U.S. promotes green car racing series

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. government wants to add green to automobile racing by supporting a new eco-friendly racing series, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

Along with several major automobile makers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy is promoting a new racing series in which "green cars" will race.

Competing cars will resemble those from Europe's Le Mans series but will run on alternate energy sources, the report said. The race will promote energy retrieval systems and reductions in automotive carbon dioxide emissions.

Officials said they hope that pushing high performance and environmentally friendly simultaneously will prompt technological breakthroughs that the world's automakers can adopt.

"The motor sport industry in just one year (is developing) technology which typically takes five years in the automotive industry mainstream," Director of the International Motor Sports Association Doug Robinson told the Financial Times.

General Motors, Honda, Audi, Aston Martin, Mazda and Porsche have signed up for the initial series and plans include selling the European Commission on the idea and recruiting help from other nation's governments.