Volkswagen brings the fun: Giant piano stairs and other ‘Fun Theory’ marketing

If stairs played musical notes when you walked on them, would you be more likely to take them?

The video of people skipping the escalator in favor of composing music on the piano stairs of Odenplan subway station in Stockholm, Sweden, has been viewed more than 2.5 million times on YouTube. (Watch it above in the embedded player.)

The video is part of a new viral marketing campaign called “The Fun Theory.” The concept, created by Volkswagen Sweden and ad agency DDB Stockholm, is based on the idea that “fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better.”

Another campaign video shows people picking up trash off the ground in a park just to hear “The World’s Deepest Bin,” a regular trash can wired with motion-activated depth sound effects.

The goal with these fun, do-good videos is to promote VW’s new environmentally friendly BlueMotionTechnologies brand in an increasingly more competitive eco-car market.

“As traditional advertising is becoming less effective, and the competition in the market for environmentally sound cars is becoming more fierce, we believed we needed a more innovative approach to draw attention to BlueMotion,” DDB Stockholm deputy manager Lars Axelsson said in an e-mail.

Green Car of the Year finalists announced for L.A. Auto Show

Diesels and hybrids dominate the roster of finalists for the 2010 Green Car of the Year award, which will be presented at the L.A. Auto Show in December.

The Audi A3 TDI, Honda Insight, Mercury Milan Hybrid, Toyota Prius and Volkswagen Golf TDI will be vying for the annual Green Car award, which is sponsored by Green Car Journal magazine. The winner will be announced Dec. 3.

The award's aim is to recognize vehicles available in dealer showrooms -- as opposed to experimental or concept vehicles -- that achieve "environmental leadership in the automotive field."

The winner is ultimately decided by jurors such as Jay Leno, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Carroll Shelby, Matt Petersen of Global Green USA and the Sierra Club's Carl Pope, along with Green Car Journal editors. Last year's winner was the Volkswagen Jetta TDI.

"We're seeing the trend for 'green' cars emerging at all levels, from entry-level cars to luxury models, and even performance cars and SUVs/crossovers," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com.

"Plus, an array of technologies and fuels as well as strategies like lightweighting and reducing rolling resistance are being applied to the challenge. Greater choice provides buyers a personal stake in lessening environmental impact, and that's important."

This year's finalists reflect this diversity. For the first time, an Audi makes the final five with its sporty A3 TDI clean diesel. Volkswagen's new Golf TDI shows an expanding focus on clean diesel technology in the VW lineup. The Insight is a completely new hybrid sedan for Honda, and the 2010 Toyota Prius is a totally redesigned, third-generation version of this popular hybrid model. The Milan Hybrid is Mercury's application of its advanced-hybrid technology in an upscale, mid-size car.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Photo: Volkswagen President Stefan Jacoby is the center of attention after the Jetta TDI was awarded the 2009 Green Car of the Year last November at the L.A. Convention Center. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Rush Limbaugh and Drew Barrymore take Jay Leno's Green Car Challenge

Because Jay Leno is on every weeknight now, he needs something besides his charming wit and sharp humor to keep us all entertained. Enter: the Green Car Challenge.

So far, the competitors have been a driver's license-less Drew Barrymore (watch the video on Hulu) and Rush Limbaugh, who was his usual sunshiny and smiley self, particularly as he backed up the electric Focus to run over Al Gore’s cardboard cutout one more time. Watch the road rage for yourself in the video above.

In August, we wrote about NBC’s new nightly “The Jay Leno Show” and its Green Car Challenge segment. In the feature, a celebrity guest climbs behind the wheel of an electric Ford Focus ST and races around the track for two laps in the back lot behind Leno’s soundstage, competing against other guest celebrities’ times.

The first lap of the challenge is an ordinary, unobstructed race lap, but the second adds dangling cardboard cutouts of environmentalist gurus Al Gore and Ed Begley Jr., who are to be avoided if the driver doesn’t want a 1-second penalty. Ping-pong balls and party streamers are also launched at the car in the second lap, in hopes of slowing the driver down.

