EcoReport: cars travel money

VW factory is world’s first LEED green certified, in Chattanooga

Volkswagen is known for manufacturing fuel efficient cars, like the VW Passat, so it makes sense that VW builds them in an energy efficient factory. VW’s new $1 Billion manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the world’s first and only LEED certified green auto manufacturing plant.

VW opens world's first LEED certified auto plant, in Chattanooga, where fuel-efficient 2012 VW Passat is manufactured

Volkswagen saves both money and the environment with this green design, which is a model for eco-friendly, sustainable factory designs anywhere in the world –

The high-tech paint shop will save more than 50 million gallons of water a year, and reduces CO2 emissions by about 20 percent,
The construction team salvaged or recycled nearly 78 percent (4,602 tons) of construction and demolition waste,
48 percent of total building materials were manufactured using recycled materials,
A white, reflective roofing material on 100 percent of the roof reflects heat, lowering cooling costs and saving energy,
The VW factory plant harvests rainwater from its roof for use in the sanitary waste system, saving more than 1.7 million gallons of fresh water each year,
A total of 3 million gallons of water is saved each year via low-flow showers, toilets and kitchen faucets throughout the factory,
There are bike racks for visitors and employees, and preferred close-in parking for those driving fuel-efficient vehicles and for those who carpool to the site,

“Think Blue is Volkswagen’s commitment to reach the highest level of environmental protection and corporate social responsibility in everything we do. It was this commitment that drove the team to strive toward designing, constructing, and applying for LEED accreditation. Being the first automotive plant worldwide to receive a Platinum certification is an enormous accomplishment,” said Dr. Jan Spies, Head of Factory Planning, Volkswagen AG.

The LEED Certified VW factory in Cattanooga, Tennessee, opened in May, 2011. On February 7, 2012, it reached another milestone — producing the 50,000th Passat. The 2012 VW Passat is top-rated for both price and fuel economy. With a base price of just under $20,000, the 2012 VW Passat is a true ecoXplorer, rated at 43MPG for the TDI clean diesel version.

Click here for my review of the 2012 VW Beetle, an ecoXplorer best buy under $20,000.
Click here for more ecoXplorer best cars under $20,000.

More reasons to visit Indianapolis than Super Bowl XLVI and Indy 500

Indianapolis has a lot more to offer than the football and car racing. Sure, it’s world famous as the site of the Indianapolis 500, and getting worldwide attention as the site of Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, but that’s just for starters.

Acoma Pottery (C) Evelyn Kanter Photographer All rights reserved

Indianapolis is home to one of the best museums in the country that showcases Native American history, arts and crafts, plus Western art. The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western is a beautiful, modern museum, located in White River State Park, in the heart of the city. If you appreciate the incredible workmanship and creativity of Native American crafts, including beadwork, masks, pottery, jewelry and totem poles — as I do — you’ll find the Eiteljorg Museum in the same class as the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian in New York City and Washington, D.C., the Heard Museum in Phoenix, and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, all of which I have visited. The Eiteljorg collection includes tribal artifacts from the Southwest to the Northwest. There’s a special exhibit through August 2012 called Steel Ponies — a collection of historic motorcycles including one used by Evel Knievel for many of his famous jumps.

Chihuly tower of glass at Indianapolis Children's Museum

Indianapolis also has one of the best children’s museums on the planet. Children’s Museum Indianapolis has kid-pleasing exhibits on favorites like Barbie and Mr. Potato Head, plus extensive hands-on learning spaces and spaces to crawl through and around, and an antique carousel to ride around. Exhibits are built around a center atrium, at the center of which is a monumental, colorful tower of glass by artist Dale Chihuly — something more appreciated by the adults who visit than the kids. The museum is easy to find — just look for the huge dinosaur guarding the front entrance. It’s also an eco-friendly museum, with a green roof that saves energy. Click here for a virtual tour.

Of course, you should visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, where hundreds of racecars are parked, including the 1911 Marmon Wasp that won the first race, in 1911, of course.

If you prefer trains to cars, then head to the Indiana Transportation Museum, to see restored, operating examples of steam, diesel and electric rail transportation from the early 1900s. There’s even the chance to take a ride on a historic former Nickel Plate Railroad.

Other things to see and do in Indianapolis –

visit the grave of gangster John Dillinger
attend a performance at the theater named for Madame CJ Walker, the first female African-American millionaire, who made her fortune in cosmetics and hair products created and manufactured in Indianapolis
grab your boots and Stetson and head for Cadillac Ranch Indianapolis, to two-step around the dance floor or try your luck on the mechanical bull — or both.
take a leisurely paddle boat cruise down the scenic White River
Sing along — or not — with the Dueling Pianos at Howl at the Moon, a popular nightlife destination that’s part club, part concert, and all fun.

For more information about visiting Indianapolis, after the Super Bowl, visit Visit Indy, the official Indianapolis website. FYI — I’ll be returning to Indy in September 2012. Looking forward to it.

