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InvestorIdeas.com Green Investor Portals -- Consumer Choices in Green Cars; Hybrids, Electric, Biofuels and Fuel Cells
Do Consumers Have to Compromise Performance to Go Green?
| Source: InvestorIdeas.com, ZAP
POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 14, 2007 -- InvestorIdeas.com green
investor portals report on choices and trends in green cars including
Hybrids, Electric, Biofuels, and Fuel Cell cars. As green and ethical
consumerism grows to become a global phenomenon, InvestorIdeas.com
discusses options and choices available and underway posing the question --
Are there enough choices and incentives to create the shift? Electric Car
Manufacturer ZAP (OTCBB : ZAAP ) and R.L. Evans, Director Clean Energy
Research Centre, University of British Columbia, help to provide insight
into the highways of the future.
At the recent Hydrogen & Fuel Cells 2007Conference held in Vancouver, B.C.,
Bill Reinert, National Manager TMS Advanced Technologies Group, Toyota
Motor Company discussed that, "By 2040, based on the current growth, there
will be 2-3 billion cars on the road, up from current numbers of 1 billion,
creating environmental problems 4 to 5 times of what they are today." The
projected numbers of population and vehicle growth provide compelling
motivation for change.
Consumers looking for green and environmentally friendly automotive choices
available in the market today can visit Yahoo! Autos Green Rating and
search the Top 100 Cars by Green Rating, developed in consultation with
Environmental Defense (http://www.environmentaldefense.org). Users can
browse through available options in Hybrid - Electric cars, Ethanol cars,
Diesel - Biodiesel cars, Natural Gas cars and fuel efficient cars. The
rating measures the vehicle's environmental friendliness from 1 to 100 with
the higher a vehicle's Green Rating, the "greener" it is and the lower its
harm to both human health and the planet.
For consumers looking at electric cars, industry players ZAP (OTCBB : ZAAP )
and GM with the GM Volt offer both performance and efficiency in the near
future.
ZAP, who has been in the electric car market since 1994, has a full line of
competitively priced electric vehicles from A to Z ranging from electric
scooters, electric ATVs and electric cars and trucks. ZAP is also working
with Lotus Engineering to create the ZAP-X
(http://www.zapworld.com/ZAPWorld.aspx?id=4560) utilizing the award-winning
APX lightweight aluminium architecture design to achieve unprecedented
levels of performance and utility for electric cars. An advanced battery
system will enable the car to travel a range up to 350 miles between
charges, with a rapid charge technology that can recharge the batteries in
as little as 10 minutes.
"Thanks to the support our shareholders, with the only series city class
electric car in production, ZAP is now uniquely positioned to maximize the
current demand due to rising gas prices and concerns of global warming.
Priced at around $10,000, electric cars can now not only save the
environment, they can save you money," commented ZAP's Chairman of the
Board, Gary Starr.
GM's Chevrolet Volt, unveiled at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, is anticipated
to hit the roads by 2010. The Volt is projected to have a charge time of
6.5 hours featuring 40 miles on just the battery alone with a 640 mile
range on a full tank of gas. GM is also offering a green mix of automotive
choices with E85 vehicles, Hybrids and is working on Fuel Cell Cars for the
future.
In a white paper presented at a joint ASME and ATI meeting in Milan last
year titled "HYDROGEN ECONOMY OR ELECTRICITY ECONOMY?" R.L. Evans, Director
Clean Energy Research Centre, the University of British Columbia offers his
vision of the roads of the future in his Transportation Case Study.
Excerpt from Paper:
"The successful development and introduction into the marketplace of the
'Plug-in hybrid vehicle' would mark the beginnings of a significant new
transportation Paradigm, eliminating the need for road vehicles to use
petroleum fuels, at least for the Majority of miles traveled. If
electricity were to be generated primarily from sustainable Primary energy
sources, then road transportation would also become sustainable and would
result in an 'Electricity Economy', rather than a 'Hydrogen Economy'.
"Much of the development work on batteries has been driven by the
successful introduction in the last few years of hybrid electric vehicles
(or HEV's). Hybrid vehicles have been very successfully introduced into the
market, initially in compact cars, but the technology is now spreading to
larger cars and sport utility vehicles where the benefit of much greater
fuel economy will be particularly welcome."
Consumers can catch up on what is available in new Hybrids for 2007 by
visiting the Government web site FuelEconomy.Gov --
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/hybrid_news.shtml. The 2008 Ford Escape
Hybrid currently being promoted offers additional features such as a 12
percent reduction in noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) levels inside the
vehicle and has seating surfaces made from 100 percent post-industrial
materials.
Luxury auto manufactures see the need to offer performance as well as
address environmental concerns and there are several available and in the
pipeline for brand conscious consumers. Mercedes-Benz's Bluetec system in a
new line of diesel-engines reduces emissions but offer drivers 700+ miles
on a single tank of gas. BMW has turned green with the new Hydrogen 7, but
it is not currently available to the general public.
In addition to the work with ZAP and the electric cars, Lotus has entered
the biofuels market with the Lotus Exige 265E running on E85 with a 264
horsepower with 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds -- no compromise for going
green. Biofuels, while offering a green alternative however are projected
to never be able to meet the capacity of the growing global auto market.
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Visit our growing list of participating public companies in the
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About ZAP
ZAP has been a leader in advanced transportation technologies since 1994,
delivering over 90,000 vehicles to consumers in more than 75 countries. At
the forefront of fuel-efficient transportation with new technologies
including energy efficient gas systems, hydrogen, electric, fuel cell,
ethanol, hybrid and other innovative power systems, ZAP is developing a
high-performance crossover SUV electric car concept called ZAP-X engineered
by Lotus Engineering. The Company recently launched a new portable energy
technology that manages power for mobile electronics, like cell phones and
laptops. For more product, dealer and investor information, visit
http://www.renewableenergystocks.com/CO/ZAAP/Default.asp or
http://www.zapworld.com
ZAP is a featured Company on RenewableEnergyStocks.com,
TechSectorStocks.com and EnvironmentStocks.com and compensates the portals
as disclosed in disclaimer below.
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Our sites do not make recommendations, but offer information portals to
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relating to featured companies is sourced from public documents and/ or the
company and is not the opinion of our web sites. These sites are currently
compensated by its "featured companies." ZAP (OTCBB : ZAAP ) pays Two
thousand five hundred per month equivalent in shares for one year
commencing Nov 2006, discounted as a courtesy to previous sponsorship of
the InvestorIdeas Greentech contest.