PiCycle brings high style to the eco-commute

Electric bicycles occupy a strange vehicular netherland. Outfitted with pedals and other low-speed components, they’re more bicycle than motorcycle. But their motors prompt scorn among cycling purists, and their relatively high cost makes them a hard sell for the masses. Powered but not especially powerful, these bicycles-that-aren’t-really-bicycles occupy a niche within a niche, appealing to an already small minority within the country’s huge bicycling population – those who use their two wheels to commute rather than recreate.

The very word "commuting" is as unsexy as sanitation work, which makes something like the new PiCycle that much more intriguing. It’s a commuter-oriented electric bicycle that values style as much as substance. An exceptional art piece that is both practical and affordable, it almost requires its own category.

The PiCycle is the second iteration of an electric bicycle called the Pi, which was introduced two years ago with a price tag as highfalutin as its name. The Pi costs $7,500, which helps explain why just 40 of these arched, Ayn Randian anomalies have been sold. The new PiCycle costs one-third as much.

That’s right. It’s now $2,500.

Mercedes-Benz diesels -- the new celebs’ choice

It’s hard to say which is the bigger story here. Whether it’s the possibility that the Toyota Prius might soon be unseated as the cool wheels among Hollywood’s young elite, or that -- in a town obsessed with youth -- actor Naomi Watts admits to being 40.

Watts was given a Mercedes-Benz ML 320 Bluetec SUV recently by her beau, Liev Schreiber, at a party celebrating the big four-oh. And while “Celeb drives upmarket Euro car” might not be much of a headline, the “Bluetec” in the name points to a significant shift. This is M-B’s latest clean diesel technology and its oh-so-faint clatter is appealing to the ears of many of the young (-ish) and talented (-ish).

Next time Watts stops at the diesel pump, she could well bump into Kyle “Desperate Housewives” MacLachlan, Kim “Sex and the City” Catrall, Gary Oldman or Emmy “Phantom of the Opera” Rossum, all of whom drive M-B Bluetec cars. Ms. Rossum (pictured) is eager to sing her machine’s praises: “My ML320 Bluetec has all the power and luxury you’d expect of a Mercedes-Benz, plus the efficiency and low environmental impact of an economy or even a hybrid vehicle.”

It seems the music world has also found a new definition of the Blues. Pop star Gwen Stefani drives a Bluetec-equipped Benz, and singer/songwriter Alanis Morisette put an E320 Bluetec sedan in the video for her new song “Underneath.” “I’m glad Mercedes-Benz has introduced a great option,” she says. Other cars wearing the three-pointed star and using this ammonia-squirting system have also appeared in what Mercedes-Benz describes as this season’s hottest TV shows, but the company puts “The Starter Wife” on the list.

-- Colin Ryan

Photo: Mercedes-Benz

It's a (natural) gas in Glendale

Tooling around Glendale in your natural-gas-powered vehicle will be a bit easier next summer.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. said today it plans to open a compressed natural gas station at the Glendale train station off San Fernando Road by summer 2009. The station will be open to the public and also service the city of Glendale’s CNG-powered Beeline buses and its growing fleet of CNG-fueled trash trucks.

Seal Beach-based Clean Energy, co-founded by Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, is a major local operator of CNG stations open to the public, with about 20 in the Los Angeles area and north Orange County. Many CNG stations are privately owned by fleet operators, and with only about 100 public-access CNG stations now in California, it still takes some planning to make sure you are within range of a fill-up.

Jim Harger, senior vice president of Clean Energy, said there are several thousand CNG-powered cars in the L.A. area, many of them taxicabs. A lot of those are conversions. The only regular-production CNG-powered car available from a major manufacturer these days is the Honda Civic GX.

In anticipation of new "green" taxi regulations in the area, Clean Energy plans to open half a dozen CNG stations in L.A. and the South Bay by next summer, Harger said. (Running vehicles on natural gas emits far fewer greenhouse gases than gasoline or diesel.)

Manhattan Beach, for example, is expected to give final approval Tuesday night to an ordinance that would require local taxi operators to phase in low-emission vehicles over a four-year period. Natural gas is expected to be a popular option because the big Ford Crown Victorias favored by taxi drivers are easy to convert to CNG operation, said Manhattan Beach Finance Director Bruce Moe.

Natural gas costs the equivalent of about $1.65 a gallon at Clean Energy stations. That’s cheaper than the $1.95-a-gallon statewide average for regular gasoline, although CNG’s price advantage has narrowed considerably as gasoline prices have plummeted.

—Martin Zimmerman

Photo: 2009 Honda Civic GX

Credit: Honda Motor Co.

Top 10 turkeys of the L.A. Auto Show

The L.A. Auto Show runs through Thanksgiving weekend, which seems appropriate, because there is a lot of turkey on the show’s menu. From Honda’s hydrogen-powered hypercar -- a guess that’s tofurkey, of a sort -- to a huge, steroid infused, poultry-yellow Rolls-Royce that is lacking only a wattle, the show’s collection of large, flightless birds is certainly worth a, um, gander.

I know, I know. You’re stuffed. You’ve loosened your belt, maybe even undone your trousers … ahhh. But perhaps there’s room for one … more … tiny …morsel?

