- Mercedes-Benz E250 Bluetec concept
- Fisker S concept
- Chevrolet Volt
- Honda FCX Clarity Fuel-Cell
- BMW X6 Hybrid
- GM/Segway PUMA
- Chrysler 2000 EV
- Toyota Prius
- Mercedes-Benz ML450 Hybrid
- Mercury Milan / Ford Fusion

In a related post, they singled out the top ten cars period:

- Scion iQ Microcar Concept
- Ford Transit Connect Family One Concept
- BMW X6 M
- Acura ZDX Prototype
- 2010 Volkswagen Golf, Golf GTI
- 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee
- 2010 GMC Terrain
- Hyundai Equus
- Volvo XC60
- 2010 Buick LaCrosse

Taken together, it’s an interesting compilation of alternative fuels and form factors. A few two many SUV-esque models for my tastes, but the inclusion of the PUMA a personal transport / neighborhood vehicle concept is stunningly forward thinking.

I have to confess I’m particularly interested by the Ford Transit Connect, which will come over from Europe later this year. I live with a handicapped relative and this baby screams accessibility. It also boasts cellular wireless, 12-inch rear seat displays (10 inch in front) and an RFID locater. It seems an especially good choice for Ford as the company struggles to find the Holy Grail of long-term viability. The look is boxy and futuristic, but the functionality takes the mini van concept up a notch. Very interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing one of these in real life.

Automotive News kinda called it a phone booth on wheels while likening it to a baby stroller. I think it looks more like the bastard love child of a golf cart and a wheelchair. The point is that it’s all electric, will run 35 miles on a charge, and has a top speed of 35 mph, while costing a quarter to a third the price of a conventional vehicle. Not to mention that parking something that small would be just a dream.

(Click here for story with photos.)

They’re testing it out in New York City right now with a complete prototype promised sometime in 2010. Of course working models are going to hit Europe first where public imagination and traffic laws are more receptive to alternative form factors in personal transportation. (Well, that and the fact that the combination of congestion and centuries old narrow streets is pretty common place in Europe.)

Right now, the PUMA looks to be an open cab vehicle with a transparent roof. I predict for the “authorities” to be happy, they’re going to have to enclose the cab a bit more. Of course, if that raises the need for some kind of AC, the price will go up. I really, really like the idea of urban transport, but the only way it will ever fly is for the units to be affordable enough to buy as a second “car.” Bottom line, however? I would LOVE to take this baby for a test drive.

Whereas compacts were once “the” small cars of the day, minicars are rising in popularity, especially for city driving. The need isn’t just to cut emissions, but to get a form factor people can park more easily in crowded environments. If you’ve had the chance to stand by a Smart ForTwo yet — with room to plant corn in the space left in the parking spot — you’ll understand how mini a mini really is.

The Kiyora, still technically a concept, is powered by a four-cylinder, direct-injection engine and utilizes a start-stop system to up fuel efficiency. In Japanese “Kiyora” means clean and pure.

For other Mazda offerings in Paris, be on the look out for new exterior styling on the Mazda MX-5 roadster as well as a Mazda6 with a 2.2-liter turbocharged diesel.

First off, get used to “blue” meaning green:

- BlueMotion from VW
- BlueTec from Mercedes
- Blue Lion from Peugeot

The ten “most wired” autos among the 130 showed at the Geneva motor Show included:

- Maserati’s Gran Turismo
- Rinspeed’s Squba (that’s the submersible we’ve written about before)
- Alfa Romeo’s 8C hardtop coupe
- Zeo Electric Concept from Dodge
- LifeCar from Morgan (a truly lush art deco styling with hydrogen fuel propulsion and a wooden frame)
- PGO Cevennes Turbo (runs on natural gas)
- Pininfarina’s Sintesi (also hydrogen)
- Fisker’s Karma (It’s a plug-in, but $80,000? Ouch!)
- Mitsubishi i-Ev (electric with lithium ion batteries)
- VW’s Golf TDI Hybrid (bio-diesel/electric)

So go already, drool. The future is out there and it looks sweet and . . . blue.

Now here’s an interesting idea in the realm of alternative fuels and combating global warming. It’s sort of the, “We put it in the air, now let’s take it out and use it” approach. The Los Alamos National Laboratory is undertaking a project called Green Freedom to develop a way to take CO2 out of the air and turn it back into fuel for automobiles or airplanes. (Considering our addiction to emissions producing means of transportation, this may rank as the ultimate in renewable energy sources. That is provided it can be made to work.)

According to the first post I saw on Engadget, the process “uses a form of electrochemical separation to siphon juice out of the typically non-partying carbon dioxide, yet has a low environmental impact with a small waste-stream output.” Okay, after a jargon-ectomy, I’m reading — it distills the desired elements from air without producing harmful by-products. (And it will supposedly use existing plants.)