Sweepstakes, contests to win trips to Utah ski resort featured on The Bachelor, Fiji islands, Napa, Paris, New York

There’s an interesting group of travel contests and sweepstakes to help save you the green in your wallet –

Sweepstakes to win trip to Utah ski resort featured in The Bachelor

Canyons Resort is making the most of its appearance on the current 16th season of ABC show The Bachelor. Canyons is offering fans of the show the opportunity to win four grand prizes, including a mountain getaway to Park City and Canyons Resort, which is Utah’s largest, with more than 4,000 acres of skiing and riding for all skill levels. My personal favorite run at Canyons is called Boa, a cruiser which snakes its way — pardon the pun — down more than two miles, for a fabulous warm-up or end-of-day run.

One of “The Bachelor Ultimate Getaway Sweepstakes” grand prize winners and a guest will enjoy a romantic retreat to Canyons Resort, which features 4,000 acres of what Utah markets as “the greatest snow on Earth.” Just 35 minutes from Salt Lake City Airport, Canyons features the first chairlift in North America that will keep your butt warm on the way up the mountain — the Orange Bubble Express has heated seats, much like the heated seats in your car.

Sweepstakes to win trip to Fiji Islands.

The grand prize winner and guest get three days of skiing or riding, including equipment, a private ski lesson, three nights at the Waldorf Astoria Park City, a couples spa treatment at Golden Door Spa, a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the Wasatch Mountains, and round-trip airfare. You can also zip down the mountain on the new zipline ZipTour Adventure, and the town of Park City has some interesting art galleries and restaurants. Be sure to stop in for a cold one at the Wasatch Brewpub on Main Street, which offers up some tasty microbrews, including one called Polygamy Porter.You have until March 19th to enter this free sweepstakes. Click here for sweepstakes details.

Fiji is a Polynesian paradise on everybody’s ‘bucket list’. I was lucky to visit last year, for scuba diving in Fiji’s pristine coral reefs, dolphin watching cruises, and visits to local villages which welcome you with a traditional welcome of songs, prayers and a ceremonial drink of kava, a fermented beverage made of the root of a local plant. Enter Dole’s “Warm Up & Win” sweepstakes by March 31 for a chance to win a trip for four to Fiji, including air, six nights’ hotel, and $500-per-day spending money. Unlike many other sweepstakes and contests, you can enter this one more than once — Dole invites you to enter daily — but the registration won’t go through unless you agree to receive Dole’s quarterly newsletter with recipes, coupons and other company news. Runner-up prizes include warm down comforters, slippers, winter coats, and coffee makers. Approximate value of the grand prize is $18,000.

See the next page for news about sweepstakes to win vacations in Napa, Paris and New York City.

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US travel to Cuba is easier than you think

Cuba: colorful vintage cars and vintage buildings

Cuba has been forbidden fruit for most Americans since the 1960s. But it’s easier to visit Cuba — legally — with a US Passport than you think, and part of the reason the New York Times names Cuba, especially Havana, one of the 45 places to visit in 2012.

I was there last year, flying legally on a chartered American Airlines plane from the Miami Airport. The plane was half filled with Cuban-Americans visiting their relatives, and the other half was Americans like me, with no relatives in Cuba, traveling with a humanitarian, religious or cultural group. That’s how I travelled – with my luggage stuffed with school supplies, vitamins, bandaids and toothpaste, to donate to the schools and clinics my group would be visiting along the way.

If you are a vintage car enthusiast — as I am — visit soon, before Cuba opens up and the wonderful 1940s and 1950s cars disappear. Some are junkers, held together with enthusiasm and ingenuity, others have been beautifully restored. Just like the buildings in Old Havana and Cuba’s other colonial cities, Cienfuegos and Trinidad de Cuba.

I rode in a restored ’57 Chevy convertible along the Malecon, Havana’s beach road, and snapped photos of Studebakers, Plymouths, De Sotos, and wood-paneled Ford station wagons that became known as ‘woodies’. I visited Ernest Hemiway’s finca, or country house, where he wrote much of For Whom the Bell Tolls, and paid homage to the beat up manual typrewriter he wrote it on. Even though I don’t smoke cigars, touring the historic Partegas factory, where they make the fabled Cohiba cigars, was fascinating. No photos are allowed inside, but it’s not to protect cigar-making secrets — it’s because the workers lost so much time posing for photos that cameras are no longer allowed. Visitors yes, cameras no.

Whatever your politics, visiting the memorial and museum dedicated to Che Guevara, in Santa Clara, is a must. Ditto the Museum of the Revolution in Havana, which traces Cuban history from the Conquistadors to Castro. It’s in the former Presidential Palace, where the office of former president Juan Battista is intact, just as he left it before escaping the revolutionary forces.

You can read more about my trip to Cuba on SmarterTravel.com. Here’s the link to the slideshow and story on ten reasons to visit Cuba now.

