Alternative Cars

My Honda can Fly!

2009-05-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

Honda's Hovering Concept Car:

French industrial and automotive designer Jonathan Mahieddine has created quite a stir with a futuristic design for a flying car.

The young, creative designer envisions the Fuzo as a lightweight and sturdy vehicle — thanks to extensive use of Kevlar, carbon fiber and carbon nanotubes — that would be capable of traveling through the air at a top speed of 350 mph, thanks to four powerful turbine engines. It would also be able to take off and land vertically, like Britain's famous Harrier jump jet and the U.S. military's own V-22 Osprey. What's more, upon landing, the Fuzo would extend its retractable wheels and tool around town like a normal automobile.

Other elements Mahieddine envisions for the Fuzo are a GPS system that not only guides the car to its predetermined destination but also communicates with other GPS-enabled vehicles for collision avoidance. Additionally, airbags would be placed both inside and outside of the vehicle to both minimize injury to its occupants and cushion the blow to pedestrians or non-GPS-equipped vehicles.

2008-06-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

The Electric Car's time has finally arrived!

Clean, quiet, and relatively profitable to produce, electric vehicles have had a rough start in the U.S.: Five years after General Motors (GM) nixed its innovative EV1 electric car program, just a handful of automakers have committed to making and selling electric vehicles on a mass scale any time soon.

Enter Think Global, a Norwegian upstart plotting a U.S. invasion via pint-size, affordable electric cars. Think has been selling gas-free, Lilliputian city cars in Europe and will start peddling them to fuel-crunched Americans in 2009. The company's newly formed North American division has high hopes for Think's existing models—and even higher ones for the upcoming Th!nk Ox, a concept unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show earlier this year.

An electrified people's car for the 21st century, the Ox is a preview of Think's next-generation production vehicle, due out in 2011. Roughly the size of a Toyota (TM) Prius, the Ox can travel between 125 and 155 miles before needing a recharge, and zips from zero to 60 miles per hour in about 8.5 seconds. Its lithium-ion batteries can be charged to 80% capacity in less than an hour, and slender solar panels integrated into the roof power the onboard electronics. Inside, the hatchback includes a bevy of high-tech gizmos such as GPS navigation, a mobile Internet connection, and a key fob that lets drivers customize the car's all-digital dashboard. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the company's current vehicles cost less than $25,000.

Although little-known, Think North America is backed by an undisclosed amount from Silicon Valley venture capital firms RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which famously invested early in companies such as Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google (GOOG). General Electric (GE) made an unrelated $4 million investment in March to support the company's battery research and development operations.

Distinguished Design

Even more than its well-funded sponsors or cutting-edge technology, the Ox's killer app could be its design. To date, most electric cars available in the U.S.—small, unsafe, and underpowered—have been intended strictly for the earliest early adopters and the most faithful green believers. In contrast, Think's senior vice-president for design, Katinka von der Lippe, says the Ox is a "real car, a big step away from the cuteness of [other] electric vehicles." All that distinguishes the Ox from name-brand, fuel-sipping compact cars, in fact, is its silent hum and zero emissions.

The Ox also embodies the characteristic simplicity of Scandinavian design, featuring uncomplicated lines and clean, uncluttered surfaces. A band of unpainted metal stretches from the front of the vehicle to its rear, revealing the Ox's interior architecture, an aluminum frame. An unassuming grille is tucked between sophisticated sloping headlamps. "The Ox is a leap forward for the design of electric cars," says von der Lippe, "and, we think, the product of a mature company."

Still, the American market for electric vehicles "is virtually nonexistent," says John O'Dell, a senior editor specializing in green vehicles for car-buying site Edmunds.com. Even well-established gas-electric hybrids such as the Prius and Honda's (HMC) Civic account for barely 3% of U.S. auto sales. "Until you've got a compelling product, you won't have a market," adds O'Dell. Aside from the sleek Tesla Motors Roadster, which carries a price tag of nearly $100,000, there are almost no fully functional electric vehicles that meet average drivers' requirements. The Ox could fill that gap.

"It'll take a lot of time," Wilber James, RockPort's managing general partner and acting president of Think North America, says of the challenge of selling electric vehicles to American drivers, who still overwhelmingly prefer trucks to thriftier small cars. "We're going to focus at first on niche markets—cities, universities, and fleets."

Innovative Manufacturing

The company's business model, says James, is similar to that of PC maker Dell (DELL), which fueled its rise by ruthlessly optimizing its manufacturing and supply chain. Think's ultralean manufacturing system lets it build production facilities for about $10 million, compared with the billions invested in new plants by old-line manufacturers. That means more factories closer to customers, further cutting costs.

In addition, factories "could also be the retailers," says James, which would add a unique element to Think's branding. The company, he says, will be profitable if it can sell 10,000 vehicles a year. At 20,000 to 30,000 units in annual sales, Think can cut its component costs in half.

That focus on innovative manufacturing, in addition to the high-tech Ox itself, may ultimately set the company apart from previous attempts—and, Think is betting, finally help jump-start the U.S. market for electric cars.

2008-03-24T00:15:00.000-07:00

Incentive for fuel-efficient vehicle

The X Prize Foundation, best known for its competitions promoting space flights, is offering $10 million to the teams that can produce the most production-ready vehicles that get 100 miles per gallon or more.

The foundation was to announce the size of the purse and its sponsor, Progressive Casualty Insurance Co., on Thursday at the New York International Auto Show.

More than 60 teams from nine countries have signed up for the competition so far, including California electric carmakers Aptera Motors and Tesla Motors, German diesel carmaker Loremo and a team from Cornell University.

Teams will be able to sign up through mid-2008, when applicants will be narrowed to those who can prove they would build production-ready, consumer-friendly cars. Those that qualify will race their vehicles in cross-country races in 2009 and 2010 that will combine speed, distance, urban driving and overall performance.

The purse will be split between two categories: mainstream and alternative cars. Mainstream cars must carry four or more passengers and have climate control, an audio system and 10 cubic feet of cargo space. They also must have four or more wheels, hit 60 miles per hour in less than 12 seconds and have a minimum top speed of 100 miles per hour and a range of 200 miles.

Alternative vehicles will be required to carry two or more passengers and five cubic feet of cargo, have a top speed of at least 80 miles per hour and have a range of at least 100 miles.

"The environmentally friendly technologies created as a result of this competition will affect everyone who drives in ways we can't even imagine today," X Prize Chairman and Chief Executive Dr. Peter Diamandis said in a statement.

British Columbia-based Fuelvapor Technologies is among the competitors. Vice President Todd Pratt said the six-person company, which has funding from 47 shareholders, has spent more than two years developing its car.

The car has three wheels and two seats and has the aerodynamic design of a jet cockpit. It is gas powered but saves fuel through a proprietary technology that replaces traditional fuel injection. The car currently gets 92 miles per gallon, Pratt said, but the company thinks a hybrid version could achieve up to 400 miles per gallon. "It's kind of like the X Prize was designed for us," Pratt said. "We're just six guys who are really passionate about doing something different."

The Santa Monica, Calif.-based X Prize Foundation, which was founded in 1995, gained fame in 2004 when it awarded $10 million to the first private vehicle to fly into space. The foundation since has launched a $10 million prize for rapid human genome sequencing and a $30 million prize for sending a robot to the moon.

2007-10-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

Hydrogen eco-car to hit the road

Car maker Mazda unveiled a new hybrid vehicle that runs on hydrogen.
The Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid uses hydrogen gas to fuel a rotary engine which can switch to petrol if needed.

Hydrogen is a relatively clean fuel because it combines with oxygen and emits only clean water. The car will be shown at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month and be available in Japan next year.

Mazda said the car is an improvement over its previous model, doubling its run on a full tank of hydrogen to 124 miles. The new car also has a lithium-ion battery that drives the motor and recharges itself using energy from braking, further conserving on electricity. The car will only be available on lease from the factory at around £1,750 a month, and aimed at government and ecological organisations.

At its research facility in Yokohama, Mazda also showed a "concept car," inspired by flowing wind. Laurens van den Acker, general manager of design, said the sportscar highlights the Hiroshima-based company's innovation in design. Its curvaceous surface is creased with swooping lines, making the car looks like a metal stingray.

Its shape was developed from studies of fabric fluttering in the wind, and its interior was based on "koinobori," or carp-shaped decorations of cloth that Japanese put up to sway in the wind to celebrate a national holiday.

2007-09-23T00:22:00.000-07:00

Why California Should Reduce Petroleum Use and Encourage Alternative Fuels?

As the fifth largest economy in the world, California is a nation state that runs on energy. Every day, we spend $22 million for natural gas, $82 million on electricity, and $82 million for gasoline and diesel. In addition, the demand for transportation fuels in California is increasing at a rapid rate, projected to grow by almost 35 percent over the next 20 years. Petroleum will be the primary source of California's transportation fuels for the foreseeable future, and as demand continues to rise and in-state and Alaskan petroleum supplies diminish, California will rely more and more on foreign imports of crude oil.