According to Autoblog, the show, which premiered Sept. 14, uses no ordinary Focus. Shipped to Dearborn, Mich., for six weeks of makeovers, Leno’s bright orange electric Focus boasts added Recaro racing seats, a full roll cage and a five-point racing harness. It weighs in at 3,421 pounds, mostly due to its 98 air-cooled, 60 Ah lithium ion batteries.

-- Kelsey Ramos

Video: Rush Limbaugh takes the Green Car Challenge on “The Jay Leno Show.” Credit: Hulu.

DOE loans Fisker Automotive $530 million to build two plug-in hybrids

In its latest bid to help finance the car of tomorrow, the Obama administration said it would lend more than $500 million to Irvine-based Fisker Automotive Inc. to develop a pair of plug-in hybrids.

The loans, announced today, come from a $25-billion Department of Energy program to fund development of alternative vehicles. According to the administration, the loans will help create or save 5,000 jobs at Fisker and at suppliers to the vehicles.

The $528.7-million low-interest loan "is another critical step in making sure we are positioned to compete for the clean energy jobs of the future," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Over the summer, the DOE loaned $8 billion to a variety of automakers and suppliers under the same program.

The loans to Fisker are sure to spur the rivalry between it and Tesla Motors Inc., maker of a $109,000 all-electric sports coupe called the Roadster. Tesla, based in San Carlos, Calif., was awarded $465 million in DOE loans, primarily to build its second all-electric car, a sub-$50,000 sedan, in the Golden State.

For its part, Fisker plans to use $169.3 million of the loan to finish development and production of its $87,900 plug-in hybrid sedan, the Karma, which is due out next summer.

Mazda's RX-8 Hydrogen RE burns hydrogen like it's gasoline

Outside of Norway -- which remains relentless in its pursuit of developing a viable hydrogen infrastructure -- hydrogen-powered vehicles aren't of too much concern to the public. After all, a car that can't be refueled wouldn't sit too well in the "good investments" column, and hydrogen stations aren't just going to pop up at every local fill-up overnight.

Most hydrogen cars run on fuel cells, which are nifty devices that turn hydrogen into electricity through a process of complex chemical reactions, only emitting Green Party-approved H20 as a byproduct. They essentially run like electric cars. So in other words they are, for the most part, quiet, well-mannered and slightly yawn-inducing.

Last week, however, we drove a hydrogen car that genuine gearheads might actually approve of. It was Mazda's RX-8 Hydrogen RE, and what makes it unique is that it makes power through the combustion of hydrogen. As a result, it drives and sounds like a normal sports car.

Well, almost. With only around 110 horsepower, calling it fast would be like calling a Motel 6 luxurious, but all the right characteristics are there. The real genius part of the design is that the engine can actually run on gasoline and hydrogen. A two-second press of a button -- which can be done while driving -- switches the car from hydrogen to gasoline propulsion. Once brought to a stop it can be switched back to hydrogen, simple as that.

Insight vs. Prius battle heats up

 Head to the movies this summer and you’re going to see some battles.  Harry Potter vs. Lord Voldemort.  John Connor vs. angry motorcycles.  Mr. Spock vs. true fans.  But one more battle is shaping up to be a knock-down, drag-out slugfest:  the battle between Honda’s 2010 Insight and Toyota’s 2010 Prius.

Back in March, Honda struck first when it announced the pricing on its little eco-baby: $20,470.  It was a clear shot across the bow of Toyota, whose own green darling (the third-generation Prius) hits U.S. and Japanese dealers in a week or so, with a starting price of $22,750. 

Ostensibly, Honda’s bargain-bin pricing shook Toyota up a bit. 

Honda Insights -- both old and new -- celebrate Earth Day in Anaheim

American Honda Motors celebrated Earth Day at the Honda Center in Anaheim with a multi-sponsored festival, a Honda Insight (the old one) “homecoming” and a public ride-and-drive of the 2010 Honda Insight that recently went on sale.

