Joachim Schmidt, global head of sales and marketing for Mercedes, says until batteries get cheaper and lighter, Mercedes will respond to demand for exhaust-free cars (and California clean-car mandates) with small vehicles such as the tiny electric Smart and the compact B-Class, and offer plug-in hybrid versions of its larger models, including the S-class sedan.
Clean Energy is also pursuing car-friendly CNG-dispensing services, and has signed an agreement with Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell to provide market access to all state and local government bodies.
FORBES: Tough Trucking For Natural Gas Vehicles: Can They Make It In The Long Haul?
The restriction drove up the cost of aluminum car components by forcing car makers to implement expensive clean-up systems.
At a huge block of opulent company flats opposite its headquarters, the car-park floors are scrubbed clean every day, and the gardens repeatedly landscaped.
Common exemptions include where a hosepipe is used to clean cars, windows or outdoor surfaces - this covers car washing businesses and window cleaners.
Starting from a clean slate, the concept of a small battery-powered car that could be stacked at various pick-up points around a city took shape.
Traffic cones, road signs, bottles, shoes and an old black and white car registration plate were among the rubbish found in a clean-up of Windermere in the Lake District.
BBC: Windermere clean-up finds traffic cones, signs and shoes
In many communities, car dealers are the most prominent local businesses, supporting everything from neighborhood clean-up drives to local Little League teams.
Honda announced in June that, by 2009, it will market an all-new hybrid vehicle, the company's fourth, and offer a clean diesel passenger car that will likely get 45 miles to the gallon.
Add VPG to the growing list of recent green car failures: Bright Automotive (electric delivery vans) , Carbon Motors (clean diesel-powered police cars), Aptera Motors (three-wheeled electric cars), Coda Automotive (inexpensive electric sedans) and, arguably the most infamous, Fisker Automotive (plug-in hybrid sports cars).
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Little, a consultancy that has investigated the matter, the running costs to a driver of a fuel-cell car that gets its hydrogen from natural gas would be comparable to those of one that used clean petrol.
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