The State of California has supported the development of alternative transportation fuels (fuels other than gasoline or diesel) since the creation of the Energy Commission in 1975. Earlier programs included demonstration programs with vehicles using ethanol and methanol; infrastructure development for methanol/gasoline blends; support for flexible fuel, natural gas, and electric vehicles.

Nearly 100 percent of the state's transportation system is fueled currently by fossil fuels. Moving toward a more diversified range of fuels and supporting the advancement of higher efficiency vehicles is one of the goals of the state's programs.

Even though improving vehicle efficiency is the single most effective means to reduce petroleum dependence, the Energy Commission and the California Air Resources Board have concluded that improving vehicle efficiency alone will not be enough. For that reason, California must also focus on increasing our use of alternative fuels, including:

Biodiesel
Electricity
Ethanol
Gas-to-Liquid Fuels (natural gas to diesel fuel)
Hydrogen
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG, also known as propane)
Natural Gas
The Energy Commission's 2003 Integrated Energy Policy Report recommended several actions to promote affordable energy supplies; improve energy reliability; and enhance public health, economic well-being, and environmental quality. One of the transportation energy recommendations established a goal for the use of alternative fuels:

"Increase the use of non-petroleum fuels to 20 percent of on-road fuel consumption by 2020 and 30 percent by 2030 based on identified strategies that are achievable and cost-beneficial."

California is already home to a growing number of alternative fuel vehicles, through the efforts of the Energy Commission, California Air Resources Board, local air districts, federal government, transit agencies, utilities, and other public and private entities. More than 61,000 cars, transit buses, and trucks currently operate on natural gas and LPG, along with over 10,000 electric vehicles. California also has more than 900 fueling stations dispensing a variety of non-petroleum fuels.

Increasing the use of these fuels, however, faces significant uncertainties such as the availability of new vehicle technologies, the cost and availability of new fueling infrastructures, and acceptance of these fuels by consumers.

Currently, the Energy Commission is working with stakeholders of various alternative fuels. These stakeholder working groups have participated in informal surveys to identify the principal barriers that exist to developing a more robust alternative fuels market in California, and to develop recommendations for overcoming or mitigating those barriers.

The Energy Commission is developing its 2005 Integrated Energy Policy Report. This major energy policy document for the state is expected to include the results of the stakeholder working groups and recommend actions that the state can take to help meet the 2020 goal of 20 percent alternative fuel use in California.

Over 100 participants have provided ideas, comments, and concerns during this process. By working together in this way, private industry, public agencies, and public interest groups can help to ensure that the future of California's transportation energy use is protected from supply disruptions and high prices.

2007-08-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Best in class: Fuel-efficient vehicles
These vehicles provide good gas mileage for their class and are among Consumer Reports' top recommended models in their categories

Consumer Reports has the most comprehensive, consumer-oriented auto test program in the U.S. We anonymously buy our test cars from dealerships and conduct more than 50 evaluations on each vehicle, focusing on performance, safety, comfort, convenience, interior quality, fuel economy, cargo capacity.

Below, we've listed several vehicles that provide good fuel economy for their class and are among the top recommended vehicles in their categories. Not only did each of these vehicles earn a high overall score in their class, but they also meet our stringent requirements to be recommended.

BUDGET CARS

Honda Fit
Honda's small four-door hatchback is new to the U.S. market. The Fit benefits from an amazing amount of interior room for such a small car. It offers easy access and good visibility. While not overly powerful, the Fit feels responsive, with a smooth and willing engine and agile handling. The 109-hp, 1.5-liter four-cylinder provides good acceleration and excellent 34 mpg for the manual and 32 mpg on the automatic.

SMALL CARS

Toyota Prius
Toyota's hybrid couples a small gasoline engine with an electric motor, and returned an excellent 44 mpg overall in our tests--the best fuel economy we've measured in a five-passenger vehicle. Acceleration is comparable to most conventional small sedans. Access is easy and the interior is well put together. The unusual controls and displays take some getting used to.

FAMILY SEDANS

Toyota Camry Hybrid
The redesigned Toyota Camry Hybrid boasts the best overall fuel economy of any four-door sedan we've tested, returning 34 mpg overall, as well as 28 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway. The interior is quiet and comfortable. Handling is relatively responsive, but the suspension is tuned for comfort rather than performance. Unlike the Honda Accord Hybrid, the Camry delivers better fuel economy rather than performance. Both the four- and six-cylinder conventional gasoline-powered versions of the Camry also deliver very good mileage.

SMALL SUVs

Toyota RAV4
The redesigned Toyota RAV4 is now our highest-rated small SUV. Despite being larger than the previous-generation model, the new RAV4 four-cylinder returns better fuel economy, 23 mpg overall. The new optional six-cylinder engine returns an impressive 22 mpg overall. The roomy interior is quiet and comfortable, and the RAV4 has agile and secure handling.

MIDSIZED SUVs

Lexus RX400h
The AWD Lexus RX400h hybrid combines the 3.3-liter V6 with three electric motors and a battery system to produce 268 hp; this combination produced 23 mpg overall in our tests. However, the gains in performance and fuel economy cost $5,000 more than the standard RX.

MINIVANS

Toyota Sienna
For 2007, the Sienna received a new powerful and efficient 3.5-liter V6 engine that now gives it the edge in our testing over the Honda Odyssey. Both minivans have spacious and refined interiors on par with some luxury sedans. The Sienna is quiet inside and is offered with all-wheel drive.

2007-07-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

Volvo Creates Car that Can Run on Five Different Fuels

Volvo Car Corporation has developed a system for a multitude of fuels. The Volvo Multi-Fuel is a prototype car, optimized for running on five different fuel types; hythane, biomethane, natural gas, bioethanol E85 and petrol. Hythane consists of 10 percent hydrogen and 90 percent methane, a blend that has tested most effective for this system.

The Volvo Multi-Fuel is a five-cylinder, 2.0-litre prototype car (200 bhp) that runs on five different fuels; hythane (10% hydrogen and 90% methane), biomethane, natural gas (CNG), bioethanol E85 (85% bioethanol and 15% petrol) and petrol. The new concept is introduced at the Michelin Challenge Bibendum 2006 and is one of its kind.

"The whole car is optimized for high performance, driving on any of the five different fuels," said Mats Morén, Project Leader Engine at Volvo Car Corporation.

The Multi-Fuel is just as safe as all Volvo vehicles, with the added bonus of being exceptionally clean. One of its benefits is that combustion of pure renewable fuels like hydrogen, biomethane and bioethanol gives negligible net contribution of fossil carbon dioxide.

"It is a first step towards a hydrogen powered society," said Morén. "Perhaps we can develop the system even further, to run on a higher blend in the future."

Volvo Car Corporation believes that the road to the future is not one but many. No renewable fuel type can alone replace the fossil fuels of today. Since local conditions vary, different markets need engines for different alternative fuels, together with cleaner conventional ones. With this in mind, Volvo Car Corporation has developed the Multi-Fuel, a prototype car that can be powered by five different fuel types, thus be driven on the energy source at hand - anywhere in the world.

"The idea is to make use of the fuels that are produced locally," said Morén. "This means that less fuel needs to be transported between continents, and you can fill up the car on the fuel that is available wherever you are."

The Multi-Fuel vehicle contains one large and two smaller tanks of totally 98 litres for gaseous fuels (hythane, biomethane and CNG), and one 29-litre tank for liquid fuels (bioethanol E85 and gasoline).

"The small gaseous fuel tanks are made of steel, whereas the large tank has a durable, gas tight aluminum liner, reinforced with high performance carbon fibre composite and an exterior layer of hardened fibre-glass composite," Morén said.

The fuel tanks are fitted neatly under the luggage compartment floor, which means that full loading capacity is preserved. Two fuel fillers are used to fill up all five fuel types, one for gaseous and one for liquid fuels. The engine automatically adjusts itself to the right blend of gaseous or liquid fuels. To switch between fuel types, the driver simply presses a button.

The whole Multi-Fuel vehicle - the engine, the tanks, the transmission and the fuel system - is optimized for the five different fuels. It can be started directly on gas, which is unique for this system. The Multi-Fuel has a motor effect of 200 bhp and accelerates quickly up to speed, 0-100 km/h in 8.7 seconds. This makes the car more responsive and smooth to drive.

"The Multi-Fuel is turbo charged to achieve high performance on any of the five different fuel types, said Morén. "That makes it great fun to drive and we are very proud of its performance."

The Multi-Fuel is remarkably clean and meets the emission standards for Euro 4 and the proposed levels for Euro 5. An alternative catalyst system has also been developed to meet the tough demands on extremely low tailpipe emissions for PZEV/SULEV on the US market. The vehicle has two catalysts, one close coupled to the engine that lowers initial start emissions, and one under the floor for reduced high-speed emissions. The double catalysts and advanced engine control system lead to very low emissions. High-temperature materials in the exhaust manifold and turbo allow extremely high exhaust gas temperatures of up to 1050 °C. This enables the car to run cleaner, accelerate quicker and operate smoother at higher speed.

