Green Car Journal named Volkswagen’s 2009 Jetta TDI as the “Green Car of the Year” at the Los Angeles Auto Show, making it the first clean-diesel vehicle to win the prize.

The Jetta TDI gets 41 miles per gallon on the highway, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. The sedan has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $21,990 and a SportWagen version is available starting at $23,590.

The Jetta bested four other finalists for the Green Car of the Year award: the Smart Fortwo, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the BMW 335d and the Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid.

American Honda Motor Co. has overhauled the look of its fuel cell concept cars, unveiling a futuristic, lightweight three-seater. 

The design study concept is inspired by supercar levels of performance through low weight and a high-performance, electrically driven fuel cell powertrain. What’s with the rear side? The extended rear houses cooling radiators for the fuel cell stack. You likey?

Endorsed by all three of the Bay Area’s big city mayors, a $1 billion plan to help make the Bay Area the nation’s electric-car capital plan would provide the re-charging infrastructure that must be in place before most consumers would consider buying or leasing an electric car.

Better Place, Palo Alto start-up, plans to install about 250,000 charging ports, 200 battery-exchange stations and a control center to service Bay Area electric car drivers. The goal is to have most of the system in place by 2012. Nice! Go Green!

Honda provides this first official look at the five-door hatch that will be formally unveiled in October at the 2008 Paris auto show. It will technically be a concept, but appears more than production-ready.

The Insight will be smaller than a Civic and CEO Takeo Fukui says it will be priced significantly below current hybrids.

At an expected price tag of $18,500, the new Honda Insight is expected to compete at a much lower price point than any other hybrid on the market.

Thoughts? Click here for more photos.

Behold!!  The Honda FCX Clarity

Honda Motors Co. has started production of a car that runs on hydrogen fuel rather than oil, marking the first time a commercial vehicle will produce zero emissions. The FCX Clarity, which was introduced two years ago as a concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show, runs on electricity made from an onboard hydrogen-powered fuel cell battery. It will be available in July as part of limited lease program offered in California.

The latest gas-friendly vehicles to hit the market

If you’re feeling the pinch at the pump and you’re in the market for a new vehicle, check out these hybrid alternatives from Chevy to Toyota. J.D. Power & Associates reported fuel efficiency numbers for the most popular vehicles in the hybrid market:

Toyota Prius Hybrid

With an estimated 48 mpg city / 45 mpg highway, the Prius remains the most popular midsized pick for 2008.

Honda Civic Hybrid - 40 mpg city / 45 mpg highway

Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid - 24 mpg city / 32 mpg highway

Nissan Altima Hybrid

This hybrid boasts the same Toyota system capable of 35 mpg city / 33 mpg highway.

Saturn Aura Hybrid - 24 mpg city / 32 mpg highway

Toyota Camry Hybrid - 33 mpg city / 34 mpg highway

Lexus GS 450h

If you’re still looking for performance, style and luxury then take a look at the Lexus GS 450h. Even with a powerful V8 under the hood you can still attain 22 mpg city / 25 mpg highway.

Lexus LS 600h L - 20 mpg city / 22 mpg highway

Lexus RX 400h - 27 mpg city / 24 mpg highway

Mercury Mariner Hybrid - 34 mpg city / 30 mpg highway

Mazda Tribute Hybrid - 34 mpg city / 30 mpg highway

Saturn Vue Hybrid - 25 mpg city / 32 mpg highway

Toyota Highlander Hybrid - 27 mpg city / 25 mpg highway

Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid - 21 mpg city / 22 mpg highway

GMC Yukon Hybrid - 21 mpg city / 22 mpg highway

The downfall of the SUV

Tuesday was GM’s annual shareholders’ meeting and the news from GM Chairman and CEO G. Richard Wagoner Jr. wasn’t pretty: $3.3 billion lost in the first quarter of 2008, the closing of four truck manufacturing plants and the potential sale of the Hummer brand.

How did all this happen? For the past decade GM has relied heavily on trucks and SUVs as the breadwinners for the company and has all but ignored passenger vehicles because they were less profitable. The rapid increase in prices at the pump have forced consumers to switch back over to more gas-friendly vehicles. The change in consumer demand has hit GM hard in the pocketbook and has forced the American auto manufacturer to rethink it’s position in the industry.

GM’s Chevrolet Volt cannot possibly come any sooner. The 2010 expected release of the electric vehicle should prove to be the necessary change that could lift GMs profits - given the vehicle performs as well or better than current Toyota and Honda competitor vehicles. Even if GM can put together a new fleet of passenger vehicles, the road will be long and rough as J.D. Power anticipates less than 15 million new vehicles to be sold in the US. Another big obstacle for the American giant: trying to win back consumers who have already made the switch to Japanese vehicles.

A 2010 deadline forces manufacturer to work overtime

After losing $1 billion on the development of the EV1, General Motors completely dropped any serious discussion on building a green vehicle. However with gas prices hitting new highs and competitors starting to adjust production to consumer demands, GM is starting to feel the pinch in their pocketbook - the auto manufacturer recorded a $15 billion loss in 2005.

That’s enough to get anyone to shift gears from their current business model into a more consumer-centric one. SUVs are losing their appeal as gas prices continue to rise. GM has recently decided to drop production on a new sedan and minivan in order to support the $8.1 billion research and development budget focused primarily on green vehicles.

One of the biggest obstacles for GM will be trying to cram years of research and development into a short timeframe with the promise of an electric vehicle in 2010. In order to get the Volt into production, GM is going to have to push their 22,000 engineers to the limit to develop an incredible battery for a an incredibly hyped electric vehicle. Ford and Chrysler have already started to put out hybrid vehicles and Toyota is leading the pack with hybrids in both their Lexus and mainstay Toyota fleets, so this could be a do-or-die scenario for the American giant. Can GM successfully migrate from gas guzzler to gas free and still produce a reliable vehicle? We’ll have to wait and see how things unfold.

Gas-electric hybrid vehicles, the status symbol for the environmentally conscientious, are coming under attack from the blind. Because hybrids make virtually no noise at slower speeds when they run solely on electric power, blind people say they pose a hazard to those who rely on their ears to determine whether it’s safe to cross the street or walk through a parking lot. The tests (admittedly unscientific) involved people standing in parking lots or on sidewalks who were asked to signal when they heard several different hybrid models drive by. Results: People were making comments like, ‘When are they going to start the test?‘ And it would turn out that the vehicle had already done two or three laps around the parking lot.

A bill intended to protect blind people and other pedestrians from the dangers posed by quiet cars will be introduced to Congress. The measure would require the Transportation Department to establish safety standards for hybrids and other vehicles that make little discernible noise, including an audible means for alerting people that cars are nearby.

Preliminary results of an ongoing study at the University of California-Riverside have indicated the cars pose some risk. The study found that hybrids operating at slow speeds must be 40% closer to pedestrians than combustion-engine vehicles before they make enough noise for their location to be detected.

New 1 Series Performance Packages

BMW has announced it will offer a range of performance accessories for the 1 series. This announcement came in response to requests from BMW owners seeking more options from dealers. Visual upgrades will include a more aggressive looking front lip, a new grille, carbon fiber door mirror housings, and a rear spoiler for the coupe. Suspension upgrades are in the form of a carbon fiber strut bar, stiffer retuned springs, and a choice of 18 or 19 inch wheels. BMW will also offer six-piston caliper brakes and minor engine modifications. The parts available for the engine will help the car breathe and sound better but will not add much to the overall performance of the car. BMW will unveil these products at the Geneva Auto Show.