Although only about 40 of the older hybrids showed up to the event, Honda spokesmanKurt Antonious mentioned that a few owners traveled thousands of miles to be there for the “Homecoming.” “I’m amazed with how far people have come to join us today… .One drove all the way from New Jersey.”

On hand for the green event was hypermiler Wayne Gerdes of Wadsworth, Ill., -- the man who laid claim to coining the term “hypermiler” to describe a driver who gets the maximum mpg with sometimes extreme driving habits. Wayne, who runs the online forum, Cleanmpg.com, said he first posted the term on a popular autos forum just after Sept. 11.

Expert panel tries to guess the automobile's future

What is the future of the car and what will be different in 2020? Last week, at the New York International Auto Show, three participants in a Newsweek Executive Forum tried to answer that question. The panel consisted of Henrik Fisker, chief executive of Fisker Automotive Inc., Lou Rhodes, vice president for advanced vehicle engineering for Chrysler and Kevin Smith, editorial director of Edmunds.com.

Fisker said his company was on track to sell its electric vehicle this fall. He promised the car would deliver 100 mpg for most users and that it would have true mass-market potential.

When Newsweek senior editor and moderator Daniel Lyons asked what we’ll be driving in 2020, Fisker said, “You’re going to be driving a Fisker.... We will have plug-in hybrids that cost $20,000. And at least one-half of the vehicles in each niche will be hybrids.”

He also said, “What’s going to change is the way we generate electricity in this country. People will be able to drive in the cities, people will be able to drive only in electric mode."

This coming from a company with prices that will start in the $80,000 range, was an interesting viewpoint.  “The car industry," Fisker said, "has to reinvent itself and it has to happen now. We can do it because we start from a clean sheet of paper.” He said the company had raised an additional $85 million in venture capital money.

Chrysler's Rhodes has an unusual distinction. He raced in an ENVI electric car against the Dodge Challenger and won.

Back-to-back hybrid smack: Insight vs. Prius

 

In the handful of people who might actually enjoy seeing gasoline return to $4 a gallon, let's include marketing managers for the 2010 Honda Insight (shown left) and 2010 Toyota Prius (shown right), a pair of all-new hybrids set to do battle this spring. They'll be successful with gas at $2 a gallon, but they'd likely be smash hits if gasoline prices go back up.

Though both names are familiar, these are two new cars. The Honda Insight introduced gasoline-electric hybrids to the U.S. market in 1999, but that car was a little hot dog-shaped two-seater that never sold in big volume. Toyota was a little later to the hybrid party with the Prius, but it was a four-door with a usable rear seat, and it became a far bigger hit than the Insight. It still sells well - the Prius accounts for more than half the hybrid cars sold in the U.S.
  
For 2010, the Insight is back, but it's an entirely different car - in fact, the resemblance to the Prius is undeniable. It's a four-door hatchback with room for five, powered by a 1.3-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, aided by an electric motor.
  
The 2010 Prius is slightly larger than the 2009 model it replaces, and is classified by the EPA as a "midsize" car, while the Insight is a "compact." Really, the difference in interior space is not that noticeable. The Prius' 1.5-liter four-cylinder gas engine is now 1.8 liters, and while the basic hybrid battery pack is essentially the same as in 2009, the rest of the drive system is, Toyota says, 90 percent new.
 
Here are the dueling hybrids in a nutshell:

Countdown to new Prius -- 60 days and counting

 
Toyota announced today during a monthly sales call that its new 2010 Prius will be available in dealerships at the end of May.

The car, recently reviewed by L.A. Times auto critic Dan Neil, features much-lauded improvements and refinements in nearly every area. An increased wheelbase, improved aerodynamics, more legroom, a larger engine and the much talked about feature of three driving modes -- EV, Power and Eco.

Toyota said pricing would not be released until mid-April and also did not comment on whether pricing would be reduced to compete with the upcoming Honda Insight hybrid, which has been announced at less than $20,000.

-- Joni Gray

Photo: Toyota