"I love this concept," Morén said, "It's a turbo charged engine with high performance, low fuel consumption and low emissions. On top of that it has a brilliant tank installation and can be run on a multitude of fuels - all wrapped in one beautiful car.

2007-06-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

From corn-fed to diesel

An alternative-fuel car guide

With gasoline prices high, politicians and auto executives are talking up the benefits of alternative-fuel vehicles — from cars that run mostly on corn-based ethanol to gas-electric hybrids, from diesel-powered vehicles to cars that burn natural gas.
But sorting out what's in showrooms and what the fuel savings are can be confusing. And industry watchers say many consumers are sitting on the sidelines because they aren't sure gasoline prices will stay high. "It's almost impossible to tell where (gas prices) are going," says David Cole of the Center for Automotive Research.

As of Monday, regular gasoline was selling for an average $2.859 a gallon, down 5½ cents from a week ago and up about 75 cents from a year ago, motorist club AAA says.

If you're convinced gas prices will stay high, and you're willing to buy a new car now, here's a guide to alternative-fuel vehicles.

Hybrids

Tell someone you're thinking about buying a gas-electric hybrid, and there's a chance the person will whip out a calculator to prove what a dumb idea that is.

Hybrids save fuel by using an electric motor at times rather than the gasoline engine. But the cost of the extra motor, an additional battery and other needed technology have made hybrids about $3,000 more expensive than their traditional gas-only counterparts. That cuts into the savings on gas.

However, the equation may soon start changing in hybrid's favor. For one thing, higher gas prices mean bigger savings with a hybrid.

Toyota said last month that it is planning to dramatically increase the efficiency of its popular Prius hybrid; it had already said it wants to cut the hybrid premium to about $1,500.

Other automakers also are responding to price sensitivity in the hybrid market. General Motors announced last month that it will price the new Saturn Vue hybrid SUV at $23,000, about $1,500 more than a comparable gasoline-powered Vue.

Vue is a "mild" hybrid, which means it uses its electric motor to assist the gasoline-powered engine, but the electric motor doesn't run on its own.

Vue "makes true hybrid fuel savings available to more people than ever before," says Saturn general manager Jill Lajdziak.

Buyers also may get a tax credit for purchasing a hybrid. It varies, based on fuel economy, from under $1,000 to more than $3,000 and is limited to a certain number of vehicles.

Diesels

Shedding their reputation as belchy, smoky messes, diesel engines are growing in popularity among American consumers. Since 2000, registration of diesel-powered passenger vehicles has gone up 80%, according to R.L. Polk.

"Americans are increasingly looking to diesel as a readily available solution to help alleviate their pain at the pump," says Allen Schaeffer of the Diesel Technology Forum.

Diesel fuel can cost more than gasoline — about 9 cents a gallon right now, says AAA — but diesel gets 20% to 40% better fuel efficiency, meaning you go farther on a gallon.

Right now, there are only a handful of diesel cars available to U.S. consumers. Volkswagen sells its Beetle, Golf and Jetta in diesel versions, and Mercedes sells the E320 sedan in diesel. Chevy, Dodge, Ford and GMC sell diesel pickups.

There could be more in the future. Strict emissions laws have kept many automakers from jumping on board. But DaimlerChrysler promises its BlueTec engine, when used with low-sulphur diesel available in the USA this fall, will make its diesel engines clean enough to meet new emissions standards in all 50 states.

Chrysler Group said Monday that it will quit selling the diesel version of Jeep Liberty's small SUV in the USA because its engine doesn't meet the new standards. However, Chrysler will sell a diesel version of the 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee full-size SUV with a Mercedes engine.

Ford is considering a diesel hybrid engine, and BMW is considering bringing a diesel version of its 330 sedan to the USA.

The downside? Even though the technology is better, diesels are still louder than traditional gas engines.

Flexible-fuel

The hype surrounding ethanol is making Detroit automakers and corn farmers happy.

There are already about 5 million flexible-fuel vehicles — FFV — on the road that can run on E85, a blend of 85% corn-based ethanol and 15% gasoline, or on regular gasoline. All are from domestic automakers, who are primed to introduce more of them.

There are two big downsides to ethanol: One, it's less efficient than gasoline, so vehicles get fewer miles to the gallon and drivers need to refuel more often. That leads to the second big downside: There are only about 600 refueling stations in the USA, most in the Midwest.

Ethanol producer VeraSun Energy has a guide to help determine if your vehicle is an FFV at www.ve85.com/FlexibleFuelVehicles/FFVIdentification/. Lists of stations that carry E85 are available from the Energy Department, http://afdcmap2.nrel.gov/locator/, or the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, www.e85fuel.com/database/search.php.

Natural gas

California drivers can buy the Honda Civic GX, which runs on natural gas. This fall, New York residents will be able to buy Civic GX too.

To make refueling convenient, owners also can lease a natural gas home-refueling appliance, dubbed "Phill." It is mounted on a garage wall and allows the GX to refuel overnight from a homeowner's natural gas supply line.

Natural gas is about 50% cheaper than regular gasoline when purchased at home. (At a refueling station, the savings are about 25%.) Natural gas burns more cleanly than regular gas. And buyers are eligible for a $4,000 tax break.

The Civic GX starts at $24,440, about $2,000 more than the Civic hybrid and $10,000 more than the base Civic coupe. "Phill" can be leased for $36 to $79 a month.

2007-05-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Air-Car Ready for Mass Production

The world's first commercial compressed air-powered vehicle is rolling towards the production line. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre, will be built by Indias largest automaker, Tata Motors.

The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engines pistons. It is anticipated that approximately 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India by 2008. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model will clock out at 68 mph with a driving range of 125 miles.

Refueling is simple and will only take a few minutes. That is, if you live nearby a gas station with custom air compressor units. The cost of a fill up is approximately $2.00. If a driver doesn't have access to a compressor station, they will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the cars built-in compressor to refill the tank in about 4 hours.

The compressed air technology is basically just a way of storing electrical energy without the need for costly, heavy, and occasionally toxic batteries. So, in a sense, this is an electric car. It just doesn't have an electric motor.

But don't let anyone tell you this is an "emissions free" vehicle. Sure, the only thing coming out of the tailpipe is air. But, chances are, fossil fuels were burned to create the electricity. In India, that mostly means coal. But the carbon emissions per mile of these things still far outdoes any gasoline car on the market.

Unfortunately, the streets of North America may never see the Air Car, though; it's light-weight, glued-together fiberglass construction might not do so well in our crash tests. However, that does not mean the Air car is confined to the sub-continent. Nègre has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa.

And this isn't the last we'll hear of the technology. The folks making the Air Car are already working on a hybrid version that would use an on-board, gasoline-powered compressor to refill the air tanks when they run low. Negre says that technology could easily squeeze a cross country trip out of one tank of gasoline.

2007-05-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

Alternative Fuel

Alternative fuel for vehicles, once a pipe dream, has become a reality. High gas prices, along with concerns about the environment, have led many to look beyond petroleum to power their cars. The HowStuffWorks articles and videos in this section will tell you all about alternative fuels and the vehicles that use them.

E85 Ethanol Flex Fuel Overview

Drivers jumping on the latest gas-saving bandwagon may be in for a shock when they see fuel-economy estimates for the newest darlings of Detroit: E85 ethanol flex-fuel vehicles. Run a new V6 Chevrolet Impala on good-old gasoline, and it'll get 21 miles per gallon in the city, 31 on the highway, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates. Burn E85 -- a blend of 85 percent of the alcohol-based fuel ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, which American automakers flaunt as their latest alternative-energy idea -- and the Impala's EPA numbers shrivel to 16 mpg city, 23 highway.

It's no better with other kinds of flex-fuel vehicles, vehicles that can run on E85, 100 percent gasoline, or a combination of the two. Run a two wheel-drive V8 Ford F150 on regular unleaded gas, and the EPA says it'll get 14 mpg city, 19 mpg highway. Run it on E85 ethanol, and it gets 11 mpg city, 14 mpg highway. In other words, fill up on environmentally friendly E85 ethanol, and you'll get fewer miles per gallon than you would on gasoline.

Sound depressing? Not if you believe that what's bad for the E85 ethanol user is good for America's fuel strategy. After all, a mile driven on E85 ethanol fuel is a mile not driven on conventional gasoline. And that, according to President Bush and proponents of E85 ethanol, can help America end its dependence on foreign oil.

Joining these E85 ethanol boosters are General Motors and Ford, which have mounted massive new E85 ethanol support programs. Spurred by public and private efforts to pump up E85 ethanol demand, ethanol producers themselves are pouring billions of dollars into building new refineries.

