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events for advanced technology vehicles. This year's competition will be
held in Sacramento, Sonoma and San Francisco, Calif. from Sept. 23-25. Challenge Bibendum features a wide range of environmentally friendly
vehicles from major manufacturers on three continents. This year, key industry speakers will present media briefings on the current strategies, goals and achievements of the industry as well as a global view of the market for advanced technology vehicles and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. In addition to manufacturers, Challenge Bibendum also brings together technology developers, energy providers, universities, government officials, policy makers and opinion leaders to drive, to compete, to discuss and to learn.
Last year, participants demonstrated the driving performance, comfort and safety of advanced technologies including electric, fuel cell, hybrid, gasoline, biofuel, diesel, hydrogen, natural gas and liquid petroleum gas.
For additional registration information, contact John Love of Event Management Corporation at 1-313-449-0106. Media inquiries should be directed to Lynn Mann of Michelin at 1-864-458-4698.
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Commercial Vehicles to be Included at Challenge Bibendum
Michelin announced that competition and testing of commercial vehicles will be included for the first time at the fifth Challenge Bibendum organized by Michelin, September 23-25, 2003, in Sonoma and San Francisco, Calif.
Randy Clark, vice president of marketing, Michelin Americas Truck Tires (MATT), made the announcement of this heavy-duty involvement at the Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) 2003 Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. "Michelin is committed to partnering with its truck and trucking customers to support environmental programs," said Clark. "And any discussion of environmental vehicles must include commercial trucking - which accounts for a tremendous portion of the driving on today's highways."
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"The pollution-free,
environmentally-integrated car of our dreams is on its way. It is up to us
to speed its arrival! Clean air or cars? Easy...both!"
- Edouard Michelin
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Click above to request a complimentary copy of the Challenge Bibendum
book Clean Cars
Now!
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Toyota, Honda Set Pace in AMES Awards
Toyota, General Motors, Ford, Honda and Volkswagen were the leaders in the annual Automotive Market Environmental Superiority (AMES) Awards. Criteria for the four-year-old awards, given by AMES Award LLC and R.L. Polk & Co, is based on a cradle-to-grave concept that includes tailpipe emissions and fuel economy as well as proprietary forecasting technology to develop each vehicle's environmental rating.
For the third year in a row, Toyota won the most awards - 11. GM and Ford each won 10 awards. Honda had the highest percentage of its models (54) recognized with VW next (50 percent). Award winners represent the upper quartile in eight car and nine light truck categories. AMES says that if consumers choose award winners over non-award winners, they annually could save 530 million gallons of fuel and avoid the release of 13 billion pounds of carbon dioxide.
"The paradigm in today's market is that consumers can only make a contribution to environmental sustainability by choosing a hybrid, fuel cell or electric vehicle," said William Mattick, president of AMES Award LLC. "However, the emerging paradigm is that by choosing an environmentally superior vehicle that meets their utility needs, represented by our award winners, consumers can make an important contribution to reduce the potential of global warming and subsequent climate change."
For more information, and a complete list of award winners, contact Todd Krieger or Daniela Petrovich of John Bailey & Associates at (248) 362-4200 or William Mattick of AMES Award LLC at (248) 735-8878.
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Automakers Recommend Phase Out of Leaded Gasoline
Automobile and engine manufacturers recommend the elimination of leaded gasoline on a worldwide basis by 2005, according to an announcement by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
The third edition of the Alliance's World-Wide Fuel Charter calls for the end of leaded gasoline, a known health threat, especially to children. Lead can boost octane, but harms people and damages vehicle emission systems.
To help end the use of lead and other metallic fuel additives, the Alliance has joined the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles that emerged from the World Summit on Sustainable Development, says Josephine S. Cooper, president of the Alliance, a trade association comprised of 10 companies -- BMW, DaimlerChrylser, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen - that account for more than 90 percent of all cars and light trucks sold in the United States (www.autoalliance.org).
