Green Car Advisor
Fuel Cell
November 20, 2009
The California agency that sets the American standard for automotive emissions today unveiled a much-improved Website that helps consumers choose the least polluting cars on the market.
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Click on art to enlarge.
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The California Air Resources Board Website, using information collected for vehicle certification in the golden state, offers a practical and easy to use system that ranks vehicles according to their emission characteristics and provides tools to compare models.
The site allows visitors to view models by technology/fuel type, smog score, global-warming score and engine family. And there's a very smart tool that, with a click of your mouse, allows you to view all the tax incentives available for a particular model.
Last year, the agency adopted a state regulation requiring automakers to affix the Environmental Performance Label to California showroom models that convey the vehicle's smog and greenhouse-gas emissions. The simply illustrated graphic has two rankings, from one to 10, that depict vehicle emissions. The higher the score, the less polluting it is.
Driveclean.ca.gov puts these same rankings in an online format, making them practical for web research. The Website also provides information about clean-car technology and guides users to consider the emissions of the models they are evaluating.
We salute CARB, once again, for taking another significant step to make the world we live in a healthier place.
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- Scott Doggett November 20, 2009, 8:15 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Butanol, Coal, Compressed Air, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, LPG, Legislation, Manufacturers, Methanol, Motorcycles, Natural Gas, Oil, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Tax Incentives
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- Alternative Fuels and Vehicles
, California Air Resources Board, CARB, Electric Vehicles, Fuel Economy
November 18, 2009
Aiming to help promising students pursue higher education in science and technology - and to pump more life into research into hydrogen energy systems - the founder of hydrogen systems developer and manufacturer Proton Energy Systems has funded a $1-million national scholarship fund.
The Proton Energy Scholarships will provide four-year undergraduate scholarships valued at up to $100,000 each, and will award $500 cash prizes to applicants who meet certain criteria but don't win a scholarship grant.
The annual program will be administered by the Hydrogen Education Foundation, which also oversees an annual Hydrogen Student Design Contest and the recently announced $1-million H-Prize challenge for university students and inventors to develop an improved storage medium for hydrogen fuel.
The scholarship program is aimed at "inspiring young people with an interest in science and technology," said Proton Energy owner Tom Sullivan. The rules don't require that the field of study be related to hydrogen energy or hydrogen fuel research.
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- John O'Dell November 18, 2009, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
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- Hydrogen Scholarship
, PEM, Proton Energy Scholarships, Proton Energy Systems, Proton Exchange Membrane Systems
November 16, 2009
Perhaps fretting that the public had forgotten about their hydrogen ambitions, Japan's Big 3 automakers last week took to the streets with their most advanced hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
Over two days, driving teams steered a Toyota Highlander FCHV-adv, a Nissan X-Trail FCV, and a Honda FCX Clarity 707 miles from Tokyo to Fukuoka, with an overnight stop in Osaka.
Combined, the vehicles consumed 28.8 kilograms of hydrogen during their demonstration run. That equates to roughly 70 miles per gallon for those of you wondering how efficient these vehicles stack up when compared to gasoline-powered vehicles.
But given that none of the advanced-fuel vehicles seen here are available for purchase, mileage/fuel comparisons right now are strictly academic.
That said, although all three automakers are working on electric vehicles, Honda and Toyota continue to say that hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles offer the best long-term solution to today's climate-changing oil-burning street machines.
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- Scott Doggett November 16, 2009, 4:18 PM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hydrogen, Nissan, Toyota
- Technorati Tags:
- Honda FCX Clarity
, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle, Nissan X-Trail FCV, Toyota Highlander FCHV-adv
November 13, 2009
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
It's not only Chrysler's battery-electric and plug-in electric hybrid vehicle programs that have been pared back - way back - under the post-bankruptcy plan devised for the company by its new management.
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Fiat Doblo small van is now being considered as platform for "new" Chrysler's fit electric vehicle...
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The once-vigorous Chrysler hydrogen fuel cell program - aimed at bringing fuel-cell electric vehicles, commercial and private, to market some day - is pretty much a memory as well. It was absorbed into Daimler's program when the German automaker acquired Chrysler back in 1999 and though it survived the 2007 divorce, it was phased out two months ago.
We're told by knowledgeable people who for various reasons didn't want to be identified that there are no plans right now to actively pursue further development of fuel cells but, of course, that "options are being kept open."
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It would be replacing a Dodge-based electric sports car such as this Zeo concept first shown in January 2008.
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We don't think - as some do - that Chrysler's entire alternative fuels and powertrains effort has been killed by Italy's Fiat, which took control of the country's smallest and weakest automaker as it came out of bankruptcy earlier this year.
Although Chrysler's two-year-old environmental vehicle group, ENVI, has been disbanded under Fiat, we believe the company will keep doing some development work and will follow though on its previous promises to put the hybrid Ram truck into the market next year followed by a pair of experimental plug-in hybrids - for test fleet use only - in 2011.
Not only did those few vehicles remain in the just-announced five-year plan, but the members of the ENVI team, as far as we know, all are still working at Chrysler - they've just been mainstreamed into the regular product development program. And Fiat appointed former ENVI boss Lou Rhodes to be head of vehicle electrification programs for both Fiat and Chrysler - a post that probably wouldn't exist if there wasn't at least some work going on.
There are changes, though, and not for the good.
The Dodge EV once thought to be a sure thing for 2010 is no more, and except for a battery-electric commercial van based on the Fiat Doblo minivan that is under "strongest consideration" for production by late 2011 or early 2012, the chances for other Chrysler hybrids, plug-in hybrids or EVs to make it into the retail market before the next 5-year plan is unveiled in 2015 are pretty slim.
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- John O'Dell November 13, 2009, 2:33 AM
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- Chrysler, Fiat, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
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- Chrysler electric vehicle Plans
, Chrysler Electric Vehicle Program, Chrysler EV Program, Chrysler Fuel Cell
November 11, 2009
Panelists Say Earth-Friendly Future Won't Come Easy For Private Transportation
Although predominately a business-oriented exploration of environmental practices and processes the Opportunity Green 2009 conference at UCLA this weekend promised transportation geeks a look at ideas of personal mobility in a green future.
We're not sure it followed through, as the program became in part a promotion of the Mini E electric vehicle program - thanks to the event's sponsorship by Mini USA - and in part an examination of the obstacles still in the way of truly green mobility.
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Passer-by eyes Mini E parked on UCLA campus during Opportunity Green conference.
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Thus the opening of the panel entitled "The Next Generation of Transportation," consisted of a somber warning from moderator Dan Neil, the L.A. Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning auto critic.
"I'm sorry," he opined, "but I fear that society cannot magically make the wide, sweeping changes needed in transportation without suffering" the same far-reaching government and corporate grab for control "that we see coming in health care."
Event sponsor Mini, of course, disagreed - the company was there to persuade eco-friendly professionals that parent BMW, a fossil fuel-burning company of global proportions, is finding its inner green machine and that the right answers to our transportation needs are on the way.
Spotlighting the Mini E and offering test drives to the participants of the event, Mini collected input from drivers about their experiences to add to the data its in-house green team will use as it plans the BMW's eco-friendly future.
Neil pointed out in the transportation session that the Mini E is a not-ready-for-prime-time electric car - not with that "beautifully upholstered lithium battery pack in the back seat," taking up room most drivers would want for passengers and cargo.
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- John O'Dell November 11, 2009, 5:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Biofuels, Diesel, Ethanol, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, MINI, Plug-ins and Electric
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- Opportuity Green 2009 Future Transportation Panel
October 30, 2009
In the biggest federal boost for green car development in decades, the 2010 energy budget bill just signed into law by President Obama includes $814 million in funding for various alternative fuel and vehicle programs.
One provision, $283 million for fuel cells and hydrogen fuel, restored more than $100 million that in funds for automotive-specific programs that Energy Secretary Steven Chu initially proposed cutting from the budget.
Chu said at the time he didn't see fuel-cell electric cars as commercially viable in the next 15-20 years.
Automakers and fuel cell developers quickly rallied to persuade Congress that Chu hadn't see the whole picture and promised to have commercial quality fuel cell cars - which use hydrogen for energy production - in the market by 2015.
Other green aspects of the bill include $311 million to help fund various vehicle electrification and advanced internal combustion engine projects and $220 million for advanced biofuel development.
As expected, the bill was cheered by trade groups representing the fuel cell, biofuels and electric drive industries.
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- John O'Dell October 30, 2009, 11:08 AM
- Categories:
- Biofuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric
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- 2010 Energy Budget
, Biofuels, Electric Cars, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen
October 27, 2009
Honda Motor Co. pulled the plug on Formula 1 racing to divert the money being spent there to green technologies and the company that's been playing second fiddle to Toyota in the green cars sweepstakes says it wants to hybridize larger vehicles again.
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Honda's top executive prefers hydrogen fuel cell FCX Clarity but says battery-electric cars will come first.
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That's the word from Honda President and CEO Takanobu Ito, speaking with a select group of automotive writers - including Edmunds'
Inside Line News Editor Kelly Toepke - at the 2009 Tokyo auto show last week.
Toepke tells us that Ito is committed to the further greening of Honda, even to the extent of developing an environmentally friendly sports car that - his words - is truly green, "not like the car Lexus announced" at the show. He was referring to the limited production, V10-powered, $375,000 Lexus LFA supercar, which he apparently doesn't believe is green enough.
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- John O'Dell October 27, 2009, 3:00 AM
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- Auto Shows, Fuel Cell, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
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- Electric Cars
, EVs, FCX Clarity, Fuel Cell Cars, Honda, Hybrids, Hydrogen
October 20, 2009
Honda Motor Co. is still high on hydrogen, but now thinks battery-electrics might be the way to go until there's a hydrogen fueling infrastructure to support the fuel-cell electric cars the company prefers.
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Honda EV-N electric city car concept being displayed at Tokyo Auto Show.
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Honda CEO Takanobu Ito told an industry seminar in Tokyo Monday that he would now consider launching electric cars in the United States, Europe and Japan while waiting for hydrogen cars to become marketable. Reuters news service
reported Itos' remarks today.
The automaker, which made a big splash last year with its ready-for-production FCX Clarity fuel-cell electric car, had been counting on that technology to enable it to catch up with hybrid champion Toyota in the fuel-efficiency sweepstakes to mature.
But ongoing road tests of the Clarity and General Motors' fuel-cell Equinox SUV haven't generated enough interest to spur fuel companies to build hydrogen stations, limiting the potential market for fuel-cell cars to urban areas of California and the New York metropolitan region.
That's not enough to generate the high volume production that would be needed to increase the number of component suppliers and reduce the cost of the highly specialized fuel cell systems.
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- John O'Dell October 20, 2009, 12:49 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Honda, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
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- EVs
, FCX Clarity, Fuel Cell Electric Cars, Hydrogen Cars, ZEV Mandate
October 16, 2009
In a victory for supporters of continued R&D on hydrogen for automotive use, the U.S. Senate has approved an $187 million appropriation for hydrogen vehicle program funding in the 2010-2011 Energy Department Budget.
Thursday's vote effectively thumbs a Congressional nose at Energy Secretary Stephen Chu's decision earlier this year to cut hydrogen vehicle funding from his budget proposal on the grounds that fuel-cell electric vehicles wouldn't be commercially viable for a few decades yet.
Fuel cells use hydrogen to generate electricity, blending it with oxygen and passing the molecules through a platinum-coated membrane to release the electrons. In a vehicle equipped with a fuel cell, the power generated is used to "fuel" an electric motor that moves the wheels.
The House had previously approved the appropriations bill with the restored hydrogen vehicle research funding, and Chu - who favors battery-electric vehicle development - has said he'd work with Congress on the hydrogen issue.
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- John O'Dell October 16, 2009, 12:23 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
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- Energy Department Budget
, Fuel Cell Cars, Hydrogen Research Funding
October 12, 2009
U.S. Trails Asia, Europe in Providing Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure, Automakers Warn
Automakers aiming to meet California's revised Zero Emission Vehicles mandate requirements have pushed the fuel-cell electric car much closer to reality than many realize, according to a report by Bloomberg news service.
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Rendering of advanced fuel station near Los Angeles International Airport touts hydrogen as the fuel of tomorrow.
Automakers say that without more such stations, that vision won't be realized.
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Not only is the technology almost ready for prime time, reporter Alan Ohnsman found that automakers such as Toyota, Daimler, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Renault, Nissan and General Motors now believe they can bring fuel cell vehicles to market by 2015 with price premium of just $3,600 over the average price of a comparable midsized gasoline model.
But the technology and price breakthroughs won't mean much if the U.S. government's infrastructure priorities aren't altered to include encouragement of a hydrogen fueling system
If the U.S. doesn't get moving, it will fall behind Europe and Asia - where governments are actively promoting hydrogen fueling - in the race to replace oil as a motor vehicle fuel, GM and others warn.
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- John O'Dell October 12, 2009, 10:23 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Daimler, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Renault, Toyota
- Technorati Tags:
- Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars
, Hydrogen Fueling Stations, Hydrogen Fueling Systems
October 5, 2009
Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche says he's still is betting on a hydrogen future for the automobile.
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Mercedes B-Class fuel cell cars are being used in long-term road tests in Europe and U.S.
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But in a round-table interview with reporters form a variety of media including (subscription only) Automotive News during the recent Frankfurt Auto Show, Zetsche said that hybrids and battery-electric cars will be long-term interim technologies until hydrogen fuel cell cars and hydrogen fueling technology are ready for market.
Daimler is investing heavily in both electric and fuel cell technologies, he said, and has banded together with other German automakers to boost hydrogen fueling technology.
Asked if Daimler would consider four-cylinder engines for its Mercedes-Benz cars as U.S. fuel economy regulations tighten, Zetsche said that he wouldn't rule out the option .
He also said, according to an interview transcript posted today by Automotive News, that he sees a continued weak U.S. market for luxury cars for several years and that the Chinese market is likely to step in to gill the void.
Fuel efficiency for luxury cars is becoming a necessity rather than an afterthought, Zetsche said, adding that he is convinced that many customers continue to want a comfortable and spacious car but "would not like to be called callous by their neighbor because the fuel consumption is astronomic."
Daimler - indeed, the entire auto industry,- is at the "tipping point now" for electric cars, he said, pointing out that hydrogen fuel cell cars use all-electric drivetrains.
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- John O'Dell October 5, 2009, 2:55 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Daimler, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Daimler
, Electric Vehicles, EVs, Hybrids, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
September 30, 2009
Researchers at Brigham Young University claim to have developed a fuel cell that harvests electricity from glucose and other sugars known as carbohydrates using a common weed killer as a catalyst.
Lead researcher and BYU chemistry professor Gerald Watt (pictured) said in an article published in the August issue of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society that carbohydrates are very energy rich and that he and his colleagues sought a catalyst that would extract the electrons from the carbs and transfer them to an electrode.
Watt said he and his colleagues discovered a solution in the form of a cheap and abundant weed killer. He described the effectiveness of the herbicide as a boon to carbohydrate-based fuel cells.
By contrast, hydrogen-based fuel cells such as those developed by General Motors require costly platinum as a catalyst.
The study conducted experiments that yielded a 29 percent conversion rate, or the transfer of 7 of the 24 available electrons per glucose molecule, Watt reported.
"We showed you can get a lot more out of glucose than other people have done before," said Dean Wheeler, who was part of the research team. "Now we're trying to get the power density higher so the technology will be more commercially attractive."
This isn't the first time that a glucose-based fuel cell has been reported. In 2007, Japanese scientists announced they had invented a device that used sunlight to convert glucose into hydrogen to power a fuel cell.
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- Scott Doggett September 30, 2009, 1:02 PM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Brigham Young University
, BYU, Fuel Cell Electric Cars, Fuel Cell Technology, Gerald Watt
September 24, 2009
The second-generation hydrogen fuel cell system (pictured) in development by General Motors Co. is half the size, 220 pounds lighter and uses less than half the precious metal of the current generation in the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell electric vehicle.
And, the production-intent fuel cell powertrain can be packaged under the hood in about the same space as a four-cylinder engine, GM announced in a statement today. It contains GM's fifth-generation fuel cell stack, which the company said could be commercialized in 2015.
Hydrogen-powered fuel cells are a few years away from widespread commercial use because of the need for additional investment and partnership, along with expanded availability of hydrogen fueling stations.
In a statement, Charles Freese, executive director of GM's fuel-cell program, said GM has invested more than $1.5 billion in fuel-cell technology and is committed to continuing to invest, but "we no longer can go it alone... We will require government and industry partnerships to install a hydrogen infrastructure."
Through Project Driveway, a demonstration fleet of more than 100 hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric Chevrolet Equinox crossovers has amassed more than 1 million miles of every-day driving by ordinary citizens, celebrities and others since late 2007.
In recent weeks, a consortium of the German government and leading industrial companies has announced plans to build up to 1,000 hydrogen fueling stations by 2015, about the time several automakers expect to have hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for sale. Earlier, a group of 13 oil and gas companies in Japan announced similar plans.
"Failure to act will insure the U.S. cannot meet its long-term fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction objectives," Freese said. "We know what needs to be done. Now is the time to get started."
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- Scott Doggett September 24, 2009, 4:38 PM
- Categories:
- Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hydrogen, Legislation
- Technorati Tags:
- Charles Freese
, Chevrolet Equinox, Fuel Cell Electric Cars, General Motors, Hydrogen Fuel Cells
September 23, 2009
The Electric Drive Transportation Assn., the national advocacy group for electric cars, trucks, buses, and all other electrically powered conveyances, is hosting a live chat Thursday with its executive director, Brian Wynne, from 2-3 pm - Eastern Time (11 am-noon Pacific Time).
It's the association's first try at an on-line chat and spokeswoman Jennifer Watts says it will be wide open, with Wynne fielding questions about everything from the availability of vehicles to how the smart grid works.
"We hope to talk about everything from hybrids to fuel cells," Watts said.
You can join in by logging onto the EDTA Web site, or by clicking here.
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- John O'Dell September 23, 2009, 2:05 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Cars
, Electric Vehicles, EVs, Fuel Cells, Hybrids
September 22, 2009
Automakers addressing California air-quality regulators in Sacramento this week said work on hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) is progressing faster than most people predicted.
Craig Louie, of Canada's Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corp., said cost was still an issue but that vehicles should hit showrooms in "2015ish, not 2020," as a majority of people in the automotive industry have been predicting.
Performance benchmarks are hovering around U.S. Energy Department targets for most metrics, including energy efficiency, power density and start-up and shut-down energy, Louie said. High costs still persist, though.
"If the goal is $30 per kilowatt-hour and everyone's in the $70, $80, $90 range, the goal is really to get the cost down and become competitive with incumbent technologies like advanced diesel powertrain," he said.
Louie made the remarks before the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as it prepares to release proposed regulations for its zero-emissions vehicle program for 2015 and beyond, with final regulations due by early next year.
Hydrogen FCEVs use an on-board fuel cell stack to convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity that powers an electric drive system. The only emissions FCEVs give off is a small amount of water and heat.
In its fifth major revision of the program since 1990, CARB voted last year to reduce the 2014 sales target from 25,000 to 7,500 vehicles.
Monday in Sacramento, CARB officials heard from fuel cell manufacturers, trade groups and car companies on the state of technology and barriers to commercialization.
Several manufacturers cited the bipolar plates that conduct electricity away from the cells as a kink in the process. Another component ripe for improvement is the hydrogen storage tank, which is currently made of stainless steel and impregnated with fibers for durability, a time-consuming process.
But just because fuel-cell systems are still too expensive doesn't mean federal and private investors should pull the plug, said Jack Gatzuras, business development manager at UTC Power. Indeed, as a zero-emissions fuel source, it must be pursued, he said.
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- Scott Doggett September 22, 2009, 12:58 PM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Energy Companies, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Legislation
- Technorati Tags:
- California Air Resources Board
, CARB, FCEV, Fuel Cell Electric Cars, Fuel Cell Vehicles, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Legislation, Zero Emissions, Zero-Emissions
The federal government has awarded $100 million in grants to 43 metropolitan transit agencies that had submitted plans to cut emissions and create so-called "green" jobs.
The grants mark the Obama Administration's continued investment in reducing the environmental impact of transportation vehicles by using technologies that boost fuel efficiency and cut pollution.
Many of the green grants are for agencies to replace diesel transit buses with diesel-electric hybrid and battery-electric buses, but a number also involve increased use of solar energy.
California-based transportation agencies such as the Bay Area's AC Transit and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be given more than $17 million for projects such as boosting solar energy capacity to make hydrogen with clean electricity, installing photovoltaic panels to offset electricity use at maintenance yards, and installing a flywheel energy storage system, the U.S. Transportation Department said in a statement announcing the grants.
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- John O'Dell September 22, 2009, 12:12 AM
- Categories:
- Diesel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mass Transit, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar
- Technorati Tags:
- Federal Transit Authority
, Green Mass Transit Grants, Hybrid Buses, Mass Transit
September 17, 2009
Mercedes-Benz officially unveiled a new B-class hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week, but it is by no means the German automaker's first.
More than 4 years ago, at the March 2005 Geneva Motor Show, DaimlerChrysler debuted a B-Class F-Cell that looks almost identical to the one pictured here.
Back then, the zero-emissions model featured an electric motor powered by a fuel cell that put out more than 100 kilowatts -- or 35 kilowatts more than its predecessor.
The last-generation B-Class F-Cell had a range of nearly 250 miles, due to reduced fuel consumption and greater hydrogen storage capacity. Earlier versions had a range of around 150 miles.
If you're thinking Mercedes is spending years improving this technology, you'd be right.
As we reported last month, Mercedes is now sufficiently satisfied with the current version that the automaker will be launching a small fleet of them for real-world testing in the U.S. and Europe.
The cars use an on-board fuel cell stack to convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity that powers an electric drive system. The cars in the small fleet will deliver a range of up to 250 miles with a top speed of 105 mph.
Fuel consumption is the equivalent of 3.3 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers on the European drive cycle.
In U.S. terms, that would be around 71 miles per gallon of diesel or about 64 miles per kilogram of hydrogen.
As we previously reported, the F-Cell's electric system delivers the equivalent of 136 horsepower and 214 pound-feet of torque. Mercedes says it has performance characteristics equal to and "in some cases far better than" those of a B-Class with a 2.0-liter gas engine.
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- Scott Doggett September 17, 2009, 12:58 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Daimler, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Daimler
, Frankfurt Motor Show, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell F-Cell, Zero Emissions, Zero-Emissions
September 14, 2009
Hyundai Motors' ix-Metro Hybrid city car is one of several dozen 'green' cars and concepts debuting at Frankfurt show.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
This week's Frankfurt Auto Show promises to be the greenest major auto show to date - a showcase for fuel efficiency improvements and alternative powertrains that are coming to the forefront as the mainstream auto industry finally begins coming to grips with the need to begin weaning itself - and us - from petroleum.
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- John O'Dell September 14, 2009, 1:49 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Audi, Auto Shows, BMW, Citroen, Diesel, Fiat, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, MINI, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Peugeot, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Toyota, Volkswagen
- Technorati Tags:
- 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show
September 11, 2009
We strongly suspect the mark had already been passed when GM first started talking about its fuel-cell electric Chevrolet Equinox fleet 'approaching' the cumulative million-mile mark.
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Jeanine Behr-Getz, holding daughter Millicent, logged the millionth mile.
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But we think fuel cell vehicles are important,so we gave 'em some ink earlier in the week, an now we'll do it again as the automaker says it is now official: the Equinox FCEVs have tallied more than one million collective miles since GM's Project Driveway began at the beginning of last year.
GM says more than 5,000 people have been given short-term loans of the crossover SUVs that are powered by electricity generated on board in a fuel cell that converts hydrogen and oxygen to electrons.
The officially recognized millionth mile was driven by Jeanine Behr-Getz, a Greenwich, Conn. children's books author who told General Motors screeners that the hydrogen vehicle "fit my family, groceries, golf clubs and work supplies with no problem and it drove the same as my fossil fuel crossover vehicle."
As a bonus, she said, the Equinox fuel-cell vehicle's zero emissions status meant she was the only parent "allowed to idle my car in the [student] pickup line at school.
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- John O'Dell September 11, 2009, 10:30 AM
- Categories:
- Chevrolet, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Fuel Cell Equinox
, Fuel Cell Vehicles, GM, Hydrogen FuelCells
September 9, 2009
General Motors began deploying Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell electric vehicles two years ago as part of its Project Driveway program to test FCEVs in everyday driving conditions, and yesterday the General reported that the vehicles have passed the million-mile mark.
As Mark Vann, Chevy's FCEV deployment manager noted in GM's Fastlane blog, no other automaker comes close to the number of miles they've logged using hydrogen in real-world conditions "with real people driving these Equinox fuel cell EVs."
In case we didn't know what real people were, he goes on to describe them: "These people are teachers, homemakers, accountants, video game designers and people from many other walks of life just like you, and they were selected based on their passion for the environment and new media prowess."
All good. But it's the lessons he and others associated with the project have learned from all those real people that we wanted to know about, and Vann didn't disappoint:
"We've used these experiences to extend fuel cell stack life and improve the regenerative braking system, which benefited our 2-mode hybrid vehicles since it's the same brake system used on the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon 2-mode hybrids. Plus, we've applied what we've learned about fuel cell thermal design to the Volt battery design.
He went on to say that he and his team could have tested the vehicles at GM's proving grounds, but the opportunity to have real people drive these vehicles "gave us a much higher degree of relevant feedback on the vehicle's performance -- and even more important, it gave us a great opportunity to listen to our customers."
Then today, during a Web chat with the public, Vann provided additional information we believe may be of interest to you.
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- Scott Doggett September 9, 2009, 3:41 PM
- Categories:
- Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Chevrolet Equniox
, FCEV, Fuel Cell, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, General Motors, GM Fastlane, Hydrogen, Project Driveway
Perhaps motivated by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu's proposal last May to slash more than $100 million in federal funding for hydrogen-vehicle research, nine major automakers today issued a joint statement announcing that they had signed a letter of understanding to develop and launch fuel-cell electric vehicles.
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A trio of Ford FCEVs get pumped up.
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FCEVs use an on-board fuel cell stack to convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity that powers an electric drive system.
Today's announcement came one day after Chu said in an interview that he will no longer seek to eliminate federal funding for the R&D of hydrogen cars, but instead will work with lawmakers to ensure the money is "invested wisely."
The automakers' announcement states that they "strongly anticipate that from 2015 onwards a quite significant number of electric vehicles with fuel cell could be commercialized. This number is aimed at a few hundred thousand units over life cycle on a worldwide basis."
It continued: "As every vehicle manufacturer will implement its own specific production and commercial strategies as well as timelines, commercialization of electric vehicles with fuel cells may occur earlier than in the above-mentioned expected year."
Beyond those statements, the announcement -- signed by Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Renault, Nissan and Toyota -- offered little more information regarding the automakers' plans.
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- Scott Doggett September 9, 2009, 12:04 PM
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- Daimler, Emissions, Energy Companies, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Toyota
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, California Fuel Cell Partnership, California's Zero Emissions Vehicle Program, Daimler, Ford, Fuel Cell Electric Cars, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Renault, Toyota, Zero Emissions
September 8, 2009
Energy Secretary Steven Chu will no longer seek to kill Energy Department research and development of hydrogen-powered cars, a bid Congress has rebuffed, and instead will work with lawmakers to ensure the money is "invested wisely," he said today.
The fiscal 2010 spending bills approved in the House and Senate would continue funding for the programs. "Given the reality of that, I think it would be foolish if I next year said, 'No, I'm still going to insist.' They are going to stick it back again," Chu told the subscription service E&E News.
He spoke after addressing students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. "We will do the best we can to make sure the funds are invested wisely," Chu said.
DOE's fiscal 2010 budget request chopped $100 million of funding from hydrogen research and steered it away from vehicles. Chu, in rolling out the proposal, said vehicles face a number of barriers around storage, infrastructure and other issues. The plan would continue support for stationary fuel-cell applications.
"We asked ourselves, 'Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy?' The answer, we felt, was 'no,'" Chu said in May, and instead emphasized other technologies to curb oil use like biofuels and electric vehicles.