As with any alternative-fuel idea, however, the E85 ethanol story is one of tradeoffs. It pits, for example, E85 ethanol's ability to lower air pollution because it burns cleaner than gasoline against the potential environmental costs involved in ethanol production.

We've highlighted some tradeoffs in E85 ethanol fuel economy (more about that later), but are there compromises in convenience and vehicle performance? These and other issues are thoroughly explored in the following sections:

E85 Ethanol Flex Fuel Explained

About one-third of all gasoline sold in the United States contains some ethanol, typically in a ratio of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol. E85 gets its name from the way it inverts that formula, at 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent conventional gasoline. We'll explain how ethanol is produced and why it's mixed with gasoline, and explore some of the controversy surrounding its place in environmental and public policy debates. Only a fraction of the cars and trucks on the road are "flex fuel" vehicles: those that can run on conventional gasoline or E85 ethanol fuel. You'll learn why that number is growing, and how you can determine whether your next new car or truck -- or maybe the one you already own -- is an E85 ethanol flex-fuel vehicle.

2007-05-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

Toyota will go 100% Hybrid

When Toyota and Honda introduced hybrids in 2000, most other carmakers scoffed at gas-electric vehicles as a money-losing proposition for the two Japanese companies. With Toyota poised to break the one-million mark for cumulative global sales of hybrids this month, the company’s hybrids are not only growing in popularity—they are becoming profitable.

International Herald Tribune is reporting that Toyota will dramatically improve the cost structure after it reaches the sales goal of one million hybrids annually in 2010 or soon after.

"By then, we expect [profit] margins to be equal to gasoline cars,” said Masatami Takimoto, Toyota executive vice president in charge of powertrain development. The company continues to aggressively cut the cost of hybrid components, such as motors, batteries, and inverters. And then there are economies of scale. Takimoto expects hybrids to account for 100 percent of Toyota’s vehicles by 2020.

Toyota will soon become the biggest automaker in the world. The product plans (and fate) of car companies are based on fundamental assumptions about fuel prices. Takimoto said that he expected energy prices to continue rising past their current high of $3.00 per gallon in the United States. Prius production will rise by 40 percent to 280,000 units this year, with total hybrid sales expected to reach 430,000 units.

Solar Race Car shows potential

2007-04-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Racing with the sun, students drove 2,500 miles

from Texas to Canada

Mile after mile along this stretch of Canada's coast-to-coast highway, the faces of the farmers, truckers and oil workers who turned to look had the same dumbfounded expression, as if asking: What the heck were those? UFOs on wheels? Stealth fighters with their wings clipped? Supersized remote-controlled cars?
No, the contraptions were race cars powered by the sun and the ingenuity of students from 18 universities in the United States and Canada.

The university teams were competing in the North American Solar Challenge for a trophy and the bragging rights to having won the world's longest solar car race. They weren't salesmen for solar cars. In fact, experts say solar cars won't be viable for many decades to come, if ever. But the cars and last month's race showcase recent advances in technology and demonstrate the promise of solar energy in other uses.

Students and experts talk of using solar cells to assist cars, perhaps providing energy to cool off the interior on a hot day while a car is parked. They're even more excited about solar energy for homes and other buildings in regions where there's plenty of sun to go around.

Building a better mousetrap

The university teams' challenge was this: Build a race car that runs on a measly 1,000 watts — about what a hair dryer puts out — cruises at highway speeds and carries a driver 2,500 miles from Austin, Texas, to Calgary, Alberta, in western Canada. The cars' designs varied as teams experimented with weight and aerodynamics. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's vehicle looked like a stealth fighter jet and had three wheels instead of four to lighten the load. The University of Michigan's car had a flatter body and wheels wrapped in shells that look like catamaran hulls.

But each team shared this much: They all invested thousands of hours over many months. “It was a logistical nightmare,” University of Michigan student Brian Ignaut says of the two years of designing and building that went into his team's car.

The payoff was being able to test engineering skills against peers while also touting solar power. Plastered with thousands of cells that collect energy from the sun, the cars turned heads wherever they went and prompted the inevitable question: When will I be able to buy one?
Probably never, was the standard answer the students gave when they showed off their wheels at several stops along the race route. A standard car with all its modern comforts, and thus power needs, would require many times more cells than could be attached to its body. In contrast, buildings have lots more surface area on rooftops to collect electricity.

Immediate concerns include road kill

For those 10 days in July, however, the students weren't concerned about future solar applications. They had immediate worries: cloudy skies that meant less electricity, crosswinds that pushed cars around and hail that dented solar cells. The college kids christened their cars with names like Beam Machine (University of California at Berkeley) and Momentum (University of Michigan), and displayed personal touches like the kamikazi bandanas worn by the University of Minnesota crew and the fake tiger's tail attached to Auburn University's car when it was parked for display.

Teams had mechanics to fix and change car parts, computer analysts to monitor data from the cars and scouts to travel ahead to track the competition and even shovel road kill off the highway. Some teams also had weather experts to monitor conditions. The race took its toll on two teams that had to drop out, one due to a battery fire. Four others had to be towed part of the time just to keep up with the rest of the pack.

The student drivers also had several close calls: big rigs and passenger cars coming too close, in some cases swerving as they saw the racers for the first time. Some would even drive parallel to the race cars, creating dangerous wind gusts.

Racing at 1 to 2 horsepower

The vehicles are built light, about 400 to 500 pounds, because the cells can only put out between 800 to 1,500 watts of power. Exactly how much power depends on how many cells are on a car and how efficient those cells are in creating electricity. In car terms, it's about 1 to 2 horsepower.
“Think about that,” says Richard King, head of solar research at the U.S. Department of Energy, one of the race sponsors. “My passenger car has 150 horsepower and here they're using 2 horsepower to go at highway speeds.”

Some teams spent two years preparing for the race — from fundraising to buy the most powerful solar cells to designing aerodynamic car bodies that reduce drag. Team budgets ranged from $40,000 to $1.8 million per car.
George Douglas, a spokesman for the National Renewable Energy Lab, a division of the Department of Energy, calls the race a “design challenge that forces them to think of energy efficiency as the primary focus.”

It was also about competition and camaraderie in the pits and on the course. One night a University of Missouri team member walked around offering rivals chili. At the start of the last leg of the 10-day race, the University of Minnesota's team leader playfully yelled to his crew to take it easy on its closest rival, Michigan, then turned to the Michigan crew and said, “Good luck today, guys.”

Cell, battery advances

The competition is fueled in part by the fact that solar race cars are much faster these days. Two decades ago, when the first solar races were held, students were lucky if their cars could do 35 mph. Today, they can top 80 mph, though the race kept to posted speed limits.

The reasons: more aerodynamic designs, solar cells that have doubled in efficiency and much lighter onboard electricity storage. Instead of the 400-pound lead acid batteries used a decade ago, today's cars need just 70 pounds of lithium batteries, the same kind used in laptops, cell phones and some digital cameras. The University of Michigan, the team with the deepest pockets, ended up winning a close race, just 12 minutes ahead of the University of Minnesota.Success came down to having the most powerful array of solar cells, a large, well-drilled support team and aerodynamic wheel wells that kept the car on course even when crosswinds pushed competitors around. “Our car sails in the wind,” says Robert Vogt, Michigan's strategy leader.

Incentives for solar

Despite the advances in technology, solar still costs about two to three times what most homeowners now pay for electricity. Even so, the price has come down by 80 percent in 25 years, says Gary Schmitz, another spokesman for the National Renewable Energy Lab.

The lab has set a goal of halving the cost further in a decade, and if the cost of electricity from fossil fuels continues to rise, Schmitz says, “we will easily reach parity in 10 years.”
Lower solar costs and higher fossil fuel prices have created renewed interest in the technology after an initial wave of support in the 1970s.
The energy bill passed by Congress last month provides a $2,000 federal tax credit for home solar systems. California is leading the way among the states with an initiative that includes homeowner rebates and requiring developers to include solar power as an option in new homes.
“I envision a solar house where the photovoltaic cells are on the roof power not only your house but your electric vehicle,” says King, the Energy Department solar expert. “That would make a wonderful second commuter family car.”

Hybrid Technologies, a company based in Las Vegas, is following that vision, helping to build a luxury home that is entirely off the power grid.
Electricity from solar cells, as well as small wind turbines camouflaged to look like chimneys, will be stored in lithium batteries. When completed in early 2006, the house and its plug-in electric vehicle will draw power from those batteries.

“We're closing the loop” for off-grid power, Hybrid Technologies spokesman Richard Griffiths said during a tour of the construction site in Calgary.

