Not only does the PX-MIEV plug-in electric hybrid's engine reduce harmful greenhouse gases, body odour and gases produced by passengers are broken down by the car's high-tech upholstery.   Mitsubishi calls its concept the "cocochi-interior" and is showcasing it at the Tokyo Motor Show.

In its typically polite Japanese way, the company says the seats use special upholstery that "deactivates allergens, breaks down volatile organic compounds and offensive odours".  The seats also aircondition your backside.

If that's not enough, the car's glass shuts out harmful UV-A radiation to protect skin from sunburn and ageing.  And to keep the family happy on long journeys and reduce driver fatigue the PX's cabin has a negative-ion aroma humidifier and oxygen enricher.

Driver assistance does not stop at odour-eating seats or the humidifier, either.   If the driver becomes drowsy, the PX emits not only visual and audible warnings but a distinctive aroma will waft through the airconditioning system to wake them up.

 Not only does the PX clear the air but its four-cylinder petrol engine, when combined with electric power, returns a fuel economy figure of less than 3.0litres/100km.

Make One Degree of difference today by calculating your carbon footprint and finding out what you can do to reduce it.

The incident occurred at the end of the 512km leg between Tennant Creek and Alice Springs on Monday afternoon.  The 3000km economy run between Darwin and Adelaide which started life as the World Solar Challenge was expanded two years ago to include production cars as well as electric cars and other alternatives.

This year it has attracted entries from 17 manufacturers including arch rivals Ford and Holden.  The event is being run under the supervision of the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) and the entry fee is $10,000 per car, with some manufacturers entering up to three vehicles.
With big money at stake and plenty of kudos on the line, competition has naturally been fierce.

The fuel tank of each vehicle is filled and sealed before the start of each leg, then refilled and sealed again after the conclusion of each day, with the amount of fuel used and distance travelled recorded.  Entrants must also complete each leg within a specified time period which a minimum speed must be maintained.

The overall winner of the event which concludes in Adelaide on Friday will be determined on the basis of which  vehicle records the best overall improvement in percentage terms compared with its `stickered' fuel consumption figure.

Organisers of the Eco Challenge section of the event in which the production cars compete had adopted a `two click' rule for refilling the vehicles after each leg.  Rather than filling the fuel tank right to the brim where fuel is clearly visible, scrutineers have instead been stopping after two clicks of the fuel filler nozzle.

The practice has been the subject of much comment and criticism among teams because they say it is not an accurate method.  Things came to a head shortly after 4pm on Monday when fuel started running down the side of Ford's Fiesta EcoNETIC driven by journalist and motor racing personality Peter McKay.

The turbo diesel Fiesta happens to be Australia's most fuel efficient car with an official fuel economy figure of 3.7 litres/100km.  It had been achieving figures as low as 3.15 litres/100km.  With such a small margin to play with, every drop counts.

Ford's team manager Justin Lacy refused to comment about the incident, but was clearly unhappy.  The company has plenty at stake with nine support crew, as well as support vehicles and accommodation costs to pay for — not to mention its entries: the Fiesta and a turbocharged Falcon.

Officials and team managers met late yesterday afternoon to discuss concerns.  It is understood the Ford will have one litre deducted from its total for the Fiesta after yesterday's refuelling fiasco.

Changes will also be made to the rules including having team managers fill cars under supervision of the scrutineers.  Teams will also be forced to take a 15 minute break for lunch and the distance used to calculate fuel readings will not vary regardless of odometre readings.

Global Green Challenge boss Ivar Stanelis admitted the event had teething problems, but said the organising committee welcomed feedback.  He hoped to see the event grow but pointed out it was run by volunteers.  “We all want to make it better,” he said.

Make One Degree of difference today by calculating your carbon footprint and finding out what you can do to reduce it.

The $695,000 indigo blue Rolls-Royce Ghost - number four off the production line - landed in Australia to woo clients before being air freighted back to the UK. 

Even before it landed the buzz surrounding the newest Rolls has secured firm orders.  So far, of the 40 cars expected in Australia, more than 30 have been sold, even though deliveries do not start until next June.

Rolls-Royce distributor, Trivett Classic, expects the Ghost to be one of the most popular Rolls-Royces available.  The factory is aiming to build between 2000 and 2500, more than doubling output at its UK factory in Goodwood.