But Chu today said there is also common ground with the lawmakers. "I still think -- in fact, many of the people who restored the funding agree with me -- that the first applications will be in stationary fuel cells," he said, according to E&E News.
"So we will do that, but then, if you want to have it [hydrogen] in automobiles, there is a hydrogen storage problem, there is a hydrogen production problem, as well as a fuel cell problem," he added.
"Fuel cells is actually the more mature, and so we will try to do our best to say, 'OK, if the goal is to try and get them into vehicles, let's design a program to actually try and do that as best we can,' rather than saying, 'I disagree with them.'"
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- Scott Doggett September 8, 2009, 3:28 PM
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, Electic Cars, Electric Vehicles, Energy Department, EV, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen Fuel, Legislation
September 5, 2009
Extreme cab-forward design of Honda FXC Clarity is possible because there's no engine to stuff under the hood.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
It felt like I was driving the future, but it seems that I was only driving toward it.
That elusive future was wrapped in a deep burgundy paint job and hummed along on electric power supplied by a suitcase-sized hydrogen fuel cell mounted in what would have been the transmission hump on a standard gasoline or diesel car.
Honda Motor Co. calls the color "star garnet metallic" and the car the FCX Clarity.
The Secretary of Energy, a Nobel laureate with a background in alternative fuels, calls it too much, too soon.
Foes and Pros
Some of the most vociferous proponents of battery-electric cars call fuel cell vehicles like the Clarity a pipe-dream, less efficient and more costly than "pure" electric vehicles and a technology that is simply not worth pursuing when all that research money could be going to perfecting plug-in hybrids and the electric vehicle battery.
Hydrogen proponents say the battery folks forget that you've got to measure energy efficiency over its entire life cycle - from well to the wheels - and not just compare snapshots of how efficiently it is transformed into motive power in the vehicle.
From their perspective, hydrogen is a more efficient fuel than electricity from the grid because the process of turning natural gas (the basic feedstock for hydrogen as well as for nearly a quarter of the electricity generated in the U.S.) to hydrogen is far more efficient than using it to generate electricity; an efficiency that more than makes up, they say, for battery-electric cars' more-efficient use of energy from battery to wheels.
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- John O'Dell September 5, 2009, 9:53 AM
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, Fuel Cell, Honda FXC Clarity, Hydrogen
August 28, 2009
Mercedes' new B-Class fuel cell car at Stuttgart airport hydrogen filling station.
Mercedes-Benz, as promised earlier this year, is launching a small fleet of its new B-Class F-Cell, or fuel cell, cars for real-world testing in the U.S. and Europe.
The cars use an on-board fuel cell stack to convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity that powers an electric drive system.
Mercedes didn't say how much hydrogen is stored in the cars' 10,000 psi (70 bar) tanks, but did say the new F-Cell will deliver a range of up to 250 miles with a top speed of 105 mph and the fuel consumption equivalent of 3.3 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers on the European drive cycle.
In U.S. terms, that would be around 71 miles per gallon of diesel or about 64 miles per kilogram of hydrogen.
The company said that the first of 200 B-Class F-Cell cars would be shipped to customers early in 2010.
The fuel-cell electric system delivers the equivalent of 136 horsepower and 214 lb-ft of torque and Mercedes says it has performance characteristics equal to and "in some cases far better than" those of a B-Class with a 2.0-liter gas engine.
The car uses a 35 kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack to store and deliver electricity from the fuel cell and from the regenerative braking system.
With a commercial hydrogen dispensing pump, the F-Cell car takes about three minutes to refuel, the company said, adding that "a comprehensive network of hydrogen filling stations still has to be set up before locally zero-emission driving can become a widespread reality."
To which we say, amen.
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- John O'Dell August 28, 2009, 10:02 AM
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August 25, 2009
(Article updated 8/28 to report H-Prize site has gone live; 8/26/09 to include Federal Register link and change future tenses to present)
DOE chief Stephen Chu might not think there's an immediate payback in providing $50 million or so in federal funding of hydrogen research for personal transportation, but someone in his agency has come up with a relatively cheap alternative that might continue pushing entrepreneurial R&D into fuel cells.
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Present hydrogen storage on vehicles relies on bulky pressurized tanks.
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The Department of Energy is launching a $1 million cash award program aimed at fostering development of breakthrough hydrogen storage materials that will enable fuel cell vehicles to operate more efficiently.
The so-called "H-Prize" borrows from the private "X-Prize" program that has fostered new developments in space flight and genetics research and is presently promoting development of a production-ready passenger vehicle capable of attaining a fuel economy average of at least 100 miles per gasoline-gallon, or the equivalent.
In a notice scheduled to be published Wedesday in the Federal Register, the Energy Department will outlines requirements for the prize, to be awarded in 2011 if anyone can come up with an improved hydrogen storage material that satisfies the department.
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- John O'Dell August 25, 2009, 3:02 PM
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- Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
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, DOE, Energy Department, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen
August 6, 2009
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Let the rest of the world talk about batteries, Toyota Motor Co. wants us to know its got fuel-cell electric vehicles and that it believes they're a viable technology.
The automaker said this morning that in a real-world driving test of a pair of its second-generation Toyota Highlander fuel cell vehicles, they averaged 431 miles on Southern California roads on their approximately 6-kilogram tanks of compressed hydrogen gas .
Average fuel economy was 68.3 miles per kilogram - the hydrogen equivalent of a gallon of gasoline. That's more than 2.5 times the fuel economy of the 2010 Toyota Highlander gas-electric hybrid.
Toyota previously had estimated the second-generation Highlander fuel cell SUV's range at 516 miles. But that was based on an estimate derived from a Japanese fuel economy test cycle that has much lower top speeds and acceleration rates than used in the U.S. test, said Toyota spokeswoman Jana Hartline.
The automaker didn't comment on the timing of the annoiuncemen but the numbers apparently have been released to respond to Energy Secretary Stephen Chu's recent comment that hydrogen fuel cell cars won't be a viable transportation alternative in the next 20 years - and to help keep us thinking about Toyota's previously announced intent to launch a retail fuel cell vehicle in the U.S. by 2015.
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- John O'Dell August 6, 2009, 8:00 AM
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- Fuel Cell, Hydrogen, Toyota
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, Fuel Economy, Toyota Fuel Cell Vehicle, Toyota Highlander FCHEV
July 29, 2009
General Motors, a leader in development of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, may have to curtail its cutting-edge work unless it gets another $50 million to $70 million from the government, GM's outgoing research chief warns.
GM just emerged from a painful bankruptcy restructuring in which it cut 1,100 dealers; shed Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn; and lost thousands more jobs. Yet, through it all, GM maintained its hydrogen research program pretty much intact, even though fuel-cell vehicles are still years away from going on sale.
"The program has not slowed down at all," Larry Burns (pictured), GM's retiring vice president of research, said in an interview with USA Today. "The issue is, going forward, do we have sufficient money to operate at that rate?"
You may recall that Burns is one of the auto industry's most outspoken backers of hydrogen technology. He shepherded the Chevrolet Equinox fuel-cell electric vehicle into existence and has helped lead the charge for development of a national hydrogen fueling system to support widespread use of the zero-emissions vehicles.
Trying to seek federal research dollars, directly or indirectly, comes at a sensitive time for GM. As of last month, the automaker had either accepted or been approved for $49.4 billion in government bailout funds. It has not had direct grants from the government for its hydrogen program.
Now, General Motors is in talks with "government and private entities" about grants or partnerships in hydrogen vehicle research, confirms GM spokesman Alan Adler.
Under Burns, GM has become known for its fuel-cell work. "They have done so much original, groundbreaking work in this area," Catherine Dunwoody, executive director of the California Fuel Cell Partnership, told USA Today.
Burns, 58, says he decided to retire to give the new GM fresh research leadership under Alan Taub, 54, who, he says, will continue with the same direction.
Hydrogen is a zero-emission fuel that emits only water vapor through the tailpipe. But fuel cells are costly, few fueling stations exist, and mass acceptance is considered years away.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu cut $100 million from the $168 million hydrogen research budget to focus instead on battery electric cars, which show more short-term promise. There are moves in Congress to restore hydrogen funding.
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- Scott Doggett July 29, 2009, 6:00 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hydrogen
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- Chevrolet Equniox
, General Motors, GM, HFEV, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Larry Burns
July 14, 2009
Larry Burns, one of the auto industry's most outspoken backers of hydrogen technology, is retiring in the wake of the company's bankruptcy and announced intent to thin top executive ranks.
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Larry Burns introduces the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle.
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Burns, who joined GM in 1969, said in a brief statement that he believes much of the technology he's worked on as head of R&D "is ready for commercialization."This is a good time for me to pass the baton to others who are very qualified to drive technology leadership."
No word yet on his plans for life after GM, but with his credentials, Burns ought to be able to write his own ticket in a number of arenas.
We here at Green Car Advisor hope that he'll wind up in the hydrogen fuel -cell industry, where he could serve as a most eloquent advocate for a technology that ought to be getting as much support from the government as battery-electric, or plug-in, transportation.
Burns (right)
shepherded the Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell electric vehicle into existence - that's the FCEV that GM has been leasing to hundreds of people around the country in a 30-month program slated to end in mid-2010 - and has helped lead the charge for development of a national hydrogen fueling system to support widespread use of zero-emissions vehicles .
Although a proponent of hydrogen, Burns was not a foe of batter-electric technology, and often said -in public and in private -that the two should exist side-by-side as part of the effort to free the country of its dependence on oil.
His department was heavily involved in development of the Chevrolet Volt, GM's plug-in, extended-range electric hybrid.
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- John O'Dell July 14, 2009, 1:33 PM
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- Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
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- Fuel Cells
, General Motors, Hydrogen
July 13, 2009
The North American arm of one of the world's largest producers of hydrogen and developers of hydrogen fueling stations has joined the California Fuel Cell Partnership
, a private-public consortium dedicated to the development of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
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A Linde tank truck delivers hydrogen to a station in Berlin, where it is stored as a liquid. It can then, on demand, be compressed and turned into a gaseous fuel or left alone for hydrogen vehicles that use it as a liquid.
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Linde North American
brings to the fuel cell partnership what the company calls a "ground-breaking technology" for fast, efficient and safe ways to fuel hydrogen vehicles.
While not the Holy Grail of the hydrogen set - that would be a cheap and energy-free way to make hydrogen gas - Linde N.A.'s technology still could help solve another of the fuel's biggest problems.
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- John O'Dell July 13, 2009, 3:01 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Hydrogen Fuel Cells
, Hydrogen Fuel Pump, Linde
July 8, 2009
In an unusual turn of events, Congress (or at least congressional appropriations committees) is showing more common sense than the White House.
In reviewing the administration's funding requests for the Department of Energy's budget, the House Appropriations Committee has restored $40 million in R&D funding for automotive hydrogen fuel cell technology that Energy Secretary Steven Chu's budget proposal had eliminated.
And the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee has said it wants to see the hydrogen and fuel cell research portion of the DOE's budget increased to $190 billion from the $68 million in Chu's budget proposal.
The Senate subcommittee hasn't provided a breakdown of what it wants the additional funding used for, but it is likely that much of it would go for automotive programs.
Chu, you'll recall, eliminated $100 million in funding for automotive-related hydrogen and fuel cell research from his 2010 budget request, remarking that he and his advisors didn't see fuel cell vehicles as a viable transportation alternative in the next decade or so.
By so doing, he essentially picked battery-electric transportation as the "winner" in the effort to find replacements for petroleum-burning engines for the cars and trucks of the future.
But Chu, who said that the lack of a hydrogen fueling infrastructure was a big stumbling block for electrics, forgot (or ignored) battery-electric vehicles' need for a national network of fast-charging stations if they are ever to become more than commuter and city cars relegated to the second slot in the garage.
His recommendation that the budget eliminate automotive-related fuel cell and hydrogen research funding would have left the U.S. trailing well behind the Japanese (and doesn't that sound like a familiar tune) a decade down the road when their ongoing fuel cell R&D -- firmly supported by the government -- results in a generation of Japanese cars that can travel great distances with no emissions and no need to stop and plug in.
We're not anti-battery, mind you.
We think both technologies, when coupled with a plentiful supply of clean energy to fuel generating plants and hydrogen refineries, will be necessary parts of a transportation future that is no longer dependant on oil.
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- John O'Dell July 8, 2009, 12:26 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Energy Department Budget
, Federal Fuel Cell Funding, Federal Hydrogen Funding, Hydrogen Fuel Cells
July 7, 2009
Continuing its drive to make fuel cells, not batteries, the heart of an electric propulsion system for the world's cars and trucks, Volvo Group says it is leading a public-private partnership that will invest 200 million Swedish Krona ($25.7 million) in the development of hydrogen fuel-cell technology.
Volvo Group
, the world's second-largest truck manufacturer (it sold its automobile unit to Ford Motor Co. in 1999), said the investment in Powercell Sweden AB
will help the company continue development of its unique on-board hydrogen reformer that produces hydrogen for the fuel cell directly from diesel, gasoline or a variety of biofuels including ethanol and biodiesel.
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Volvo Group already has a handful of diesel-electric hybrid trucks on the road and wants fuel-cell electric trucks to be next.
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By using the ubiquitous petroleum fuels as feedstocks for producing hydrogen, Powercell says it has effectively eliminated the need to wait for development of a hydrogen infrastructure to make fuel cell vehicles viable.
The global network of conventional gas and diesel stations would become the infrastructure until a system for the sustainable making and delivering of hydrogen is developed.
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- John O'Dell July 7, 2009, 5:00 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Fuel Cell
, Hydogen
June 26, 2009
Effort Comes as U.S. Plans to Drop Federal Funding For Fuel Cell Car Research
Japan's Internal Affairs Ministry, dismayed that its goal of having 50,000 hydrogen fuel cell cars on the roads by the spring of 2011 isn't going to be achieved, has called for new measures to promote use of the vehicles.
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A Toyota Highlander fuel-cell vehicle.
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The government, which set the present goal back in 2001, also is expected to release a new target, given that here were only 42 fuel-cell electric vehicles in operation in Japan at the end of the 2008 fiscal year last March.
Already in place, as of April, is an exemption for fuel cell vehicles and other "new-generation" cars and trucks, from Japan's expensive vehicle weight and new-vehicle purchase taxes.
The Japanese government has invested the equivalent of $205 million in fuel cell development in the past five years, and Japanese automakers Toyota and Honda are among the industry leaders in the technology.
Honda's FCX Clarity (left)
is the world's only purpose-built hydrogen fuel cell car.
It is a terribly expensive vehicle now (estimates of Honda's investment to build 200 of the cars range from $500,000 to $2 million per vehicle) because its body panels are all unique, requiring costly new tooling, and its power system is pretty much hand-built.
But Honda insiders say the car could be made affordable if there were sufficient demand to foster growth of a supplier industry to make fuel cells, batteries and other specialized components in volume.
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- John O'Dell June 26, 2009, 12:27 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Honda, Hydrogen, Japan, Toyota
- Technorati Tags:
- Fuel Cell Vehicles
, Hydrgen Fuel Cells
June 25, 2009
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
It's pretty clear by now that one of the main obstacles to commercializing fuel-cell electric vehicles is the lack of a hydrogen fueling infrastructure.
A little more range from a tank of the hydrogen gas that fuel cells require to produce electricity also would be nice.
How to store the gas, which has an extremely low density, is one of the stumbling blocks, but researchers at the University of Delaware think they're on the way to developing a solution.
The secret is chicken feathers. Carbonized chicken feathers to be exact.
Seems the fluffy stuff is made of keratin, a protein that forms microscopic tubes riddled with pores when heated just right - tubes that are the optimum size for storing hydrogen gas.
A 20 gallon tank filled with hydrogen gas pumped in at the ambient temperature and pressure would hold enough of the stuff to propel a car about one mile, said Richard Wool, a chemical engineering professor at the university.
It's that low-density problem: at room temperature the volume of hydrogen containing the same amount of energy as a gallon of gasoline is 40 times that of the gas.
Most fuel-cell electric cars being tested today are getting the equivalent of 50 to 80 miles a gallon (a kilogram of hydrogen gas has the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline) but carry their fuel in pressured tanks to avoid having to tow around box-car sized external tanks of unpressurized fuel.
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- John O'Dell June 25, 2009, 1:45 AM
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- Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Fuel Cell Electric Cars
, Hydrogen Fuel, Hydrogen Storage
June 23, 2009
We expect a lot of blogger activity today on this morning's "announcement" from Toyota that it hopes to roll out an updated fuel cell car by 2015, even though it isn't news.
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Toyota has several Highlander SUVs outfitted with fuel-cell electric drivetrains in testing now.
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Toyota first made that promise five months ago at the Detroit auto show.
The real import of today's announcement at the company's annual shareholder meeting is that it comes just two days before Congress begins considering an Energy Department budget that would eliminate federal funding for automotive fuel cell research and development in the U.S.
So while Toyota - and Honda and South Korea's Hyundai and Germany's Daimler and Volkswagen - all continue pursing development of their fuel cell vehicles, doubtlessly with support from their governments, the Obama Administration wants to give up on the technology. That would leave Ford, GM and Chrysler to go it alone or drop their hydrogen fuel cell development programs after sending billions on them over the past decade.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu says he eliminated $100 million in previous budgets' funding for automotive-related hydrogen research because he and his advisers don't see an immediate return - that it will be a decade or more before there's sufficient hydrogen fueling infrastructure to make the vehicles viable.
The DOE instead will pursue funding development of plug-in electric cars.
We're all for battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars and trucks, but we think the decision this early in the game to bet the farm on them while ruling out hydrogen fuel cells is short-sighted.
Toyota's reiteration of its commitment to the technology, and Honda's repeated comments that the future will be one in which a number of alternative fuels and powertrains are in play, ought to be seen as a warning sign.
It will be interesting, if Congress acquiesces now and allows the tap for hydrogen fuel cell research funding to be shut off, to listen to the criticism that will be heaped on U.S. automakers a decade or so from now when it becomes apparent that Japan has corned the market on the technology and we're once again left to play catch-up.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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- John O'Dell June 23, 2009, 10:25 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
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- Fuel Cell Cars
, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Toyota
June 17, 2009
In what seems like a continuing shift of automotive investment away from Michigan and into California, Austrian powertrain engineering firm AVL has opened an alternative-fuels powertrain engineering center in the Orange County city of Lake Forest.
The center will be used for prototype and proof-of-concept work, said Bruce Falls, the center's director of engineering. Anything closer to production will be sent to AVL's larger engineering centers in Plymouth, Michigan or Graz, Austria.
Falls said AVL is looking at bridging the systems-engineering gap between automakers and suppliers, both sides of an equation chasing next-generation propulsion systems.
"We're technology neutral. We're a facilitator. Systems engineering has always been the bottleneck," he said. "We're seeing how refined a concept car can go with mechanical integration, so that it's more than just a show car."
Among the center's features is an all-in-one test bed (pictured) that integrates a chassis tester and wheels-off dynamometer with drive-by-wire wheelslip simulators. The rig can handle any vehicle from a small car to a bus to a Class 8 tractor trailer, Falls said.
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- Scott Doggett June 17, 2009, 11:51 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Chrysler, Diesel, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Alternative Fuel
, AVL, General Motors, Hybrid, Hydrogen Fuel Cell, Powertrain
June 12, 2009
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Like every other alternative fuel, hydrogen has its fans and foes, its pluses and minuses, its ups and, recently, its downs.
After being the favored ground transportation fuel of the future for most of the last eight years as the Bush administration pushed development of hydrogen fuel cells for automotive use, nature's most abundant - albeit hard to isolate - element has been cast aside by the Obama administration.
The new president's Nobel-winning energy secretary, Steven Chu, has proposed in his 2010 departmental budget to eliminate funding for automotive hydrogen programs - that's $100 million - and instead to focus hydrogen research on fuel cells to generate power for homes, businesses and other stationary power users.
For transportation, his choice of fuel research programs to back is no surprise, he's long been a supporter of biofuels and electric cars.
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Honda says its FCX Clarity (below, right) is production-ready, lacking only a fueling infrastructure and lower-priced components that can only come with increased production of such cars.
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That's got the hydrogen car crowd - and we confess to a great fondness for fuel cell vehicles ourselves - up in arms and questioning the validity of Chu's apparent decision to "pick winners" by concentrating DOE research finding on biofuels and battery-electric, or plug-in, cars while announcing that his team doesn't see any short-term chance for hydrogen to emerge as a widely available and used fuel.
But Chu, powerful as he is sitting atop the nation's official energy policy agency and operating with the endorsement and backing of the president, isn't all-powerful. He has to answer to Congress, and Congress is subject to lobbying.
So the pressure politics have begun.
Short-Sighted?
With DOE budget hearings about to start, the chairman of the Senate's energy and Water Appropriations Committee - the committee that sits in judgment over the energy Department budget - has come out swinging.
A fan of hydrogen, Sen. Byron Dorgan recently called the DOE's budget recommendation to eliminate automotive hydrogen research funding "a very short-sighted recommendation." Hydrogen and fuel cells "are part of this country's future," said the North Dakota Democrat.
Backing Dorgan in support of restoring at lest some hydrogen programs funding for automotive research are automakers with huge investments in the technology.
They include Toyota and Honda, no slouches when it comes to making informed choices about technologies, as well as Daimler and our own General Motors Corp.
(We say "our own" because as part of the taxpaying public, we now share ownership of the faltering car company with the rest of America.)
Unlikely Allies
GM, in case you've been living in a cave or up in space for the past few weeks, is in bankruptcy now and the government, as its majority owner, has a rather big stake in the company's survival and future success.
Granted, GM hasn't been all that great at picking the proper trends and technologies as it looked to the future.
But this time the General is on the same team as Toyota and Honda rather than turning up its nose and sniffing that the Japanese car companies don't know what they are talking about.
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- John O'Dell June 12, 2009, 5:15 AM
- Categories:
- Biofuels, Daimler, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Opinion, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
- Technorati Tags:
- DOE Budget
, Fuel Cells, Hyrdogen Research Cuts
June 11, 2009
Mazda Motor Corp., already in a partnership with part-owner Ford Motor Co. to develop a hybrid vehicle, says it is looking at more alliances, with Ford and others, to develop electric cars and other "electric devices" that will help boost fuel economy.
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Mazda, seeking to boost its overall fuel efficiency, recently began commercial leases of this hydrogen-powered Premacy vant in Japan.
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Those devices could run the gamut from electric power steering, brake and climate systems to hybrid, hydrogen and fully battery-electric drive systems for cars and SUVs.
Ford, which once controlled Mazda, now holds a 13.8 percent stake in the company. The two already share some vehicle platforms (such as the Mazda 3 and Ford's European Focus) and Mazda's president said Wednesday that they intend to continue to develop shared vehicle platforms.
The company announced in April that it would develop a new Mazda hybrid as it seeks to increase its overall fleet fuel economy by 30 percent in the next six years.
To accelerate development of fuel efficiency technologies, the company now is considering multiple alliances, Mazda Senior Managing Director Seita Kanai said at a Wednesday press conference in Japan.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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- John O'Dell June 11, 2009, 11:57 AM
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- Mazda Hybrid
Buses Can Run on Battery Power Alone Up to 40% of the Time for Big Cut in Emissions
The city of Baltimore has unveiled the first of the 21 new gas-electric hybrid buses that will be in service by this fall, the maker of the buses said.
The buses, built by Charlotte, N.C.-based DesignLine USA, will boost fuel efficiency by 40 percent relative to a comparable conventionally powered bus while cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as 70 percent, DesignLine said in a statement.
The EcoSaver IV model acquired by Baltimore also can run strictly on lithium-ion battery power as much as 40% of the time and is about a third quieter than comparable vehicles, according to the manufacturer.
Baltimore, the 20th largest U.S. city, is joining a growing list of metro areas investing in hybrid buses made by companies like Daimler and DesignLine in an effort to cut both fuel costs and pollutants.
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- John O'Dell June 11, 2009, 11:15 AM
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- DesignLine USA
, Hybrid Buses
June 8, 2009
Daimler is presenting its new Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid city bus to a conference of public transport authorities in Vienna all of this week.
The fuel-cell hybrid bus is the first vehicle in Daimler's new generation of fuel-cell buses. According to its maker, the bus combines the environmental advantages of the diesel-electric Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid with those of the hydrogen-powered Citaro fuel cell buses, which have delivered impressive performance in fleet tests.
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid runs without emitting any pollutants and is virtually silent, making it ideal for use in highly congested inner-cities and urban areas.
Daimler is the No. 1 busmaker by volume worldwide. If any company is positioned to revolutionize that market, it's Daimler. And clearly the compnay is attempting to do just that.
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid was developed within the framework of Daimler's global commercial vehicle initiative to use clean, efficient drive systems and alternative fuels to make zero-emission commercial vehicles a reality.
The fuel-cell systems used are identical with those installed in the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL passenger car, for which small-lot production will begin later this year. Several components were also borrowed from the B-Class F-CELL, with developers mutually benefiting from their respective test results.
Daimler will produce a small batch of about 30 vehicles of this new generation of fuel-cell buses and offer them to European mass transit companies.
Beginning in fall, Daimler will be conducting extensive, large-scale testing of the Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCell Hybrid bus in a number of European cities.
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- Scott Doggett June 8, 2009, 6:15 PM
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General Motors expanded its battery research and development capabilities today with the opening of the largest and possibly most advanced battery laboratory in the United States.
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Right, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and GM CEO Fritz Henderson prior to press conference announcing the opening of GM's newest battery lab.
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The new Global Battery Systems Lab in Warren, Michigan, will lead GM's advanced-battery engineering efforts and expedite the introduction of electrical-powered vehicles, including the Chevrolet Volt, as well as plug-in hybrid and hybrid-electric vehicles and fuel-cell vehicles.
In a statement released today, the automaker described the lab's opening as the latest move in GM's comprehensive battery strategy, which includes ramping up in-house responsibility for advanced battery technology and a broad portfolio of supplier partners.
At 33,000 square feet, the lab is four times larger than the automaker's previous battery laboratory on the same GM campus and will be used by the automaker's thousand-plus engineers assigned to developing advanced batteries and electrically driven vehicles.
Low-cost, lightweight and powerful batteries are widely regarded as the final piece of the puzzle to an affordable all-electric vehicle, so the importance of the lab to GM at a time when the automaker is in deep financial trouble cannot be overstated.
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- Scott Doggett June 8, 2009, 12:54 PM
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June 4, 2009
Work on Hydrogen Fuel Cells Also Will Continue Despite Company's Bankruptcy
They've said that they don't expect their financial woes to adversely impact their company's various fuel efficiency and clean emissions initiatives, and now that General Motors Corp. is officially bankrupt they're saying it again.
Specifically, in an interview on National Public Radio (which we missed but was picked up by AutoblogGreen) GM's chief financial officer, Ray Young, said that the automaker believes gas prices will rise, that consumers will "demand" more fuel efficient and greener vehicles and that GM is "going to make that commitment [and] make that investment..."
But wait! That's not all!
GM's chief executive, Fritz Henderson, told NPR that the company will continue its research and development work on hydrogen fuel cells, even though it now believes that commercialization of fuel-cell electric cars is "far away."
Having driven GM's fuel cell Equinox (above) and Honda's FCX Clarity, we don't doubt Henderson's contention that hydrogen fuel cells can work in the family auto.
We just hope he's wrong about commercialization being a thing of the distant future (although we must admit that it is a dimming hope as the federal government seems to have turned away from hydrogen to concentrate its R&D funds on plug-in hybrids and battery-electric cars).
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- John O'Dell June 4, 2009, 5:47 PM
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June 1, 2009
Downsizing Won't Kill Automaker's Initiatives, but Demand for Quick Profits Could
As General Motors Corp. begins reshaping itself in a complex, government-assisted bankruptcy process that leaves taxpayers as its major investor, one thing remains clear -- the automaker's future depends on its ability to develop cars that are both fuel-efficient and desirable.
To do so in an era of economic uncertainty marked by sluggish car sales, wildly fluctuating fuel prices and consumer confusion about the best car-buying strategies as we wait for the new generation of advanced technology vehicles to appear is going to require a degree of discipline that so far has been woefully lacking at GM and other domestic auto companies.