2012 Detroit Auto Show: hits and misses among new model intros

The North American International Auto Show — better known as the Detroit Auto Show — is underway now, with more new model introductions, including concept vehicles, than the public has seen in years. The auto industry is bouncing back, but even so, not everything is a hit. There are some misses. Here’s what the industry trade newspaper Automotive News gives a thumbs up, and a thumbs down, starting with the Acura NSX, which Automotive News calls the star of the show –

Photo Acura NSX hybrid concept courtesy Toronto Star

Acura NSX–The star of the show. This two-seat hybrid sports car blew folks away. There were whoops and hollers when the wraps came off. And it will be made in America, at the Honda factory in Ohio. Lottery ticket sales soared immediately.

Acura ILX–Acura has used the Honda Civic platform before, but the Integra and RSX never looked cheap. This looks like a warmed-over Hyundai Elantra, which certainly isn’t luxury.

Ford Fusion–The fascia lightly borrows from Aston Martin. The narrow greenhouse is sleek, and faux-aluminum interior details highlight the cleaned-up center console. The sweeping roofline makes for a narrow trunk opening, though.

Honda Accord Coupe–Take a current Accord, mash it with the Mitsubishi Galant, add over-blown fog-light cutouts. Honda should know better.

Lexus LF-LC--Gorgeously sculpted air intakes are everywhere, yet the coupe concept doesn’t look cartoonish. The LED headlight accents hint at the Nike swoosh. Just Do It.

Mercedes-Benz SL–Mercedes calls it “athletic.” It has to be, to store the massive folding hardtop in its huge trunk. But the muscular proportions work. Sexy with the top up or down.

2013 Dodge Dart. AP Photo

Cadillac ATS–This is the first compact Cadillac in more than two decades. The sharp creases of the larger Caddys do not scale down to the compact segment. The proportions of the car’s width, hood, wheel arches, greenhouse and trunk simply do not agree.

Lincoln MKZ–The ghastly baleen whale grille has been transformed into an eagle spreading its wings. The trellised center console is the finishing touch on an elegant new interior design.

Dodge Dart–How do you mess up the lovely Alfa Romeo Giulietta? Let Dodge designers make a Neon out of it. The C-pillar sweep into the trunk is wrong. The steering wheel is oddly chunky. The wheel arches are too small.

Toyota NS4–To be positioned above the Prius, this hybrid flattens the Prius’ triangular silhouette. The intuitive, “learning” telematics system and myriad glass technologies make this a technology showcase.

Audi Q3 Vail–There’s not enough wheelbase and length for its height and thick sheet metal panels. An SUV that looks like a beach ball.

Chevrolet Code/Tru concepts–The Code 130R is blocky, almost like it’s going the wrong direction, but it works. The Tru 140S would make a perfect entry-level sporty coupe.

VW e-Bugster Concept unveiled at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show

Nissan Pathfinder–The scalloping of the body panels is a rip-off of Hyundai’s previous-generation SUVs. Those subtle lines contradict the hulking front fascia. Just confusing.

Chrysler 700C–This train wreck got worse as it rotated on the stand. From the snoutlike hood, to the bizarre window cuts, to the goofy proportions, this minivan had no good angle.

VW E-Bugster–If this is what it takes to make electric vehicles cool, so be it. The EV’s limited range makes it perfect for high school girls with overprotective parents. I can just hear it: “It is soooo cute, Daddy, pleeeeease?”

Buick Encore–Take Audi Q3, add in plasticky knobs and switches, and overly busy hood and fascia styling. Decent cargo room, though.

Top ten worst selling vehicles of 2011

While all the news about the shiny new toys being introduced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, let’s look at the flip side, at the ten cars that barely made a blip on the sales screen in 2011. All are great cars, many with top safety ratings. They just suffer from less desirable than another model from the same manufacturer, or a competing brand, plus the overall switch from larger gas guzzlers and SUVs to more fuel efficient models and versatile cross-overs. Here’s the list, compiled by Autoblog, which published the list just with price and sales numbers, but no reason for the poor sales. So those comments and opinions are mine.

2011 Mazda Tribute, one of the ten worst selling vehicles of 2011

10. Subaru Tribeca, MSRP: $30,595, Units Sold: 2,791

Wouldn’t you rather have a Forester or an Outback? Most Subaru buyers did

9. Mazda Tribute, MSRP: $20,555, Units Sold: 2,696

Separated at birth from the Ford Explorer. Wouldn’t you rather have a Ford??

8. Mercedes-Benz R-Class, MSRP: $52,690, Units Sold: 2,385

A super-sized station wagon. Longer wheelbase and more expensive than the popular M-Class SUV and redesigned GLK

7. Suzuki Equator, MSRP: $17,899. Units Sold: 2,127

It sold that many? Must be the price.

6. Cadillac Escalade EXT, MSRP: $63,060, Units Sold: 2,036

Other than rap stars and limousine fleets, is anybody still buying this super-sized SUV?

Read the next page to find out about the five worst selling vehicles of 2011. Surprise — not one of them is produced by by Detroit big three Ford, General Motors or Chrysler.

Continue reading Top ten worst selling vehicles of 2011