For Torontonians who cringe whenever they see a massive, carbon-belching Hummer squeezing through the streets of the city, this news may surprise and delight. It turns out that the designers at General Motors -- who have long seemed bent on self-destruction by producing cars few consumers wanted to buy -- have discovered that the world wants green alternatives. A generation late to be sure but suddenly they've embraced the religion of sustainability.

Take a look at their recent proposal for a "green" Hummer. Called the Hummer O2, the car produces oxygen instead of CO2:

This fuel-cell powered Hummer would produce oxygen. Agae-filled body panels could break down C02, a greenhouse gas, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. When parked, body panels would fan out to catch more light, speeding the process. The 02 would be constructed from 100-percent post-consumer recycled aluminum.

GM and Ford managers have long seemed incapable of responding to consumer demands for fuel-efficiency and reliability. As a result, other car producers in Japan or Germany, for example, where urban density demands a smaller, more economical type of automobile, have stepped in to fill the growing demand for more efficient cars. Jobs in the North American automotive sector are now disappearing as a result of the hubris of their 20th Century management choice to ignore consumer needs and build gas-guzzling beasts like the Hummer.

Many in the green sector can take a degree of "I told you so" satisfaction. After all, it did not take too much prescience to see the future on this issue.

1. Where can I found out more about this vehicle? Are they really moving ahead with it? Although GM deserves kudos for finally engaging in the “green revolution” they still seem to insist on making monstrous vehicles that are dangerous to everyone on the road. Can’t they also learn that “smaller is smarter”?

   Posted by  on  12/03  at  11:44 AM

2. It doesn’t exist. It’s a design sketch, which happens to have been done by GM engineers. It will never exist. The existence of a sketch is no reason to give any environmental kudos to GM, any more than a sketch of a 600 miles-per-gallon vehicle would be a reason to give them kudos for fuel efficiency.

   Truth: GM will keep rolling monster SUVs off the assembly line. Sketches of monster SUVs may actually make it into production. Sketches of vehicles filled with algae (?!?!) will not.

   Posted by  on  12/03  at  03:06 PM

3. Anyone who thinks GM will actually produce and sell such a vehicle should really watch the movie “Who killed the electric car?” which looks at GM’s role in creating, producing, selling and then killing a zero-emission car. The cars, less than a year old and with a waiting list of 4000 buyers, were all reclaimed by the company and crushed.

   Posted by Anon  on  12/04  at  04:59 PM

<< Back to main