that Honda has engaged in a series of intentional acts to withhold or stall its compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle program, the company has now put into bankruptcy its CNG refueling company, Fuelmaker.
 

File this under: “It Was Bound To Happen Eventually.”

According to recent reports, panicked consumers who hastily flocked to smart car dealerships in an attempt to escape crushing fuel prices are beginning to come to their senses. With gas hovering back around the manageable $2 mark, there’s no longer any socially acceptable reason to be seen driving a smart car. As aesthetically appealing and crush-proof as a can of tuna fish, sales of the $12,000, 8′ x 8″ smart car spiked last summer when gas prices rose to nearly $5 a gallon. Now, however, many consumers have realized that a combined fuel-consumption average of 36 mpg is not an acceptable excuse for driving perhaps one of the gayest vehicles ever to be engineered in modern history. Thanks to smart’s progressive system that relies almost entirely on individual online ordering as well as the company’s policy to refund 100% of the $99 initial down payment, many customers have simply abandoned their smart plans and left dealers with a significant overstock.

Hawaii is on track to become the first state in the country to have statewide electric car stations. Currently, Hawaii imports foreign oil for almost 90 percent of its energy needs. One-third of that oil is used to power cars and buses on island streets. Hawaii could save more than $2 billion dollars a year just by cutting out oil imports for those cars and buses.

Better Place, a California based company, will build a network of recharging stations and provide recharged batteries for electric cars in the state. The company plans to have the main stations up and running by 2011, and expects to build between 50,000 to 100,000 “charge spots” (plug-in locations for electric cars in parking lots or residential neighborhoods) throughout the state by early 2012. Better Place’s CEO, Shai Agassi, is hoping the new infrastructure will make EVs a viable alternative. But to make this plan a reality, Agassi will need lots of money, and even more political support.

When gas prices were high, every freshman activist was shouting for the heads of oil executives, quoting the profits of ExxonMobil, and talking about the “obvious price gouging” at their dinner parties. But what about now, with gas prices lower than they were through most of the past century (adjusted for inflation)? Are consumers ripping off the oil companies now? Of course not, no one was ever gouging anyone, because prices aren’t determined by historical cost, they’re determined by supply and demand. Meaning it doesn’t matter what something used to cost, only what the demand is and how much there is of it. Historical cost never matters.

Gas prices were high because people were buying a lot of it. And now they’ve dropped like a rock because less people were driving and buying gas. In fact, Americans drove 4.4% less in September than they did during the same period last year, that equals 10.7 billion fewer miles. That’s why gas prices have fallen so sharply, and it illustrates how the market works.

Every year, the New Oxford American Dictionary makes a major announcement, it officially crowns the new Word Of The Year. I can imagine the entire New Oxford staff excitedly gathered around the editors desk with paper streamers and noisemakers ready to hear this years winner. It’s a big deal in the dictionary scene, or at least that’s how I imagine it. This year’s word: Hypermiling

This past year we had the summer of $4 dollar gas. American drivers were totally flabbergasted at the pumps. Americans are used to driving around 6,000 pound SUVs, and now those people were paying for gas with a roll of hundred dollar bills. People re-arranged their schedules and lifestyles to better suit their gas mileage. Barack Obama even suggested his convoy keep their tires properly inflated while on the campaign trail. It was a shocking experience, and that shock will forever be remembered in our dictionaries.