General manager, Bevin Clayton, says there has been a strong level of interest in the smallest and cheapest Rolls, even though it boasts a 6.6-litre 12-cylinder engine capable of 250km/h and a zero to 100km/h sprint of 4.9 seconds.  "It has certainly appeal to a wide number of Melbourne buyers, which has further strengthened the high demand we are experiencing in Australia despite the current economic climate," he says.

Clayton says there are signs of a recovery in top-end luxury car sales, with Trivett selling three Phantoms in recent months.  He describes the Ghost as ‘business suit’ Rolls-Royce, where the larger Phantom is the ‘dinner suit’ Rolls.  Many Ghost customers are new to the brand, he says.

"It is luring people out of other high-end European cars," he says.  One customer is trading his $500,000 AMG Mercedes-Benz S-Class to go British.

Ghost No4 may have been fresh off the production line but it boasts some exquisite features, from a silver satin bonnet, to 20-inch alloys, dual chrome exhausts, lambswool floormats, front and rear ventilated massage seats and picnic tables.

As befits a Rolls, the Ghost uses the finest wood and leather materials.  Housed in the front doors are integrated teflon-coated umbrellas, while it borrows the Phantom's rear coach doors that open to a generous 83 degrees.

For a limousine ride, the car rides on a high-tech air suspension that can detect even the smallest change in road surfaces.  For example, it will detect the movement of a single rear seat passenger from one side of the vehicle to the other and adjust the ride.

Computer scientists at Free University in Berlin have raised the bar with an iPhone application to remotely drive a car.   Of course, this is no ordinary car.

Dubbed the Spirit of Berlin, it uses GPS, Wi-Fi, a dashboard video camera and laser 3D sensors to allow it to be driven remotely.   At the end of all that technology is a customised iPhone application called iDriver which shows the view out of the windscreen and parts of the touch screen which can be used to steer, brake and accelerate.

In short, it is a similar system to that used by James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies to escape from a sticky situation and way ahead of the simple shoe phone used by Maxwell Smart in Get Smart.

The range on the car is apparently good enough for the user to navigate it remotely all the way down a four-storey car park before the car picks up the driver.  The car and the remote were both built by the Artificial Intelligence Group at the university, which is looking at how autonomous vehicles could change our lives in the future.

Project director Professor Raal Rojas said that in the not-too-distant future people would not need to have their own car, with driverless taxis taking people anywhere they wanted to go.

The Tesla Roadster, owned by Adelaide-based Internode founder Simon Hackett with co-driver Emilis Prelgauskas, is believed to have set a world record for a production electric car for the longest distance travelled on a single charge.

Event organisers are awaiting confirmation of the long-distance feat, but Internode says the Tesla Roadster covered 501km - from Alice Spring to a marker 183km north of Coober Pedy - on a single charge of its all-electric drivetrain.

The Tesla Roadster is all-electric sportscar is capable of sprinting to 100km/h in just over four seconds and showed its considerable pace as part of the Clipsal 500's Murray Walker Extreme Machines display earlier this year.  The 185kW/380Nm lithium-ion battery-powered two-seater, which has cost Mr Hackett close to $200,000, also claims a top speed of 200km/h and a normal driving range of just under 400km.

Mr Hackett said there was only a couple of kilometres left in the batteries.  "We wanted to prove a point about the ability of EVs to drive truly large distances - and we have done so.  "This ends any contention that EVs aren't practical cars - they're more than that - they are the future of motoring," he said.

The 501km journey beats the previous world electric vehicle distance record by more than 110km.

Make One Degree of difference today by calculating your carbon footprint and finding out what you can do to reduce it.

Joining the sixth generation garden variety Golf and its hot-hatch GTI cousin will be a first-time wagon, the performance-leading Golf R and possibly a diesel version of the GTI, the GTD.  "There will be lots of new models by next year," says Volkswagen Group Australia managing director Anke Koeckler. "A part of that new model line will be a Golf Wagon which is due in the first quarter of next year."

Koeckler says the decision to bring the load-carrier Golf to Australia is not a sudden one but rather one delayed to await the arrival of the new generation car.  "This will be the new wagon with the new powertrains. We were a bit patient because we did not want to run with an old model ... what is the point of having a model that is already outdated."

