2004 Jeep Wrangler on 2040-cars

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Jeep Grand Cherokee, BMW i8, Ford F-150 win 2015 Green Car Awards in DC [w/video]

There were three shiny trophies handed out at the Washington Auto Show last week by Green Car Journal, and they went to three different examples of what "green" means in the automotive industry today. The Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel won the award for the 2015 Green SUV of the Year, the BMW i8 was named the 2015 Luxury Green Car of the Year and the Ford F-150 took the 2015 Green Car Technology Award honor. There is a case to be made that the aluminum body of the new Ford truck will make a bigger impact in the overall fuel usage in the US than almost any other vehicle, given the numbers of F-150s that Ford sells each year. The B20 biodiesel-capable Jeep gets up to 30 miles per gallon on the highway. And the i8 puts all sorts of new, fuel-saving technologies into an attractive package. Looking over the winners, and the list of finalists you can see in our photo gallery, and you can see that the definition of green is expanding every year. You can watch Green Car Journal editor Ron Cogan hand out the 2015 awards in the video below and we'll for sure be paying attention to what wins next year. 2015 Luxury Green Car of the Year, Green SUV of the Year and Green Car Technology Winners Announced WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Car Journal has named the Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel its 2015 Green SUV of the Year™ and the BMW i8 its 2015 Luxury Green Car of the Year™, with the aluminum-bodied Ford F-150 earning the magazine's 2015 Green Car Technology Award™. Winners were determined by a jury of Green Car Journal editors and automotive experts. The prestigious awards were announced in Washington, D.C. today at a Green Car Awards™ press conference held during the Washington Auto Show's Public Policy Day at the Washington Convention Center. "These are truly commendable vehicles representing the 'best-of-the-best' in so many ways," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal and CarsOfChange.com. "The auto industry's very early focus on small cars and efficiency-for-environment tradeoffs has evolved to now include a more dynamic field of 'greener' models in all vehicle classes. Those wanting greater efficiency or better environmental performance are no longer constrained by limited choices or vehicle types that fall outside their top purchase preferences.

Next-gen Jeep Wrangler to get 8-speed automatic and 3.0-liter EcoDiesel

Following up on previous reports, an anonymous source within FCA has confirmed to Autoblog that the next-generation Jeep Wrangler will come to market with both a 3.0-liter, EcoDiesel V6 and ZF's critically acclaimed eight-speed automatic transmission. While this pairing makes a lot of sense (we'll explain why in a minute), until now, we only had limited reports that either item would arrive in the next-generation Wrangler. This is the first time we've heard that the eight-speed automatic and the diesel would be paired together. That said, we shouldn't be surprised by this news. FCA currently sells the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 with the diesel/eight-speed gearbox combo, making its inclusion in the next-gen Wrangler far from an Apollo 11-caliber feat of engineering. Naturally, we reached out to Jeep for an official comment. Spokesperson Gabrielle Schulte gave us the expected response to this kind of inquiry, telling Autoblog that FCA does not comment on future product. Jeep has flirted with the idea of a diesel Wrangler for some time, with CEO Mike Manley telling Ward's Auto just over two years ago that a Wrangler diesel was "on the radar," although at that time, we weren't certain whether it'd be the 3.0-liter EcoDiesel showing up in the rough-and-tumble off-roader. As for the eight-speed, SEC filings back in November revealed that it'd be coming to the Wrangler in 2018. Our source could not confirm which model year the 8AT/diesel would arrive in. Related Video:

2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Alaska Cannonball | At the edge of the Arctic Ocean

Our man Jonathon Ramsey is driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon on a 14-week, 14,000-mile journey across North America. Check out his first, second, third, and fourth installments. TUKTOYAKTUK, Alaska – The picture above merely hints at the magic turn the Rubicon Alaska Cannonball took after Port Orford, Oregon. The three dramatis personae are Shelby, on the right, an Inuit and Tuktoyaktuk local with a supernova smile, sitting on the hood of her 2014 Wrangler; Jason, a top Canuck who rode his BMW up from the Lake Louise area, takes the middle; I'm on the left, wearing an Inuit parka lent me by Shelby's father, John Steen. The parka, full of snow goose down and lined with wolverine fur, is the nicest piece of winter gear I've ever put on. Any kind of winter gear. Ever. We're effectively in John Steen's back yard, the sun setting on the Arctic Ocean behind us, pingos – earth-covered mounds of ice that Tuk is known for – in the background. I took this picture at the beginning of a long night of laughs, learnin', beer, whale, Northern Lights, extraordinary kindness, more laughs, followed by a long sleep in a man cave garage. But let's pick up right after Oregon. I drove to Seattle to regroup after the Trans-America Trail and visit a Jeep dealer for an oil change, tire rotation and balance, and a thorough inspection. For reasons neither Jeep nor I could understand, the dealer wouldn't do anything more than change the oil. The Jeep rep couldn't make the dealer budge. The punchline: as I left the service department, the service writer I dealt with turned to his colleague and said, "Another happy customer." My head exploded. And then I made an appointment at a Jeep dealer in Fairbanks, Alaska to complete the work. Google said Fairbanks lies 2,145 miles from Seattle. I wanted to be in Fairbanks in three days, so I hit I-5 north determined to chalk up 715 miles. Instead of taking the Alaska-Canada Highway (the AlCan), I turned left at Prince George to take the Cassiar Mountain route, and clocked about 830 miles before pulling into a rest stop in New Hazelton. That first day would be the only one on schedule. I don't know how Canada has managed to keep this a secret, but the western provinces are shockingly gorgeous. One of Canada's tricks: California's 163,707 square miles host 39.5 million people; Canada's 3.855 million square miles house 35.2 million people.