There’s also a write-up at Inhabit or you can go straight to the Los Alamos site. Even if it is just in the developmental stages, the idea gets kudos for thinking outside the box.

Geneva Auto Show

Don’t forget that the Geneva Auto Show opens next week. Some of the vehicles set to debut include:

- Alfa Romeo 8C Spyder
- Audi A4 Avant
- Audi A3 Convertible
- BMW M3 Convertible
- Ford Fiesta 3-door
- Ford Kuga crossover
- Infiniti FX crossover
- Mercedes-Benz SL roadster
- Mercedes-Benz CLS sedan
- Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe
- Toyota iQ minicar
- Toyota Urban cruiser crossover
- Volkswagen Scirocco 3-door
- Volvo XC60 crossover

Also, look for concepts from BMW, Hyundai, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Opel, and Saab — all with the appropriate tinge of eco-friendly green.

Clean burning diesel is all the rage these days. A committee reviewing the old 2001 list of fuel efficient technologies for the NTSA just declared the once maligned fuel as both efficient and worthy of meeting clean air standards.

Personally, when I hear “diesel,” I think “truck,” but the Loremo AG has blown that stereotype all to hell and back. Set to be released in Europe in 2009 and headed to the United States in 2010, the little 2-cylinder turbodiesel beauty has trimmed the fat just about every place it could be trimmed.

And get this, base price when it opens in Europe? $22,000. At an estimated 150 mpg, this one really will pay for itself. (Believe it or not, at the prices I paid for gasoline yesterday, the Loremo is worth about 350 tanks.)

MSN has a nicely thorough write-up complete with exterior and interior photos. Click here.

Give it a look see here:

Okay, we have so much innovation here it’s hard to know where to start. First, the CLEVER isn’t the only vehicle in this genre. The most direct competition comes from the gasoline-powered Carver. Both vehicles have closed cabins with the passenger sitting behind the driver, and both tilt around curves. The Carver, however, is powered by gasoline and has a 600 cc turbocharged, four cylinder engine. That means it has a top seed of 115 mph and does zero to 60 in 8.2 seconds. No word on CLEVER pricing yet but the Carver goes for 27,654 British pounds.Beyond looking like too much fun for words, this genre of vehicle would be super easy to park and absolutely ideal for urban driving conditions. The one issue I could see in the States is the possible need to get yourself a motorcycle license (’cause our legal system tends to get funky where innovation is involved), otherwise, I’d definitely be on-board for one of these babies today.

Volkswagen space up! blue – A four-seater mini mini-van. Fuel cell with an electric motor. Supposedly will appear in 2 to 3 year.

Lincoln MKR – Four-door sedan, 415 hp, twin turbo, 3.5-liter V6. Big question on this one. Can Ford afford to build it?

Chevrolet Camaro convertible – Four passenger. V8. Will arrive late 2009, maybe early 2010.

Mercedes-Benz F700 – Four-passenger, 1-8 liter, four cylinder. Purportedly gets 50 mpg. Iffy as to whether this particular model will be built, but it showcases design influences likely to crop up elsewhere in the Mercedes stable.

Ford Verve – Three-door hatchback. A stylistic direction for Ford to smaller, higher performance vehicles. A version goes on sale in Europe this year, maybe in the U.S. in 2010.

Dodge Demon – Roadster. Two seater. Has been referred to as a poor man’s Viper. Not likely to ever see the light of day outside a car show.

Chevrolet Beat – Three door, hatchback. Tiny, even smaller than the Aveo. Basically, the company hasn’t decided if this one will go forward in the U.S. although something close to the Beat will hit the Korean market in 2010.

Hyundai Genesis coupe – 3.8-liter V6, 300+ hp. Zero to sixty in 6 seconds. Look for this one, maybe under a new name, in 2009 to 2010.

Mazda Taiki – Lots of design themes in this one in terms of drag co-efficient and flowing lines that will influence future motors.

BMW X6 – Four-door SUV, two mode hybrid. This one is dang close to being the production vehicle and it will show up in the dealerships in 2008.

The Furai takes its inspiration from the Le Mans Series race car and has a Courage C65 chassis with a three-rotor, 450 hp engine. The company wants this baby to be green — as in mean and green. The North American director of design for Mazda, Franz von Holzhausen, is quoted in the release saying:

“Furai purposely blurs boundaries that have traditionally distinguished street cars from track cars. Historically, there has been a gap between single-purpose racecars and street-legal models — commonly called supercars — that emulate the real racers on the road. Furai bridges that gap like no car has ever done before.”

We’re also going to see the 2009 Mazda RX-8 and the Mazda Taiki. AutoBlogGreen has kindly reprinted the press release with the additional details. Click here to read.