China

August 15, 2008

Usually Dry Industry Conference Featured Some Green Zingers, Insights

By Bill Visnic, Senior Editor

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Despite being a conference that's always expounding some variation on the theme of how the notoriously hidebound auto industry must "change," the Center for Automotive Research's Management Briefing Seminar often is about everything but change.

The annual confab is always held, with religious conviction, in this shamelessly old-school Michigan resort town. I think I stepped on one of Alfred Sloan's cigar butts the other morning on the way into the graying resort hotel that could feature in an episode of TV's '50s-oriented "Mad Men."

Despite the assertions of newfound hipness and corporate enlightenment, keep your head down, as I do, and you'll still gaze upon plenty of tasseled loafers and boat shoes. And that's from the radicals who show up at this supposedly casual gig sans necktie, at least.

But give 'em credit for inviting some environmentalists to the party - at least on Tuesday, the figurative wee hours of this week-long management backslapper before the CEOs dropped in. The result was some pretty good jousting and, in the course of it all, thought-provoking discourse.

Here's a selection favorite factoids, quotes and notes from Traverse City:

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell August 15, 2008, 3:01 AM
Categories:: Batteries, China, General Motors, Toyota
Technorati Tags:: Amory Lovins

July 7, 2008

New Markets, New Powertrains Await Smart Fortwo as the Cult Microcar Turns 10

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

In an uncharacteristic display of German engineering, Daimler AG announced today that its Smart Fortwo fuel-efficient microcar celebrated its 10th birthday not today or even this week, but rather during the middle of last week.

We could understand it if the German automaker had announced it would be celebrating the diminutive two-seater's birthday a day or even a week early -- because the pint-size car that makes the Mini Cooper seem big has always been ahead of its time.

Developed in the early 1990s at the Mercedes-Benz design studio in Irvine, California, the first Fortwos to roll off the assembly line in Hambach, France, on July 2, 1998, sported colorful body panels made of recycled plastic and a steel frame coated with a powder paint that was significantly less harmful on the environment than conventional painting processes.

Instead of engine placement in the front or rear, the Fortwo carries its engine directly beneath its passengers, preserving storage space while also giving additional height to the seats.

Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche put it nicely today when, in the official celebratory statement, he said that the Smart Fortwo "is a clever solution and fun to drive. Had we not invented it 10 years ago, we would have to do so now."

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett July 7, 2008, 7:03 PM
Categories:: Batteries, China, Daimler, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric

June 11, 2008

Ford Exec Says U.S. Gov't Must Invest in Plug-in Hybrids

An Escape plug-in ethanol-electric hybrid that Ford is currently road testing.

Ford Motor Co.'s top executive for North America said today that the federal government must make plug-in hybrid vehicles "a national priority" and substantially invest in them, or risk swapping one foreign energy dependency for another.

"For those looking to plug-ins to answer our energy security concerns, we must ensure a domestic battery supply," Mark Fields told a conference on plug-in hybrids in Washington. "Moving from imported oil to imported batteries clearly would not address this growing concern."

Fields said that based on the necessary research and development costs, manufacturing and production investments, the lack of a national refueling infrastructure, and the lack of domestic battery manufacturing, "it seems clear that a business case will not evolve, in the near term, without support from Washington."

Detroit automakers have long complained that foreign nations spend far more on research into advanced batteries for hybrids...

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett June 11, 2008, 6:55 PM
Categories:: Batteries, China, Ethanol, Ford, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, India, Plug-ins and Electric

June 6, 2008

Wright Making Might At Hybrid Battery Venture

Mary Ann Wright with pet, family, engineers and their children in an autumn 2007 promotional photo for Johnson Controls-Saft.

By Dale Buss, Contributor

The Chevrolet Volt is attracting all the hype in the auto industry’s sprint toward the imminent era of plug-in hybrids. But Mary Ann Wright has a car in this race, too – the Saturn Vue plug-in – and she’s not about to concede first place.

“I can understand why Volt gets lots of press,” says Wright, chief executive officer of the Johnson Controls-Saft hybrid-technology venture, which is supplying lithium-ion battery systems to General Motors for the new Vue. “But I wouldn’t interpret that as saying who’s ahead or who’s behind.”

Wright doesn’t throw down this gauntlet lightly or without some authority. She has built a team of hybrid pioneers largely by poaching them from the Escape Hybrid team she headed at Ford until she left the company in 2005.

Glendale, Wis.-based Johnson Controls is one of the auto industry’s most successful and aggressive suppliers worldwide. And its French partner, Saft, already makes lithium-ion batteries for a range of military and industrial uses.

In fact, Johnson Controls-Saft at this point may be in the best position globally of any developer of next-generation hybrids based on lithium-ion technology, which is rapidly displacing nickel-metal hydride systems.