2007-03-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

QarmaQ’s : Reduces Weight, Saves Gas

Any concept vehicle with a name derived from the word the Inuit’s use for their dwellings made of Earth, whalebone, and animal skins is bound to be interesting. Hyundai Europe's Design and Technical Center in Russelsheim, Germany partnered with GE Plastics in the Netherlands to create the QarmaQ – a quirky looking Crossover Coupé concept.
One of the QarmaQ’s key features is its innovative use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles to create a large portion of the vehicle’s skin. GE says the use of plastics, instead of more traditional metal and glass, gives the vehicle a 130-pound weight savings. That weight loss equates to 20 gallons a year savings in gas, not to mention fewer plastic bottles clogging up the local landfill. These numbers are nothing to scoff when you think of all the cars on the road.

2007-03-11T23:07:00.000-07:00

E85: Flex-Fuel Vehicles

Nearly five million alternative-fuel vehicles are currently on U.S. roads—and many of their owners don't even know it. Flexible-fuel (flex-fuel) models first appeared in 1991. Since then, each of the Big 3 domestic automakers has manufactured about 1.5 million flex-fuel cars, and hundreds of thousands more are expected to arrive by the end of 2006. A flex-fuel vehicle, or FFV, is a vehicle that is capable of running on either gasoline or E85, which is a blend of 85-percent ethanol and 15-percent gasoline. The idea of such vehicles is not a new one; Henry Ford designed his Model T to operate solely on ethyl alcohol, also known as ethanol. All current vehicles can accept fuel containing up to 10-percent ethanol.

Availability

Ethanol can be manufactured from various sources, but "corn is king," according to Phillip Lampert, executive director of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. Ethanol production is therefore strongest in the upper Midwest region of the United States. "That's where our political support is," Lampert adds. Clean Air Choice, a clean fuel program from the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest, estimates that a bushel of field corn can be processed into at least 2.7 gallons of ethanol.

Partly motivated by fuel-economy credits from the federal government, automakers have decided to make certain engines of specific car models operational on both fuel types as a no-cost option. In most cases, either the salesperson fails to explain, or the buyer overlooks the flex-fuel feature. "Probably the vast majority of drivers don't know they have a flex-fuel vehicle," Lampert says. GM intends to put special labeling on upcoming flex-fuel models, though mostly they look and behave like regular vehicles.

Benefits

Ethanol advocates emphasize that using E85 results in decreased reliance on imported oil, reduced environmental pollution, and a lower negative impact on the public's health. Lampert adds that ethanol is 100-percent renewable and non-carcinogenic. At the same time, production is 100-percent domestic. "Absolutely without doubt," the use of ethanol enhances America's energy security, says DaimlerChrysler spokesperson Nick Cappa. "Also, it helps farmers."

E85 has a substantially higher octane rating than today's gasoline, which means improved performance by way of greater horsepower. Clean Air Choice reports that E85 has the highest oxygen content of all available fuels, so it burns more fully. Its use can result in a nearly 30-percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA claims that making the switch from gasoline to ethanol blends can lower the environment's carbon monoxide levels by as much as 40 percent, and smog-forming pollutants by 15 percent.

Greenhouse gas emissions are likely to be cut by 15 to 20 percent. Lampert notes that you need high volatility in winter for cold starts, and low volatility in summer to prevent vapor lock. The mixture may be seasonally adjusted. In colder months, it can be tweaked to contain less than 85-percent ethanol which will, of course, effect the vehicle's overall mileage rating.

Drawbacks

As for drawbacks, ethanol has a noticeably lower energy content than gasoline—exactly how much lower seems to be a matter of some controversy. According to Lampert, this decreased energy content rating translates to roughly a 12- to 20-percent reduction in fuel mileage. John Howell, product director for Cadillac, states there is a "15- to 25-percent difference in the level of energy by liquid measure." EPA fuel-economy estimates for flex-fuel models reveal that E85 reduces gas mileage by 21 to 31 percent during city driving and 20 to 34 percent while on the highway. Assuming that E85 typically costs just slightly more than the average going rate of gasoline, annual fuel costs could climb to levels as high as 30 to 52 percent greater when using E85 rather than gasoline.

Currently, E85 is sold at only about 640 filling stations nationwide, and more than two-thirds are in the upper Midwest, meaning availability is proving to be a large obstacle. Although the number of E85 stations doubled last year from the previous year, Lampert believes the total number of stations is still tiny, especially when compared to the 170,000 stations that dispense conventional gasoline.

Vehicles

GM's available flex-fuel vehicles include Chevrolet's Monte Carlo, Impala, Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, and Tahoe, along with GMC's Sierra, Yukon, and Yukon XL. Chrysler offers a flex-fuel Sebring, and Dodge makes available its Stratus, Caravan, Ram, and Durango. DaimlerChrysler, which includes Dodge, recently announced that it will now offer its flex-fuel vehicles for sale to the public. Ford has an FFV Crown Victoria and F-150 pickup, while its Mercury line submits the Grand Marquis, and Lincoln grants its Town Car. Nissan is currently the only foreign auto manufacturer offering a flex-fuel vehicle model—the Titan pickup. More than half of all new Titans can run on E85.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as reported by Clean Air Choice, for every unit of energy used to produce ethanol (and co-products), 1.67 units of energy emerges. In contrast, each unit of energy used to produce gasoline results in 0.79 units of energy. Not everyone agrees with those figures. Some critics charge that ethanol results in a net energy loss, not a gain, when considering the production and distribution process. Wisconsin auto writer Matt Joseph urges caution, citing a Cornell University study concluding that ethanol does indeed deliver negative net energy, contradicting the USDA's findings. To make E85 a truly valuable alternative to gasoline, Joseph believes, "the positive factor would have to be huge."

At this year's 2006 Chicago Auto Show, Ford Motor Company and General Motors both announced a new project in cooperation with VeraSun Energy Corporation to expand the number of ethanol stations. Ford also displayed an Escape Hybrid E85, which would be the first hybrid powertrain to run on an ethanol mixture.

2007-03-05T23:48:00.000-08:00

Car firms on green issue

Green technology is high on the agenda as the car industry gathers for its annual jamboree in Geneva. A string of new models on display shows how Europe's carmakers are desperate to clean up their act in response to regulatory pressure and changing consumer tastes.

Mercedes and BMW, which have both come under attack because their car fleets emit higher than average levels of CO2, are fighting back with green initiatives.

But Japan's Toyota and Honda are still well ahead of their German rivals, not least with their plans to kit out sporty models with less polluting petrol-electric hybrid engines.

Europe's small carmakers, most notably Fiat, are also benefiting from a gradual shift towards fuel efficient cars. And, paradoxically perhaps, both Renault and Volkswagen are taking advantage of this shift towards smaller cars by launching larger versions of their most popular models.

Under threat

But some of the large cars on display are equally crucial.

Arch rivals Ford and Opel (Vauxhall) are both unveiling key models that must stand up against each other and fend off other competitors.

Ford's new Mondeo and Opel's forthcoming Vectra replacement concept, the GTC, are both about to be launched into a shrinking market.

This market segment has gradually eroded as traditional customers have been making a shift towards people carriers, crossover vehicles, sports utility vehicles or smaller cars.

"In the past, customers bought cars on a rational basis," observed General Motors marketing boss Alain Visser at the GTC launch party in Geneva.

2007-03-03T00:38:00.000-08:00

Toyota FT-HS

When most people think "concept sports car", the word hybrid doesn't initially spring to mind. However, the two-plus-two FT-HS concept, being a Toyota and all, features ultra-low emissions and a fuel-efficient 3.5 Liter V6 hybrid electric engine under its rakishly shaped hood.& Toyota says the power plant should be good for close to 400 horsepower; power will be driven to rear wheels and boasts a four second 0-to-60 acceleration time. Not too shabby.

The FT-HS answers a question asked a lot more now since gas, while somewhat cheaper this week, still isn't really that cheap. The question: "What is a suitable sports car for the 21st century?"

"Drivers today are not satisfied with cars that are simply fast," says Kevin Hunter, vice president of Toyota's Calty Design Research. "In addition to driving enjoyment, today's drivers are concerned about safety, ecology and social responsibility."

Well put. While there are some unsubstantiated mumblings about the FT-HS being a replacement for the long gone, well-loved Supra - even the name sounds cool - the FT-HS in this Buck Rodgers-looking shape and form screams CONCEPT to us. Well, that and very expensive, just look at those Carbon Fiber wheels. Remember, beauty doesn't come cheap.

2007-03-03T00:20:00.000-08:00

GM Hydrogen concept

Hydrogen cars are exploding, at least figuratively, onto the automakers pedestal reveals this week in Detroit. General Motors is unveiling the Sequel, an eleven inch skateboard that precedes the HydroGen3 in performance, acceleration and drivability.
All other Manufacturers have had batteries in their vehicles. General Motors had one in the HydroGen2, but not the HydroGen3 and they saw the difference in acceleration and have added a lithium-ion battery to the Sequel.

The lithium-ion battery has been used in electric cars and is well-known to those vehicle owners. According to Larry Burns - and listen carefully to this answer - when asked if they were considering the skateboard chassis they are using for their hydrogen car if they would consider using the same skateboard chassis for an electric car, since it has all the components necessary for such a vehicle Burns answered, "We have no plans to do so, but we wouldn’t rule it out if there were breakthroughs in electric cars."