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European Parliament Tightens Sulfur Limits for Diesel and Gasoline
As part of an effort to improve air quality across Europe, the European Parliament has agreed to legislation mandating so-called sulfur-free petrol and diesel fuel beginning in 2009. The new regulations would require fuels to have a sulfur content of no more than 10 parts per million.
According to "autotech daily," an automotive technology newsletter, current European standards for sulfur content are 150 ppm for gasoline and 350 ppm for diesel. The U.S. standard for sulfur content in diesel is 500 ppm but that figure drops to 15 ppm in 2006.
For addition information, see the European Parliament's media website:
www.europarl.eu.int
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Challenge Bibendum V
Sonoma and San Francisco,
California, USA
Sept. 23-25, 2003 ...........................................
Media Inquiries:
Lynn Mann: 1-864-458-4698
lynn.mann@us.michelin.com
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Participant And
Sponsorship Inquiries:
John Love: 1-313-449-0106
john@emcpr.com
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Copyright
© 2003
Michelin Photos
Copyright: Michelin/DPPI
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Matra Debuts Environmentally Friendly P75 Concept at Michelin Challenge Design
 The Matra P75 concept vehicle that made its world debut on the show stand at the recent Michelin Challenge Design would be just as at home on the test track at the Michelin Challenge Bibendum. The P75 is an environmentally friendly electric vehicle.
Michelin Challenge Design showcased French design. Matra Automobile (www.matra.com) is a French company that does design, engineering and limited-production manufacturing; for example, it builds the Renault Avantime minivan.
For Challenge Michelin Design, Matra created the P75, a multi-purpose modular urban transport concept. The P75 is a compact multi-purpose vehicle that seats four or can be used as a commercial vehicle.
The P75 is built on a stainless steel chassis and has bodywork made from sheet molded compound material. It is a functioning prototype powered by lithium-ion batteries. The 50-kilowatt electric motor is capable of propelling the P75 to speeds of nearly 90 miles per hour and a range of nearly 125 miles.
Michelin Challenge Design (www.michelinchallengedesign.com) is held in conjunction with the North American International Auto Show at Detroit. In 2004 its focus will be on vehicle designs for China and in 2005 on German automotive design.
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Americans Would Consider "Clean" Diesels
J.D. Power and Associates "Clean Diesel Market Assessment Study" shows that Americans would select a "clean" diesel engine over a hybrid electric for their next vehicle. Such "clean" diesels aren't expected to reach the American auto marketplace for at least three years, but 27 percent of consumers say they would select such an engine. Only 22 percent say they would opt for a hybrid electric. Meanwhile, 51 percent of those surveyed say they would select a gasoline-powered vehicle.
"Clean" diesel preference jumped to 56 percent when consumers were presented with the scenario of gasoline priced at more than $2.50 per gallon. Even in this scenario, hybrids would be selected by only 38 percent of buyers.
"This indicates that clean diesel technology has great potential," said Walter McManus, executive director of global forecasting for J.D. Power and Associates. "The two major challenges automakers face with clean diesel technology is creating awareness and overcoming the negative perceptions many consumers have of diesel. They need to educate consumers on clean diesel technology and show them that it provides cleaner emissions, better fuel economy, and more power, durability and dependability than many of the diesels on the road today."
For more information on the survey, visit the J.D. Power website (www.jdpa.com) or call John Tews at (248) 267-6800 or Michael Greywitt at (805) 418-8000.
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Cities in Asia, U.S. Expand Low-Emission Natural Gas Fleets
Three cities in Asia and Long Beach, Calif., have ordered quieter, low-emission natural gas engines for transit service vehicles and refuse collection trucks. The orders were placed with Cummins Westport Inc., a joint venture of Cummins Inc. of Columbus, Indiana, and Westport Innovations Inc. of Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
The Asian cities ordered 62 engines, both B5.9G-230-horsepower engines and C Gas Plus engines. The engines are due for delivery in March, and follow previous orders from the Chinese cities of Xining, capital of the Qinghai Province, and Beijing. The five Asian cities that have purchased Cummins Westport natural gas engines operate a combined fleet of 35,000 transit buses.