So it was heartening to see this morning that GM accompanied its filing for a pre-planned Chapter 11 reorganization
with the promise that even as it pares expenses to the bone it would "continue and increase its investment and leadership in fuel economy and advanced propulsion technologies."
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Chevy Volt "extended range EV' is one of the cars on which GM is betting its future.
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The "leadership" claim is a bit much -- marketing never stops.
But the rest of that vow, contained as it was in a statement undoubtedly edited and approved by the Obama administration, shows that GM so far is on the right path, and is pursuing it with government backing.
The Chevrolet Volt, GM's gamble on a potentially game-changing fuel-efficiency technology, will continue on schedule for launch in late 2010, according to this morning's statement.
Additionally, GM said it will continue development of conventional gas-electric hybrid technology, with 14 models due in the market by 2012, and will continue outfitting cars and trucks with flex-fuel systems so that by 2014 a full 65 percent of its vehicles will be capable of using ethanol or other alternative fuels, such as biodiesel.
We know GM also has been working on battery-electric and fuel-cell electric drivetrains and expect that R&D effort to continue as well.
Go Long
There will be many stumbling blocks to be overcome in the GM bankruptcy, but with the purse-string controlling government so far signing off on the automaker's intent to make fuel-efficiency and the development of petroleum-free powertrains a centerpiece of its recovery effort, things are getting off to a good start.
If the Feds succumb, though, to the cult of immediacy that has hamstrung so much of American industry for so long -- the demand by investors and market analysts for ever-increasing growth and profitability at the expense of solid long-term planning -- then all bets are off.
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- John O'Dell June 1, 2009, 8:00 AM
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May 27, 2009
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour today at Stop 6 of a 9-day, 28-stop, 1,700-mile road trip, telling a group of reporters at the site of the state's first integrated (H2 and gasoline) station that California remains committed to a future where hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles replace gassy rides regardless of what Washington does.
Speaking at a Shell station in West Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger reminded reporters that the California Air Resources Board, which sets vehicle-emissions standards for the state, recently passed a low-carbon fuel standard - the world's first such standard.
It will, he said, ensure that the cleanest fuels, including hydrogen, will always have a strong market in California.
"And the reason why this is so important is that on the federal level, they [politicians] make decisions based on where the oil price is. That means that sometimes the federal government, when the oil price goes up, they go in the direction of renewable energy and alternate fuels. And when the oil price goes down, they abandon those policies," the "Governator" said, his back to a row of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles made by Daimler, Honda, Toyota, KIA, Volkswagen and Nissan.
"Well we don't do that here in California. We only march in one direction and that is forward. And we're not going to slow down. In 2010, we will have seven new hydrogen refueling stations in California and we will invest another $40 million over the next two years in hydrogen stations."
The governor reminded the automotive press that 20 percent of the new vehicles sold in the United States are sold in California, which is home to 25 million cars and trucks. (Those vehicles, not incidentally, consume 50 million gallons of gasoline and diesel a day and produce 40 percent of the state's greenhouse gases.)
As a result of California's vehicle market share, and that fact that Washington often follows the state's lead regarding tailpipe-emissions regulations, automakers can count on there being a large market for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and companies considering investments in an H2-refueling infrastructure can rest assured there will be vehicles requiring the fuel, he said.
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- Scott Doggett May 27, 2009, 2:13 PM
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May 26, 2009
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
There's nothing like $2.4 billion in federal grants to attract lots of applicants.
In one of the U.S. government's biggest efforts at shaping industrial policy, the Energy Department has been soliciting applications since mid-March for $2.4 billion in funding aimed at turning America into a battery-manufacturing powerhouse.
At the deadline last week, the department had received 165 applications. Companies vying for the money include General Motors Corp., Dow Chemical Co. and Johnson Controls Inc. Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts are among the states weighing in with applications.
When the winners are decided - as soon as the end of July - the Energy Department may anoint Livonia, Mich., or Indianapolis or Glendale, Kentucky, as the future U.S. hub of car batteries.
Given the availability of these funds, and Energy Secretary Stephen Chu's May 7 proposal that more than $100 million be cut from his department's hydrogen program in the 2010 budget the administration is submitting to Congress, you might think the National Hydrogen Association would wonder if funds needed for fuel-cell development are being diverted to electric vehicles.
"That's not the case," Debbi Smith, the trade group's executive vice president told us today. "The recent actions by Secretary Chu are actions that he had to make in a tough fiscal climate, but it is not the opinion of the automakers at all and it's not the opinion of our members here at the National Hydrogen Association or of the U.S. Fuel Cell Council."
Smith noted that there have been statements by various automotive executives that it is "not as though one technology is ready more than the other right now. Batteries are also not ready for prime time."
It's going to take biofuels, batteries and fuel cells - "all three of them, if we're serious about reducing our nation's dependence on oil and if we're serious about reducing greenhouse gases," she said. "It's going to take just about everything we can throw at these huge problems."
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- Scott Doggett May 26, 2009, 1:36 PM
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May 20, 2009
VW has brought 16 Chinese-market Passat Lingyu fuel cell sedans to U.S. for intensive testing.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
While the rest of the world was listening to President Obama outline his industry-supported plan to require that passenger cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. achieve average fuel economy of 35.5 miles per gallon and a 30 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2016, I was putting around an industrial section of California's capital in a car that gets the equivalent of about twice that, with no CO2 from the tailpipe.
It was one of Volkswagen's previous-generation Chinese-market Passat Lingyu sedans, outfitted with a fuel-cell electric drive that gets its juice by converting hydrogen and oxygen to electricity in an on-board electro-chemical power plant called a fuel cell stack.
The German automaker, mostly noted in green car circles for its clean diesel (turbo direct injection, or TDI) technology, has brought 16 of the hydrogen-electric cars to the California Fuel Cell Partnership facility in West Sacramento for a bout of prolonged testing.
Down, Not Dead
That VW is doing the testing is heartening. The company is one of a handful of major automakers insisting that fuel cell development must continue even though the Obama administration's energy budget proposal has let the air out of the hydrogen balloon by slashing program funding 60% and diverting most of the $100 million thus saved to battery electric vehicle programs.
(Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, you might recall, justified the hydrogen program cuts by pronouncing that fuel cells aren't going to be viable mass market automotive technology within the next 15 to 20 years and that government funding needs to go to programs that could come on line more rapidly.)
I asked several VW representatives why, other than to keep flying the fuel- cell electric vehicle (FCEV) flag, they'd scheduled Tuesday's event as there seemed to be no newsworthy reason for it - the cars aren't new, their fuel cell systems are a generation behind those being tested by the company in Germany and there were no other VW announcements during the day.
"Because," I was told, "the cars are here" and VW wanted to make sure the handful of U.S. journalists who cover green car technology knew about them and about the fuel cell partnership - which is celebrating its 10th anniversary next week - and its continuing commitment to hydrogen technology.
Obstacles Abound
That's all well and good - we're fans even though we know that in order for FCEVs to be viable, fuel cell stack durability has to be improved; costs must be halved and then halved again; the hydrogen to make them work will have to be made with clean electricity, which we don't have much of yet; and a tremendously expensive national effort will be required to install a fueling infrastructure to keep the vehicles rolling.
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- John O'Dell May 20, 2009, 3:01 AM
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May 11, 2009
Talk about a disconnect.
When the Obama Administration unveiled its proposed 2010 budget last week, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu had penciled in a proposal to cut more than $100 million from Uncle Sam's hydrogen research and development program.
Chu's rationale for cutting hydrogen funding by 59 percent to just $68 million? It's unlikely that the technology will become significant player during the next two decades.
In contrast, the California Fuel Cell Partnership in February predicted that 4,300 fuel-cell electric vehicles could be traveling California roads by 2014, and that the the hydrogen-powered fleet could grow to about 50,000 vehicles by 2017 as more manufacturers introduce their zero emission vehicles.
What's more, the partnership believes that, by 2017, Californians will be able to fuel their Honda FCX Clarity and other fuel cell vehicles at between 50 and 100 hydrogen refueling stations around the state.
'"Fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen stations are at the cusp of transition into the early commercial market," according to the organization's report that is titled "Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle and Station Deployment Plan: A Strategy for Meeting the Challenge Ahead."
So it's not surprising that the CaFCP, which counts auto manufacturers (including Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.), energy companies (Shell and Chevron), fuel cell technology companies (Proton Energy Systems) and government agencies (including the DoE, which is a dues-paying member!) on Friday called for Chu to reconsider the proposed budget cut.
"Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have progressed to the point where some automakers are ready to begin early commercialization," said CaFCP Executive Director Catherine Dunwoody. "Stopping federal investment at this point is like a coach pulling back an Olympic athlete who has trained for years, just as the trials begin. We can't wait for the next round. We're ready to go."
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- Greg Johnson May 11, 2009, 3:13 PM
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May 8, 2009
Toyota reported its first financial loss in decades and is forecasting another hefty loss for this year, but the still world's largest automaker is protecting product development and R&D that pertains to small cars and advanced technologies, particularly those related to the environment and energy.
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Toyota says it won't abandon advanced vehicles such as this electric car concept.
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"We will maintain a high level of R&D in areas we consider indispensable to our future -- advanced, cutting-edge technologies in environment, energy and safety," Takahiko Ijichi, Toyota Motor Corp. senior managing director, said in a conference call Friday morning with analysts and media.
Ijichi said Toyota will continue work to cut costs in its development and production of compact vehicles and hybrids. The next-generation Toyota Corolla will be a model for such cost-cutting, he said. And lessons learned on the Corolla, which initially launches in Japan followed by the U.S. and Europe, will be transferred to all other Toyota and Lexus models.
He said Toyota is continuing cost reduction of its hybrid systems. He noted that size and weight reductions of the new third-generation Toyota Prius reduced costs by 30 percent compared with the second-generation model. Toyota has said it plans to introduce as many as 10 new hybrid models by 2010 and a battery-electric city car by 2012.
Not only will Toyota keep spending on green initiatives, it intends to accelerate development next-generation technologies in environment, energy and safety, with environmental goals topping its priorities list, Ijichi said.
Its goals include the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, mass-production of small battery-electric electric vehicles and the development of next-generation alternative fuel vehicles including fuel-cell electric cars and vehicles use biofuels.
Michelle Krebs, Editor, AutoObserver.com
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- John O'Dell May 8, 2009, 8:12 AM
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May 7, 2009
(Note: Updated 5 p.m. 5/7/09 to include link to Hydrogen and Fuel Cell groups' joint statement.)
By
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
In a huge blow to backers of fuel-cell electric vehicles, the nation's top energy official said today he sees little promise of the technology becoming a significant player in the nation's transportation system within the next two decades.
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Honda's FCX Clarity, now being tested in Southern California, uses a hydrogen fuel cell to provide electric power.
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As a result, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu is proposing that more than $100 million be cut from the Energy Department hydrogen program in the 2010 budget the administration is submitting to Congress.
The proposed budget slashes hydrogen fuel cell spending by 59 percent to just $68 million and focuses on programs for stationary power generation rather than for transportation.
"We asked ourselves, 'Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will covert to a hydrogen car economy?' The answer, we felt, was 'no,'" Chu said in a briefing today.
The National Hydrogen Association and the U.S. Fuel Cell Coalition quickly issued a joint statement criticizing the program cuts.
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- John O'Dell May 7, 2009, 3:49 PM
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April 30, 2009
Company Can't Afford To Drop EV and Plug-in Development If It Hopes for a Future
Chrysler green prototypes include plug-in hybrid Jeeps and Town & Country van and Dodge Circuit EV.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Some quick thoughts on what Chrysler's bankruptcy and reorganization may mean for the company's green initiatives.
Chrysler is going to continue to be run largely by government dictate as it wends its way though bankruptcy -- the Obama administration will be selecting new board members and the Feds will be providing much of the company's working capital -- and the government has made it clear time and again that it wants carmakers to concentrate on fuel-efficiency.
So if Chrysler is to have a post-bankruptcy future, then building cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles that help us kick our oil dependency has got to be part of it, as it must for all automakers.
A large part of that effort, now that Chrysler will be teamed with and ultimately controlled by Italy's Fiat, will be in development of fuel-efficient gasoline and, possibly, diesel engines for Chrysler's U.S. cars and trucks using Fiat technology.
So we can look for smaller, lighter vehicles to be added to the lineup of the company that made its bones with hulking pickups, gas-guzzling Hemi V8 muscle cars and hefty family hauling minivans. And we can surely expect some of Chrysler's more egregiously fuel-inefficient vehicles to disappear.
A Chrysler version of Fiat's popular and tiny 500 subcompact might not make a big hit in a U.S. still worried about the safety aspects of small cars sharing the road with all those Hummers and Expeditions and Rams, but Fiat has other, larger cars, especially in its Alfa Romeo brand, that might transition well in the U.S.
In his press conference today, President Obama skipped over the impact the restructuring will have on Chrysler's green initiatives except to say that Fiat already has agreed to transfer "billions" of dollars worth of "cutting-edge technology" to Chrysler so it can build "new fuel-efficient cars and engines in America."
But Chrysler also may have some technology of its own to bring to the table.
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Chrysler recently showed this 200C EV electric car concept.
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Skeptics believe Chrysler's green programs, particularly the electric and plug-in hybrid-electric prototype vehicles it has shown off in the past year, are vaporware.
But Green Car Advisor spoke with a few Chrysler insiders this morning and they said that there have been no signs that work on those technologies is being dropped or even diminished.
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- John O'Dell April 30, 2009, 10:33 AM
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April 29, 2009
German Car Maker Also Rolling Out Battery-Electric Smart Cars This Year
Mercedes-Benz has been at the forefront of fuel-cell vehicle development and now says that it plans to begin producing a small number of its B-Class cars (left)
outfitted with the hydrogen-to-electricity systems.
The B-Class fuel-cell electric vehicles would begin rolling out in Europe by the end of the year, apparently for testing in the real world, the automaker told reporters during a program held in Germany this week to show off a student-built experimental fuel cell car, the F-Cell Roadster (more about that at InsideLine).
During the program, Mercedes executives also reiterated that the first of the company's previously announced battery-electric Smart cars would be in production by the end of the year.
The Smarts (right)
are to be used in an EV test program in Berlin next year.
While Mercedes doesn't sell the B-Class in the U.S., the company has said it is considering bringing the small hatchback over here. At the recent Washington D.C. auto show it showed a B-Class flex-fuel vehicle that could use either gasoline or compressed natural gas.
We'll probably be hearing more about fuel cells, battery-electric cars and natural gas vehicles in coming months as all three are alternative fuels being pushed for use in California - a sizeable player in the U.S. new car market - under a just-approved low carbon fuels standard that aims to help cut the state's greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the carbon content of fuels used for transportation.
Student-built F-Cell Roadster on the road in Germany.
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April 27, 2009
As the once-favored hydrogen highway becomes a mere side road on the route to oil independence with the Obama administration's push for rechargeable hybrid powertrains as the new favored alternative to the conventional gasoline engine, hydrogen pioneer Honda Motor Co. says it, too, will begin to pursue the way of the plug.
In an interview with Bloomberg news last week, Honda Motor Co. President Takeo Fukui said his company still sees hydrogen as the best long-term replacement for gasoline in the effort to slash automotive emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases tied to global arming.
Fukui, who is stepping down in June as part of Honda's regular executive shuffle, has in the past has been outspoken in his disdain for plug-in technology, calling it an unnecessary intermediate step form gasoline to pure electric power.
Honda has developed a hydrogen fuel-cell sedan, the FCX Clarity, that it leases to select customers in a Los Angeles-area test program, and isn't planning to abandon the effort.
But, Fukui said in a Bloomberg news wire article published this morning, the automaker also will accommodate the perceived preference of the U.S. government for plug-in hybrid-electric cars and trucks.
Unlike a conventional gas-electric hybrid that charges its batteries from on-board power sources such as regenerative braking, a plug-in hybrid gets its initial charge from the commercial grid, by "plugging in" to a wall socket or a special rapid-charging station
Plug-ins use larger battery pack than a conventional hybrids. They store enough power to permit the vehicle to be driven for an extended amount of time on all-electric drive before the grid charge is depleted and the gas engine kicks in.
Although others, including General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Volkswagen are developing fuel-cell vehicles, Honda has been the only major automaker championing hydrogen above other technologies and so far has stayed out of the rapidly developing race to bring plug-ins to market.
While federal support of hydrogen development has all-but evaporated in the U.S., the government is providing billions of dollars for battery development programs and for federal tax credits of up to $7,500 for purchasers of plug-ins.
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- John O'Dell April 27, 2009, 2:01 AM
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April 23, 2009
AutomotiveWorld.com reports that General Motors Corp. and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Group (SAIC) have extended their partnership to include the launch of SAIC's Shanghai Brand Fuel Cell Vehicle, which is powered by GM's latest fourth-generation fuel cell propulsion technology.
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SAIC will use the same fuel cell system that powers GM's fuel-cell electric Equinox.
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The report says that the SAIC vehicle will use the same GM-developed 700 bar (10,000 psi) high-pressure hydrogen fuel cell system used in the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell. The ten fuel cell vehicles to be built will be used by GM and SAIC to shuttle guests to and from the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
AutomotiveWorld quotes GM Group Vice President and Asia Pacific President Nick Reilly as saying that the vehicles "will be featured in the most extensive fuel cell demonstration program ever conducted in China.This follows the government's call for the creation of a sustainable transportation system."
Reilly also is quoted as saying that the partnership is "in line with our overall strategy of in China, with China, for China."
Fuel-cell cars and SUVs convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity through an onboard electro-chemical reaction. The electricity is then used to power the vehicles' drive motors.
Early in 2008, Chevrolet launched a test fleet of about 100 hydrogen-powered Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles that are on the road in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Southern California.The fleet is part of "Project Driveway," which GM bills as "the first large-scale market test of fuel cell vehicles with real drivers in the real world."
Greg Johnson, Contributor
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- Greg Johnson April 23, 2009, 2:45 AM
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April 20, 2009
To hear Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman William Clay Ford Jr. tell it, developing the green vehicles that will be needed to break this country's dependence upon foreign oil will be the easy part.
The really tough stuff will involve gaining consensus on such touchy subjects as instituting a new federal gasoline tax and determining which technologies will get the nod as new electric-generating plants are designed, permitted and brought online.
"I actually think that the least disruptive piece will be the car piece," Ford said during a half-hour Q&A during a Fortune magazine green ideas conference on Monday at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, Calif. "We can get there relatively easy, but a lot of these other pieces are going to be big issues that we're going to have to solve as a nation."
"One thing that I'm encouraged about is that the [Obama] administration really wants to lead that discussion on a national basis," Ford said. "I am optimistic ... we can't go on with fossil fuel burning the way we are ... it's just not a path that this country wants to go down."
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- Greg Johnson April 20, 2009, 9:23 PM
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April 16, 2009
It will take some heavy lifting to ready fuel cell technology for the road. To that end, the Dept. of Energy on Wednesday announced that it is awarding $41.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to help develop fuel cell technology for a variety of applications.
Some of the grants went to companies that will develop, test and demonstrate new fuel cell applications. Delphi Corp., for example, won a $2.4 million grant to create a three- to five-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell auxiliary power unit for heavy duty commercial trucks.
(On the Delphi front, Global Insight, an economic forecasting company, suggests that the bankrupt parts supplier "would appear fortunate to have received the aid at a time when the company's viability and future prospects are in question.")
The DoE awards are a relative drop in the bucket compared to the $400 million in tax credits that Michigan awarded earlier this week and the $2 billion in economic stimulus funds that Uncle Sam plans to hand out to spur advanced automotive battery development and production.
But every dollar helps. Which brings us back to the heavy lifting. DoE anticipates that the awards, when coupled with $72.4 million that the 13 grant winners have agreed to spend, will push 1,000 fuel cell systems into operation.
A hefty percentage of those systems will involve vehicles with wheels - industrial forklifts that, as DoE notes, are a key, early market "in which fuel cells can compete with conventional power technologies."
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- Greg Johnson April 16, 2009, 11:52 AM
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- Fuel Cell, Legislation, Tax Incentives
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, Department Of Energy, Fuel Cell Technology, Tax Incentive
April 9, 2009
And the winner is: Honda FCX Clarity, the 2009 World Green Car.
The announcement was made this morning at the New York Auto Show. The FCX Clarity beat out the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the Toyota iQ. The top three finishers were culled from a list of 22 contenders that were nominated by 59 judges in 25 countries.
Here is some of what the judges had to say about the car:
"The FCX Clarity is an utterly real, hydrogen-fueled luxury sedan that provides the amenities people expect in a premium car with 430 km (267 miles) range, fuel consumption of about 3.3 litres/100 km (72 mpg U.S.) equivalent and zero tailpipe emissions. While there is only so much the automotive industry can do when it comes to this technology - governments need to come onboard to help create a true refuelling infrastructure - Honda must be credited for taking a bold step in leasing FCX Clarity to customers in California for $600 (U.S.) per month.There's still a long way to go before fuel-cell cars will become a commercial success, but hats off to Honda for continuing to advance this expensive technology during a time when every cent counts."
To be eligible, vehicles had to be available in at least one major market during 2008. The field included production models and experimental prototypes with near-future applications. Judging criteria included fuel economy, emissions and overall environmental impact.
Here are some links to the Honda FCX Clarity, the Mitsubishi iMiEV and the Toyota iQ.
The previous three green category winners were the BMW 118d (2008), the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (2007) and the Honda Civic Hybrid (2006).
Greg Johnson, Contributor
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- Greg Johnson April 9, 2009, 10:37 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Fuel Cell, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
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- Fuel Efficient Cars
, Honda FCX Clarity., Mitsubishi IMIEV, Mitsubishi Motors, Prototypes, Toyota iQ
April 8, 2009
Mercedes-Benz has officially introduced the S400 Hybrid (right), which is being billed as "the first series-production Mercedes-Benz passenger car with hybrid drive and the world's first car with a lithium-ion battery."
If that's too much verbiage, Mercedes also describes its upscale hybrid that will appear in dealer showrooms in August as "the most economic luxury car with a gasoline engine."
Here are some of the pertinent numbers released earlier today by Mercedes, which is part of Daimler AG. A few have been tweaked since Thomas Weber, head of R&D for Mercedes, talked to Green Car Advisor about the S400 during the 2008 New York International Auto Show.
The S400 Hybrid's estimated combined fuel consumption is 29 mpg, which Mercedes describes as "a 30 percent increase over the S550." (Mercedes' earlier estimate was 29.7 mpg.)
The S400 Hybrid has a 3.5 liter, V6 gasoline engine that develops 275 horsepower. An electric motor generates an additional 20 hp. (Mercedes' earlier estimate had been 299 hp.) The gas engine and electric motor have a combined maximum torque of 284 lb-ft.
Mercedes promises that the S400 will go from zero to 62 miles per hour in 7.3 seconds and reach an electronically limited top speed of 155 miles per hour.
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- Greg Johnson April 8, 2009, 10:28 AM
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- Auto Shows, Batteries, Daimler, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz
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- Battery
, Daimler, Hybrid, Lithium-Ion, Mercedes-Benz
April 1, 2009
You have to look hard to find the good news when most of what's being reported is downright depressing.
Such is the case with Honda's decision to pass on this fall's Frankfurt auto show due to the "unprecedented market turndown."
The global recession previously prompted Honda to close a U.K. auto assembly plant for four months to reduce inventories and to withdraw from Formula 1 racing.
The bit of good news buried in Honda's decision to skip Frankfurt is, as Edmunds' AutoObserver Editor Michelle Krebs reports, that Honda will continue to use its available European resources in large part to "strengthen new fuel-cell research [and] its hybrid vehicle portfolio."
Greg Johnson, Contributor
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- Greg Johnson April 1, 2009, 12:19 PM
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, Economic Recovery, Honda Motor Co.
March 26, 2009
And you thought it was tough trying to figure out which fuel-efficient car to drive off the dealer lot.
Ichiro Sakai, assistant vice president of American Honda Motor Co., said earlier this week that vehicle manufacturers face similar challenges when it comes to allocating limited R&D dollars among competing (and expensive) green technologies.
"We suffer from market preference," Sakai said during a transportation program sponsored by the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.
That's a polite way of saying Honda doesn't want to get too far ahead of the green automobile pack -- only to discover that consumers aren't interested in buying what it has to sell. A case in point: the ongoing debate over whether lower gasoline prices have dulled consumer demand for smaller, fuel-efficient cars.
Honda sees the wisdom of advancing such technologies as pure-electric vehicles and increased use of biofuels. But EE Publishing's ClimateWire (a subscription-only news service) reports that Sakai also told the audience that such market realities as fuel economy regulations force it to concentrate on picking "lots of low-hanging fruit for the future of internal combustion engines."
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- Greg Johnson March 26, 2009, 12:24 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
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- American Honda Motor Co.
, FCX Clarity, Ford Motor Co.
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the federal funding for green vehicle technology research has been flowing.
The Clinton administration favored plug-in hybrid electric vehicle research. The Bush administration steered funding to hydrogen fuel-cell research. And who hasn't heard President Obama's repeated pledge to have 1 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on American roads by 2015?
But some in Washington, D.C. are cautioning against the anticipated swing of federal funding back to plug-in hybrids at the expense of hydrogen technology research.
"I hope that we will avoid again putting all of our eggs in one technology basket," U.S. Rep. Brian Baird (D, Wash.) said while chairing a Tuesday hearing in Washington, D.C., by the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. "While we must be targeted in our federal R&D programs, this single-minded approach ignores the importance of balancing a diverse portfolio with sustained funding for longer-term research."
Subsequent testimony by Steven Chalk suggested that the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has taken to heart Obama's 2015 pledge.
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- Greg Johnson March 26, 2009, 10:10 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Batteries, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric
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- BMW
, Hydrogen Fuel Cell, Legislation, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles
March 25, 2009
Hyundai Motor Co. has been green with envy over the success that competitors Toyota and Honda have had in marketing their fuel-efficient cars to consumers.
South Korea's largest automaker has been playing catch-up as it develops a fleet that eventually will include a mix of conventional and plug-in hybrids, advanced-technology gasoline internal combustion engines and fuel-cell electric vehicles.
And, on Monday, Hyundai unveiled plans to expand that fleet with an all-electric, rechargeable car with a range of about 40 miles (62 kilometers).
"We cannot eliminate any technology. We have to keep them all," Hyundai Vice Chairman Lee Hyun Soon told the Bloomberg news service during an interview on Monday in Hwaseong, near Seoul.
"If your commuting distance is short, maybe you can justify using an electric vehicle," said Lee, who serves as research chief for Hyundai and its Kia Motors Corp. affiliate.
Lee did not say when the battery car will go on sale or which markets initially will be targeted.
Upcoming Kia and Hyundai hybrids, as well as the planned Hyundai electric vehicle, will use lithium batteries manufactured by LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's largest chemical company. LG Chem also is supplying lithium-ion batteries for GM's Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, which will go on the market in 2010.
Kia on Tuesday introduced its Kia Forte hybrid, which will be the world's first hybrid-liquefied petroleum gas car when it goes on sale in Korea later this year.
Greg Johnson, Contributor
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- Greg Johnson March 25, 2009, 1:44 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Chevrolet, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hyundai, Kia, Plug-ins and Electric
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- Hyundai Electric Vehicle
, Hyundai Hybrid, Kia Forte Hybrid, LG Chem, Lithium Ion Batteries
March 20, 2009
One more note on Obama talking green during his California visit, this from his appearance last night on The Tonight Show.
Host and noted car buff Jay Leno reminded the president that General Motors was testing hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and that he (Leno) was one of the people who have been driving one.
To which the president replied that he believes vehicles like the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicle represent the future of the auto industry.
"That's where we're going to win back manufacturing," Obama said. "But right now we're behind. These batteries are being made in Japan - just like wind power is being made in Europe. We need to bring that here, and that's part of what my budget and part of what our Recovery Act is all about."
For more on the president's auto-related remarks in his exchange with Leno, check the post by Edmunds' AutoObserver Editor Michelle Krebs.
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- John O'Dell March 20, 2009, 9:12 AM
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- Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen
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, Leno, Obama, Tonight Show
March 16, 2009
It's not easy being green, particularly when vehicle manufacturers worldwide are singing the blues and clamoring for sales-tax breaks to help move less-expensive conventionally-powered cars and trucks off of dealer lots.