>>Click here for the complete list: Top 10 turkeys of the L.A. Auto Show. After-dinner chit-chat can commence in the comments section.

-- Dan Neil

Photo: Honda's tofurkey, er, FC Sport concept. Credit: Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images

L.A. Auto Show: Price announced on new BMW diesels

The good people at BMW have just announced prices for the 335d sedan and the X5 xDrive 35d SUV. Both vehicles are making their North American debuts at the L.A. Auto Show this week. And that little lower-case d signifies something important. Diesel power.

L.A. Auto Show: Mercedes-Benz’s wish is MyCOMAND

Onboard navigation? AM/FM radio? CD player? What year is this, 2008 or something? Mercedes-Benz is way ahead of the curve with its new (though as yet unavailable) infotainment system. Although the head unit and controls look and feel familiar, what goes on behind the scenes is altogether different.

L.A. Auto Show: A VW diesel is Green Car of Year

And who's the greenest of them all? Volkswagen's new Jetta TDI.

The sporty diesel-powered sedan was named 2009 Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show today, beating out two hybrids, another diesel and a car that looks like a golf cart.

"It breaks new ground in the field of clean diesel," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal, which sponsors the award. He cited the Jetta's "satisfying driving experience," low emissions and 41 mpg highway fuel economy.

L.A. Auto Show: Ford, now sane, delivers 700 miles per tank

With the biggest crowd of the first day at the L.A. Auto Show gathered around the Ford stand, waiting to see the 2010 Ford Fusion and Fusion Hybrid, music boomed over the public address system:

Yeah I was out of touch / but it wasn't because I didn't know enough / I just knew too much ...

There was something fitting about the event's theme song, "Crazy," by Gnarls Barkley.

Once the song stopped, North American head Mark Fields explained that though Ford might not have made the kind of cars people wanted to buy in the past, and might have made too many trucks and sport utility vehicles in favor of cars, things were changing. In fact, he insisted, the Fusion is exactly the kind of car people want to drive now. "These are challenging times in the industry, but what will power us through, very simply, is great cars."

Ford's sales are down 18% this year, so the company apparently hasn't been making exactly what the consumer has been yearning for up until now. "We've made tremendous progress in the last few years," Fields said.

With Ford's chief executive in Washington contending his company is nearly as bad off as General Motors and Chrysler, Ford's messaging might seem, well, a bit crazy. But if the Fusion is as good as Ford promises, it could very well be a step in the right direction. After all, the hybrid gets 39 mpg in the city, and, according to Fields, 700 miles on a tank of gas in city driving.

We at Up To Speed don't know of too many cars that can get that on two tanks of fuel.

-- Ken Bensinger

Photo: The 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid. Credit: Ford Motor Co.

For photos of production cars from the L.A. Auto Show, click here.

L.A. Auto Show: Mini E gets 156 miles on a battery charge

Evoking the 1972 Olympics may not be the best way to warm up a crowd, but BMW Chairman Norbert Reithofer nevertheless unveiled the Mini E with such a reference.

You see, an electric BMW drove alongside runners in that Olympic marathon (won by German-born U.S. runner Frank Shorter) -- an early start, Reithofer said, to the engineering of today's electric Mini.

The electric Mini, which shares the Cooper body, requires about two hours to charge its battery. It will be leased to 500 customers in Los Angeles and New York City. Lease terms and applications are on the Mini website.

The car will do zero to 60 in about 8.5 seconds and has a 95-mph top speed. 

-- Peter Y. Hong

Photo: Danny Moloshok / Bloomberg News

For more photos of production cars from the show, click here.

L.A. Auto Show: Nissan to bring EVs to U.S. by 2010, Ghosn says

Carlos Ghosn, the polyglot chief executive of Renault-Nissan, said this morning that Nissan Motor Co. would bring "pure electric" vehicles to the U.S. auto market by 2010.

Addressing the L.A. Auto Show, Ghosn said that he had signed an agreement with Oregon to deliver electric vehicles to the state and that the state's governor would be seeking to replace a $1,500 hybrid vehicle tax credit with a $5,000 credit for all-electric vehicles. The deal includes utility Portland General Electric, which will work on electric infrastructure.

Ghosn did not specify what vehicle would have the EV capacity but said the company planned to sell electric vehicles and separately lease the batteries, potentially for $100 a month. A leased battery, he explained, could easily be swapped out for a better-performing one that offered longer range, preventing the vehicle from becoming obsolete (a phenomenon familiar to legions of iPod owners). It would also ensure that the toxic batteries were not disposed of improperly.

Ghosn said that Nissan was working with Nippon Electric Co. to create the battery and that he intended to sell the technology to other automakers if possible. Nissan also has accords with Israel, Denmark, Japan, France and Portugal to take electric cars to market. In Israel, a deal with startup Better Place will bring 500,000 recharging stations in coming years. And in Portugal, consumers will be able to apply for a 5,000-euro tax credit on electric car purchases.

Nissan has said it plans to begin selling an electric car in Japan as soon as 2009, although Ghosn said in his speech that it could be until 2010 that such a vehicle sells there.

Electric cars "are not just good politics, they're good business," Ghosn said.

-- Ken Bensinger

Photo: Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images