"The transit buses in these five cities alone are equivalent to nearly half the entire U.S. transit fleet," says Cummins Westport president Hugh Foden.
Meanwhile, the city of Long Beach, Calif., has ordered 17 of the 280-horsepower C Gas Plus engines for refuse collection trucks.
"The City of Long Beach has a long-standing tradition of operating greener alternative-fuel vehicles wherever feasible. The C Gas Plus natural gas engine is lightweight and has sufficient torque and horsepower capabilities for our refuse trucks," said Ed Chaffin, superintendent of fleet services for the Dept. of Long Beach Energy.
Long Beach already has 325 heavy- and light-duty natural gas vehicles in its fleet.
For additional information, contact Moira Chicilo of Cummins Westport at (604) 718-2046 or
mchicilo@westport.com or visit the website:
www.cumminswestport.com or Ed Chaffin at (562) 570-5426 or
edchaff@ci.long-beach.ca.us
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Art Imitates Life for Challenge Bibendum Participant Dennis Weaver
 Television actor Dennis Weaver's latest role combines his acting talent and his passion for environmentally friendly vehicles. Weaver's non-profit Institute of Ecolomics entered vehicles in the 2001 Challenge Bibendum.
Impressed by Weaver's efforts on behalf of the planet, Martha Williamson, executive producer of the "Touched by an Angel" television series, had a segment of the show written and cast Weaver in the role of a man who perfects a method to economically produce hydrogen fuel. CBS Production filmed the segment, titled "The Good Earth," in mid-January, with Roma Downey, Della Reese, John Dye and Valerie Bertinelli playing their angel roles. The episode aired on Sat., March 1.
Off-screen, Weaver will lead Drive to Survive 2003, a caravan of non-gasoline powered vehicles from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. in a rally that runs from May 1-14 (www.drivetosurvive.info).
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President Bush Calls for New Hydrogen Vehicle Initiative
"The first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free," President Bush said in his state of the union address.
According to the White House website (www.whitehouse.gov), the President's Freedom Fuel initiative "complements the President's existing FreedomCAR initiative, which is developing technologies needed for mass production of safe and affordable hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. Together, Freedom Fuel and FreedomCAR will develop new vehicle and fuel technologies and the infrastructure needed to make it practical and cost-effective for large numbers of Americans to choose clean, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2020. These initiatives will dramatically improve America's energy security by significantly reducing the need for imported oil. At the same time, these initiatives are key components of the President's clean air and climate change strategies."
In response to the President's speech, the National Hydrogen Association said it "believes the President's proposal to allocate $1.2 billion shows a firm dedication to the development of a hydrogen infrastructure which will be necessary to build a hydrogen economy. The funding is a large step forward for hydrogen as the link between the fossil fuels of today and the clean, self-sufficient energy of tomorrow."
[The National Hydrogen Association's 14th annual Hydrogen Conference and Expo USA is scheduled March 4-6 in Washington, D.C. For information, visit its website:
www.hydrogenconference.org.]
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Dennis Weaver Responds to President's Proposal
"I was surprised," Dennis Weaver said after hearing the President's State of the Union address. "I've been asking several presidents to take that position and I didn't know that one would ever do it in my lifetime.
"That was a remarkable statement he made. I was very guardedly excited about what he said," Weaver added.
"Will the money really be put on the table for the advancement of hydrogen fuel cell technology? We'll have to wait and see," Weaver said. "But certainly he cracked the armor of the petroleum industry in moving toward hydrogen and away from dependence on foreign oil. So I agree in that respect."
Weaver said government subsidies help keep gasoline inexpensive in the United States. "It's so cheap compared to what it costs people in other countries around the world and it's hard to move away from it," Weaver said. "We need to get the same kind of tax breaks and incentives for other fuels."
Dennis Weaver can be contacted through Julian Myers Public Relations at (310) 827-9089.
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