The venture expects to be first to market anywhere with a lithium-ion battery for a hybrid when its system debuts in a new Mercedes-Benz hybrid S-class in 2009. The GM Volt and Toyota Prius competing lithium-ion models are slated for 2010.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (2); John O'Dell June 6, 2008, 9:01 PM
Categories:: Batteries, Chevrolet, China, Ford, Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota

May 30, 2008

GM Reps Green Up Launch Party for Eco TV Network

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.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett May 30, 2008, 11:17 AM
Categories:: Chevrolet, China, Diesel, Dodge, Emissions, Flex-Fuel, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Hybrid, India, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota

May 23, 2008

Holding Motorists Accountable for Car Choices Growing in Popularity -- Outside of U.S.

London's congestion zone also is seen as a partial solution to air quality woes.

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

Although liable for their own imbibing, motorists have rarely been held accountable for the drinking habits of their cars and trucks.

That's changing.

In recent years, policymakers the world over have taken steps to fight global warming by adopting "accountability" laws or regulations that reward motorists who drive fuel-efficient vehicles and punish motorists who don't. The rules not only address fuel-efficiency, they often are intended to help cities clean up air pollution.

In the United States – the world’s largest petroleum consumer – the picture is considerably different. Here, motorists can still cruise without penalty -- except perhaps scowls from a growing number of fellow commuters -- in hulking vehicles that gulp gasoline and fart rivers of smog.

It's true that some states can require owners of smoky jalopies to make an honest effort to clean them up, but none suspend driving privileges if the efforts are made and the machines still spew black smoke like a wicked witch's broomstick.

And, yes, the U.S. Congress did establish a gas-guzzler tax in 1978 to discourage the production and purchase of gas hogs. But the tax is limited to passenger cars: It does not apply to trucks, minivans and SUVs – all heavy drinkers – or to used vehicles of any size.

Not only that, but there are no laws in America restricting motorists' access to popular destinations such as city centers based on vehicles' mileage or emissions ratings. Although discussions have begun in a few places such as San Francisco, the only city to seriously consider such a measure -- New York -- killed the proposal because of public and business opposition.

Outside the U.S., though, it's a whole 'nother story.

Increasingly, authorities elsewhere are requiring motorists to pay – either financially, through travel restrictions, or both – for the vehicle choices they make. You can drive what you'd like, but be prepared to pay for poor fuel economy and for tailpipe emissions.

Here is a sampling of places where drivers are being held accountable – or soon will be – for the carbon footprints of their motor vehicles.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (5); John O'Dell May 23, 2008, 12:15 PM
Categories:: China, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Legislation, Tax Incentives

April 21, 2008

China's Car Buyers Cool To Costly Hybrids

We all know (or should) by now that China is the fastest growing economy, and energy user, on the planet and that it has tremendous air pollution problems.

So what better place is there, carmakers have been thinking, to push sales of fuel-saving, low emission hybrid cars and SUVs?

Turns out, though, that the Chinese aren't falling all over themselves to be first on the block wirth a new Prius or other hybrid.

The cars, thanks to import duties and lack of competition, cost too much to be very attractive to most Chinese.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell April 21, 2008, 9:41 AM
Categories:: China, Hybrid

March 11, 2008

China's CO2 Growth Alarms Researchers

Rapid growth without corresponding concern for climate change means China's anticipated carbon dioxide emissions during the first decade of this century will likely be more than twice the amount previously anticipated and could eclipse global efforts to stabliize greenhouse gases, according to a new study.

Using data that enabled them to bore down to the provincial level for the first time, researchers from the University of California's Berkeley and San Diego campuses to bore down to the provincial level to peg carbon dioxide growth in China from 2004 through 2010 at 11 percent or more -- versus previous studies' estimates of a 2.5 to 5 percent growth rate.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell March 11, 2008, 10:01 AM
Categories:: China, Emissions

February 12, 2008

Chinese Cars Are Here, If You Count NEVs

Buster coupe is low-speed electric Smart look-alike imported from China.

Pssst. Waiting for those cars from China? Some of 'em are already here!

Revo Motor Co., an Austin, Texas, importer of neighborhood electric vehicles, says its been selling Chinese-made NEVs for about 30 months now and has more than 30 dealers scattered across 25 states.

Company spokesman Ben Jenkins said the cars are made exclusively for Revo and are sold only in the US, although a new model due in December, the company's first highway legal car, will be sold in China as well.

Revo sells three models, the 2-door "Buster" coupe and convertible – which would look remarkably like a Chinese designer's interpretation of a Smart Fortwo if we didn't know that the Chinese don't copy other companies' desgins -- and the four-door "Lynny" sedan (hey, we don't name 'em, we just write about 'em).

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (1); John O'Dell February 12, 2008, 11:00 AM
Categories:: Alternative Fuels, Batteries, China, Plug-ins and Electric, Transportation Alternatives

January 18, 2008

Toyota, Honda Helping Develop Chinese Hybrid Car?

China's first proprietary hybrid car is likely to come from Guangzhou Automotive Industry Corp. as a project with joint venture partners Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., according to the South China Evening Post.

The Chinese company, which assembles cars such as the Honda Fit and Toyota Camry for the Chinese market, has budgeted almost $1 billion U.S...

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell January 18, 2008, 1:20 PM
Categories:: China, Hybrid, Toyota