The well-to-wheel production and consumption of hydrogen is almost as inefficient as the internal combustion engine itself. What does this mean? Simple, the hydrogen (or fuel cell) vehicle produces no emissions except water and heat, the inefficiency is in the production of hydrogen itself. Breakthroughs are coming and the main ones will start in California where Governor Schwarzenegger is solidly behind the hydrogen highway.

So is Honda. Rarely will you hear another Manufacturer say that a certain Manufacturer is in the front but Honda is being hailed by other Manufacturers as at the front of hydrogen home refueling.

GM Sequel Hydrogen concept on carlist.com
Honda is unveiling the Honda Civic GX, a natural gas version of their beloved and well sold Civic. Along with the Civic GX, for $2,000 extra you can buy "PHILL", a home refueling system about the size of a payphone that fits into your garage. This is a stunning breakthrough for technology. At first glance you go, cool - I can refuel my car in my garage for about 85 cents compared to about $2.00 at the filling station. Consider this on a longer term basis.
Hydrogen is made from electrolysis of water, the vibrating water separates the atoms and captures the hydrogen that can go into a fuel cell vehicle. All one needs to make this happen is gas and water. Honda’s next project is the hydrogen home refueling station that takes your gas and water and creates hydrogen when needed, so that no storage is necessary.

Expect Honda to bring this out the same time after the natural gas home refueling station has caught on. It is their next step Honda is not working on multi-million dollar platforms that require years of cooperation with mega companies. They are bringing add fueling products to market in timely fashion to support the vehicles that they are bringing to market. Other Manufacturers realize this and are silently applauding Honda for those efforts.

Will this be the best way to make hydrogen? No, but the best is the enemy of the good. Right now, this is the good way. The best way is from renewable energy, such as solar, biomass such as ethanol made out of cellulose (which creates less carbon dioxide than ethanol produced out of corn). There will need to be a hydrogen highway for people who travel across the country and
can’t refuel their car each night at home, but having home refueling stations will take some of the stress out of the push for that
More and more people are asking each other the same question, what can we do to get off the grid, how can we get off the dependence of foreign oil? It will cost a little more money to do this, but if you are willing there are companies out there working on the advanced technology to help. They are making breakthroughs each day.

There are things you can do to help. If you can afford solar panels and live in an area where they work, get them. It takes you off some of the electric grid. Hybrid cars are a stepping stone to the hydrogen fuel cell. They are also helping Manufacturers understand what is needed and what will work in fuel cell cars. Most Manufacturers have the same Nickel Metal Hydride batteries in their hybrid cars that they have in their fuel cell vehicle.

Lastly, you can ask the government to continue the tax break one gets when they buy an advanced technology vehicle, such as the hybrid. It’s not just the extra cost they are helping with, but the difference there might be in resale value. President Bush has given 1.7 billion over five years to help in the research and development of hydrogen. It’s a paltry sum when you consider how much the auto manufacturers are spending to develop these vehicles themselves. But auto Manufacturers have tax deductions for research and development and they make the profit if the car is a success. It’s the consumers that will pay more for this technology. The government would be wise to help support the demand side of these vehicles.

2007-03-03T00:18:00.000-08:00

Mitsubishi's Cool Eclipse-E Concept

Mitsubishi's new Eclipse-E concept car takes hybrids to new levels of style and performance. The all-wheel drive, four passenger Eclipse-E sport coupe features a cab forward layout, front grille vent with integrated spoiler, raindrop-style side window graphics, and xenon plasma headlamps/rear combination lamps. All this aims to achieve what Mitsubishi calls an aggressive "ready-to-pounce profile."

Inside, a deep video imaging instrumentation display system is used. This system is unique in that it integrates two overlapping LCD monitors to create a 3D viewing angle, further enhancing the interior’s futuristic look.

The Eclipse-E is powered by a 470 horsepower (350kW) E-Boost hybrid system that brings class-leading acceleration for a hybrid, along with the expected high fuel economy and low-emissions that gasoline-electric hybrid power brings. This powerplant combines a 269 horsepower, 3.8-liter MIVEC V-6 engine driving the front wheels with a 150kW electric motor driving both front and rear wheels. The electric motor is powered by lithium-ion batteries. A six-speed “automated manual” transmission allows a driver to select between manual or automatic operation.

2007-02-19T23:29:00.000-08:00

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Tesla Whitestar

Electric Sedan: 4 Doors

Half the Price of the Roadster

Tesla's plans for Whitestar, the sedan version of their electric roadster, are coming along nicely. Head honcho Elon Musk, just announced of a New Mexico factory that'll start construction no later than April 2007.
The best part? The 4-door will not only haul more people, but will cost half of the $89,000 roadster. What performance remains after the car is fitted to a heavier chassis, and components are slashed out to lower the price, is yet to be disclosed.
When are the first hack-shops coming together for the mechanically simple electric cars? And when will Tesla tackle the minivan segment?
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2007-02-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

Smart Fortwo

When the Smart Fortwo arrives in the U.S. in early 2008, parent company DaimlerChrysler doesn't want to repeat past mistakes. The first Smart hit the European market in 1998, but the brand has never been

profitable. With the new Fortwo, Smart is starting anew with a car tailor-made for the United States. Standard safety features include four airbags, ABS and stability control. The U.S. Fortwo will have increased cabin and trunk space and a new 1.0-liter 3-cylinder engine making 84 bhp, mated to a refined semi-automatic transmission. Company executives claim the car will get about 40 mpg.

Three models will be available: The Pure with optional air conditioning starts at $11,000; the better-equipped Passion will cost $13,000 and the Convertible will be $15,000. A Brabus version with more power will be presented at the Geneva show in March. Roger Penske's UnitedAuto Group will be the exclusive distributor in the U.S., and they will be taking orders in about two months

2007-02-04T00:29:00.000-08:00

One example of an independent manufacturer in the U.S. produces the Sparrow, a sort of Sinclair C5 that actually works. The Sparrow is a single passenger vehicle designed specifically for commuters and inner-city driving. Powered by thirteen 12 volt batteries, the Sparrow provides an effective range of 30 to 60 miles and a top speed of 65 mph. It is actually a very advanced vehicle, made of modern composites and it even uses regenerative breaking to conserve power. What’s more it qualifies as a motorcycle so it can use California’s car pool lane.
Most, if not all, of the major motor manufacturers have alternative fuel vehicles on the drawing board, with only Volvo within Europe having a production car in an advanced stage. Pressure is not nearly so intense in Europe to bring these types of vehicles to market, but with its increasing presence in the U.S. market, Volkswagen will soon find itself forced to bring its plans for advanced fuel cell vehicles forward.

2007-02-04T00:26:00.000-08:00

All those who are still determined to hold on to their older cars need not despair, there are many firms, especially in the States offering to convert your car to electric, and expect hybrid conversions to become available as the millennium continues. The American Electric Automobile Company, in California has already converted two of the most popular vehicles club members drive, the Rabbit (Golf) and yes, even the venerable Beetle has got the electric treatment. At least this is one way of getting around the leaded fuel issue.

2007-02-04T00:24:00.000-08:00

24 VDC fuel cells

The dependence on power for performing various tasks like lighting up houses, operating computers, and using other electrical appliances in our day-to-day life is leading to use of energy sources on a large scale. However, this energy available in the form of gasoline, coal, solar energy and nuclear power are all used for our daily requirements. Since these sources are becoming limited, there is a need to go beyond the traditional sources of energy to meet the demand for more supply in winter months or at any other time. In search of clean fuels, the scientists are able to fine tune to get power with the use of 24 VDC fuel cells. These cells generate energy much the same way the other sources like generators are working meeting the needs of small firms or households.

In fact, 24 VDC fuel cells with a capacity of 1 kW produces 40 A of current. These are useful in providing quick back-up energy for running of computers or any other appliance as a standby till the regular power supply is restored. Though the commercial production of more viable models is currently under advanced stages of testing, these fuel cells have attracted a large number of people. Being compact and pollution-free, 24 VDC fuel cells are getting the attention from vehicle manufacturers. These cells are also tested for their durability and power generating capacity in the vehicles as the requirements of vehicle users can be easily met with them.

2007-02-04T00:22:00.000-08:00

Aluminum fuel cell

There is a need to find alternative fuels that can propel vehicles, electrical appliances and other forms of uses without any disturbance to routine. Though a number of alternatives have come up over the last few decades, most of them have limited capacity for getting regular power. In transport sector, use of aluminum fuel cell 8 gallon helps in giving more mileage to the cars than the conventional gasoline powered vehicles. The vehicle manufacturers are coming out with new designs mainly focusing on reducing the total weight of vehicles with the use of aluminum.