----------
Green cars like BYD Autos' plug-in hybrid aren't moving well in China's slow economy.
----------
That's true even in China, one of the world's largest car markets.
Their country remains an attractive long-term market for new-energy vehicles but at present, Chinese consumers are hard-pressed to pay a premium for a green car.
Chinese automakers, though, are scrambling to produce advanced technology cars and trucks in the wake of a central government edict that calls for 60,000 green vehicles to be on the roads by 2012. To help move them off dealers' lots, Beijing is offering subsidies of up to $36,500 to consumers in big cities who buy hybrid, electric cars and fuel-cell vehicles.
The subsidies were created because although the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and the domestically produced BYD F3DM are on sale, Chinese consumers bought fewer than 1,000 hybrids in 2008. To put that figure into context, consider that Toyota's combined U.S. sales of its Prius and Lexus models recently passed the one million mark.
Henry Li, general manager for BYD Auto, bemoaned the situation to the Reuters news agency during a recent interview at the firm's Shenzhen headquarters: "I hope government subsidies can help boost demand, because this is good technology, though expensive compared to conventional cars."
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- John O'Dell March 16, 2009, 11:08 AM
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, Electric Cars, Green Cars, Hybrids
February 16, 2009
(Modified 2/17/09 to reflect amendment to plug-in hybrid credit provision and to correct a typographical error in same section.)
Now that the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has passed through Congress and is awaiting the signature of the President who so adamantly has wanted it, we thought we'd revisit, as best we can, the provisions that apply directly to the green car world.
We say "as best we can" because a full and final version of the bill is still hard to find - and we couldn't. The closest we can come is the official White House website
, which has the conference committee version that was approved on Thursday, but hasn't updated it to the final version that passed both the Hue and Senate on Friday.
So here's the most accurate info we have as of this morning:
Sales Tax Deduction
There is, of course, a sales tax deduction provision aimed at stimulating new car buying in general.
It would make state sales taxes for new car purchases a federal income tax deduction and it would apply to purchases of hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles as well as to purchases of Hummers and Dodge Rams and Lincoln Navigators.
It won't put a lot of money in anyone's pockets, and many automakers say it isn't likely to turn things around dramatically this year, but it will help reduce tax bills for people who've got the wherewithal to buy a new vehicles in the first place and could at least keep a bid situation from getting worse.
Status Quo For Conventional Hybrids
The measure, far as we know, doesn't alter the diminishing tax credits system already in place for conventional hybrids: Up to $3,400 until an automaker sells 60,000 hybirds, then a 50 percent drop each six months until the credit disappears.
Toyota, by dint of its sales lead in the hybrid segment, had used up all of its credits by the end of 2007; Honda's disappeared on Jan. 1; Ford's start dropping at the end of March. GM and Nissan still have full credits available for qualifying models, according to the Department of Energy website that tracks such stuff.
Plug-Ins Win
The bill aims to promote development and sales of plug-in hybrids and some pure EVs, though, by instituting a new tier of tax credits ranging from $2,500 to $7,500 for a vehicle, like the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, with a battery large enough to provide 40 miles of so of all-electric drive on a single charge (the Volt uses an on-board generator to keep things humming along once the initial grid charge is depleted).
The battery pack for an eligible vehicle has to have a capacity of at least at least four kilowatt hours, and the credit increases by $417 for each additional kilowatt hour of capacity after that, topping out at $7,500 for vehicles of 10,000 pounds or less (most cars and light trucks).
For vehicles weighing from 10,001 pounds to 14,000 pounds, the maximum credit is $10,000; it jumps to $12,500 for 14,001- to 26,000-pound vehicles; and tops out at $15,000 for vehicles in excess of 26,000 pounds.
Don't Hold Your Breath, Though
Sorry to say, though, that in most instances, the money for those credits will just be sitting there for the next 23 months.
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- John O'Dell February 16, 2009, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Green Vehicles, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
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- Economic Recovery Reinvestment Act
, Economic Stimulus Plan, Green Cars
February 12, 2009
Discusses Need for Government Support With Cable TV's Daily Show Host
Comedian Jon Stewart (and yes, he is a comedian, even if you do get all your news from his program) had green car advocate Daniel Sperling on his Daily Show to discuss government support of alternative fuels and plug-in hybrids.
Sperling -- a member of the California Air Resources Board and head of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis -- said he believes the day will come when "the vast majority" of the cars on the road will use batteries, fuel-cells and advanced biofuels for power and suggested that it would only take "tens of billions" of dollars to get the ball rolling.
We think it might take a bit more than that, but we just collectively threw $350 billion at Wall Street and have spent nearly $600 billion on the War in Iraq so far (according to the National Priorities Project), so it appears we've got the bucks to throw at problems if we really believe they are problems.
Stewart, of course, lightens things up in his interview, but there's still plenty of food for thought in his 6.5-minute exchange with Sperling.
You can watch it by clicking on the video screen above.
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- John O'Dell February 12, 2009, 11:55 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
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- Advanced Biofuels
, Daily Show, Daniel Sperling
January 15, 2009
Hot on the heels of its recent announcement that it is pushing hard to bring plug-in hybrids
and more conventional hybrids to market as quickly as possible, Toyota Motor Co. now has put a date on the launch of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
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Toyota Highlander fuel-cell vehicle completed a 350- mile trip from Osaka to Tokyo last year without refueling.
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The company's top product planner, Masatami Takimoto, a corporate executive vice president, said in interviews during the Detroit show's media days earlier this week that "limited commercialization" of a Toyota fuel-cell vehicle will begin "in 2015, and maybe sooner."
The program is seen by Toyota as "the beginning of true commercialization" of the fuel-cell vehicles, Takimoto said.
Although it is best for its gas-electric hybrids, especially the Prius, and its (mostly) reliable and fuel-efficient conventional cars, Toyota Motor Corp. has never abandoned the hydrogen fuel cell.
Indeed, the company continues testing models in Japan and in California as a charter member of the California Fuel Cell Partnership and last year announced several improvements that greatly improved reliability and range.
"We think the technology has been achieved," said John Hanson, Toyota's top environmental spokesman in the U.S.
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- John O'Dell January 15, 2009, 1:30 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Toyota
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- Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
, Toyota Fuel Cell Car, Toyota Fuel Cell Sales
January 10, 2009
Toyota's concept electric vehicle is a light-duty runabout based on Japanese-market iQ commuter car.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
The battery-electric city car concept Toyota Motor Corp. will unveil Sunday afternoon in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show is confirmation, the automaker said today, of Toyota's intent to begin selling an urban EV by 2010.
In a pre-show statement, Toyota's chief US spokesman also said the automaker, undaunted by the present collapse of auto sales around the globe, intends in the next few years to :
- intensify the launch of conventional hybrid models;
- push development of plug-in hybrids that can run solely on electric power for extended periods, and ;
- use concepts like the city EV to expand its alternative vehicles efforts beyond the hybrid technology it has helped perfect.
Toyota's hybrid push begins Sunday with the 2010 Prius and 2010 Lexus HS250h hybrids being unveiled during the auto show's opening media day.
iQ With Batteries
The EV concept, which hasn't been seen until now, is expected to generate as much buzz as the new hybrids, however.
Photos released today (top, right and below)
show the Toyota electric car, the FT-EV Concept, as a tiny two-seater based on the popular Toyota iQ urban commuter car launched last year in Japan.
Toyota says the FT-EV concept is an attempt to examine a car that would fit the needs and lifestyle of an urban dweller who drives no more than 50 miles a day and uses public transit for longer trips.
"Last summer's $4-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly, it was a brief glimpse of our future" Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said in a statement released with the photos.
"We must address the inevitability of peak oil [the point at which global production begins to decline] by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel, as well as new concepts, like the iQ, that are lighter in weight and smaller in size," said Miller, group vice president for environmental and public affairs at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.
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- John O'Dell January 10, 2009, 12:00 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Batteries, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Lexus, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
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- Detroit Auto Show
, Hybrids, Toyota Electric Car, Toyota EV Cncept, Toyota's Alternative Vehicles
January 9, 2009
(Note: Article updated after initial posting to include Lexus hybrid)
The upcoming North American International Auto Show in snowy Detroit - media preview days begin Sunday and the show opens to the public on Jan. 17 - is likely to be a pretty glum affair, what with the auto industry imploding and the prospect of many people really being interested in buying a new car right now ranking right up there with being interested in having wisdom teeth pulled sans anesthesia.
But carmakers are trying, and what most are trying hardest with is fuel efficiency and alternatives to the thirsty, greenhouse-gas spewing cars and trucks of the past.
Oh, there will be speedsters and factory-built hot rods on display at the show - Ford Motor Co., for example, will unveil the 540-horsepower 2010 Shelby GT500 Mustang and Audi will be showing a 525-horsepower, V10-version of its exotic R8 sports car.
But most attention will be focused on advanced technology cars such as the 2010 Prius hybrid (right)
and the battery-electric city car concept that Toyota will show, Honda's Prius-fighting 2009 Insight hybrid and concepts such as the all-electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel -cell electric trio, collectively called Concept Zero, that Mercedes-Benz will unveil.
Beyond the cars, the show's media preview will spotlight industry executives who will be delivering news about their companies' green futures.
Most notably, Toyota is expected to outline its hybrid and electric-vehicle strategies for the next few years and Ford is expected to discuss its plans for a stable of future EVs, starting with a commercial truck it plans to launch in 2010.
Green Car Advsior, along with Edmunds Auto Observer, Edmunds Inside Line and Edmunds.com, will be covering the show 's media days and bringing you timely reports, but we thought we'd also offer a preview today of the major green vehicles that will be displayed and discussed.
Green Preview
So, by manufacturer, here they are:
Audi
Volkswagen's upscale stablemate is expected to announce plans for its upcoming U.S. diesel lineup. So far, the company has said it will launch a 3-liter diesel version of its Q7 SUV (right)
later this year and has broached the possibility of a diesel A4. We'll know more after Audi's Sunday afternoon press conference.
BMW
The pride of Bavaria will discuss the X5 and 3-Series diesels it plans to bring to the U.S., perhaps supplying us with some performance and fuel economy numbers as well as a marketing time-line.
Chevrolet
Nothing big here, unless the General decides to announce the upcoming Volt plug-in hybrid's pricing and/or the battery suppliers.
The Chevy vehicle that gets officially introduced at the show is the redesigned 2010 Equinox crossover (right), which will come with a new six-speed automatic and a fuel-efficient, direct-injection four-banger expected to deliver 182 horsepower (almost as much as the '08 model's base V6) and highway fuel economy of 30 miles per gallon.
Chrysler
The company has three brands that it has tied together for car show purposes with a trio of concept electric vehicles.
Those to be displayed in Detroit are further refined versions of the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep EVs originally unveiled last September and first shown publicly at the Los Angeles International Auto Show in November.
By brand, they are the Chrysler EV, an extended-range electric version of the town and Country minivan; the Jeep EV, a gas-electric Wrangler; and the Dodge EV, a Lotus-based, bumblebee-striped battery-electric sports car that would look great in the garage next to an electric Tesla Roadster.
Chrysler has said that it will bring one of the cars to market in 2010, but hasn't said which or in what kind of numbers. Maybe that's what we'll hear at the show.
Fisker
The nascent plug-in-hybrid company headed by, and named for, noted auto designer Henrik Fisker (BMW, Aston Martin, Fisker Coachbuild), will show the production version of it first proposed vehicle, the Fisker Karma sports sedan (right)
that it unveiled to great interest at last year's Detroit show. Fisker also will unveil a new version - a convertible, we suspect - caled the Karma S.
Like the Chevy Volt, the Karma uses an on-board internal combustion engine to generate power to keep its electric motors turning the wheels.
Ford
We expect a discussion of the company's electric vehicle strategy, perhaps with a teaser glimpse or two of potential future offerings and a look at the commercial truck the company has said it will launch in 2010.
Honda
The news here will be the unveiling of the production version 2009 Insight hybrid (right)
, a sub $20,000, five-seater Honda hopes will finally, finally, pump its hybrid sales up into Prius territory.
We're expected to hear a lot of technical detail and, perhaps, even a firmer price for the car, which looks in pictures a bit like the Prius it's designed to battle.
Lexus
Toyota's luxury unit will reveal its first stand-alone hybrid model, a small car that is based off the upcoming 2010 Prius.
Although it is not unusual - its pretty common, even - for photos of new models to leak out before their official unveiling, the best we've been able to come up with for the new Lexus hybrid is this rendering (left) published in a Japanese auto magazine a few months ago.
Mercedes-Benz
The covers will come off a trio of EV concepts from Daimler's luxe brand. All use the same swoopy, sport wagon-ish body (below right) - a design that also shows where Mercedes is heading with the compact B-Class replacement due in 2010 and, perhaps, headed for the U.S.
The so-called Concept Zero family consists of the E-Cell, a battery-electric with a range of about 60 miles; the E-Cell Plus, a plug-in hybrid that uses a 3-cylinder gas engine-generator to extend the range of its batteries when the initial charge is depleted (think Chevy Volt), and the F-Cell, which uses a hydrogen fuel-cell to produce electricity on-board by combining hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel-cell stack. Range is about 125 miles. Mercedes says the E-Cell Plus can go almost 400 miles on an overnight battery charge and a tank of gas.
Toyota
The company whose name has become synonymous with 'hybrid" is introducing the redesigned 2010 Prius at the show, but photos of the car leaked out weeks ago and you've got to believe that anyone who's interested has already seen it. What will be news, of course, are the specifications and performance numbers.
The other biggie on the product front from Toyota will be the unveiling of a concept electric vehicle, probably called the FT-EV if the company's previous auto show naming practices prevail (that would stand for "future technology-electric vehicle").
The car, believed to be built on a current Toyota subcompact chassis, is the company's effort to give us a look at what a Toyota-built battery-electric EV for short-range urban driving might look like if the company does, as it has said it would, put an EV into its retail fleet in 2012.
Not The End
And, of course - Detroit being Detroit - there likely will be a surprise or two. So consider this list a starter, not a definitive catalog.
China's BYD, for instance, will be there with the plug-in-hybrid (left)
it launched in its home market a few weeks ago, beating the big boys like GM and Toyota to the punch by a matter of, oh, a year or two. Who knows what the company - whose name is an acronym for Build Your Dreams and whose future is being backed by investment whiz Warren Buffett - will do next? We might find out as the Detroit show rolls along.
We'll be back when media days begin on Sunday to keep you up-to-date.
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- John O'Dell January 9, 2009, 3:00 AM
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- Audi, Auto Shows, BMW, BYD, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Daimler, Dodge, Emissions, Fisker, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
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- Detroit Auto Show
, Green Cars
December 23, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
California's support of hydrogen as a transportation fuel - sometimes derided as an expensive pipe dream - has its moments.
We'll see one in the spring as the city of Burbank, Ca., home to comic Jay Leno's Tonight Show among other show biz attractions, starts operating the world's first plug-in hybrid bus that uses a hydrogen fuel-cell to augment its rechargable batteries.
Proterra, the Colorado-based developer and builder of the revolutionary zero-emissions hydrogen plug-in bus, claims that it can travel 250 miles on its grid-charged batteries and a tank of hydrogen before needing to be recharged, delivering twice the fuel economy of a diesel bus.
The big, blue, bug-eyed bus is made of lightweight composite materials and uses automotive fuel cells rather than larger cells developed specifically for hydrogen buses. The advantage, according to Proterra, is that the smaller 50 kilowatt (67 horsepower) fuel cells are much cheaper, reducing the initial cost of the bus as well as lifetime operating costs - a critical factor in these days of rapidly diminishing local government funding.
The bus also features a fast-charging system that enables its batteries to be fully recharged in just 6 minutes - less time than most drivers need for bathroom or coffee breaks.
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- John O'Dell December 23, 2008, 3:00 AM
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- Burbank Bus
, Fuel Cell Bus, Hydrogen Plug In Hybrid Bus
December 22, 2008
Cellulosic ethanol, which people from President-elect Barack Obama to struggling farmers from his home state view a promising biofuel, is actually worse than much-criticized corn ethanol because cellulosic ethanol results in more air pollution, requires more land to produce and causes more harm to wildlife, a major study has found.
The energy alternatives "that are good are not the ones that people have been talking about the most. And some options that have been proposed are just downright awful," said Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, in a paper that reviewed and ranked major proposed energy-related solutions to global warming, air-pollution mortality and energy security.
"Ethanol-based biofuels will actually cause more harm to human health, wildlife, water supply and land use than current fossil fuels," he said, adding that ethanol may also emit more global-warming pollutants than fossil fuels, according to the latest scientific studies.
Jacobson has conducted the first quantitative, scientific evaluation of the proposed major energy-related solutions by assessing not only their potential for delivering energy for electricity and vehicles, but also their impacts on global warming, human health, energy security, water supply, space requirements, wildlife, water pollution, reliability and sustainability.
His findings indicate that the options that are getting the most attention are between 25 to 1,000 times more polluting than the best available options. His findings were published in this month's issue of Energy & Environmental Science.
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- Scott Doggett December 22, 2008, 1:31 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Coal, Diesel, Emissions, Energy Companies, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen, Oil, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar
- Technorati Tags:
- Alternative Fuel
, Battery Electric Vehicles, Energy & Environmental Science, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles, Nuclear Energy, Solar Energy, Thermal Energy, Wind Energy
Most automakers say hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are least a decade away from mass production, but that isn't stopping California from soliciting bids to build fuel stations for a hydrogen-highway network
.
Some of you will no doubt recall that last April the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, amended its zero-emission-vehicles mandate to require automakers selling cars and trucks in the state to make available for sale in California no fewer than 7,500 fuel-cell electric vehicles between 2012 and 2015.
That despite the fact that there are only 26 hydrogen stations in the state and not many more on the drawing boards. Additionally, not all of the slightly more than two dozen stations that do exist are open to the general public.
California is a huge market for many automakers, but without more hydrogen fuel stations the manufacturers aren't keen to mass produce hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Likewise, fuel companies aren't keen to invest in the fuel stations until the vehicles are being mass produced.
But this past Friday, CARB issued a statement announcing it was soliciting "competitive bids from experienced and qualified teams to design, secure permits, build, maintain and operate hydrogen refueling stations to serve as part of California's Hydrogen Highway Network."
CARB will provide up to 70 percent of the cost for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of each hydrogen station. The contractor will be on the hook for making the stations operational by June 30, 2010, and keep them operational for at least three years.
The stations will be open to the public and serve both fuel cell electric and hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a vocal proponent of the infrastructure since he signed an executive order in 2004 creating a public and private partnership to build a hydrogen highway in California by 2010. A fan of U.S. automobiles and a big believer in American ingenuity, he is pictured here driving a Cadillac.
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- Scott Doggett December 22, 2008, 1:15 AM
- Categories:
- Cadillac, Emissions, Energy Companies, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen, Legislation
- Technorati Tags:
- Cadillac
, California Air Resources Board, California's Hydrogen Highway Network, CARB, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle, Zero Emission Vehicles
December 17, 2008
Honda took its sweet time, but finally delivered an FCX Clarity fuel-cell sedan to Edmunds.com's garage for a multi-day field test (we did one of the first test drives
a year ago, but that was only good for about two hours of seat time).
Features Editor Joanne Helperin, who writes for our sister blog, Strategies for Smart Car Buyers, took the futuristic car out to the test track Tuesday and in a piece posted this morning talks about driving the hydrogen-fueled Clarity in real-world conditions around town and on Southern California's freeway system.
If you're a cutting-edge trendsetter, very eco-conscious, or simply love Hondas, and if you can afford a $600-a-month, two-year lease and happen to live in Santa Monica, Torrance or Irvine, California, you must read Helperin's piece. From front to rear visibility, from the corn-based fabric on the seats to the host of techno-goodies, she provides insights you'd expect from someone who takes test drives for a living.
On the other hand, if you just want to know what it's like driving a vehicle that emits nothing but water vapor from the tailpipe and gets the equivalent of 74 miles per gallon, you must read Helperin's observations, too. Can Honda dampen the high-pitched whine the FCX Clarity lets out every time the accelerator is depressed? Helperin has her doubts.
So jump on over and give it a read. Then come back for more Green Car Advisor.
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- John O'Dell December 17, 2008, 4:30 AM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, Honda, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- FCX Clarity
, Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Vehicle
December 16, 2008
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
German automotive giant Daimler of Stuttgart and chemical, energy and real estate company Evonik Industries of Essen have partnered to develop advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and hybrids, with the first publicized target for the new batteries being the Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid due out next year.
The German companies made the announcement Monday -- less than a week after Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler, disclosed plans to unveil a trio of BlueZero electric-drive concept vehicles at next month's 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Presumably the new batteries will make their way into whatever production models arise from the concepts.
Daimler officials have often stated that electrification of the automobile is the key to sustainable mobility. To that end, Daimler engineers have registered more than 600 patents associated with battery-powered vehicles over the past three decades, of which 230 were in the field of lithium-ion technology.
For its part, Evonik Industries has invested $110 million in battery technology in recent years. The outcome, according to Evonik Industries and Daimler: "Production-ready high-technology battery cells that are superior to competitor products in several key areas."
Continue reading...
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- Scott Doggett December 16, 2008, 11:34 AM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Daimler, Emissions, Energy Companies, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Smart, Toyota, Volkswagen
- Technorati Tags:
- Battery
, BlueHybrid, Daimler, Electric Drive, Electric Vehicle, EV, Evonik Industries, Hybrid, Li-Tec, Lithium-Ion, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Renault, Toyota, Volkswagen
December 15, 2008
Despite financial woes that threaten the automaker's survival, General Motors is continuing research on a fuel-cell electric vehicle, announcing that sometime this week one of the 100 Chevy Equinox FCEVs being driven in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., as part of Chevrolet's Project Driveway will drive the 500,000th zero-emissions mile of the real-world test program.
"This is a huge accomplishment, because we learn something about our vehicles, the hydrogen infrastructure and consumer acceptance of fuel-cell vehicles with every mile driven," Mary Beth Stanek, director of GM Fuel Cell Commercialization, said in a statement.
Fuel-cell cars and SUVs convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity through an onboard electro-chemical reaction. The electricity is then used to power the vehicles' drive motors.
Stanek said candid feedback on "everything from the way the vehicle looks to technical input on brake 'feel' and performance to fueling experiences" has led to the resolution of several hundred customer issues.
The program has also provided Stanek and others associated with the Equinox with insight into how these vehicles are being used under real-world driving conditions, she said.
"We've been able to use these experiences to extend fuel-cell stack life and improve the regenerative braking system, which has already benefited our two-mode hybrid vehicles since it's the same brake system used on the Saturn Vue, Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon two-mode hybrids," she said.
No automaker is saying that it expects to make FCEVs available for purchase this side of 2020, but without programs such as Project Driveway they likely would never appear in a showroom.
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- Scott Doggett December 15, 2008, 2:20 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell
, Chevrolet Project Driveway, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, FCEV, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, GM, GMC Yukon Hybrid, Saturn Vue
December 12, 2008
Mercedes-Benz will unveil a small family of BlueZero electric-drive concept vehicles at next month's 2009 Detroit Auto Show, and the official images of one of them have already been leaked on several German Web sites.
The least complicated of the three concepts is the BlueZero E-Cell, a pure-electric plug-in model featuring a 100-kilowatt motor with 236 pound-feet of torque and a lithium-ion battery pack. The range is said to be just over 60 miles on a two-hour charge.
An extended-range companion is the BlueZero E-Cell Plus, a gas-electric hybrid that adds a turbocharged three-cylinder engine from the Smart stable as an onboard generator to boost range to nearly 375 miles.
The third model is the BlueZero F-Cell, which uses a hydrogen fuel cell to deliver 136 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, with zero emissions.
Slightly more information can be found about these vehicles at our sister site, Edmunds' Inside Line.
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- Scott Doggett December 12, 2008, 1:27 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric, Smart
- Technorati Tags:
- BlueZero E-Cell
, BlueZero E-Cell Plus, BlueZero F-Cell, Edmunds, ForTwo, Mercedes-Benz BlueZero, Plug-In Electric, Smart
December 11, 2008
The World Car of the Year organization has announced the initial slate of candidates for 2009 World Green Car of the Year.
Launched three years ago, the title has been awarded in the past to the BMW 118d (2008), the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (2007) and the Honda Civic Hybrid (2006).
The 2009 candidates must be new and on sale by December 31.
The list includes the Audi Q7 3.0 TDI (pictured), BMW 335d BluePerformance, Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon hybrids, Citroen C1, Fiat Palio Weekend Electric, Fiat Siena Tetrafuel model, Honda FCX Clarity. Go to Edmunds.com's Inside Line to view more candidates.
The organization includes working automotive journalists from around the globe, including regular Inside Line contributors Matt Davis, Hormazd Sorabjee, Peter Nunn and Peter Lyon.
The top 10 finalists will be announced in January, with the winner revealed in April at the 2009 New York Auto Show.
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- Scott Doggett December 11, 2008, 1:33 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Audi, Auto Shows, BMW, Chevrolet, Citroen, Diesel, Emissions, Fiat, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mercedes-Benz, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Audi Q7 3.0 TDI
, BMW 335d BluePerformance, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Citroen C1, Fiat Palio Weekend Electric, Fiat Siena Tetrafuel, GMC Yukon Hybrid, Honda FCX Clarity., World Green Car of the Year
December 2, 2008
The viability plan
General Motors submitted to Congress today called for $18 billion in taxpayer aid and a dramatic shift in the company's U.S. portfolio, with 22 of 24 new vehicle launches in 2009-2012 being more fuel-efficient cars and crossovers.
----------
CEO Rick Wagoner. Better days ahead?
----------
And, yes, the plan calls for GM to cease all corporate aircraft operations, effective immediately.
After stating that over the past 15 years it "spent over $103 billion on retiree healthcare and pension expense, crowding out investment otherwise made in quality, safety, fuel efficiency and innovation," GM said it will substantially change its product mix over the next four years and "launch predominately high-mileage, energy-efficient cars and crossovers."
The plan includes introducing to the U.S. market the smallest 4-passenger vehicle, achieving higher fuel economy than the 2-passenger Smart Fortwo, which is the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid vehicle currently sold in America.
The plan for 2009 includes seven new vehicle launches in the United States, all of which will be either car or crossover models.
The plan also calls for making most of GM's vehicles flex-fuel capable by 2012--hopefully, the "flex" fuels will be greener by then, too--and it calls for GM to offer 15 hybrid models by then.
Continue reading...
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- Scott Doggett December 2, 2008, 4:24 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Chevy Volt
, Electric Vehicle, Flex Fuel, Fuel Economy, Fuel Efficient, General Motors, GM, Hybrid
December 1, 2008
In Troy, Michigan, engineers are reportedly tweaking what they believe to be the public transit vehicle of the future: a super-lightweight hybrid bus.
The GTB-40 (right) is made of a high-strength steel that will last longer than most bus frames. Its builder, Fisher Coachworks, says the chassis allows it to zip along with half the weight of its peers.
And, its hybrid-electric engine not only consumes less fuel, but also stores electric energy whenever a driver hits the brakes.
The result is a bus that gets 10 miles per gallon--if you convert its battery power to diesel equivalents, that is.
But the average diesel bus--the dominant vehicle in public transit--gets just over 3 miles to the gallon, so the new mpg number has city transit agencies taking note, the subscription news service ClimateWire reported today. Battered by fuel prices and hoping to spruce up their environmental records, they are buying more and more hybrid buses to run everyday routes.
Compared to the tens of thousands of diesel buses already in service, the hybrids are few. In most places, they haven't graduated from pilot projects. But they're at the front of a trend that's been building since early this decade. In 1995, according to the American Public Transportation Association, only 6 percent of buses ran on anything other than straight diesel or gasoline. In 2007, that number had risen to 22 percent, ClimateWire reported.
"They're all prototypes. None are really final in the sense that they're out on the road in any type of mass," Lurae Stuart, an alternative-fuels analyst with the American Public Transportation Association, told ClimateWire. "But that's still a rapid change for a technology."
Continue reading...