VW has been able to watch the success of another small wagon in the Australian market, the Hyundai i30CW, and draw confidence that the style of car is one Australian buyers will embrace.  "People want a bit more space without wanting to go to a big car," Koeckler says. "In Europe 60 per cent of Golf wagons go to fleets and that may also be an opportunity for us here to expand our fleet business."

While the wagon is likely to appeal to a wide range of buyers, the GTD and the Golf R will have a much more focussed market appeal -- and ironically could be the final nail in the coffin of an Australian future for the sporty Scirocco.

"The Scirocco is still under assessment -- it is definitely not off the table -- but sports market, particularly in Australia, is only small and it could be difficult to make a case for that car and the GTI and the R and whatever," Koeckler says. "We will keep looking closely at it, but there are a lot of questions."

The all-wheel-drive Golf R, the replacement for the superceded R32, will sit clearly atop the Golf range. The car boasts improved performance over the outgoing V6 model with a 199kW output from the high-po 2.0-litre turbo giving it a reputed 0-100km/h sprint of just 5.5 seconds, 1.4 seconds clear of the GTI.

Plans to import the GTD, the diesel version of the GTI already on sale in Europe, is moving along confidently and with VW's strong footprint in diesel offerings in Australia looks to be a perfect fit for the range.  "We already have a strong experience and presence with diesel and with more companies recognising the value of diesel the acceptance in Australia is growing," Koeckler says. "Diesel offers a good performance option with low fuel consumption."

The GTD is powered by a 2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel. Down 30kW on the GTI it has an additional 70Nm of torque give it a very impressive 350Nm of urge available almost from idle.  Typical of diesel cars the raw sprint times are not scintillating with a 0-100km/h burst of 8.1 seconds but the acceleration through mid-range when torque is king and a fuel efficiency of 5.3L/100km should make it an attractive option.

VGA would not talk about pricing for either R or the GTD, saying only that they would be competitive.

Joining the sixth generation garden variety Golf and its hot-hatch GTI cousin will be a first-time wagon, the performance-leading Golf R and possibly a diesel version of the GTI, the GTD.  "There will be lots of new models by next year," says Volkswagen Group Australia managing director Anke Koeckler. "A part of that new model line will be a Golf Wagon which is due in the first quarter of next year."

Koeckler says the decision to bring the load-carrier Golf to Australia is not a sudden one but rather one delayed to await the arrival of the new generation car.  "This will be the new wagon with the new powertrains. We were a bit patient because we did not want to run with an old model ... what is the point of having a model that is already outdated."

VW has been able to watch the success of another small wagon in the Australian market, the Hyundai i30CW, and draw confidence that the style of car is one Australian buyers will embrace.  "People want a bit more space without wanting to go to a big car," Koeckler says. "In Europe 60 per cent of Golf wagons go to fleets and that may also be an opportunity for us here to expand our fleet business."

While the wagon is likely to appeal to a wide range of buyers, the GTD and the Golf R will have a much more focussed market appeal -- and ironically could be the final nail in the coffin of an Australian future for the sporty Scirocco.

"The Scirocco is still under assessment -- it is definitely not off the table -- but sports market, particularly in Australia, is only small and it could be difficult to make a case for that car and the GTI and the R and whatever," Koeckler says. "We will keep looking closely at it, but there are a lot of questions."

The all-wheel-drive Golf R, the replacement for the superceded R32, will sit clearly atop the Golf range. The car boasts improved performance over the outgoing V6 model with a 199kW output from the high-po 2.0-litre turbo giving it a reputed 0-100km/h sprint of just 5.5 seconds, 1.4 seconds clear of the GTI.

Plans to import the GTD, the diesel version of the GTI already on sale in Europe, is moving along confidently and with VW's strong footprint in diesel offerings in Australia looks to be a perfect fit for the range.  "We already have a strong experience and presence with diesel and with more companies recognising the value of diesel the acceptance in Australia is growing," Koeckler says. "Diesel offers a good performance option with low fuel consumption."

The GTD is powered by a 2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel. Down 30kW on the GTI it has an additional 70Nm of torque give it a very impressive 350Nm of urge available almost from idle.  Typical of diesel cars the raw sprint times are not scintillating with a 0-100km/h burst of 8.1 seconds but the acceleration through mid-range when torque is king and a fuel efficiency of 5.3L/100km should make it an attractive option.

VGA would not talk about pricing for either R or the GTD, saying only that they would be competitive.

