Another fantastic step forward may soon be pushed into law in the US.

The ”cash-for-guzzlers” bill proposed by lawmakers would see vouchers of up to US$4500 ($7600) offered to people who trade in their old SUV guzzlers for new, more fuel-efficient vehicles… We love it.

For more, jump through to The NZ Herald.

Ace Rental Cars are the official sponsor of the wheels beneath the Jayride Rideshare Challenge. Jayride will be carpooling from Auckland to Queenstown using a compact Ace Rental Car.

Ace Rental Cars is committed to doing their part to reduce their environmental impact. They are a member of Greenfleet, an initiative from NZ’s Sustainable Business Network, determined to reduce the harmful environmental effects of travel in NZ. Sounds good to us!

Jayride and Ace Rental Cars; keeping NZ beautiful… and getting you around it for nix.

One month after their Bush administration bailout, US carmakers unveiled their new product lines yesterday. The focus: fuel efficiency.

Ford Motors official line: “We’re employing a comprehensive approach to electrification that will tackle commercial issues such as batteries, standards and infrastructure.”

GM’s stable of 17 new or upcoming models also had a focus on fuel efficiency.

Read more at the NZ Herald

Have you ever wondered if you may be a hypermiler?

Hypermiling is the attempt to eke the last possible mile per gallon out of every tank of gas. A cool term for a strange phenomenon. Has it reached New Zealand yet? Keep your eyes open; if you see a compact with bizarre elongated body panels tail-gating a truck along SH1 let us know.

Confused yet? Treehugger.com just published: You Might be a Hypermiler If…
For those new to the concept, also check out this post.

It’s a shame, but hyperkilometring is nowhere near as catchy.

US auto executives cost themselves $46.6 billion dollars yesterday by failing to rideshare. 

The last minute plan to inject US$25 billion ($46.6billion) into failing US auto giants stalled due to consternation over the executive’s extremely excessive expenses. Chief executives from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler flew to their congressional hearing in private jets, where they had their hands slapped for failure to make cost-cutting measures.

“It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo, says Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from New York, ”Couldn’t you have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or something to get here?”

Very well said Gary. Although Jayride doesn’t yet offer jet-pooling to US execs; you can be sure that if we did, we’d be sending them an email offering our services.

From the New Zealand Herald:

New Zealanders’ love for cars is contributing to our huge ecological footprint, which per person is now ranked sixth largest in the world.

A WWF Living Planet Report released yesterday shows that only the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Kuwait, Denmark and Australia have larger per capita ecological footprints than New Zealand.

It’s the fossil fuels burnt through kiwi’s love of cars that is the key culprit behind this bad result. The news is not only bad for New Zealand’s eco-system, but also for our economy. With petrol prices forever high and incomes set to drop, the damage of world tourism seeing though our thin green-veneer doesn’t bear thinking about.

With so many negative environmental and financial effects, is it time you considered an alternative to driving? It could be that you’ve never had another option – if so, keep watching, because come December we’re bringing one to you, free. Get ready to help yourself.

New releases have been unveiled in the green car category, BMW and Toyota again set to leave petrol companies wondering what hit them.

Toyota. Photos of the 2010 release of the Prius hybrid have been leaked by company insiders. The design of the new Prius appears to be an evolution of the current model. Toyota says the new car will be roomier and even better gas mileage than the one it replaces, but is keeping the exact specifications to itself until the official debut.

BMW. Details on the Mini E have been just been released. The new battery-powered two-seater, with Mini Cooper good-looks will reach 100km/h in 8.5 seconds. A Mini-supplied charging station allows owners to fully charge the 48-module lithium-ion battery pack in under 2.5 hours, with the charge powering the Mini E for 240kms. The official unveiling will be next month at the LA Auto Show.