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- Scott Doggett December 1, 2008, 7:22 AM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Biofuels, Diesel, Fisher Coachworks, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Mass Transit, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
- Technorati Tags:
- Biodiesel
, Energy Department, Fisher Coachworks, Fuel Cell, Fuel Saving, Natural Gas, plug-in hybrid, Public Transit, Tax Incentives
November 23, 2008
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Volkswagen's first extreme-conditions test of a fuel-cell vehicle was held in the dead of winter on a high mountain pass in southern Switzerland famous for catastrophic auto accidents caused by brake failures and for small-plane crashes resulting from unscheduled contact with alps.
The chilling test was conducted seven short years ago.
Last weekend, the wagen volks of Wolfsburg allowed a gaggle of auto writers to put two fuel-cell electric vehicles through an extreme-conditions test at latitude 34(degrees)04N, longitude 118(degrees)25W. A place called Beverly. Hills, that is. Swimming pools, movie stars.
In perfect bikini weather, the writers test drove the FCHVs there during brunch--a four-hour span when moms and nannies in sport utility vehicles rule the roads. One of the vehicles was a Touran HyMotion minivan (above), the other a Passat Lingyu sedan (see jump).
A fuel cell SUV--the Tiguan HyMotion--was to undergo testing as well but was a no-show. At least for now it escaped close scrutiny while rolling on Sunset Boulevard, where fender-benders are as common as tummy tucks, but alas the Touran HyMotion and Passat Lingyu did not.
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- Scott Doggett November 23, 2008, 1:29 AM
- Categories:
- Batteries, China, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Volkswagen
- Technorati Tags:
- Alternative Fuel
, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Passat Lingyu, Touran HyMotion, Volkswagen, VW, Zero Emissions
November 20, 2008
Fuel savers exult! Two new gas-sippers are being added to the catalog as Ford prepares to introduce the 2010 Fusion hybrid sedan and its Mercury Milan sibling.
The gas-electric cars, with 700 miles of range on a tank of gas and Ford-estimated fuel economy of 39 miles per gallon in the city, should make Ford a real contender in a market now dominated by Toyota's Camry Hybrid.
The Fusion and Milan hybrids, unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show, have different ornamentation and trim but under the skin are twins, sharing a new, lighter version of the hybrid system used in the company's Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrid SUVs.
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Fuel-efficient 2010 Ford Fusion (left) and Mercury Milan (below) hybrids hit the market next year.
----------
They use the same 2.5-liter, four-cylinder, Atkinson-cycle engine as the SUVs, making the same 155 horsepower and 136 pound-feet of torque and bolted to a continuously variable transmission, just as in the hybrid 'utes.
But the sedan system's nickel-metal hydride battery is almost 20 percent more powerful despite being 17 percent smaller - with 208 cells instead of 250 - and, at 145 pounds, 23 percent lighter than the SUV hybrids' battery packs.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell November 20, 2008, 4:53 PM
- Categories:
- Ford, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Mercury
- Technorati Tags:
- Ford Fusion Hybrid
, Ford Hybrids, Fuel Efficiency, Los Angeles Auto Show, Mercury Milan Hybrid
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
We were expecting, maybe, that Honda might juice up its press conference at the LA Auto Show with an updated concept version of the hybrid sports coupe the company's been teasing us with.
But no, boring old Honda pulled the covers off the same CR-Z concept it first rolled out at the 2007 Tokyo show.
Then the company found excitement, knocking our socks off by rolling out an all-new design study -- a fuel cell sports car concept called, back in boring old Honda mode, the FC Sport.
On a more mundane plane, Honda also rolled out the Insight Hybrid concept (which, we're told, is pretty much a giveaway off what the production model will look like) that it first showed at the Paris auto show last month.
The Insight (right)
, which resurrects the name given Honda's first hybrid, will debut next year in the U.S. as a five-passenger compact that slots into the lineup beneath the Civic and Civic Hybrid and will be priced, the company suggests, a few thousand dollars less than the base Toyota Prius.
Unlike hybrid-centric Toyota, though, Honda thinks of hybrids as an interim step to a brave new world of silent, zero-emissions electric cars that produce their own juice by blending hydrogen and oxygen in a fuel cell stack.
That's what the FC Sport Concept is all about.
We're not naive enough to think we'll ever see a Honda that looks quite like it - with or without a fuel-cell electric powertrain - but we do think that developing the concept shows Honda still believes fuel cells have a future. (Indeed, the company in July began leasing its limited-production FCX Clarity fuel-cell sedan to select customers in the Southern California.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell November 20, 2008, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Honda FC Sport
, Honda Fuel Cell Sports Car Concept, Honda Insight Hybrid, Los Angeles Auto Show
November 19, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Hyundai Motor Co., itching for the same level of respect U.S. consumers give fuel-economy leaders Toyota and Honda, is beginning to roll out a broad family of efficient new green cars aimed at making it the nation's gas mileage leader by 2015.
Borrowing a page from German's Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, Hyundai has chose to make its green cars Blue -calling its fuel-efficiency initiative the Hyundai Blue Drive.
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Cutaway shows architecture for Hyundai's Blue Drive hybrid system, with flat, rear-mounted battery pack and 4-cylinder gas engine and electric motor drivingfron wheels.
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The South Korean carmaker, which
previously had pledged
to have a U.S. retail fleet with average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon five years before that standard will be mandated, said in a press conference at the Los Angeles Auto Show today that it will achieve the goal with a mix of conventional and plug-in hybrids, advanced-technology gasoline internal combustion engines and, in select states, fuel-cell electric vehicles.
As a first step, Hyundai officials said, the company will introduce fuel-efficient "Blue" editions of its gasoline-fueled Accent and Elantra compacts in 2009.
The cars will use low rolling-resistance tires, aerodynamic bodywork, higher gearing and specially tuned engines to achieve better mileage and lower tailpipe emissions that present models of the same cars.
A similar "Blue Motion" line was launched by Volkswagen in 2006. Mercedes-Benz followed with its "Blue Efficiency" effort early this year.
Hyundai Hybrid
The Blues will be followed in 2010 by a gasoline-electric hybrid model of the Sonata midsize sedan (below, left) designed expressly for the North American market.
Hyundai said its "full hybrid" Sonata - capable of a limited amount of all-electric travel - is jumping past the lithium-ion battery technology that American, Europe and Japanese automakers are racing to perfect and instead says it will go with a lithium polymer technology for its various battery-dependent models.
Plug-in versions that use larger, grid-rechargeable battery packs for longer all-electric range, will follow at an unspecified pace, company executives said.
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- John O'Dell November 19, 2008, 1:55 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Fuel Cell, Green Vehicles, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Kia, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Hyundai Blue Drive Program
, Hyundai Fuel Cell Vehicle, Hyundai hybrid, Los Angeles Auto Show
Kia Motors Corp.'s $105-million fuel cell electric vehicle program took a major technological step forward today with the global unveiling of the Borrego FCEV prototype at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
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Right and below, the Borrego FCEV prototype is fitted with Kia's fourth-generation fuel-cell powerplant.
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The Borrego FCEV contains Kia's fourth-generation fuel-cell powerplant, which like those before it produces electricity from hydrogen and oxygen in an on-board electro-chemical process.
But the latest generation achieves 154 horsepower--or 47 more ponies than generation 3 for a 44 percent power boost.
Other improvements include an all-new 450-volt Supercapacitor to lift performance, a greatly extended driving range, and sub-freezing starting capability for cold-weather operation.
The Borrego FCEV's powerplant, located under the center floor, propels the vehicle to a top speed of 100 miles per hour while boasting a claimed best-in-class system efficiency of 62 percent.
Despite a dry weight of 4,960 pounds, the Borrego FCEV can reach 60 miles per hour in a reasonable 12.8 seconds. And, with its 202-liter hydrogen storage tank, the crossover has a range of about 426 miles--or 176 more miles than Gen 3.
Continue reading...
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- Scott Doggett November 19, 2008, 3:01 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Kia
- Technorati Tags:
- Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle
, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Kia Borrego FCEV
November 17, 2008
Fueling Alternatives, California's alternative fuel vehicle rebate program, has added the 2009 Honda Civic GX compressed natural gas car to its list of vehicles
that are eligible for a $3,000 rebate under the state-funded program.
The 2009 model joins the 2007 and 2008 Civic GX, as well as the BAF conversions for the 2007 Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis, as eligible for $3,000 rebates.
Eleven other models are eligible for smaller rebates and two models--the 2008 Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen-powered fuel-cell sedan and the all-electric 2008 Tesla Roadster--are eligible for $5,000 rebates.
Additionally, the 2009 Civic GX might qualify for a $4,000 federal new-energy tax credit. The 2005-2008 Civic GX models meet the Internal Revenue Service criteria for that tax credit, but the IRS has not yet extended the tax credit to the 2009 model.
The Civic GX is fueled by compressed natural gas for nearly zero emissions. It is fuel-economy rated for 24 miles per gallon equivalent in the city and 36 mpg equivalent on the highway by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The vehicle's suggested starting price is $25,090.
More information about the Civic GX can be found at Edmund's Inside Line Website, where Green Car Advisor Senior Editor John O'Dell has been reviewing a 2007 model on a regular basis for many months, and at Honda's Website for the U.S.
Fueling Alternatives is funded by the California Air Resources Board and administered by the California Center for Sustainable Energy. A total of $1.8 million was appropriated and directed toward vehicle incentive rebates to promote the use and production of alternative fuel vehicles.
Rebates of up to $5,000 are available for California residents who purchase or lease new eligible alternative-fuel vehicles between May 24, 2007, and March 31, 2009, or until funding runs out. For more information, go to Fueling Alternatives' Website.
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- Scott Doggett November 17, 2008, 7:46 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Legislation, Lincoln, Mercury, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives, Tesla
- Technorati Tags:
- 2008 Honda FCX Clarity
, 2008 Tesla Roadster, 2009 Honda Civic GX, Alternative Fuel, California Air Resources Board, California Center for Sustainable Energy, Compressed Natural Gas, Emissions, Environmental Protection Agency, Ford Crown Victoria, Fuel Economy, Fueling Alternatives, Internal Revenue Service, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis
November 14, 2008
Transportation experts warned Thursday that even some of the toughest proposed emissions regulations won't be enough to solve the climate problem.
Transportation accounts for almost a third of the country's greenhouse-gas emissions, noted Margo Oge, an auto-emissions expert at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That's a problem of such scope, she said, that even the sweeping legislation aimed at reducing emissions 80 percent by 2050 that failed in the Senate this year wouldn't have made much of a dent.
Oge, commenting during a panel discussion at a carbon-markets conference in Washington, D.C., said EPA analyses showed the bill would only increase gasoline prices by 53 cents per gallon--an amount painful to consumers but too weak to boost alternative technologies, like fuel cells and plug-in hybrids, with any haste.
David Hone, a climate change adviser at Shell International Ltd., said fuel economy regulations from Washington won't do the trick, either. He cited a study by the consulting firm McKinsey and Co. that found fuel economy standards in light-duty cars and trucks were estimated to have negative costs. That is, the long-term savings would outweigh the short-term costs of making cars more efficient.
In spite of this, Hone said, current fuel economy standards aren't aggressive enough to make dramatic cuts.
"It is going to be necessary to tease out these reductions from the transport system" through other means, such as research and development funds, he said.
The solution, Oge said, may be to combine some policies that Washington has already considered. She said most sectors of the economy have expressed support, in principle, for a cap-and-trade scheme, but that "in addition to a cap-and-trade program, we need complementary programs" that address not just vehicles, but also their fuels.
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- Scott Doggett November 14, 2008, 7:19 AM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Environmental Protection Agency
, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, plug-in hybrid, Tailpipe Emissions
November 10, 2008
By
James Riswick, Edmunds.com
Kia Motors is making gradual progress towards a greener future, although commercialization of its technologies remains a few years off.
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Kia Sportage FCEV is carmaker's third-generation fuel-cell electric vehicle.
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At the heart of the company's environmentally friendly initiative is an R&D facility, located near Seoul, created to develop green technologies for Kia and its parent company, Hyundai Motor.
I journeyed late last month to South Korea to sample Kia's latest green prototypes at another Hyundai-Kia R&D facility, located in Namyang and home to a full proving ground.
Kia presently has two generations of its hybrid technology in prototype vehicles: the original, a Kia Rio Hybrid, and the second a Kia C'eed Hybrid based on the popular Kia five-door hatchback solid in Europe.
Both vehicles showcase a Honda-style "mild" hybrid powertrain featuring auto engine stop, regenerative braking and electric boost when accelerating. They cannot accelerate solely under electric power, as can vehicles with "full" hybrid systems such as Toyota's.
The first Kia hybrid will show up in 2009 in the next-generation Spectra for the Korean market.
It will use a battery-electric system as described above, coupled to an internal combustion engine fuelled by liquid propane, which is readily available throughout the domestic market.
The first Kia hybrid for the U.S. will arrive in 2010 as a part of the completely redesigned 2011 Kia Optima lineup. It is uncertain how much the company's hybrid technology will evolve by then, but whatever technological advancements emerge will be shared with the Hyundai Sonata.
Kia officials say the company will not be producing a dedicated hybrid model, as they view hybrid technology as only a temporary step in the evolution of alternative powerplants for the personal auto.
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- John O'Dell November 10, 2008, 3:01 AM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Kia, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Kia Kuel Cell electric Vehicle
, Kia Plug In Hybrid, Kia's Green Plans
November 6, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
As cash-starved automakers search frantically for anything in their budgets that they can eliminate in order to save money, major green car programs seem to be escaping the ax.
----------
Continuing development of green car projects such as the 2010 Prius hybrid are critical to the future of the auto industry.
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General Motors Corp. executives, for instance, have said that the 2010 Volt plug-in hybrid
(right)
is immune from the financial mayhem as they delay some new products, cancel others, furlough workers, stop paying into 401(k) retirement plans and take other drastic measures.
And today, during a telephone conference call with reporters and analysts to discuss its sinking quarterly profit (down 69 percent from the same period last year), Toyota Motor Co. said it will accelerate its hybrid program even as it cuts costs by scaling back or delaying some projects and reducing capital spending.
Continue reading...
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- John O'Dell November 6, 2008, 2:34 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Hybrid, Toyota
- Technorati Tags:
- Automakers Protecting green Car Projects
, Fuel Cell Cars, Hybrid, plug-in hybrid
October 31, 2008
We just can't help but be amazed, over and over again, at how the Web has no memory. Everything that happens now is new and never happened before.
We bring this up because there's been a flurry of postings about Hyundai's top executive remarking the other day that the company plans to begin selling a fuel-cell electric car in 2012.
That sounded familiar so we went back through the archives and there, on March 25, 2008, was an item in Green Car Advisor
titled "Hyundai Wants Piece of Expanding Hybrid Market."
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Hyundai has been working on fuel cell vehicles for years and thinks they can go commercial as early as 2012.
----------It started out talking about how the South Korean automaker was planning to launch its first mass-market hybrid in 2009 in South Korea, then followed in the third paragraph with this: "A fuel-cell electric vehicle is expected in 2012, the company said."
We don't mean to toot our own horn, others had the same report back then. In fact, Hyundai had said as early as 2006 that it wanted to do a commercial fuel cell vehicle in 2012. But our sense of what ought to be headline and what ought to be footnote gets ruffled when we see the same headlines being recycled as fresh news.
Reminds us of the old Saturday Night Live skit in which comedian Chevy Chase, playing the show's news anchor, would solemnly announce week after week in tones usually reserved for outbreaks of war or pestilence that: "This breaking new just in: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead."
In the real world, the Spanish dictator died in 1975, SNL's first year on the air, after a lingering illness. Chase was riffing on network news programs' efforts to keep the story going during Franco's illness by regularly reporting that he hadn't died yet. Chase kept the gag alive on SNL for nearly two years after Franco's death.
Our take on Hyundai Chairman Mong-Koo Chung's comments is that the news should have been "Wow, even in the midst of a global economic slump that threatens to last for years, Hyundai still sees possibilities in fuel cell vehicles and is willing to continue spending money developing them."
That, we think, is the real story.
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- John O'Dell October 31, 2008, 5:02 AM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, Hyundai, Opinion
- Technorati Tags:
- Fuel Cell
, Hyundai, Hyundai Fuel Cell Vehicle
October 14, 2008
QuantumSphere, a Santa Ana, Calif., company that develops technologies for portable power and clean-energy applications, has received a U.S. Army grant to come up with a methanol fuel cell that will help soldiers operate electronic devices on trucks without the noise and heat signatures produced by diesel generators.
In the first, nine-month phase of the project, QuantumSphere will receive $120,000 to study the synthesis and electrochemistry of bifunctional anodes, high temperature electrolyte membranes and low-cost cathode catalysts for a 5-watt methanol fuel cell.
If successful, the company will move to the second phase of the project, a two-year $750,000 effort to develop a 200-watt methanol reforming fuel cell in a smaller, lighter form to power portable electronic devices in the Army's Future Force Warrior program.
Future Force Warrior is the Army's flagship science and technology program, aimed at integrating best-in-class technologies to enhance the combat effectiveness of the soldier and small combat unit. The photo at right is one the Army has released depicting the modern high-tech U.S. soldier.
If QuantumSphere is successful, our hope is that one day we'll see methanol fuel cell technology in vehicles offered to the general public. It wouldn't represent the first time technology designed for military use made its way into and benefited the private sector.
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- Scott Doggett October 14, 2008, 6:51 AM
- Categories:
- Diesel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Methanol
October 10, 2008
Right, pillared graphene.
Greek researchers say they have designed a new material that almost meets the U.S. Department of Energy 2010 goals for hydrogen storage and could help eliminate a key roadblock to practical hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Their study on a way of safely storing hydrogen, an explosive gas, appeared in Wednesday's issue of American Chemical Society's monthly Journal Nano Letters.
Georgios K. Dimitrakakis, Emmanuel Tylianakis and George E. Froudakis wrote that scientists hope to use carbon nanotubes -- tiny cylinders of carbon -- as miniature storage tanks for hydrogen in the next generation of fuel cell vehicles.
In the new study, the researchers used computer modeling to design a unique hydrogen-storage structure consisting of parallel graphene sheets -- layers of carbon just one atom thick -- stabilized by vertical columns of carbon cylinders. They also added lithium ions to the material's design to enhance its storage capacity.
The scientists' calculations showed that their so-called "pillared graphene" could theoretically store up to 41 grams of hydrogen per liter, almost matching the Energy Department's target of 45 grams of hydrogen per liter for transportation applications.
But, the researchers noted, "experimentalists are challenged to fabricate this material and validate its storage capacity."
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- Scott Doggett October 10, 2008, 7:32 AM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- American Chemical Society
, Department of Energy, Hydrogen, Nano Letters, Pillared Graphene
The ongoing economic crunch may accomplish for alternative fuels what an ambivalent marketplace and bipolar political system haven't been able to do: Thin the herd and get everyone working toward the same goal.
So far, automakers and fuel and energy companies have been wandering all over the place in the search for replacements for crude oil and improvements in vehicle fuel economy.
Some favor a particular approach - Toyota Motor Co. and hybrids, for example.
Others, like General Motors Corp., sample everything, spending part of their R&D budgets on fuels like ethanol, part on hydrogen, a little bit on improvements to the gasoline engine and the rest on battery-electric vehicles.
But with an already cash-strapped auto industry staring at double-digit declines in annual new-vehicle sales for the next few years, money for ongoing projects is going to be harder to find than a tree-hugger at a McPalin rally.
Alex Molinaroli, head of Johnson Controls' hybrid battery unit, is one of a growing number of industry watchers who believe that automakers are soon going to have to exert some discipline, pick a technology for long-term alternative fuel and powertrain solutions, and stick with it.
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- John O'Dell October 10, 2008, 3:01 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, Hybrid, Opinion, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Vehicles
, Fuel Cell, Transportation Future
October 6, 2008
There's been a lot of electric car and hybrid news out of France in the past week as automakers hosted the media at a preview of the Paris Auto Show.
Most of the cars, though, are unlikely to see these shores as they are derivatives of European models that wouldn't meet U.S. safety standards (and, some auto executives and marketing gurus insist, consumer demands for spacious interiors) without so much added weight that their alternative powertrains would no longer be practical.
One potential exception comes from Volvo, which has been working on conventional, diesel-electric and plug-in hybrids for years now and late last week announced that it will be bringing all of the above to market.
The first to come, a micro-hybrid in 2011, isn't likely to be sold outside of Europe. But for 2012 Volvo plans a diesel-electric hybrid that will combine the company's front-wheel drive D5 turbodiesel with an electric motor to drive the rear wheels.
And then, in an as-yet unannounced year sometime after the diesel hybrid, Volvo plans to launch a plug-in hybrid rooted in the California-designed ReCharge concept (above) it showed at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show.
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- John O'Dell October 6, 2008, 1:37 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Diesel, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Volvo
- Technorati Tags:
- Paris Auto Show
, Volvo Hybrids
September 29, 2008
AltCar Expo 2008 closed its doors Saturday evening, ending from what by all accounts was another successful effort to showcase alternative transporation or fuels technologies to mainstream consumers.
We brought you a couple of pre-event reports and now are taking advantage of the goods nature of one of our colleagues, Edmunds New Product Manager Dori Merifield, to bring us a wrap-up report from the eyes - and pen - of one of those interested consumers.
Dori is an member of Edmund's corporate Green Team, helping to make sure the company is an environmentally responsible corporate citizen, and is an active environmental advocate in her own right.
She spent much of Saturday at AltCar, listening to the various symposia, examining displays and vehicles and talking to expo-goers and exhibitors about the event and the products.
Here's her report:
Thousands of people visited AltCar Expo over the weekend, many hoping to find an efficient but viable alternative to their present cars and trucks.
The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was filled with vehicles large and small that ran on a variety of alternative fuels - electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, biodiesel and even compressed air.
AltCar visitor examines Hybrid Technologies' Mini Cooper EV conversion.
There were also lots of conversion companies on hand hoping to persuade people of the wisdom of converting existing cars to a plug-in electric vehicles.
At one symposium, UC Davis Professor Andy Frank - father of the plug-in - explained why using electric cars to help reduce our oil consumption is so important: "Oil production is going to peak this year or next - after that supply will decrease and the cost will only increase."
Peter Ward, of the California Energy Commission staff, said the bigger problem is that 38 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in California come from transportation (a lot of that is from buses, delivery trucks and other commercial vehicles) and that the state is the third largest consumer of gasoline in the world.
Frank believes the solution is to convert existing cars to alternative energy.
Most cars on the road aren't new, he said, "so if only 10 percent of new cars are hybrid or electric, we're only replacing 1% of all the cars on the road each year. We simply don't have 50 years to make this change."
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- John O'Dell September 29, 2008, 1:49 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, MINI, Miles, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
September 26, 2008
The parking lot of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was jammed with environmentally friendly vehicles during lunch hour Thursday, but the sounds and smells were more suited for a darkened stretch of road in the San Fernando Valley on a Friday night as the screech of spinning tires and the smell of burning rubber wafted over us.
"Short of putting grippier tires on it, there's not a lot you can do," said Owen Emry, senior firmware engineer of electric drivetrain maker AC Propulsion
, as reporters unaccustomed to the added torque of the electric vehicles to be featured at AltCar Expo 2008
regularly broke loose the tires of the cars they were sampling.
About a dozen of the 100 or so vehicles being featured at the public event from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. today and Friday were were on display to the media Thursday as advanced-technology car-, truck- and drivetrain makers prepared to show off their products and prototypes.
AltCar, which is in its third year and is one of the nation's premier showcases for alternatives to the conventional gasoline-burning automobile
The previewed vehicles ranged from a battery-powered, three-wheeled, stand-up people mover -- think Segway with a front wheel and handlebars -- used for security and events management to a Porsche Boxster retrofitted to run on tanks filled with compressed air.
The vehicle makers will pitch their goods to the 10,000 people estimated to show up for the event, which will also include a panel on climate change and a symposium on the future of mass transit.
"Fuel costs are going up, and if we look at production resources, they're finite," said Glenn Bell, chief executive officer of AirFuelAuto
.
The Fremont, California-based company's Boxster is powered by air compressed to 2,200 pounds per square inch, or about 50 times a typical car tire's air pressure. It allows the two-seat convertible to run at 65 miles per hour for about 50 miles.
The event takes place this year under U.S. economic conditions that may either help or hinder the development and financing of such vehicles.
While rising gas prices shorten the amount of time it takes to earn back the extra cost of such vehicles through fuel savings, Wall Street's financial crisis and a possible $700 billion government bail out may shrink federal funding and tax breaks that most alternative vehicle backers insist are critical to getting their products into the mainstream.
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- John O'Dell September 26, 2008, 6:01 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- AltCar Expo 2008
, Electric Vehicles
September 23, 2008
Unlike most of the vehicles there, it won't be running, but a production model of General Motors Corp.'s Volt series hybrid car (left)
will be on hand for viewing at AltCar Expo 2008
this weekend in Santa Monica, Calif.
The two-day event, now in its third year, is one of the nation's premier showcases for alternatives to the conventional gasoline-burning automobile.
Organizers say more than 100 vehicles - cars, trucks, scooters and 'cycles with natural gas, battery-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell electric, compressed air, biodiesel, flex-fuel and hybrid propulsion systems - will be on hand, several available for test drives.
The expo, to be held Friday and Saturday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, drew more than 10,000 attendees last year.
In addition to the vehicle displays, the event features numerous displays by alternative energy providers and proponents; a series of seminars addressing climate change and transportation and energy trends and featuring panelists from government, industry and advocacy groups.
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- John O'Dell September 23, 2008, 3:02 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Audi, Auto Shows, BMW, Biofuels, Diesel, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Motorcycles, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
- Technorati Tags:
- AltCar Expo 2008
, Alternative Fuel, Santa Monica Alternative Car Expo
September 15, 2008
We opined last week that Honda was skipping at least the initial heat of the battery electric vehicle race to concentrate on its hybrid and fuel-cell electric programs.
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Honda believes fuel-cell electric cars such as its FCX Clarity will be marketable before battery-electric vehicles can make the grade.
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Now comes word, via Bloomberg News, that the automaker also is bowing out of the plug-in hybrid contest.
Batteries just aren't advanced enough to make rechargeable gasoline-electric vehicles sensible replacements for gasoline-only cars, Honda research chief Masaaki Kato said in a recent interview with the business news service.
"For battery-powered vehicles to become more widespread, more popular in the market, we feel battery technology needs to advance further,'' Kato said. "We just don't see it providing the type of driving performance you get with a gasoline-powered vehicle.''
Honda's reticence flys in the face of aggressive moves by General Motors Corp, with its promised Volt plug-in sedan, due in fleets in small numbers toward the end of next year and scheduled for mass production at the end of 2010, and Toyota Motor Corp., which is developing a plug-in Prius hybrid for fleet use and has scheduled a late 2009 introduction (no word on when or if the car will be made available in the retail market).
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- John O'Dell September 15, 2008, 2:40 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
- Technorati Tags:
- FCX Clarity
, Honda Fuel Cell, plug-in hybrid
September 12, 2008
Detroit and the EPA often are at odds, even under the present administration in Washington, but GM apparently figures it can learn from the enemy -- and get some TV news air time as well, judging from the photo.
The carmaker handed over the keys to one of its Equinox fuel-cell electric vehicles today to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson (right).
He's not using it as a getaway car to run from congressional probes of his decisions on greenhouse gas regulations, but is turning it over the agency's fleet, where it will be used by EPA personnel during the course of normal business in and around the DC area over the next six months, GM said.
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- John O'Dell September 12, 2008, 12:55 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, General Motors
- Technorati Tags:
- Environmental Protection Agency
, Equinox FCEV, Equinox Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, General Motors, GM
September 5, 2008
Ever since Honda CEO Takeo Fukui revealed that the carmaker is developing a hybrid version of its popular Fit subcompact, the widespread impression has been that the car will be introduced sometime around 2010 and will be sold in the U.S. alongside Honda's other hybrids.
We'll admit to being among those who've helped spread that word, and we were about to do it again this week when we wrote about Honda releasing the first photo of its upcoming small and affordable hybrid, the five-seat, five-door Insight hatchback sedan.
But while checking a couple of facts with the carmaker, American Honda spokesman Sage Marie pointed out that - while he and others at the company haven't said so before - the word on the Fit hybrid is all wrong.