HSV's V8 Maloo ute continues to lead the manufacturer's section of the 2009 Global Green Challenge.

Halfway through the event, the Maloo has shown a 51 per cent improvement in fuel economy which puts it ahead of the field by a country mile.  With an official fuel economy figure of 15.1 litres/100km, the go-fast utility driven by former Fairfax journalist Joshua Dowling has been returning an average 7.35 litres/100km after three days of competition.

Second place is being held down by Ford's turbocharged XR6 Falcon, another heavy hitter in the normal course of events.  With an official figure of 11.7 litres/100km, the Falcon has been getting 7.09 litres/100km, giving it a 39 per cent improvement.  Third place is occupied by the turbo diesel Skoda Superb with 4.6 litres/100km _ and improvement of 33.3 per cent.

It is only the second time that the event which stretches 3000km between Darwin and Adelaide has been open to mainstream vehicles from the major manufacturers.  A total of 17 vehicles have entered in the Eco Challenge section of this year's event which is being run in parallel with the World Solar Car Challenge.

The first event in 2007 was won by Hyundai's i30 turbo diesel hatch.  Competition has been fierce this year, as car markers vie to show that their vehicles are a practical and economical alternative to conventional petrol-powered cars.

As well as petrol and diesel powered vehicles, there's also a hybrid and a couple of electric cars competing including the glamorous Tesla electric sports car.  But, rather than small ultra-efficient cars like Ford's Fiesta EcoNETIC, the rules seem to favour large cars that produce their best economy in top gear on long straight roads like those found in the event.

The unlikely results could prompt a revision of the rules which have already been altered after an emergency meeting between organisers and team managers on Monday afternoon.  The meeting was called after tempers flared when the Fiesta EcoNETIC was accidentally overfilled at the end of competition.

Gob-smacked Ford officials watched as fuel flowed down the side of the car and on to the ground to be later washed away.  As a result team managers will now refill their own vehicles under the supervision of scrutineers to avoid a repetition.  With some legs of the week-long event more than nine hours in length, a 15-minute break has been introduced for teams.

And, results will no longer reflect the actual distance travelled by vehicles, but rather the stated length of each leg which will in turn be used to calculate economy based on the amount of fuel consumed.  Other major manufacturers that have entered vehicles in the event include Holden, Hyundai, Kia, Mini and Suzuki.

Holden has entered a Commodore Sportwagon with its new 3.0-litre direct injection V6.  It's been getting 6.49 litres/100km.

Make One Degree of difference today by calculating your carbon footprint and finding out what you can do to reduce it.

... the winner will be announced in next week's show.

Plus, the BMW Simple Concept to get peak hour traffic moving again...and is it worth shelling out thousands of dollars for high performance exhausts and mag wheels?

For all this and more, listen to the podcast above...

...we will be lucky if we make it to the finish line, 3000km and a week later down the Stuart Highway…

Northern Territory and South Australian officials don’t mince words when it comes to laying down the law for competitors in the inaugural Global Green Challenge.

At a safety briefing for all team drivers in Darwin, the constabulary gave advanced warning they know we are coming and will be watching seeming from behind every boulder and should any competitor creep over the speed limit out on the highway or in the dozen or so local settlements on the route severe penalties will be enforced with wallets opened and cash removed – or worse your licence and car confiscated .

There are warnings about traffic hazards, like desert dwellers who wander the highway and we should keep an eye out for the bloke with two camels and half a red car in tow, who has was spotted a few days ago.

The warning about giant eagles feeding on road kill, fresh from the road trains the night before, gets our attention. The sound advice is to go around them because – like a Mexican standoff – they won’t give up their free tucker for any car. Same goes for wandering cattle, emus, kangaroos and camels that should be given right of way unless you want a mess.

Oh, then there’s the road trains – 50m giants long travelling at 110km/h ‘so don’t park in the middle of the road’. As if.

There’s also the warning about having to dodge the trucks carrying half a house – apparently a common sight on the highway.Welcome to motoring in the Top End. We can’t wait for the start.

I’ll have one eye on the speedo and one on the fuel gauge, while my co driver can be the camel-spotter. I reckon we won’t miss the bloke with half a red car though.

Meanwhile teams are talking tactics – windows up with air conditioning on, best speeds to conserve fuel, how not to get lost on the first stage from Darwin to Katherine.