If the overall weight of vehicle reduces, then the vehicle is going to offer more mileage. This can easily turns out to be good news for several of the vehicle users. Instead of steal, the vehicle manufacturers are able to use aluminum and thereby reduce the weight of vehicle. Besides, they are also able to make use of aluminum fuel cell 8 gallon so that the cost of using fuel cell remains within the alternative modes of fuels available to users.

By making use of fuel cells, the vehicle users are going to work on clean environment, as the vehicle produces no exhaust fumes that cause pollution. In fact, the main benefit of driving vehicles with fuel cells will be economical rides with clean surroundings. The use of aluminum fuel cell 8 gallon is economical and has all the features of high-grade fuel cell to travel distances comfortably.

2007-01-06T00:10:00.000-08:00

Honda’s REMIX, a small two-seat design concept is built around the traditional Honda set up -- a front-wheel drive platform with a 4-cylinder engine mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. Throw in a sport suspension, large brakes and tires and you’ve got the Civic Si of the future.
“When we set out to design the REMIX, our goal was to push the envelope, to try new ideas and to anticipate what a sports car could and should be in the future,” says Ben Davidson, a designer at Honda's Advanced Design Studio. “We wanted to design a performance car that would capture the attention and imagination of the youth market in terms of its aggressive styling and performance in a compact, lightweight, agile package. We also wanted a car that would be practical as a simple, affordable, daily driver.” Sounds like a Honda to us.

2007-01-06T00:07:00.000-08:00

As close to an actual production model seen to the left, Volkswagen’s Concept Tiguan, which VW bills as a “small Touareg” is the manufacturer’s entry into the crossover market and is set to come to market at the end of 2007. The Tiguan is powered by a new BLUETEC “Clean TDI” turbo diesel developed with partners Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

2007-01-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

Fétish
At the recent Paris Motor Show, Venturi, an automaker based in Monaco, unveiled the version of its Fétish electric coupe that it will put into production next year. Venturi released a prototype of the Fétish at the 2002 Geneva International Motor Show. The company plans to build only 25 copies of the Fétish, which will sell for $660,000 each. The car will be available in the U.S. Tiny Venturi is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The sports car maker has raced in Formula 1 and at such famous events as France's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Venturi's race cars have beaten Porsche and Fiat's (nyse: FIA - news - people ) Ferrari subsidiary--both kings of racing--on several different occasions. Venturi said in a statement that the Fétish will be the first electric sports car to go into production. A California-based company called AC Propulsion has an electric sports car prototype, the tzero (pronounced "tee-zero"), but it awaits production as the company finalizes engineering and seeks safety certification.

At the recent Paris Motor Show, Venturi, an automaker based in Monaco, unveiled the version of its Fétish electric coupe that it will put into production next year. Venturi released a prototype of the Fétish at the 2002 Geneva International Motor Show. The company plans to build only 25 copies of the Fétish, which will sell for $660,000 each. The car will be available in the U.S. Tiny Venturi is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The sports car maker has raced in Formula 1 and at such famous events as France's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Venturi's race cars have beaten Porsche and Fiat's. Venturi said in a statement that the Fétish will be the first electric sports car to go into production. A California-based company called AC Propulsion has an electric sports car prototype, the tzero (pronounced "tee-zero"), but it awaits production as the company finalizes engineering and seeks safety certification.

2006-12-29T21:51:00.000-08:00

The Nissan Pivo Concept Car

Nissan has unveiled it’s new Pivo Concept Car. It’s a new electric car with asthetics by renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. From the press release:
Pivo, which will be on display at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, features an innovative cabin that revolves 360 degrees, eliminating the need to reverse. Thanks to its compact body, the car is also exceptionally easy to maneuver.
The three-seater car comes with a number of user-friendly technologies, including Nissan’s Around View Monitor which reduces blind spots by displaying the outside surroundings on screens mounted on the inside of the car’s A-pillars located on either side of the windshield. A dash-mounted infrared (IR) commander allows the driver to operate the navigation and stereo systems with simple finger movements without letting go of the steering wheel.
Pivo is powered by Nissan’s compact, high-performance lithium-ion battery and its unique Super Motor, resulting in zero emissions.
I’m not one for bubble cars, but that revolving cabin looks cool. It would enable you to spin around and flip the bird to motorists behind you while they get the full impact of your facial expressions, without them having to squint and try reading them in your rear view mirror. Less distractions.

2006-12-23T20:02:00.000-08:00

Subaru Scrambler: A New Twist in Hybrid High Performance

Subaru, a marque that doesn’t come readily to mind when talking advanced technology vehicles, can be a bit of a tease. Back in 1991, this automaker all but stunned the automotive world with a sports coupe that could generously be called atypical – the cutting edge Subaru SVX. This swoopy, fast, and decidedly cool car didn’t become a huge seller, but it did establish Subaru’s credentials as a company that could bring advanced vehicles to the showroom with the best of ‘em, something we see today in models like the Impreza WRX STi. Still, Subaru tends to stay on the mainstream side with such well-engineered staples as the Outback, Forester, and Legacy rather than heading for the limelight with flexible fuel or hybrid models.

Well, Subaru has stepped out of the box again, and in a big way. Its B9 SC “Scrambler” hybrid electric concept blends the design direction of Subaru’s Andreas Zapatinas – formerly head of design at Alfa Romeo – with a unique hybrid electric drive technology that works seamlessly with Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive systems, and also is adaptable to its current vehicle platforms. This automaker’s Sequential Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle (SSHEV) system places a generator between a 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder DOHC Subaru Boxer gasoline engine and transmission with a two-way clutch, high-performance electric motor, and all-wheel drive transfer gearing integrated into the transmission case. What’s unique about the SSHEV powerplant is that its Boxer gasoline engine supplements the electric drive motor, rather than the other way around. Up to about 50 mph, the gasoline engine’s primary role is to charge the laminated lithium-ion batteries that power the hybrid vehicle’s electric motor.

Subaru Boxer h4 engineThe gasoline Boxer engine takes over as primary propulsion above 50 mph, a speed range that’s most efficient for this internal combustion powerplant. Both electric and gasoline powerplants jointly provide power under demanding driving conditions.Subaru says it will be able to offer customers the kind of performance now enjoyed with its turbocharged models by using its own hybrid electric drive technology. After being blown away by the impressive performance of Subaru’s SVX while driving this sports coupe at its debut back in 1991, we have no doubt that Subaru has the technical savvy and is surely up to this challenge… with a few more tricks up its sleeve, to be sure.

2006-12-14T22:45:00.000-08:00

A u t o S h o w

This is a vehicle I had overlooked at last year's Auto Show; it's the Hummer H2H, an H2 model converted to burn hydrogen in its 6-liter V8. Because of the physical and chemical properties of hydrogen, it only puts out 180 HP, even with a supercharger, and because using hydrogen in an internal-combustion engine is a lot less efficient than using it in a fuel cell, its range is considerably shorter than the fuel-cell vehicles I've seen. It's a whole lot cheaper to build than a fuel-cell vehicle, though!

That is the main reason that BMW and some other automakers have been putting more effort into hydrogen-powered internal-combustion-engine vehicles than into fuel-cell vehicles. BMW has built some 7-series cars that can run on either hydrogen or gasoline, much like a bi-fuel natural-gas or propane vehicle; they propose to put those into production within the next several years. The H2R that they brought to the L.A. Auto Show is a hydrogen-powered land-speed-record car with an engine based on the 7-series V-12, as you can perhaps see from the outline on the hood.

Other fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) present included the Ford Focus FCV that I've seen at a few other shows and events, and this F-Cell from DaimlerChrysler, based on the European Mercedes-Benz A series subcompact.

The other side of the F-Cell was cut away to show how the entire drivetran and fuel tanks fit under the floor, a nice feat of packaging in this small car.

2006-11-10T01:20:00.000-08:00

What are Alternative Fuels?

You've heard the expression, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." Sound advice, right? But in the vital area of transportation, America (and most of the rest of the world) has ignored this bit of wisdom: the vast majority of transportation for people or goods is powered by petroleum products, i.e., gasoline or diesel fuel.

When petroleum prices are as low as they have been for most of the past few years, that may not seem like such a bad thing. However, looking toward the future, many people are becoming increasingly concerned about the hidden costs of petroleum dependency: that is, those that you pay for at the doctor's office or in your tax bill rather than at the fuel pump. Starting in the last decade of the 20th century, automakers and energy suppliers have increasingly been working together to bring to market vehicles that can reduce our petroleum dependency because they are powered by something else besides gasoline or diesel fuel; these "something elses" are referred to as alternative fuels.

Since the mid-1990's, more and more vehicles have started to become available for you to drive off a dealer's lot running on "something else." Far from being experimental or exotic, these cars and trucks are entirely practical transportation, ready for daily use; I've owned trucks that run on natural gas since 1993, and these were from major automakers with full factory warranties, not conversions of gasoline vehicles. (Of course, reputable "upfitters" have been converting gasoline and diesel cars and trucks to run on alternative fuels for many years, and have achieved a good record of safety and reliability--what's new is that now the Big Guys are getting in on the act too, with their economies of scale and huge dealer and service networks.) You have choices now that weren't practical just a few years ago.