"There are no plans to bring it to the U.S.," Marie said, indicating that a Fit hybrid would just be competition for the new Insight hybrid that will be launched next spring.
Nor will Honda be introducing the hybrid version of the Fit in any country any time soon. The car was just redesigned for 2009, and a hybrid version won't be offered until the next redesign, Marie said.
That's four to five years from now.
What we do have to
look forward to from Honda
during that period is continued improvements to the already industry-leading fuel efficiency of it gas engines; a new diesel; the
Insight hybrid,
a sporty hybrid model based on the CR-Z sport coupe concept, and a redesigned Civic hybrid.
There is no Honda plug-in hybrid in the works, Fukui has said repeatedly that without a major battery breakthrough he doesn't see much economic promise in PHEVs
But the carmaker continues to work on electric drivetrains and has promised --- although with no timetable -- a smaller, less expensive version of the
FCX Clarity
fuel-cell car.
We suspect, though, that unless/until industry gets off its collective hind end and figures out a way to make and distribute carbon-neutral hydrogen fuel, that no version of the Clarity, or any other fuel-cell car, is going to be more than an exercise in green public relations.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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- John O'Dell September 5, 2008, 12:33 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Honda, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- FCX Clarity
, Honda Fit Hybrid
September 3, 2008
By
Scott Doggett, Contributor
and John O'Dell, Senior Editor
General Motors has reaped a ton of publicity from its Chevrolet Volt, a car with a grid-charged battery pack that will power an electric motor and an on-board gasoline engine that will generate electricity to keep the electric motor running and recharge the batteries when the initial plug-in charge is depleted.
Often missed in all the high-voltage buzz is that Ford Motor Co. showed a concept car with essentially the same system during the same January 2007 Detroit Auto Show at which the Volt took its bows.
Now comes word that Ford's Japanese subsidiary, Mazda, is putting its zoom into development of a Volt competitor of its own.
The British blog autocar says it has "learned that Mazda engineers are hard at work trying to develop a rival to the Chevrolet Volt -- a car which uses a petrol engine to charge a battery pack which powers the wheels via an electric motor."
High-ranking sources at Mazda, autocar reports, "say that trials are currently underway in Japan, with a prototype that uses a rotary engine to charge the battery pack. The tests are sufficiently advanced that Mazda has a working prototype in a Mazda 5 MPV bodyshell. Company bosses are said to be keen to put this system into production but no firm decisions will be made until the cost of batteries is reduced.
"In the meantime the company will concentrate on simpler green technologies. The first stop-start Mazda will go on sale in Japan next year and the system is expected to be rolled out globally on a variety of models."
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- Scott Doggett September 3, 2008, 3:01 AM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Batteries, Chevrolet, Diesel, Flex-Fuel, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mazda, Plug-ins and Electric, Volvo
- Technorati Tags:
- Chevrolet Volt
, E-Flex, Electric Vehicles, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, GM, Hydrogen, HySeries Drive, Mazda, PHEV, plug-in hybrid
September 2, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Chrysler co-president Jim Press, the carmaker's self-described "demand" man charged with developing a product line people actually want to buy, says that despite its image, the company isn't stuck in the performance-car track and is well on the way to launching a full slate of "green" vehicles.
In addition to gas-electric hybrid models of the Chrysler Aspen (left)
and Dodge Durango SUVs just hitting dealer showrooms and a hybrid Dodge Ram pickup due next year, Chrysler engineers are testing a trio of hybrid and all-electric models with componments that are "near" market-ready, Press said.
Speaking to a group of automotive journalists and industry insiders in Los Angeles today, Press -- former head of Toyota's ultra-successful U.S. sales and marketing operation -- said that while a slimmed-down Chrysler will not abandon the Hemi V8s, hulking trucks and off-road vehicles it is known for, it is also looking at ways to boost fuel economy and, eventually, offer plug-in hybrid and battery-electric versions of many of its models.
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- John O'Dell September 2, 2008, 2:35 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Chrysler, Daimler, Dodge, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, Hydrogen, Jeep, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Chrysler Green Vehicles
, Chrysler Plug-In Hybrids, Jim Press
August 28, 2008
We complain, a lot, that there aren't enough hydrogen stations around to make use of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, even in test programs, very practical.
So we owe it to the alternative fuel's biggest backer, the National Hydrogen Assn., to note that two new stations were opened this month during the just-completed Hydrogen Road Tour '08 program, and that a third new one is scheduled to open next week.
They will bring to 70 the total stock of operating hydrogen fuel stations in North America - 9 in Canada and 61 in the U.S., with 28 of those in just one state, California.
First to open was dedicated Aug. 11 in Billerica, Mass. (it is also the first hydrogen station in the entire state), followed by a station in Rolla, Mo., at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The third new facility is slated to open Sept. 4 on the campus of Humboldt State University in Humboldt, Calif.
The hydrogen association lists stations - one list for those in operation, another for 41 that are planned but not yet open -- in an online hydrogen fuel station database and you can click here to see it and to see how many more milestones need to be added to the hydrogen highway that politicians like to talk about before it its truly a transcontinental road.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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- John O'Dell August 28, 2008, 3:01 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Hydrogen Highway
, National Hydrogen Association
August 25, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
If the though of driving around with tanks of hydrogen pressurized to 5,000 pounds per square inch makes you nervous, consider this: Fire fighters routinely enter burning buildings with 4,500 psi air tanks strapped to their backs.
With those words of assurance, GM hydrogen specialist Alex Karos led us out to the fuel-cell Equinox for our first refueling lesson.
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GM's Alex Karos, center, explains working of hydrogen fuel nozzle while Edmunds editors Chris Walton (left) and Brian Moody (back to camera) look on.
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Yup, I've driven and blogged about the Chevrolet Equniox fuel-cell electric vehicle several times in the past year, even wrote our first-drive review of it for Inside Line. But I'd never actually pumped any of its hydrogen fuel.
Well, General Motors finally has a few Equinoxes (Equinoxii? Equinii?) in its long-term media fleet and has loaned one to the crew at Edmunds for the next week.
So you'll be reading a lot more about it in up coming reviews from staffers for both Edmunds.com and Edmunds Inside Line. We here at Green Car Advisor will provide links to the pieces as they appear so you'll not miss 'em.
Still A Gas
But while you're waiting, we though we'd try to give you a feel for a fueling process that could someday replace topping off the tank with a gas other than gasoline.
Right now it's a bit more difficult - requiring a greater degree of dexterity than pulling into your local service station for a tank of regular unleaded.
We did, actually, pull into a local service station, a Shell station on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Federal Way in West Los Angeles. Shell recently installed a hydrogen pump there as part of program, backed by the feds, to help get people used to the idea of hydrogen as a fuel for passenger cars.
There are two big islands at the station, one with a bunch of gas pumps, the other with a gas pump and the new one labeled "Shell Hydrogen."
There were 10 of us from Edmunds gathered there the other morning, all aiming to drive the Equinox while we have it and all required to go through the brief fueling lesson so we could fill it up ourselves while out there on the road.
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- John O'Dell August 25, 2008, 3:05 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Hydrogen
- Technorati Tags:
- Equinox Fuel Cell Vehicle
, General Motors, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles, Pumping Hydrogen, Shell Hydrogen
As the nine cars crossed the Hydrogen Road Tour
"finish line" Saturday in the shadow of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, promoters of the 13-day, 31-city event piped in Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" - theme song of "Rocky III" -as many in the audience of about 150 people waved mini checkered flags.
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Daimler's A-Class mercedes-Benz fuel cell car on display at Road Tour finale.
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The image they hoped to convey, of course, was the hydrogen, like actor Sylvester Stallone's fictional fighter, Rocky, is a winner.
It remains to be seen, though, whether the hydrogen fuel-cell technology promoted by the tour has a chance of knocking gas-electric hybrids out of contention as the dominant alternative to fossil fuel-powered engines.
General Motors, Honda, Toyota and Nissan were among automakers showing off their hydrogen fuel-cell cars by featuring them in the tour, which began in Portland, Maine, on Aug. 11 and ended Saturday at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.The tour was backed by the U.S. Energy and Transportation departments, the National Hydrogen Association and the California Fuel Cell Partnership.
Fully fueled, such cars, which produce electricity through an electro-chemical process in the fuel cell stack and limit tailpipe emissions to mere drops of water, have traveling ranges that vary from 100 miles for Daimler's Mercedes-Benz F-Cell to about 270 miles for Honda's FCX Clarity.
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- John O'Dell August 25, 2008, 2:30 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Daimler, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Honda, Hydrogen, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Cars
, Green Vehicles, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles, Hydrogen Road Tour
August 19, 2008
Ford Motor Co. announced today that its 30 fuel-cell test vehicles have exceeded the expectations of the company's hydrogen research engineers by accumulating more than 865,000 real world miles without significant maintenance issues since the fleet's launch three years ago.
Encouraged by the program's success, Ford said it recently reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to extend its three-year-old hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle program for up to 24 months, until the next-generation system is ready for deployment in the 2010 timeframe.
Ford was one of the first automakers to launch a fleet of hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles in 2005, after unveiling a prototype in late 2003. Its Focus Fuel Cell fleet partners include government agencies across the U.S. and in Canada, Germany and Iceland, where cold climate testing is expected to result in significant performance improvements on the next generation.
Additional Ford hydrogen projects have included a fleet of 20 hydrogen internal combustion engine buses, the Fusion Hydrogen 999 that set a land speed record in 2007, a Fuel Cell Explorer and a Plug-in Hybrid Edge that uses a fuel cell-powered HySeries Drive.
A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle produces electricity through an electro-chemical process in the fuel cell stack. Its only tailpipe emissions are drops of water. Fuel cell vehicles hold the promise of decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming by replacing vehicles that run on fossil fuels.
According to Ford's global fuel cell team, the first-generation fuel-cell vehicles worked much better than originally expected with virtually no degradation in performance. In light of that success, the Department of Energy, which shares the test program's operating cost with Ford, agreed to extend the program.
Scott Doggett, Contributor
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- Scott Doggett August 19, 2008, 3:47 PM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Fuels & Technologies, Hydrogen
August 15, 2008
In case you've been wondering, major automakers and the lame-duck Bush Administration have reaffirmed their joint commitment to hydrogen fuel and to getting fuel-cell electric and other hydrogen-using vehicles into the retail market by 2018.
The happy group renewed its vows during a hydrogen technology showcase Thursday in Washington.
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A pair of Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell electric Vehicles are shown in rendering of a hydrogen fuel station being installed near los Angeles International Airport.
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"With continued investment, hydrogen holds the potential to help fundamentally change the way we power our vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Bud Albright, an Energy Department undersecretary, said in remarks delivered during the public showcase.
The Energy Department, Transportation Department, nine automakers with prototype hydrogen-using vehicles and a number of fuel companies and other hydrogen advocates are in the midst of a cross-country tour to promote hydrogen as the logical successor to oil for fueling cars and trucks.
The manufacturers in "Hydrogen Road Tour '08" are BMW, Daimler, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co., Hyundai-Kia, Nissan Motor Co., Toyota Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG.
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- John O'Dell August 15, 2008, 4:49 PM
- Categories:
- BMW, Daimler, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuels & Technologies, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Vehicles
, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen Road Tour
August 13, 2008
Design intern Evan Mai is reflected in mirror at GM Design Dome as he puts final touches on Azadi concept, a passenger car his team designed for India's crowded city streets.
By Dale Buss, Contributor
Warren, Mich. -- If the future of General Motors is reflected in the ambitions and attitudes of its summer design interns, the company will be a savvy player supplying culturally relevant, environmentally innocuous vehicles in each of the world's fastest-growing markets.
Those prospects were on panoramic display Tuesday as the interns and the Chevrolet concepts the designed ringed the inside of the Design Dome here at GM's Technical Center.
Creative vehicle ideas ranged from the ".Ru," a car aimed at Russia's teeming urban avenues, to the "He," a family car for upwardly mobile Chinese.
In between were the "Aux," a rugged concept meant for the Russian outback; the "Jian," meant for students and twenty-somethings in China; and the "Azadi," whose designer proposes a fold-out back seat to pack in passengers on India's crowded streets.
In their projects, the interns had to deal with issues just starting to arise for today's designers: How to use exotic lightweight materials, what cars without bulky internal combustion engines and transmissions might look like, and how to design around the big, cylindrical fuel tanks vehicles using compressed hydrogen gas would need for their fuel storage.
What nearly all of the designs - aimed for developing countries in the year 2020 -- had in common was an assumption that roads and cities in such markets will get ever-more crowded, putting a premium on small frames and flexible interior spaces.
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Ryan DeYoung, who studies 3-D animation at Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida, with model of Azadi concept.
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The concepts also shared some version of a "green" powertrain: GM's electric and fuel-cell propulsion system known as E-Flex - the same system being used in the Chevrolet Volt, the plug-in electric car due in 2010.
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- John O'Dell August 13, 2008, 4:26 PM
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August 11, 2008
Large-SUV segment: Could reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated?
The run-up in gas prices from April through June spooked American car buyers into a manic rush to find the most fuel-efficient vehicles they could and to dump their gas guzzlers.
So new-car buyers nearly abandoned the large-SUV and pickup-truck segments, grew lukewarm about crossovers even compared with the first quarter, sought out small cars, pushed OEMs' subcompact-car manufacturing capacity to the max, and completely sucked up supplies of Prius and of some other hybrids. All the while, overall sales tanked.
So automakers made some of the most precipitous and significant decisions ever about production cutbacks and segment reallocations. Each of Detroit's Big Three and even Toyota moved quickly and massively to slash pickup and SUV production and goose small-car output as much as they could.
But the latest Edmunds.com data indicate that the industry may well have rushed into these moves too soon, perhaps overreacting -- along with the news media and other entities -- to how American consumers plainly were responding to skyrocketing gasoline prices.
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- Scott Doggett August 11, 2008, 7:15 AM
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August 8, 2008
A hydrogen fuel-cell bus already in the fleet of big red buses serving London tanks up at a BP hydrogen station.
London's new mayor, intent on undoing some of his predecessor's most expensive anti-congestion plans, has tossed up a roadblock that is likely to further slow progress on the snail-paced development of a global hydrogen vehicle infrastructure.
Boris Johnson, who replaced Ken Livingstone earlier this year as Lord Mayor of England's capital city, canceled an order Livingstone had placed for 60 hydrogen vehicles, according to a report by analysts in the London office of Boston-based Global Insight economic consulting.
It would have been England's largest hydrogen transport project and one of the biggest anywhere. It also likely would have boosted interest in hydrogen vehicles and demand for hydrogen fueling stations by including a variety of cars, trucks and even motorcycles and scooters, all using hydrogen fuel cells to power emissions-free electric drive systems.
Johnson said he still will accept the 10 hydrogen buses his predecessor had ordered as additions to the city's growing test fleet of fuel-cell electric buses.
But one of his spokesmen told a major London newspaper that Johnson had decided the 60 smaller prototype fuel-cell electric vehicles would not help stimulate the market in hydrogen transportation.
Ironically, Johnson just a few weeks earlier told a group of London school children that hydrogen is the alternative fuel of the future.
The hydrogen buses alone, however, will cost the city about $20 million ($1.92 million or £1 million each), and Johnson apparently doesn't have enough faith in the future to spend that much or more on the 60 smaller vehicles.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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- John O'Dell August 8, 2008, 5:06 PM
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August 6, 2008
Nissan packaged its new electric vehicle ssytem in a Cube compact van for testing, but is planning a more conventional sedan for production.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
OPPAMA, Japan -- Much of the rest of the auto industry seems to be slowing down, but Nissan Motor Co., hoping to ride the green wave to growth in the U.S. and globally, is pumping billions into environmental initiatives that executives say could propel the company to the top tier of automakers in a just a few years.
In pursuit of that goal, Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's charismatic chief, already has committed the company to zero-emissions leadership by 2012.
Nissan this year has announced plans for a rear-wheel-drive hybrid and a battery-powered electric car by 2010; has formed a partnership with electronics giant NEC to develop a new generation of powerful lithium-ion batteries for hybrids and EVs; is helping develop a rapid charging system for electric cars that could recharge battery packs in as little as 10 minutes; and continues development work to commercialize hydrogen fuel cells for automotive use.
It showed off many of those technologies for the first time in a seminar this week at its research and development facilities in this port city southwest of Toyko.
The company isn't alone. As fuel prices have soared globally and international concerns about energy independence grows, most automakers have begun or stepped up efforts to bring alternative fuel and alternative power plant cars and trucks to market.
But Nissan is a standout for its push for battery EVs and its determination to make the technology -- promising in the late 1990s but long-since abandoned by most -- viable once again.
On Wednesday (Tuesday night in the U.S.) Nissan let a group of journalists try out prototypes of its 2010 EV and hybrid powertrains and showed us the technology behind the advanced lithium-ion batteries that will make them go.
Minoru Shinohara (right)
, Nissan's senior vice president of technology development, told Green Car Advisor
that the company sees a business advantage in EVs and intends to be the industry leader in affordable, mass market zero emission cars that use batteries to power electric motors.
Nissan also wants to be a leader in providing the batteries and the battery-charging infrastructure that will make EVs work, he said.
While others champion the gas-electric hybrid and the plug-in hybrid with limited all-electric range, Nissan's faith in the all-electric vehicle is based on its belief that people all over the world are moving out of suburbia and back into cities as they try to minimize commutes and economize on fuel.
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- John O'Dell August 6, 2008, 11:27 AM
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August 5, 2008
Larry Burns, as GM's vice president of R&D and strategic planning, is the General's pointman on developing vehicles that meet the demands of the marketplace and turn a hefty profit.
Design News emailed Burns a bunch of questions for a profile piece the magazine will publish next month, but it chose to post the questions and answers online today. Odder things have no doubt happened, but nothing jumps to mind.
Here, then, are some of Burns' more remarkable comments:
The VP confirms GM's plans to be "selling Chevrolet Volt to real customers in 2010."
In response to being asked if a final version of the Volt's battery -- versions based on a nano-phosphate cathode, manganese spinel chemistry or something else -- has been chosen, Burns says no.
"We continue to work on the battery with our two development partnerships, one involving LG Chem and Compact Power and the other involving A123 Systems and Continental," he said.
But, he said, GM has "confirmed the capability of our selected cell chemistry in terms of safety, range, recharge time, power density and energy density."
Although the battery version remains undecided, Burns said its "development is on track."
But, Burns admitted that "one of the important challenges remaining is proving ten-year, 150,000-mile life when we're developing the battery over a three-year timeframe. Obviously, we'll protect the customer in this regard with our warranty, but we still need to prove out the required durability."
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- Scott Doggett August 5, 2008, 7:33 PM
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Honda Motor Co. today announced that its second FCX Clarity customer -- actress Jamie Lee Curtis and actor-filmmaker-composer Christopher Guest -- took delivery of the vehicle last Thursday.
The couple are the second of 200 customers who will begin leasing the vehicle in the U.S. or Japan over the next three years.
"I really wasn't expecting it to be so luxurious," the effervescent Curtis said of the next-generation, hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle. "I love the interior layout, design and access to controls."
Curtis (a scream queen best known for her roles in Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train) and Guest (the unforgettable Nigel Tufnel in the 1984 "rockumentary" film This Is Spinal Tap) live in Santa Monica, California. They have owned alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles, and a strong advocates of a greener lifestyle.
Ron Yerxa and Annette Ballester of Santa Monica took delivery of the first FCX Clarity on July 25.
Honda made significant advances with this generation of FCX Clarity over its previous one. They include a 25 percent increase in combined fuel economy to 74 miles per gallon equivalent and a greater than 30 percent increase in driving range up to 280 miles.
Propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in the fuel cell, the vehicle's only by-products are heat and water and its fuel efficiency is three times that of a modern gasoline-powered automobile.
Scott Doggett, Contributor
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- Scott Doggett August 5, 2008, 9:51 AM
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, Fuel Economy, Fuel Efficient, Honda, Hydrogen, Jamie Lee Curtis
August 4, 2008
Auto dealers and consumer advocates told federal rulemakers today that a proposed 25 percent mandatory increase in fleetwide fuel economy standards is out of touch with importance buyers now give fuel-efficiency.
Mark Cooper, research director for the Consumer Federation of America, said rulemakers wrongly assumed U.S. drivers would continue to covet large trucks and SUVs, even though car buyers began moving to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars in 2004.
"The auto industry acts as if plummeting SUV and pickup truck sales are a new phenomena," he told the National Transportation Safety Board at a Washington public hearing. "The fact is, gas-guzzling-vehicle sales have been falling off a cliff for over three years. And yet the administration's proposed fuel economy standards presumes no fall and no cliff."
As a result, Cooper said, the proposed fleetwide fuel economy standard of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015 would fail to meet consumer demands. According to a study performed by his organization, 59 percent of those surveyed want their next vehicle to get more than 35 mpg. Meanwhile, only 1 percent of new models offer that degree of fuel economy.
Adam Lee, president of Lee Auto Malls, which has a dozen Maine dealerships, said he has seen firsthand the shifting buying trends that have resulted in across-the-board losses for major carmakers.
Lee said he has laid off salespeople while waiting for automakers to produce the type of cars Americans want. "We just don't have the cars to sell," he said. "And I'm not just talking hybrids.... Consumers are waiting for good, old-fashioned small cars."
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- Scott Doggett August 4, 2008, 2:05 PM
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August 1, 2008
Right, MIT researcher Daniel G. Nocera.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Hydrogen is widely regarded as the most promising automobile fuel of the future. Among its major obstacles: The cost of the catalyst needed to separate it from oxygen.
Electrolizers use platinum as a catalyst to split water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Platinum is also used by fuel cells to recombine hydrogen with oxygen, which produces electricity, which in turn can power the electric motors of EVs.
One of the main reason there aren't more hydrogen vehicles on the road today is that platinum costs upwards of $2,000 an ounce.
But researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Monash University in Australia report in today's issue of Science (subscription required) that they may have found a cost-effective replacement for platinum.
MIT professor Daniel Nocera and graduate student Matthew Kanan reported that they could split water into its constituent parts by replacing platinum with cobalt and phosphate. Those metals cost about $2.25 an ounce and $.05 an ounce, respectively.
On the fuel-cell side of the equasion, chemist Bjorn Winther-Jensen and colleagues at Monash University have developed new electrodes for fuel cells made from a special conducting polymer. It costs $57 an counce.
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- Scott Doggett August 1, 2008, 11:27 AM
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July 30, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
PORTLAND, Ore. -- I'm sitting in my hotel room after a day of panels and seminars at the 2nd running of an event called Meeting of the Minds, and am wishing I had a better one than was issued as original equipment.
This is a by-invitation gathering of about 250 people, mainly concerned with transportation and urban planning, and was convened to consider, as the confab's subtitle states: The Innovations We Need for More Sustainable Cities.
The reason an automobile writer, albeit one specializing in green issues, was invited (and I have to confess I'm not the only one) is that these folks get it -- most cities in the U.S. were built to accomodate the car, and there's no cure for what ails our municipalities without addressing transportation-related woes.
After a full day of discussions, it is clear that a lot of people are working hard to head off disasters that could be caused by horrid traffic congenstion, rapidly degrading infrastructure and a national political malaise that has robbed us of leaders with the guts to stand up and lead the charge for things we need.
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- John O'Dell July 30, 2008, 10:09 PM
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July 27, 2008
We promised a few more photos of Honda's first FCX Clarity
customer getting his car, and here they are.
Honda delivered the car to Hollywood producer Ron Yerxa and his wife, Annette Ballester, in a closed ceremony Friday, so we were unable to attend and shoot our own photos.
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Ron Yerxa and Annette Ballester receive ceremonial key to Clarity from Honda of Santa Monica's sales manager, Dan Rowand.
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We apologize that the pictures, supplied by Honda Motor Co. seem a bit promotional, but we thought the event was worth presenting because it marked the first long-term retail delivery of a fuel-cell electric car.
General Motors Corp. supplies models of its fuel-cell electric Equinox to regular people in its Project Driveway, but only for about a month at a time.
In contrast, the car Yerxa and Ballester received is for a three-year-lease.
About 199 more 2009 Honda Claritys will follow, with some to be leased in Japan, but most slated for customers in four Southern California areas with access to publicly available hydrogen fuel pumps.
Friday's delivery ceremony occurred just shy of three years after Honda unveiled the initial concept model of the car at the 2005 Tokyo Auto Show, and about nine months (hmmmm) after the first production model was unveiled at the 2007 Los Angeles auto show last October.
Above left, Yerxa and Ballester receive refueling instructions at new hydrogen station in West Los Angeles from Honda fuel-cell vehicle program consultant Tim Cunningham. Above right, a happy Yerxa shows off his new car.
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- John O'Dell July 27, 2008, 11:04 AM
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July 25, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
The first Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell car was delivered to its proud and happy new owner about an hour ago.
We'll provide some photos and perhaps a bit more text in just a little while, but wanted to be first to let everyone know that Honda has made good on its promise to start getting the swoopy and silent Clarity into consumers' hands by the end of July.
The first customer for the limited-production fuel-cell electric car is Hollywood producer Ron Yerxa ("Little Miss Sunshine"), who has described himself as a green guy who just wanted to be able to drive the coolest clean car around.
Like others who have signed up to lease the Clarity for three years (at a heavily subsidized $600 a month), Yerxa lives in Southern California, near one of four hydrogen fueling stations that Clarity drivers can use to fill their 74-miles-per-gallon (actually, it's "gallon-equivalent" as hydrogen gas is measured by weight - kilograms - not volume) cars.
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- John O'Dell July 25, 2008, 1:22 PM
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July 24, 2008
Right, Nissan's Denki Cube concept, the battery-electric version of the popular Cube compact van.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Never one to pussyfoot around an issue, Carlos Ghosn turns up his nose at the idea of a plug-in hybrid, insisting that any electric cars sold in the U.S. by Nissan - one of the two automakers Ghosn heads - will be "pure" EVs.
In remarks Ghosn made to reporters Tuesday following the dedication of Nissan North America's new headquarters in a suburb of Nashville, Tenn., Ghosn said that building range-extended electric hybrids with on-board gasoline or diesel generators is an "unsustainable" plan because they still will depend on the world's diminishing supply of oil.
Same for conventional and plug-in hybrids, he said, reports Michelle Krebs, editor of Edmunds Auto Observer and a member of the press corps Ghosn was addressing.
Interesting, because Nissan still has hybrid plans of its own.
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- Scott Doggett July 24, 2008, 12:27 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
July 23, 2008
General Motors and the U.S. Postal Service have joined forces again to deliver mail using hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles.
The two organizations announced today that the Postal Service has for the third time joined Chevrolet's Project Driveway, one of the largest market tests of fuel-cell vehicles to date.
Two postal stations - one in Irvine, California, another to be announced - will be using hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox fuel-cell electric vehicles to deliver the mail on regular routes six days a week. The service will begin immediately in Irvine.
The Postal Service began using an Equinox in 2004 in Virginia. The service began using an Equinox two years later to deliver mail in Irvine. Both trial programs, which ended last year, helped GM learn a lot about how fuel-cell vehicles operate in real-world conditions.
GM will maintain the vehicle and pay the cost of its fuel. Letter carriers will fuel the vehicle at the University of California, Irvine, hydrogen fueling station.
Scott Doggett, Contributor
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- Scott Doggett July 23, 2008, 3:26 PM
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July 22, 2008
Right, BMW 7 Hydrogen on Nürburgring racetrack. The car or one like it will be available for test drives.
The Detroit area is famous for the Woodward Dream Cruise, a summertime showcase of thousands of hotrods, muscle cars and other exotics.
Now in an effort to improve Motown's gas-guzzling image, a new group has organized what they call Nextcruise, which will actually give the public an opportunity to drive what many see as the next generation of vehicles - hybrids, fuel cell, clean-diesel, plug-in electric and other green machines.
The low-emissions, fuel-efficient vehicles will be available for free 15-minute drives on a first-come, first-served basis in Pleasant Ridge, just outside Detroit, in mid-August.
The event will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, at Memorial Park, 23925 Woodward Avenue, Pleasant Ridge 48069-1199.
