A revolutionary roadtrain system that would allow cars to “drive themselves” as part of a convoy of vehicles on the motorway is set to undergo testing next year.

The EU project, known as Safe Road Trains for the Environment (Sartre), has been co-ordinated with the help of a UK company to develop technology that will allow a “lead” vehicle, such as a bus or taxi, to assume “normal” driving practice, which the pursuing vehicles will then follow. Once formed, the roadtrains will allow drivers to relax behind the wheel in a similar fashion to current cruise control systems, with a navigation system and a transmitter/receiver taking over driving duties until the driver is ready to leave the motorway.

The system has been designed to increase safety and reduce the environmental impact of motorway driving by exploiting the slipstream that is generated by a convoy of vehicles moving at speed. This passageway of “clean” air reduces the overall drag placed on the car, cutting the amount of fuel used over the course of a long journey.

BMW already is preparing for that launch. Its yearlong trial with the Mini E electric car has opened the auto marketer’s eyes to the maze of regulations facing plug-in electric cars.

“We are learning a heck of a lot just about the sheer infrastructure,” says Jim O’Donnell, CEO of BMW of North America. “When we bring out another electric car, we will be in a great position because we know all the wrinkles.”

BMW has 450 Mini E electric cars running in a yearlong trial in metropolitan New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles. There should be more cars on the roads. But after more than six months of addressing regulatory hurdles, Mini has yet to get approval to install more than 30 additional fast-charge boxes in New Jersey. With a 240-volt box, the Mini E can be recharged in three hours rather than the 21 hours needed using 110-volt power.

“If you are in a house with a normal supply and you want to bring a 240-volt [charger], you have to have an agreement from the power utility,” O’Donnell says. “New Jersey is the most difficult because there are so many local authorities.”

An inspector from each municipality has to approve the installation to make sure it complies with local codes. The cost of the box ranges from $1,500 to $1,800. The box had to be approved by Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

What O’Donnell calls “the New Jersey problem” is compounded because “all the components are certified, but they say the system isn’t certified,” he says. A BMW spokesman says the Mini E experience is a prelude to a more widespread launch of electric vehicles. I just gotta get me one of these beauties, maybe when I retire.

Consumer Reports chooses the best cars, trucks and SUVs of the year.

By the Editors of Consumer Reports

Of the more than 300 vehicles we’ve recently tested, our Top Picks are the best all-around choices in their categories. This year’s list includes two new models: The Toyota Highlander is our new pick for midsized SUVs, unseating the Hyundai Santa Fe. And thanks to improved reliability, the Chevrolet Avalanche replaced the Chevrolet Silverado as our choice for pickups.

See more details on all Top Picks below. To see who makes the best cars, best new-car car values, and how to save hundreds on maintenance, go to our annual auto issue hub.

How we choose
Top Picks must meet our criteria in three areas:

• Road tests: Vehicles must rank at or near the top of their categories in our overall road-testscore, which includes more than 50 individual tests and evaluations.
• Reliability: Each must have an average or better predicted-reliability rating, which is based on the problems Consumer Reports subscribers reported for more than 1.4 million vehicles in our latest Annual Auto Survey.
• Safety: Top Picks must perform adequately in overall safety if tested by the government or the insurance industry. (For some models, we do not have enough crash-test data to assign an overall safety rating.) In addition, each must offer electronic stability control (ESC), a proven lifesaving safety feature, as standard equipment or as a readily available option.

Each model’s report card shows its rating in each area, if available. Multiple ratings apply to different versions of a model.

I am a big fan of Consumer Reports and usually check them before making any major purchases.

i Mieva – looks like a tons of fun!

Bentley Continental Supersports – Looks expensive!

The U.S. Geological Survey has some insight into what lies beneath/near/on the Arctic Circle:

1. An estimated 90 billion barrels of recoverable oil
2. Enough oil to supply the WORLD’s needs for nearly 3 years.
3. Maybe 1.670 trillion cubic fee of natural gas
4. About 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil
5. About 30% of the world’s undiscovered natural gas
6. About 20% of the world’s undiscovered natural gas liquids
7. Some 400 oil and gas fields north of the Arctic Circle
8. The home to polar bears already losing their natural habitat to melting of their land
9. A possible cause for a conflict between Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark and the United States who are laying claim to chunks of the huge energy resources.

So, should we go drilling or not? Remember what arthroscopic surgery can do before answering that question.

There are 239 billion green opportunities in China. That is, China is planning on spending Y2 trillion ($239 million) to ensure that renewable energy will account for 15% of the nation’s power by the year 2020. China is the world’s second largest energy user. A country one fourth the size uses more.

Presently, less than 10% of China’s power comes from renewable energy. The government has earmarked Y1.4 trillion from 2006-2010. The U.S. says the clean technology market in China will be about $186 billion in 2010 and grow to $555 billion by 2020. Okay, I lost track of how much money can be made.

Looking for a good business opportunity? Help China become greener. They’ll pay out the gazoo for any good idea you can come up with. The best ideas – clean coal and carbon capture technologies says one expert.

Do you have a green idea?

Japan has pretty much been at the forefront of highspeed train technology since highspeed train technology began existing. And thought it’s a bit of a surprise that they don’t hold the current train speed record, I never doubt that they’ve got new train technology around the corner.

So I’m not surprised that Kawasaki Heavy Industries just announced that they’ll be building a new rail line in Japan that will be faster than the previous record holder, the Shikansen.

The new train has a rather lame name “the Environmentally Friendly Super Express Train” but maybe it sounds cooler in Japanese. That is a pretty accurate assessment though. The train’s top speed will be around 217 miles per hour, achieving that speed with less fuel through use of aerodynamics and light-weight materials. Plus, a regenerative braking system will capture kinetic energy in batteries for later use.

Japan has always had a great rail system, but with 10,000 new miles of track planned for the next 20 years, and these new high-speed trains, it seems they’ll just be getting better.

This press release from the Willie Run ‘08 web site has more information:

Scheduled for departure from Midtown Manhattan on September 22, Nik Bristow and Brian Pierce from Atlanta’s Fitzgerald+CO will embark on “Willie Run ‘08”, the first-ever non-stop, cross-country trek powered entirely by Willie Nelson’s own BioWillie® biodiesel. The two-man team will follow the route of the infamous Cannonball Run and arrive less than 40 hours later in Los Angeles on September 24. They won’t stop for fuel. They won’t stop to go to the bathroom. In fact, excluding driver changes, they won’t stop for anything for almost 3000 miles.

Their vehicle of choice? The “Willie One,” a diesel Volkswagen Jetta with an additional 60 gallons of fuel capacity that, along with the diesel car’s superior fuel economy of approximately 45-50 mpg, will allow it to travel coast-to-coast without a single fuel stop.

Bristow and Pierce have been biodiesel supporters for years and are ardent fans of Willie Nelson. After discovering the BioWillie® brand and linking those two passions, they began developing a relationship with BioWillie® and creating print ads and other marketing concepts on a pro bono basis.

“We’d been working on the BioWillie brand for a while and we were doing some pretty cool stuff. But it occurred to us that we were working with Willie Nelson, the original outlaw of the music industry, so we needed to be doing something outlaw. So we came up with Willie Run ’08,” said Pierce.

There are plenty of questions that come to mind, especially “what about going to the bathroom?” Well, you can find out the answer to that and more in some pretty hilarious videos the guys have posted on their web site: willierun.com.