Nine automakers have agreed to provide green vehicles and green-car-technology demonstrations for event to date. They are: General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
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- Scott Doggett July 22, 2008, 3:44 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Audi, Auto Shows, BMW, Biofuels, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Daimler, Diesel, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Fuels & Technologies, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Volkswagen
July 17, 2008
Right, the cockpit of Honda's HFCV.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
A transition to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is entirely doable but requires nearly $200 billion in funding and further technological breakthroughs, National Research Council experts said today in a report requested by Congress.
While stressing the "best-case scenario" nature of their report, the experts concluded that hydrogen could be the key driver of a shift away from fossil fuels and emissions tied to global warming, with other clean technologies and biofuels helping in that transition.
"The benefits of hydrogen would be less in the early years but have a dominant effect" in the longer run, panel chairman Mike Ramage, a retired ExxonMobil executive, said in a conference call with reporters. "Hydrogen is a pathway to a sustainable energy future."
The best-case scenario assumes the automotive industry invests $145 billion and the federal government spends $50 billion over the next 15 years to drive down the costs of hydrogen production and vehicles that run on hydrogen.
"The number is big, but in perspective" it is doable, Ramage said, noting that the federal ethanol subsidy is at a pace to cost $160 billion over that same period. "We need durable, substantial and sustainable government help to make this happen, just as there is for ethanol."
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- Scott Doggett July 17, 2008, 4:31 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Transportation Alternatives
Right, Daimler R&D's Thomas Weber.
Mercedes-Benz will introduce turbocharged engines across its entire lineup in the next two-and-a-half years.
"All our vehicles will have turbocharged engines in series production by the end of 2010 at the latest," Thomas Weber, Daimler board member responsible for research and development, told Automotive News Europe at a press event in Dusseldorf, Germany, today.
Forthcoming legislation in Europe and the U.S. is forcing automakers to reduce auto emissions.
Demand for turbochargers is growing, because they offer a proven and relatively inexpensive way to reduce fuel consumption. With the addition of a turbocharger, Daimler will be able to install smaller, lighter and more fuel-efficient engines without sacrificing performance.
Under current proposals, the European Commission will ask the German automaker to cut its average fleet emissions from 178 grams per kilometer to 138 g/km by 2012. The commission will fine automakers that fail to meet the targets.
Improving the efficiency of its existing engines is the first part of Daimler's strategy to reduce carbon-dioxide emission levels across its fleet. Weber said the medium-term step would be to introduce more hybrid technology. The S class -- Mercedes' flagship sedan -- will be offered as a full hybrid vehicle starting in 2009.
Weber also said that zero-emission driving is the German automaker's long-term goal. To get there, the automaker plans to use technology such as fuel cells and electric-powered vehicles. A full-electric version of the Fortwo from Mercedes sister brand Smart goes into production in 2010.
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- Scott Doggett July 17, 2008, 8:30 AM
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- Daimler, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz, Smart
July 16, 2008
While most automakers have shifted production to focus on smaller vehicles, nearly 70 percent of consumers want the companies to invest more in existing and emerging powertrain technologies, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Alternative Powertrain Study released today.
Now in its third year, the Alternative Powertrain Study examines the reasons why consumers consider or avoid alternative powertrain vehicles, such as gas-electric hybrid, flex fuel and clean diesel models.
The study includes the Automotive Environmental Index, which rates the 2008-model-year vehicles on the basis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data to fuel economy and greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as expert input from J.D. Power & Associates.
The study found that more than 80 percent of the 4,000 consumers polled believe the U.S. is currently facing an energy crisis. Only 18 percent of these respondents believe the issue can be addressed by building small, fuel-efficient vehicle.
Thirty percent believe automakers should continue to produce a comparable vehicle lineup with a focus on gas-electric hybrid, clean diesel and flexible-fuel vehicles, while another 39 percent believe carmakers should focus on developing fuel cell and all-electric vehicles.
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- Scott Doggett July 16, 2008, 3:32 PM
- Categories:
- Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Emissions, Ethanol, Fiat, Flex-Fuel, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, MINI, Mitsubishi, Natural Gas, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Pontiac, Smart, Solar, Toyota
July 14, 2008
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Chrysler is working on three extended-range electric vehicles that will be ready for market within three to five years, a company spokesman told Green Car Advisor today.
The EVs will be based on the Jeep Renegade, Dodge Zeo (at right) and Chrysler ecoVoyager (in Moon rock silver-beigel, below) concept vehicles that stole much of the limelight for their über-cool designs at their debut in Detroit this past January.
All three production models will be powered by electric motors connected to advanced lithium-ion battery packs, and each will be capable of extended drive ranges, Chrysler's Nick Cappa said in an interview.
The Dodge Zeo will be a pure plug-in electric sports car packing enough lithium-ion battery modules to travel 250 miles between charges, Cappa said. The sleek, four-door coupe will certainly be one of the most exciting concept cars to debut all year, and the reason should be apparent (it's breathtakingly beautiful!).
What's not apparent is the fact that the Zeo's doors -- front and
back -- open upward instead of outward. Also not apparent is the Zeo's single 200-kilowatt/hour, 286-horsepower electric motor capable of propeling the EV to 60 miles per hour in under six seconds.
To keep costs and prices in check, the same motor, electrical architecture, power electronics and next-generation lithium-ion battery technology in the Zeo will be used in Chrysler's two other initial EVs.
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- Scott Doggett July 14, 2008, 6:38 PM
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July 8, 2008
Soon to join the I-didn't-know-that file comes a story
published in the Wall Street Journal
regarding Toyota Motor Corp.'s increasingly bold home-building plans.
That's right. The automaker is also a homemaker. It's got a prefabricated-housing division and everything.
According to the Journal, Toyota has been building steel-frame houses designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoons for 33 years. But with the Japanese government calling for sturdier home construction, Toyota is shifting its prefab-housing division into high gear.
What's more, the carmaker is testing an electricity-monitoring system in its homes that could charge plug-in electric vehicles during off-peak hours to keep utility bills low, while the car's battery can serve as an electrical backup, powering the home during blackouts.
The Journal says Toyota engineers are also experimenting with using solar panels as house siding and powering homes with fuel cells, which combine hydrogen and air to produce electricity.
It's got to be only a matter of time until Toyota offers a house as a Prius accessory, or vice versa.
Scott Doggett, Contributor
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- Scott Doggett July 8, 2008, 11:09 AM
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- Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Toyota
July 7, 2008
The same day a World Bank report identifies biofuels as the principal cause
of the global food crisis, the Bush administration announces creation of a Web site that Americans can use to locate biofuel service stations.
"Need to know where to buy E85 or other alternative fuels?" today's announcement asks. "The U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center now has an online station locator. Just specify which kind of fuel you want, then enter your address and the locator will map out the closest stations that sell that fuel."
It's been reported that the World Bank withheld publicizing its findings to avoid embarrassing President Bush. The World Bank's determination that biofuels are responsible for the food crisis that threatens the lives of 100 million people contradicts the U.S. government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3 percent to food price rises.
The White House must be delighted that Bush isn't the only Western leader with egg on his face today. The president's good friend, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, sparked outrage after it was disclosed today that he and other world leaders enjoyed a six-course lunch followed by an eight-course dinner at the G8 summit, where the global food crisis tops the agenda.
The prime minister was served 24 different dishes during his first day at the summit -- just hours after urging the world to reduce the "unnecessary demand" for food and calling on British families to cut back on their wasteful use of food.
For the low-down on that scandal, take a look at an article in today's edition of the British newspaper Telegraph.
Scott Doggett, Contributor
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- Scott Doggett July 7, 2008, 2:17 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Natural Gas
By Dale Buss, Contributor
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan -- Like the environmentally friendly "hydrogen energy loop" that he designed more than a half-century ago, Stanford R. Ovshinsky's career has come full circle.
He was among the first in the world to outline how solar and hydrogen power might someday renewably and cleanly provide most of modern man's transportation and other energy needs -- his "loop" -- and now it looks as if things might come to that.
At 85, Ovshinsky finally is enjoying a turnaround in fortunes of the company he founded in 1960, Energy Conversion Devices Inc.
The inventor's science underlies fabulous technologies such as flat-screen TVs, photovoltaic roof shingles, lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride batteries for cell phones and automobiles, and a form of computer memory that Intel is investigating as a possible successor to Flash.
But Ovshinsky always ran ECD more as a research institute than as a capitalistic enterprise and was unable to make the company commercially successful over the long haul. ECD's board and long-suffering investors finally ran out of patience and ushered Ovshinsky out last summer.
Also booted was CEO Robert Stempel, the former General Motors chief executive who had teamed with Ovshinsky 13 years ago and had brought ECD to the brink of commercial viability.
Since the shakeup, the long-moribund stock of this small technology company has risen to prices of around $77 a share, about double its trading average last fall. ECD also just reported a first-quarter profit, its first in years.
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- Scott Doggett July 7, 2008, 12:10 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Fuels & Technologies, General Motors, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
July 1, 2008
Above, a gas-powered A-Class Mercedes. Daimler says an electric version of the small family car is planned.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Mercedes-Benz is planning to launch an electric version of the A-class small family car in 2010, according to press reports.
The four-door hatchback will have lithium-ion batteries and be produced at an initial rate of between 500 and 1,000 cars year, the German weekly Automobilwoche reported Monday. Production should climb quickly, however.
In an interview with German business daily, WirtschaftsWoche, Thomas Weber, a Mercedes-Benz board member responsible for research and vehicle development, let it be known that the company is building what was originally meant to be the fuel cell-powered A-Class model as an all-electric model.
In the Automobilwoche report, an unidentified senior manager at Mercedes-Benz said that the A-class is an ideal candidate because its "sandwich" construction means the basic layout of the vehicle does not have to be changed much. The car was developed to accommodate a fuel cell and therefore has a double floor that can fit the cell, the manager said. This space can instead be used for the lithium-ion batteries.
In a separate article, Automobilwoche reported that U.S. electric-car maker Tesla Motors is expected to supply the lithium-ion batteries. The magazine didn't reveal the sources for its story and Tesla spokeswoman Colette Niazmand wouldn't comment on the subject when Green Car Advisor inquired today.
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- Scott Doggett July 1, 2008, 10:22 AM
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- Batteries, Daimler, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla
June 26, 2008
CIBC chart shows 10 million fewer vehicles on U.S. roads by 2012 than today.
Gasoline prices in America have risen from around $1.80 in 2004 to the current $4 per gallon mark. The most recent surge in pump prices has, in inflation-adjusted dollars, already taken pump prices to a buck a gallon above the record prices seen in 1981...
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- Scott Doggett June 26, 2008, 4:59 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Transportation Alternatives
Betcha it'll be on TV tonight!
Cameramen crowded the apron this morning to get shots of a Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell vehicle filling up with compressed hydrogen gas at the
new Shell Hydrogen pump on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles.
The hydrogen pump is the 46th in the nation and one of only two that shares location with a regular retail gas station.
The facility was dedicated in a ceremony attended by a number of Los Angeles area dignitaries including -- in the Equniox for the posed photo above -- David Nahai, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and (driving) Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl.
The pump is one of five being installed nationwide (others already in are in New York and Washington, D.C.) as part of a hydrogen fuel demonstration project cosponsored by the federal Energy Department, General Motors and Shell Hydogen...
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- John O'Dell June 26, 2008, 3:38 PM
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- Biofuels, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
The U.S. gets another hydrogen fuel station this morning – the 46th according to the latest count available – as Shell Oil opens a hydrogen pump at a conventional gas station in Los Angeles.
Part of a national hydrogen demonstration project jointly sponsored by the federal Energy Department, Shell Hydrogen and General Motors Corp., the pump will be open to any hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle.
Fuel cells are electro-chemical systems carried on-board vehicles and used to convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity that is used to power the vehicle's electric drive system.
Because Southern California is a major center for fuel-cell vehicle testing, it has more than half the nation's hydrogen pumps to serve the more than 200 hydrogen-using vehicles in the area.
The number of vehicles could nearly double over the next few years as Honda Motor Co. begins leasing its FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle next month.
For now, though, the primary users of the station's single, blue-labeled hydrogen pump will be drivers of the nearly 80 Chevrolet Equinox fuel-cell vehicles GM has placed on the region's roads as part of its Project Driveway fuel cell program.
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- John O'Dell June 26, 2008, 3:06 AM
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- Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen
June 25, 2008
Renault today unveiled additional details and a schematic of the Scenic ZEV H2, the fuel cell-electric prototype we blogged about last month that loads Nissan's fuel cell technology and lithium-ion batteries onto Renault's five-seat Grand Scenic minivan.
The French carmaker says the Scenic ZEV H2 (for zero emissions vehicle, hydrogen) project is part of wider, continuing efforts with its Japanese alliance partner to develop and bring to market a range of zero-emission vehicles.
Renault engineers redesigned the Scenic's floor and raised its ground clearance by 2.3 inches to accommodate Nissan's fuel-cell stack, a high-pressure hydrogen storage tank, and lithium-ion batteries.
Instrumentation has been adapted to the new powertrain...
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- Scott Doggett June 25, 2008, 9:30 AM
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- Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault
June 24, 2008
Congress is vowing to take actions that it believes will reverse runaway crude and gasoline prices. Oil rose above $136 a barrel on Monday – more than double what it cost a year ago – and gas hovered around $4.07 a gallon nationwide.
Lawmakers have introduced nine different bills on speculation, not to mention many more that tackle other causes of escalating fuel and oil prices. Several of the speculation measures have bipartisan support...
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- Scott Doggett June 24, 2008, 7:46 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Courts, Diesel, Emissions, Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
June 20, 2008
S-Class already is slated for a hybrid powertrain. Is all-electric version next?
Mercedes Benz hopes to enter the electric car race with a luxury Mercedes EV as soon as 2010, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in a newspaper interview in Germany.
In a report circulated today by Thompson Financial and Reuters news service, Zetsche is quoted as telling the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Daimler plans "an electric Smart for 2010 and for the same year a Mercedes model as well."
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- John O'Dell June 20, 2008, 4:40 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Daimler, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric
Honda Motor Co. has reiterated plans to continue development of its FCX Clarity fuel cell-electric vehicle with the goal of someday releasing a second, less-costly model.
An article published earlier this week by a Japanese press service cites Honda President Taeko Fukui as saying the company wants to get the cost of the new model down into the tens of millions of yen – 10 million yen is $93,192 at today's exchange rate – versus the hundreds of millions of yen the present model costs.
Fukui also said that he noted that a retail version of the Clarity would have to be priced below the 10-million-yen mark in order to be appeal to the masses. Right now the sedan is still considered a research vehicle and is not available for purchase.
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- Scott Doggett June 20, 2008, 9:36 AM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hydrogen
June 16, 2008
Lotus Engineering, the automotive consultancy division of Lotus Cars Ltd
., has won contracts to collaborate with other British companies on two of 16 government-run programs for low-emission vehicles.
In all, the companies will share more than $102 million in public and private funding awarded by the British government's Technology Strategy Board for participation in the programs.
In one program, Lotus Engineering will be responsible for integrating a fuel-cell engine with an electric drivetrain and hydrogen storage system in two test vehicles that will advance plans for British fleets of zero-emission taxis.
In the other program, Lotus Engineering will be responsible for designing and building prototype auxiliary power units for large hybrid Jaguars that emit very small amounts of greenhouse gases...
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- June 16, 2008, 5:12 PM
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- Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric
Honda workers prepare to install Clarity's hydrogen fuel tank assembly.
TOCHIGI, Japan --As Honda Motor Co. launched production of its FCX Clarity fuel-cell electric vehicle this morning, Green Car Advisor asked company executives for their thoughts on the significance of commercializing the zero-emissions sedan.
Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said that fuel cell vehicles such as the 2009 Clarity can help reduce oil consumption while avoiding the range restrictions imposed battery-electric vehicles due to their weight and the energy storage limitations of their nickel metal-hydride batteries.
"Even the lighter and higher output lithium-ion batteries do not improve range and performance as we would like," Fukui said.
"In contrast however, hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars offer the best alternative given their non-use of fossil fuels, zero emissions, lighter weight and most importantly, greater range" of 280 miles per tank of hydrogen versus 120 miles per battery charge, he said.
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- June 16, 2008, 2:43 PM
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- Batteries, Fuel Cell, Honda, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
Among green vecicles to be shown by Japan's carmakers at July economic summit will be (clockwise from top left) Mitsubishi battery-electric i MiEV, Toyota Crown hybrid, Honda Clarity fuel cell and Nissan X-Trail clean diesel.
By Peter Nunn, Contributor
TOKYO -- Japan's automakers are rolling out a big green carpet for the coming G8 economic summit on the northern isle of Hokkaido.
Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Honda are among those planning major environmental vehicle and technology displays at the July 7-9 meeting.
As the world’s leaders and media gather up in Hokkaido, the G8 meeting is seen as the perfect platform to promote Japan's new, green-era cars -- even though no new, previously unseen models or technologies are likely to be unveiled.
"The G8 represents an important opportunity to showcase our latest environmental technologies," said Simon Sproule, corporate vice president of Nissan’s global communications department in Tokyo.
"With environmental challenges an important part of the agenda for the G8 meeting, we want to ensure the delegates can see for themselves the progress being made in the auto industry."
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- June 16, 2008, 10:14 AM
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- Batteries, Diesel, Fuel Cell, Honda, Hybrid, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
June 15, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior EditorTrue to its word, Honda Motor Co. began production of its long-awaited FCX Clarity fuel-cell electric sedan this evening (Monday morning in Japan) and said that it would begin putting the strikingly sculpted vehicles into the hands of carefully selected customers early next month.
The first of the cars, which produce electricity from hydrogen gas and oxygen and emit only water vapor from their tailpipes, will go to Hollywood producer ("Little Miss Sunshine") Ron Yerxa, who traveled to Japan to attend the ceremony at Honda's new fuel-cell vehicle assembly facility at its advanced R&D campus in Tochigi, about 100 miles north of Tokyo.
Honda introduced the production model of the garnet-red car at the 2007 Los Angeles International Auto Show in November and said at the time that it would launch a three-year Clarity leasing program this summer.
Yerxa and other lessees – there will be about 200 in Southern California and Japan by the end of 2011 – will pay $600 a month and will be required to provide considerable feed-back to Honda about their experiences with the vehicle.
Closer But No Cigar"This is an important day in the history of fuel-cell vehicle technology and a monumental step closer to the day when fuel cell cars will be part of the mainstream," John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda, said in a statement.
"Our customers and dealers share in our vision for a cleaner and more sustainable transportation future, and share in our challenge to embrace a new generation of automotive technology that we think will carry the auto industry and its customers into the future."
While fuel cell cars represent the auto industry's best effort so far to free the motor vehicle from its dependence on oil and to avoid some of the perceived pitfalls of using rechargeable batteries to store power for electric cars, the technology is not without problems.
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- John O'Dell June 15, 2008, 9:30 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Chrysler, Daimler, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota, Volkswagen
June 13, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
HUELVA, Spain -- I've been sitting in Mercedes-Benz' exotic F-700 – facing backward in the research car's multi-position rear seat and watching the engine-power display on a 20-inch flat-screen monitor as driver Peter Lehmen slowly takes us around the track at Circuito Monteblanco.
We’re at this track, 30 miles east of Seville, for an event Mercedes calls "the Road to the Future."
In fact, it's a demonstration of a number of technologies the German luxury-car maker has been showing off around the globe for many months. The neatest stuff, of course, is years away from being production-ready.
A display with the same name at last September's Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany featured 19 clean and green Mercedes-Benz vehicles including the F-700 research car.
My interests are several, starting with the DiesOtto engine that powers the F-700 – a gasoline engine that works much like a diesel, providing low emissions, substantial fuel economy and power in a pretty small package.
Mercedes has promised to fill us in on advances made since the prototype engine was unveiled at the Frankfurt show.
The automaker also has gathered experts to talk about the whole range of its green car efforts, including clean diesels, fuel cell vehicles, battery-electric cars and the company's breakthrough development that will let it be the first to put a lithium-ion battery pack into a production hybrid car when the S-400 BlueHybrid is introduced next year.
Turbo, Torque, Thrift
But let's get to the DiesOtto, Mercedes' name for an engine that uses the technology everyone else calls homogeneous charge combustion ignition, or HCCI. Other big players working hard on an HCCI engines are General Motors Corp., Volkswagen and Honda Motor Co.
Mercedes has opted to pair the relatively small 1.8-liter, four-cylinder with a small electric motor for extra assist, making the F-700 a hybrid. A dual-stage turbocharger that works at both low and high engine speeds helps keep things exciting.
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- John O'Dell June 13, 2008, 5:25 PM
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- Batteries, Daimler, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric
June 11, 2008
The iQ minicompact has been cited as one of Toyota's green initiatives to reduce the size and weight of its future vehicles.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Toyota Motor Corp. promised two new hybrid vehicles and the start of lithium-ion battery production next year as part of a major push to accelerate development of small electric vehicles for mass production, company executives said Wednesday.
The two hybrids – one badged a Toyota, the other a Lexus – will debut at the 2009 Detroit auto show in January along with the third-generation Prius sedan, also due next year, company executives said at the Toyota Environmental Forum in Tokyo.
Details regarding the Lexus were unavailable, but Masatami Takimoto, Toyota's executive vice president in charge of research and development, said the forthcoming Toyota hybrid "is a totally new car" and larger than the Prius.
For the redesigned Prius, Toyota will stick with the current generation's nickel-metal hydride batteries. The much-anticipated lithium-ion batteries, lighter in weight and much powerful than nickel-metal hydrides, will debut in Toyota's first plug-in gas-electric hybrid, due in 2010, he said.
Additionally, Toyota will establish a battery research department later this month to advance the development of an innovative next-generation battery that can outperform a lithium-ion battery, company President Katsuaki Watanabe said.
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- Scott Doggett June 11, 2008, 4:26 PM
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- Auto Shows, Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Lexus, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
June 9, 2008
Sanitation facility will extract hydrogen from methane gas in sewage tanks.Some Southern California drivers may be able to tool around in "poop-powered" vehicles as early as next year, according to
a Bloomberg report.The motorists would have to be among those driving the limited number of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that automakers including General Motors Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are beginning to make available.
Those who've got one will be able to fill up at a sewage treatment facility run by the Orange County Sanitation District, which plans to turn the inflow of excrement and other waste into hydrogen for electric vehicles that run on fuel-cell systems.
"Poop is actually a relatively minor portion of the material coming down the pipes,'' said Ed Torres, the district's director of technical services. "It's mostly food wastes and other organic materials washed down the drain, and all the paper that's flushed down the toilet."
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- John O'Dell June 9, 2008, 3:01 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Recycling
May 30, 2008
Celebrity poses with man in tree costume at launch party for green TV network.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
The launch party for Planet Green, a 24-hour eco-lifestyle cable TV network that will displace the Home channel starting June 4, was anything but green.
The celebrities who attended Wednesday night 's event at L.A.'s Greek Theater mostly arrived in stretch limousines and gas-snorting SUVs. At least two – Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and rapper Ludacris – arrived in personal buses.
The tabloid darlings strolled a green plastic carpet to a man in a tree costume to pose for paparazzi, oblivious to the live majestic oaks mere steps away.
Minutes later the celebrities were treated to cocktails "made from organic vodka" served in plastic cups and hors d'oeuvres made from macaroni and cheese served on plastic plates.
Oddly, the greenest VIPs at the event that we're aware of seemed to be the two men from General Motors Corp., who brought with them a fuel-cell vehicle and some positive automotive news.
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- Scott Doggett May 30, 2008, 11:17 AM
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- Chevrolet, China, Diesel, Dodge, Emissions, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, India, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
May 29, 2008
Nissan X Fuel Cell Vehicle will begin making rounds in Europe next month.
Nissan and Renault haven't started making and marketing their much-anticipated battery-electric cars yet, but already are moving beyond batteries to hydrogen fuel cells.
The first, previously announced, steps in the Renault-Nissan Alliance's "zero-emission motoring future," as the companies call it, is to begin selling battery EVs in the U.S. and Japan by the end of 2010 and to mass-market them in Israel and Denmark beginning in 2011 as part of an energy independence program developed by California entrepreneur Shai Agassi and his Project Better Place foundation.
Step Two, the companies said Thursday, is to continue development of fuel-cell electric vehicles.
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- John O'Dell May 29, 2008, 1:43 PM
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- Batteries, Fuel Cell, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault
May 27, 2008
BBC reporter works the Sexy Green Car Show in Cornwall, England.
The Sexy Green Car Show – "the world's foremost eco-friendly motor show" – is under way at Eden Project in Cornwall, England.
Before we say another word about it, let's be clear: No car is eco-friendly, despite what the show's sponsor (The Co-operative Insurance) says.
The second-annual show features 17 low-emission cars made by 11 automakers. Click here to see the list.
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- Scott Doggett May 27, 2008, 8:14 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Saab
May 21, 2008
It's turning into a banner year for hybrid and other green car news.
After all the Honda hoopla this morning, word leaks out that Toyota will debut the next-generation Prius, expected to be longer, lower and more powerful, but not radically different-looking, at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show with a sales launch slated for later in the year.
If that's not enough, Toyota's luxury marque, Lexus, is believed to be considering two new hybrids of its own, one of them a premium-priced version of that new Prius, the other a midsize crossover utility vehicle.
Edmunds.com's Inside Line has
the details.
We think its great news -- although our aching keyboarding fingers wish it had been spaced out a bit.
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- John O'Dell May 21, 2008, 5:51 PM
- Categories:
- Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Fisker, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
After keeping us guessing for months, Honda Motor Co. said today that it will begin leasing its much-anticipated FCX Clarity fuel-cell electric car in July.
The company also said it will build an deliver about 200 of the futuristic cars during the "first three years" of production – signaling that there will be more to come.
Most of the cars are slated for the U.S., and all of those will be allocated in three regions of Southern California.
American Honda said it has a list of more than 50,000 people who've asked to be considered for the rare leases, and has narrowed that to 500 peple who actually live in the designated regions. That makes the odds of getting one about 1 in 2 –a whole lot better than the lottery.
Slow to Roll
Rollout looks to be rather slow though: The company said it will be leasing "several dozen" of the cars in the U.S. and Japan in each of the three years of the program. That works out to an average of 63 a year, although there's been no indication that leases will be that evenly spaced.
Honda says it will announce the first batch of FCX Clarity leasing customers when Clarity No. 1 rolls off the production line in Japan on June 16.
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- John O'Dell May 21, 2008, 12:34 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
By
Scott Doggett and John O'Dell
Expanding on an ambitious hybrid plan that has been
openly talked about
for nearly a year now, Honda Motor Co.'s chief executive has confirmed that the company will introduce a new and affordable compact hybrid car early next year and will follow it with at least two other new hybrid models and an improved version of the
Civic Hybrid
.
One of the new Honda hybrids will be a sporty model based on the
CR-Z concept
(left)
that the company showed in Tokyo last year. The other will be a hybrid version of the subcompact
Fit,
already a popular gas-sipping member of the Honda lineup as a conventionally powered car.
The company's plans will help broaden the U.S. hybrid market and provide additional fuel-efficient transportation choices for consumers as fuel prices continue climbing and political and economic pressure to reduce oil use grows.
The first of the new hybrids will be, as Honda has long said, a new model that will be sold as a hybrid only -- echoing Toyota Motor Co.'s successful strategy that has helped make the
Prius
the world's best-selling hybrid.
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- John O'Dell May 21, 2008, 10:45 AM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
May 12, 2008
GM's Equinox Fuel Cell Vehicle in "stealth" garb for publicity-shy celebs.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
It's been almost two weeks since we took GM's fuel cell Equinox for an extended spin – the first loan of one of the hydrogen-powered cars to a journalist, the company says.
(Yes, we're bragging, but we also mention that because, well, because we're bragging.)
Anyhow, time to stop dithering and start reporting.
The news is that, I'm happy to report, the Equinox Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, or FCEV, is quite a bit faster than GM publicly admits (more about that a little later) and is as comfortable and driveable as I'd remembered from a short spin during a press event back in October.
I'd been bugging GM for months to let us have one to use for a week or so we could see how it stood up to the daily grind in Southern California traffic with a variety of drivers from the Edmunds stable behind the wheel.
That hasn't happened – the hydrogen station being built near our office in Santa Monica hasn't opened yet and GM won't let us have one for a prolonged period until there's fuel nearby.
But the company did agree to let Green Car Advisor have one overnight, with restrictions – no refueling, so no long trips.
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- John O'Dell May 12, 2008, 3:02 AM
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April 29, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
CASCAIS, Portugal – Nissan Motor Co. which has promised to introduce an electric vehicle in North American in 2010, now sees enough market potential for battery-powered electric cars that it is planning a second model for as early as 2012.
The Japanese carmaker was late to the game with gas-electric hybrids and doesn't intend to get caught with a bare product portfolio as cheaper and more reliable batteries make EVs an economic and practical choice in coming years, product planning chief Tom Lane told Green Car Advisor in an interview at Nissan's global vehicle show-and-drive program in this coastal resort town just west of Lisbon.
Lane said that while Nissan began its green planning half a decade ago with a broad slate of possible technologies, economic and scientific changes have pushed battery-electric vehicles to the forefront as a near- and midterm market strategies to meet increased political and social demand for cleaner, more efficient vehicles.
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- John O'Dell April 29, 2008, 2:45 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric
April 25, 2008
Ford is among the companies working on plug-in gas-electric hybrids.
In a bid to promote plug-in hybrid development, the University of California's Davis campus is cosponsoring what it calls the world's first international conference on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
The confab, to be held July 22-24 in San Jose, California, appears to be in response to California's recent endorsement of plug-in technology in the revision of its controversial Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Mandate.
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- John O'Dell April 25, 2008, 12:15 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Fisker, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hybrid, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla, Toyota
April 24, 2008
Fuel cell hybrid truck uses batteries and hydrogen with quick-change fuel tanks.
By
Scott Doggett and John O'Dell
French automaker
PSA Peugeot Citroën
and British fuel-cell developer
Intelligent Energy
have built a battery-electric delivery truck outfitted with a hydrogen-powered fuel cell stack to significantly extend the vehicle's range between battery charges.
Sounds good, but the companies' announcement this week has simply stirred up more debate over the efficiency of hydrogen as an automotive fuel.
One key element of the system's design – easily swappable pressurized hydrogen fuel tanks – is aimed at answering concerns about the lack of a hydrogen fuel infrastructure to support widespread use of fuel cells.
But fuel cell and auto industry specialists interviewed by
Green Car Advisor
raised questions about financial feasibility and public safety.
Some also question whether an extended range electric vehicle that relies on compressed hydrogen fuel is better for the environment than a battery-electric vehicle that relies on electricity from the commercial power grid
Like a Volt, But Bigger
The French-British partnership's H2Origin Partner vehicle is an electric-drive delivery truck that uses a 10-kilowatt fuel cell system fueled by hydrogen gas stored in 10,000-psi fuel tanks to produce electricity for the drive system.
Essentiallly, it is a truck version of GM's
E-Flex
and Ford's
HySeries
electric car concepts, using a fuel cell instead of a gasoline or diesel generator to produce electricity on board the vehicle.
The developers say it can travel up to 186 miles before the hydrogen is depleted – triple the 62 miles the battery-only version gets between charges.
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- John O'Dell April 24, 2008, 2:16 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
April 23, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior EditorAngela Coletti was trying to maintain a cheerful demeanor, but even over the slightly crackly On-Star connection she didn't sound quite as cheerful as usual.
I'd just called to tell her that I might have broken the very expensive Chevrolet Equinox Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicle (that's FCEV in both corporate and electric-car talk) she'd delivered into my hands a few minutes earlier at the start of what was to have been a two-day loan last week.
I really hadn't done anything terrible, I asured Coletti, one of the "driver relationship managers" for GM's Equinox FCEV program.
I just gave it a little extra gas coming around a wide corner near my home. The tires chirped for a nano-second and when i looked down at the instrument panel there it was -- a bright blue "CALL SERVICE CENTER NOW" capped by the yellow silhouette of a car emblazoned with an open ended wrench, just in case the other message wasn't clear.
"Does it say 'call the service center
soon'?" Coletti asked in a hopeful tone.
Nope. NOW.
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- John O'Dell April 23, 2008, 11:15 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Chevrolet, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen
April 16, 2008
Widespread use of hydrogen as an automotive fuel is anywhere from a decade to 25 years in the future, says the president of Shell Oil's U.S. operation.
Obstacles to hydrogen are mainly infrastructure-related and include the difficulty in converting retail gas stations to dispense the fuel in either liquid or gaseous form, Shell 's John Hofmeister told a Sacramento, Calif., audience Monday at a conference on low-carbon fuels.
His remarks were reported by Greenwire, a subscription news service.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has pushed for development of a so-called hydrogen highway in his state, saying a series of hydrogen filling stations linking California's main population centers would help speed introduction of hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles.
But Hofmeister, who is retiring in July, said building that highway "is going to be a long, drawn-out process. These infrastructure issues are going to continue getting in the way."
His comments appeared to be a response to a call for increased development of hydrogen stations by fuel providers that was issued earlier this month by General Motors Corp.'s strategic planning chief Larry Burns.
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- John O'Dell April 16, 2008, 11:08 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
April 14, 2008
Indiana high school team's fuel economy record-setting 'cheese wedge.'
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Smart motoring, a cheese-wedge design and high winds propelled a $3,500, gasoline-fueled 3-wheeler built and driven by a team of high school kids past a pack of much-pricier supermilers crafted by collegiate engineering students to win the 2008 Shell Eco-marathon Americas fuel-efficiency competition Saturday.
The team, from Mater Dei High School in Evansville, Indiana, took home the $10,000 grand prize with a fuel-efficiency run equivalent to 2,843.4 miles per gallon.
Strong, sustained winds in Southern California over the weekend, often gusting to 50 miles per hour, plagued all of the teams and rolled several of the lightweight vehicles competing at the California Speedway in Fontana, better known as the home track for the Auto Club 500 and other NASCAR races each year.
The purpose of the Eco-marathon is not speed but high mileage. Teams build ultra-lightweight, streamlined, one-seat vehicles that use tiny internal combustion engines or alternatives such as solar powered or hydrogen fuel-cell powered electric drive—and make repeated solo runs on a flat, 9.7-mile track course.
In a twist some competitors viewed as dumb luck and others grudgingly decided was brilliant design, the vertical air foil shape (think cheese wedge) of the two gasoline engine vehicles entered by Mater Dei benefited immensely from the hair-blower conditions.
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- John O'Dell April 14, 2008, 3:02 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Diesel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen
April 9, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior EditorFord Motor Co. said today that it intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its nationwide fleet of new cars and trucks by at least 30 percent by 2020.
The company is the first U.S, automaker to publicly announce a GHG reductions goal. It acted in response to shareholder resolutions from a number of major investment groups concerned about climate change.
Because automotive greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to fuel consumption, Ford's goal means the company intends to provide a 30 percent increase in average fuel economy.
That's not particularly bold of Ford as it is the same level of improvement demanded in the new federal Energy Bill that was signed into law late last year and set a 35-miles-per-gallon corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, requirement for the entire auto industry to meet by 2020.
But announcing a goal and laying out the steps it intends to follow to achieve it is a major move by an automaker, the investor groups pushing for such action said.
In a press conference staged in New York City, representatives of those groups, including the
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and the
Investor Network on Climate Risk praised Ford for taking what one called a"giant step forward" in corporate leadership on global warming.
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- John O'Dell April 9, 2008, 11:54 AM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
April 7, 2008
A fierce battle among Japanese automakers is likely to be staged during the Group of Eight summit in Japan this July, with carmakers using the session as a showcase for their fuel-efficient cars, including hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles.
Toyota, Mitsubishi and other automakers will provide about 100 fuel-efficient cars to transport participants at the summit meeting, The Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, reports in Tuesday's edition.
Toyota will provide about 80 hybrid cars, including luxury Lexus models, minivans and compact cars for participants making short trips around the venue. The company also is planning to provide plug-in hybrid electric cars for participants' use...
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- John O'Dell April 7, 2008, 3:03 PM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, Honda, Hybrid, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
April 2, 2008
GM's message is emblazoned on slide accompanying GM executive's speech chastizing hydrogen industry.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Crusty corporate vice chairman Bob Lutz usually is cast as General Motor's hitman when there's a hard-nosed message to be delivered. But the automaker this week is calling on soft-spoken strategist Larry Burns to blast the hydrogen industry for not working hard enough to realize what should be a common goal.
The world needs fuel-cell electric vehicles, but the hydrogen industry is not stepping up to do its part, Burns will tell hundreds of industry insiders in a speech at the National Hydrogen Association's annual conference here this morning.
"There does not appear to be a sense of urgency" by hydrogen suppliers to build the refining, delivery and refueling infrastructure now needed to support the fuel cell cars that automakers including GM are ready to start producing, he said in a pre-speech interview with Green Car Advisor.
"We need to build more of these cars, but why do it if there are no fuel stations out there?"
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- John O'Dell April 2, 2008, 2:00 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Toyota
April 1, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Overlooked in the scramble to relay what the California Air Resources Board did about zero emission vehicles at its meeting last week was what the board did about fuel for the fuel-cell electric vehicles it envisions as the centerpiece of the state's ZEV strategy going forward.
In a move that could be as significant – and controversial – as the original decision to require major automakers to build emission-free cars, the board directed its staff to look into means of pushing the fuel industry to provide adequate hydrogen fueling support for the fuel cell vehicles.
The state's ZEV Mandate as amended last week now requires production of a minimum of 7,500 fuel-cell electric vehicles with 200 mile range for sale in California between 2012 and 2015. But there are only 24 hydrogen stations in the state and not many more on the drawing boards.
Mary Nichols, CARB's chairwoman, said Tuesday that the board wants to be able to "resolve this chicken or egg situation" by ending a "shortage of hydrogen fuel stations that the automakers say is holding back development" of fuel cell vehicles.
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- John O'Dell April 1, 2008, 5:14 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
Fuel-cell Highlander successfully logged 2,300 miles on Alcan Highway, but even if Toyota built retail version, there's little hydrogen fuel available.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The conference is about early commercialization of hydrogen fueling and fuel-cell products and services, but the buzzwords still are "research" and "study," not "build" and "sell."
Granted, the National Hydrogen Association conference has just begun and there are, literally, scores of papers being delivered. Some do talk about things with real market potential – things like Plug Power's hydrogen fuel-cell electric fork lift and Air Products' on-site hydrogen fuel stations for commercial and government fleets. But most still deal with what could be, after a lot more research and development and testing gets done.
A hydrogen economy that relieves our dependency on foreign oil may be in our future, but it hasn't yet arrived.
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- John O'Dell April 1, 2008, 4:15 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Toyota, Volkswagen
March 31, 2008
The National Hydrogen Association's annual hydrogen conference this week promises to explore the challenges and opportunities in early markets for the fuel that supporters see as the best cure for our oil dependency.
Theme of the event, which runs through Wednesday and features more than 50 speakers and a hydrogen products exposition, is "ramping up commercialization."
The timing is coincidential but interesting -- just last week the California Air Resources Board drastically cut the number of zero emission vehicles the state will require of major automakers through 2014, and established hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles as the gold standard for zero emissions technology.
Critics of that decision, mainly supporters of battery-electric technology, believe hydrogen is a pipedream because of the enormous amounts of electrical power required to produce and compress the gas into a usable automotive fuel format and because of the tremendous costs of extablishing a nationwide hydrogen fueling infrastructure.
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- John O'Dell March 31, 2008, 3:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
March 28, 2008
California air board's action reduced pressure on automakers to to build more zero emission cars like this Chevrolet Equinox.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
California's air regulators may have gutted the state's zero-emission vehicles requirement Thursday, but they did wonders for another nascent technology – the plug-in hybrid.
While slashing the minimum number of all-electric ZEVs to be required in the state between 2012 and 2014 by 70 percent – to 7,500 from the 25,000 that had been ordered previously – the California Air Resources Board required major automakers to "fill in" with us many as 58,333 vehicles in a new low-emissions category created mainly for plug-ins such as the Chevrolet Volt that General Motors Corp. says will hit the market by early 2011.
Only the six largest automakers are affected by the mandate's ZEV requirements through 2014, and the numbers are a collective total: on average, each would have to produce only 417 zero emission vehicles and 3,240 plug-in hybrids a year for the three years in order to meet the quota.
National Scope
Still, the action is significant because California's ZEV Mandate is more than a local law – it helps determine the kinds of advanced technology cars the auto industry will be building for everyone.
Since it was first approved in 1990, it has been adopted by 10 other states including several of the nation's most populous. Together they represent about a third of the national new car market, making it impossible for automakers to ignore their collective demand for cleaner, more fuel efficient cars and trucks.
As a result, the ZEV Mandate has become a de facto national mandate, fostering development of a variety of clean emissions and fuel-saving technologies including gas-electric hybrids and still-experimental battery- and fuel-cell electric systems.
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- John O'Dell March 28, 2008, 2:50 PM
- Categories:
- Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
March 25, 2008
By Robert E. Calem, Contributor New York -- Mercedes-Benz is preparing to transform its flagship S-Class sedan into an "economy" car offering gas mileage comparable to that of the Honda Accord, and that will be only the beginning of the car's fuel consumption makeover, the company promises.
The key change: incorporating a new lithium-ion battery that Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG has been developing since the early 1990s.
Due largely to technology advances achieved in the last six years, Mercedes-Benz engineers say, the battery is now ready for mass production and will be used first in the S400 BlueHybrid , a new gasoline-electric S-Class sedan slated to go on sale after the summer of 2009.
The following year, the battery is to be used in a diesel-electric hybrid version, the S300 BlueTec Hybrid, and after 2010 in the more powerful S400 BlueTec Hybrid.
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- John O'Dell March 25, 2008, 5:55 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Batteries, Daimler, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid
March 21, 2008
Auto X-Prize entries will include mainstream vehicles and fanciful concepts.
By Robert E. Calem, ContributorNew York --The Automotive X Prize competition, an effort to do for the green car what the original
X Prize did for private space flight, was officially launched Thursday at the New York International Auto Show, where sample vehicles were displayed by four of the more than 60 teams from nine countries that will be vying for shares of a $10 million bounty.
The prize money was put up by Progressive Insurance, which has become the main sponsor in return for a name change: the competition is now the
Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize.
Additionally, the federal Department of Energy plans to provide a $3.5 million grant to fund a national education program organized around the competition in order to “inspire youth and the general public about the alternative vehicle and fuel options of the near future,” the X Prize Foundation announced.
Inspiring EntrepreneursThe contest, developed over the past two and a half years by the non-profit foundation, has the lofty goal of inspiring entrepreneurs to develop a new generation of commercially viable automobiles with low emissions and fuel economy equivalent to 100 miles per gallon.
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- John O'Dell March 21, 2008, 4:03 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, Biofuels, Diesel, Emissions, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar, Transportation Alternatives
March 19, 2008
As Europe cracks down on carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles, automakers are ratcheting up R&D efforts aimed at putting more fuel-efficient vehicles into their fleets.
The latest news comes form BMW, which already is deep into development of hydrogen-burning internal combustion engines for its larger cars.
The Munich-based luxury-performance car maker says it has launched an independent unit to begin developing a small city car (shades of Smart).
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- John O'Dell March 19, 2008, 12:40 PM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
March 18, 2008
By John O'Dell, Senior EditorCalifornia's clean air regulators are updating the state's controversial zero emissions vehicle, or ZEV, mandate and are holding a public hearing in Sacramento next week to hear comment on the proposed revisions.
In advance of that, the
Plug In America advocacy group today sent a lengthy letter to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, urging him to influence the panel to protect present rules calling for automakers to collectively build 25,000 zero emissions vehicles for sale in the state between 2012 and 2014 and 50,000 between 2015 and 2017.
One of the proposed changes would cut the number of ZEVs to just 2,500 in the first stage of the build-up and to 25,000 in the second stage.
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- John O'Dell March 18, 2008, 1:58 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Natural Gas, Solar
March 7, 2008
THIS....Chevrolet Volt typifies battery-electric cars GM's Lutz wants to promote.
Or THIS.....Honda FCX Clarity uses hydrogen fuel-cell electric drive system.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
The schizophrenic nature of auto industry in an increasingly green market was perhaps never more evident than this past week, as major carmakers split on the future of fuel-cell vehicles.
Larry Burns, vice president of research and development for GM, kicked things off Monday on a positive note for fuel-cell fans, talking up the importance of company's Project Driveway. That's GM's just-initiated 30-month test program involving 100 Chevrolet Equinox Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicles being driven by consumers in Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C.
Ready for Prime Time
"We just coauthored a paper with Shell that makes a compelling case that the hydrogen infrastructure is real, it's viable, it can be done affordably and safely," Burns told reporters covering an alternative energy conference in New York.
"So the next step here as we learn from these hundred Equinox Fuel Cells will be getting into the thousands. We see that happening within the 2011-2012 timeframe. And then once we get to thousands we need to get to hundreds of thousands and millions. We think that within the next decade that is within our grasp."
So far, so good.
But only hours later, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz was reading from a different page.
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- John O'Dell March 7, 2008, 6:54 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Batteries, Daimler, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
March 3, 2008
GM's Larry Burns and Equinox fuel cell test vehicle at press conference.
By Robert E. Calem, Contributor
New York -- Filling station infrastructure challenges notwithstanding, General Motors Corp. already is en route to selling its first fuel cell vehicle commercially by 2011 or 2012, according to knowledgeable executives attending the company's joint press conference with Virgin Atlantic Airways in New York this morning.
Although the company is not yet willing to name the specific vehicle, a choice has been made inside the company and some details have been set, said Larry Burns, vice president of research and development and strategic planning.
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- John O'Dell March 3, 2008, 2:40 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, General Motors
When General Motors Corp.'s chief of strategic planning called the company's
fuel cell Equinox SUV "the new DNA of the automobile" during a
press conference with Virgin Atlantic Airways this morning he wasn't committing hyperbole.
In his remarks, GM vice president Larry Burns was referring to a technology that, if perfected for
mass production, would enable motor vehicles to be powered by electric
drive systems without the bulk, weight and recharging issues that come
with use of large storage battery systems.
A fuel cell replaces those
batteries by producing electricity on board the vehicle by combining
hydrogen and oxygen in an electro-chemical reaction.
Fuel Cells could well be the future of the auto -- GM and other
automakers have staked billions of research dollars on that prospect.
But it can be a long way from DNA to consumers' driveways.
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- John O'Dell March 3, 2008, 7:00 AM
- Categories:
- Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid
Virgin Atlantic gets three of these GM Equinox fuel cell vehicles for use at LAX .
Virgin Atlantic Airways
and
General Motors
announced a deal that morning that gives the British air carrier a trio of GM's
fuel-cell electric Chevrolet Equnox
SUVs to use for select VIP passengers for the next 30 months.
But Virgin, which has been actively pursuing ways to plant a greener footprint, won't have fuel cell Equinoxes at its beck and call everywhere it flies, just at Los Angeles International Airport -- at least for the first phase of the program.
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- John O'Dell March 3, 2008, 7:00 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hydrogen
February 26, 2008
More from the "no free lunch" file.
Everyone is looking for a replacement for gasoline, but the cures so far seem to be as troublesome as the disease.
Latest case in point is a European Union study that says hydrogen is a realistic alternative to fossil fuels and predicts that 16 million Europeans will be driving hydrogen-fueled vehicles by 2030. By 2050, the study says, hydrogen could cut Europe's oil consumption by 40 percent.
Huge Outlay Required
Unfortunately, to get the fuel for the cars – whether they use hydrogen fuel cells to make electricity for electric drive systems or burn the stuff in place of gasoline in internal combustion engines -- is going to require someone to step up to the plate, or pump, with a huge capital investment.
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- John O'Dell February 26, 2008, 5:15 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
February 1, 2008
Fuel for BMW Hydrogen cars is scarce and likely to remain so, company says.
In yet another blow to those who hope to see hydrogen become the world's preferred automotive fuel sooner rather than later, BMW – long a hydrogen proponent – now says it doesn't see much chance of widespread commercialization of the fuel over the next 15 to 20 years.
While it will still keep experimenting with liquid-hydrogen fueled internal combustion engines, BMW now is working on an electric car as well, the German automaker's clean technologies director, Jochen Schmalholz, told Australian journalists this week.
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- John O'Dell February 1, 2008, 10:55 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, BMW, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
January 31, 2008
The bacteria that helps us digest food – and can sometimes cause food poisoning -- may someday help us fuel our cars and produce energy for our homes.
Chemical engineering professor Thomas Wood at Texas A&M University has reengineered a strain of E. coli so that it now produces copious amounts of hydrogen from sugars.
There's still a lot of work to be done before anything commercial could come of the research, Wood said in an article on the
university's news site.
But if ultimately successful his work could result in a relatively cheap method of producing hydrogen for stationary and automotive
fuel cells.
Wood altered the bacteria, which naturally breaks down sugar -- or glucose – molecules so that the process can produce about 140 times more hydrogen gas than occurs naturally.
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- John O'Dell January 31, 2008, 10:55 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
January 13, 2008
Fisker Automotive's exotic plug-in hybrid is one of the show's green offerings.
It's Sunday, kickoff day for the press preview of the North American International Auto Show and we're here in Detroit, struggling to get an overcoat on before heading out to chip the ice off the windshield and cursing the wife for her cheerful telephone reminder that it's supposed to be 80-degrees at home today.
Used to be that heading for this show supercharged the brain's anticipatory centers, but this year it seems a bit ho-hum.
There' still good stuff, especially on the green car front, but several industry insiders have suggested in recent weeks as we pondered the show schedule together that the newly rejuvenated Los Angeles Auto Show, which now takes place in November instead of just days before Detroit, has stolen some of the thunder.
Or maybe it's the economy – the U.S. auto industry hasn't been all that healthy of late.
Whatever the reason, while there's enough here this year to make it worthwhile attending, there's not enough to get the salivary glands working overtime.
On the green front, much of what we'll be seeing is concept, not stuff that will hit the road this year.
We are expecting some announcements from Toyota about its hybrid and fuel economy strategies, and from the American Le Mans Racing series about further adoption of green technologies and fuels for racing. General Motors is expected to have something to say about its drive to make ethanol a bigger part of the U.S. fuel supply base.
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- John O'Dell January 13, 2008, 7:15 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Auto Shows, BMW, Biofuels, Chrysler, Diesel, Fisker, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Mitsubishi, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota
January 12, 2008
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Like the erroneous news of American novelist Mark Twain's death in 1897 -- 13 years before he really passed away -- reports of a dimming outlook for California's hydrogen highway plan are an exaggeration, according to representatives of the California's Air Resources Board and the California Fuel Cell Partnership.
A number of print and Internet news outlets picked up a report earlier this week in the San Jose Mercury News that disclosed the cancellation of plans to build several new hydrogen fuel stations, the closure of several others and concerns from automaker Mercedes-Benz that enthusiasm for hydrogen seemed to be waning in California.
Indeed, Mercedes' chief lobbyist in Washington, William Craven, told Green Car Advisor that he was concerned that energy companies were downplaying hydrogen because they don't see a short-term return on the investments needed to build and operate new stations.
California Fuel Cell Partnership spokeswoman Chris White said in a phone interview Saturday that:
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- John O'Dell January 12, 2008, 11:10 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen
January 10, 2008
Fuel-cell car programs such as Honda's FCX need hydrogen to succeed.
In a blow to proponents of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, a trio of agencies that were to receive funding from California to build hydrogen fuel stations have dropped the projects.
The
San Jose Mercury News reports
today that the agencies dropping plans for hydrogen fuel stations cited concerns that hydrogen for transportation isn't going to be a viable technology in the near term.
That's the same concern that led Canada's Ballard Power systems
to sell its pioneering fuel cell development operation
to a consortium of automakers last year.
The moves, coupled with the closure of three stations that had already been up and running -- including the facility that served the California Fuel Cell Partnership – has raised concerns in some quarters about the future of fuel-cell test programs in the U.S.
Mercedes-Benz wants to lease more of its F-Cell cars in the U.S.
"We are quite serious about commercializing our fuel-cell vehicles," said William Craven, general manager for regulatory affairs for Mercedes-Benz of North America.
"But we have to look at where the fuel infrastructure is growing. And right now that's not in California, it's in Europe, and Japan.
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- John O'Dell January 10, 2008, 1:45 PM
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- BMW, Emissions, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives
January 8, 2008
Provoq concept is GM's look at a fuel-cell electric vehicle for the luxury market..
With the Detroit Auto Show loming, GM pulled the wraps off another iteration of its E-Flex platform Tuesday with the unveiling – at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas of all places – of the Cadillac Provoq concept .
E-Flex, you'll recall, is GM's name for a platform that can underpin a variety (hence the "flex") of fuel-cell, battery- and hybrid-electric vehicles.
Its ultimate commercialization depends on a significant breakthrough in storage battery technology, one that many in the alternative vehicles world say isn't likely to happen any time soon.
But GM, which has a lot of reputation riding on the green car promises its been dangling out there lately, keeps coming up with these new twists, indicating either that the company is simply suicidal or that it has a lot of faith in the battery development its been funding.
The E-flex concept was first shown at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last year as the basis for the "range-extended" plug-in Chevrolet Volt electric car.
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- John O'Dell January 8, 2008, 5:00 PM
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- Alternative Fuels, Chevrolet, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric
January 7, 2008
Compressed intake air (blue) and exhaust gases (red) that drive turbo.Ford finally gets into the green game in a big way with a turbocharged, direct injection gasoline engine, to be unveiled next week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
More than 2.5 million Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles will get the new (for Ford) four- and six-cylinder engines from launch in 2009 through 2013, Ford Global Product Chief Derrick Kuzak told reporters during an embargoed briefing on the technology last month.
The move is significant because with more than 16 million new cars and trucks sold each year in the U.S, it is going to take rapid and widespread application of fuel-saving and low-emission technologies to make a significant dent in the nation's oil dependency and air quality problems.
Ford says its version of direct injection technology, which it calls EcoBoost, will enable cars and trucks that use it to deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy with 15 percent fewer carbon-dioxide emissions than versions equipped with standard fuel-injected engines of similar output.
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- John O'Dell January 7, 2008, 1:05 AM
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- Biofuels, Diesel, Ford, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Plug-ins and Electric, Volkswagen
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January 2, 2008
We don't believe a candidate's stand on energy, or fuel economy regulation or even the larger issue of climate change, ought to be the sole reason he, or she, is judged worthy of office.
But it certainly ought to be an important part of every voter's decision-making, so we're offering up this look at the auto-related portions of the main candidates' energy plans to help those who haven't made up their minds with primary (and caucus) season rapidly closing in.
There are hundreds or sources for interested voters to find out how Hillary stands on health care, or Rudy on Iraq, but pinning down the presidential hopefuls' positions on CAFE and related alternative fuel issues isn't quite so easy.
To help out, we asked correspondent Terril Yue Jones to put together a look at the auto and fuels aspects of the energy plans of candidates who are polling at least 1 percent in
national surveys
.
We're doing this now, of course, because voting season gets off to an especially early start this year, with more than half the primaries and caucuses slated to be held on or before February 5 -- the so-called Super Tuesday when 22 states hold primaries and the major party nominees, who won't officially be named until the Democratic and Republican conventions at the end of summer, will be all but set in cement.
First up, though, are the Iowa caucuses, to be held Thursday evening, a fortnight after President Bush signed sweeping new energy legislation that raises the required
corporate average fuel economy
(CAFE) of automakers to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, from their current levels of 27.5 miles per gallon for passenger cars and 22.2 miles per gallon for light trucks.
Led by Hillary Clinton’s call for a massive increase in the fuel efficiency required of automakers, Democratic candidates' energy plans almost all spell out specific fuel economy standards for the nation’s automobiles. For the most part the Democrats even set fuel efficiency timetables.
Republicans speak in broader terms, preferring discussion of ending dependence on foreign oil and promoting alternative fuels and saying that specific miles-per-gallon benchmarks are not the way to go.
Here's the rundown on the candidates, in alphabetical order, from a green car perspective. Have fun!
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- John O'Dell January 2, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories:
- Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Solar
The California agency that sets the American standard for automotive emissions today unveiled a much-improved Website that helps consumers choose the least polluting cars on the market.