2006-11-10T01:14:00.000-08:00

Alternative Fuel Types -
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Electricity

Fuel Source

Electricity can be made by many means, from the burning of high-sulfur coal to pollution-free photovoltaic cells (or solar cells). Electric vehicles are generally divided into battery and hybrid classes, depending on whether the electricity is generated off-board and stored in a battery or generated by a small on-board powerplant. Hybrid electric vehicles can be designed to run on any fuel, including gasoline or diesel as well as alternative fuels, and can best be thought of as highly-efficient gasoline, diesel, or alternative-fueled vehicles. This page discusses battery-electric vehicles, whose power comes from an off-board generator somewhere.

Wholesale Availability

Electricity is the most readily available form of energy in the United States; the network of power plants and transmission lines reaches even where natural-gas pipelines don't.

Retail Availability

Since electricity is available virtually everywhere, "retail" electricity for refueling (recharging) is ubiquitous--if you have the right kind of socket into which to plug your vehicle. Conventional cars converted to run on electricity usually are built to plug into ordinary 110-volt wall sockets and/or 220-volt appliance outlets, but modern production electric vehicles are mostly being built with specialized connectors that can speed up the "refueling" process and increase safety. You can install a recharging station with the right kind of connector for your vehicle in your garage, and in some cities recharging stations that offer the most popular connectors are being installed in public places (and in all the cases I know of, recharging at a public station is free!).

Advantages

Electric vehicles have the potential to be by far the cleanest means of transportation, and even in the near term it takes a very advanced natural-gas-powered vehicle like the Honda Civic GX to give them a run for their money in terms of low pollution. The reason is twofold. First, electric generators and motors are very efficient; even accounting for losses in producing electricity from some fuel, transmitting it over power lines, recharging a battery with it, and feeding it out of the battery to the motor, you still can go a lot farther by burning a given amount of fuel to generate electricity for an electric car than by using it directly in an internal combustion engine. Moreover, the same electric motor that expends energy to speed a vehicle up can be run as a generator to absorb energy and slow the vehicle down; this is called regenerative braking, and it allows energy to be recovered and put back into the battery that, in a conventional vehicle, simply gets wasted as heat in the brakes. Thus, to go a given distance, you will burn a lot less fuel and generate a lot less pollution if you use it to generate electricity for an electric vehicle than if you use it in a conventional internal-combustion powertrain.

Second, electric generation is generally done in the cleanest possible manner for a given fuel, and power utilities keep their generators in top condition as a matter of course (I can't afford to get my van's engine tuned up every week, can you?). It is true that charging an electric vehicle from the power mix in some parts of the country results in replacing gasoline in the car with coal in a powerplant, which generally burns dirtier, as the power source; however, modern coal-burning powerplants are a lot cleaner than they used to be, and accounting for the efficiency with which the energy is used, you still come out ahead in almost all pollutants. Moreover, electric generation is getting cleaner all the time: as time goes on, older, dirtier generating plants are being taken out of service and replaced with newer, cleaner ones, or even with pollution-free solar or wind generators. Thus an electric car will get cleaner over time as the powerplants from which it gets its energy are upgraded, and it can switch to fully renewable energy sources without a hiccup as they come online; by contrast, a conventional car, or even one that runs on natural gas, methanol, or another alternative fuel, will get dirtier over time as its catalytic converter and other emission-control features age.

To put some numbers to the above discussion, I will note that the California Air Resources Board has calculated (see Table 9-3 on page 137 of a 2000 staff report) that a battery electric vehicle recharging from the California utility power mix will produce about 98% less pollution than an average 2002 model car over their respective lifetimes, and 95% less pollution than even the cleanest 2002 car--hybrid, PZEV, you name it. For this reason, they have long maintained that vehicles running on electricity, or other fuels like hydrogen that emit zero tailpipe pollution, are the "gold standard" for meeting air-quality goals.

Electric vehicles are by nature low-maintenance, and their simplicity (an electric motor has one moving part, the rotor, in contrast to how many in an internal combustion engine?) means that, when produced in large numbers, their price should be low compared to other vehicles (look how inexpensive and how common electrical appliances and tools are). As long ago as the May 30, 1994 issue of Business Week, I read that Chrysler thought they could produce an electric vehicle for the same price as a gasoline vehicle in volumes of 300,000--that's a small number for a major automaker. This price comparison didn't include the batteries, but electricity is so cheap compared to any other fuel that, as prices of battery packs come down, the savings in fuel and maintenance would more than pay for them.

Disadvantages

The biggest real disadvantage of electric vehicles, at present, is their higher price; even today, though, if you need a vehicle to do a lot of stop-and-go driving and idling, which wastes a lot of fuel and is very hard on an internal combustion engine, you can save enough in fuel and repairs to make an electric vehicle pay for itself even without the substantial tax credits and other subsidies that are available. This kind of driving is typical of city delivery vans, and, come to think of it, of a lot of urban commuting... Anyway, modern electric vehicles have been built only in extremely small numbers--hundreds, not hundreds of thousands, per year--so economies of scale have not even begun to come into play to bring their prices down.

The biggest perceived disadvantage of electric vehicles is their range. Modern freeway-capable electric vehicles have ranges between recharges of perhaps 60 to 120 miles, which won't get you very far down the interstate (unless you are willing to take time to stop and recharge frequently, like Kris Trexler on his Charge Across America). But many people, including myself, would say this is not a real disadvantage because, realistically, how often do most people drive over 60 miles in a day? Even the lower end of modern electric vehicles' range is enough for most people's daily commuting trips, even where I live in Southern California, and since an electric vehicle can be recharged overnight (usually at cheaper electric rates than during the day, too!) while parked in your garage, all you really need to be able to carry in the "fuel tank" is enough electrical charge for one day's use.

An analogy with a microwave oven is often made by electric vehicle advocates: when they first came out, microwave ovens were derided because they couldn't, for example, cook a Thanksgiving turkey. But how often does one need to cook a Thanksgiving turkey? Which do you use more often, your microwave or your conventional oven? If, in a typical two-car family, one of the two cars was replaced by an electric vehicle, it wouldn't become the "second car": it would be cheaper to use it as the primary car, for the vast majority of commuting, errands, and other driving duties. The conventional car would only be put into service like the conventional oven: on special occasions. (Okay, so maybe my use of this analogy was colored by the fact that, when I wrote it, I was a bachelor and lived on frozen dinners, using my conventional oven and dishwasher mostly for storage...)

But, for those still concerned about range between recharges, advanced batteries like the nickel metal-hydride ones in my digital camera have already been put in modern electric vehicles like the Honda EV Plus and the GM EV1, and even more advanced ones like the lithium-ion pack in my portable computer are being developed; both of these will extend driving ranges compared to the inexpensive but low-capacity lead-acid battery. Also, high-powered quick chargers that can "refuel" an electric vehicle's battery pack in minutes rather than hours have been tested.

2006-11-10T01:10:00.000-08:00

Alternative Fuel Types -
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Biodiesel (B20)

Fuel Source

Biodiesel is to petroleum diesel fuel what ethanol (E85) is to gasoline: a substitute fuel made from biomass, which means that it is inherently renewable and, in itself, it contributes nothing to carbon-dioxide loading of the atmosphere. Biodiesel commonly uses soybean or canola oil as its base, but animal fat or recycled cooking oil can also be used. To speed its market introduction, and dilute its additional cost over petroleum diesel fuel, the initial commercial product being studied is a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel fuel, whence B20.

Wholesale Availability

Biodiesel is not currently widely available, though production-scale plants (as opposed to laboratory-scale experimental setups) do exist, for example NOPEC.

Retail Availability

See above; you can't buy biodiesel readily yet, though retail stations are starting to appear. However, B20 requires absolutely no change in the storage or dispensing hardware that handles petroleum diesel fuel, and even "neat" biodiesel (or "B100") would only require minor changes in some materials used for seals, hoses and the like. Thus the retail infrastructure for a B20 market is already in place. (It's also possible to burn straight vegetable oil (SVO) in a diesel engine, either "virgin" or used (french-fry grease!), but this requires an extra tank for the fuel and the engine has to start and warm up on regular diesel fuel. However, you may be able to get waste vegetable oil from a local restaurant for free!)

Advantages

As noted above, B20 can be stored and dispensed in exactly the same manner as petroleum diesel fuel; in addition, diesel-powered vehicles require no modification at all to run on B20 or even higher blends. Thus any diesel-powered truck or bus is, potentially, already an alternative-fueled vehicle! For example, an ordinary used Winnebago was "converted" into the Veggie Van simply by pouring homemade biodiesel into its tank. Since biodiesel is not a fossil fuel, as noted above, it can cut greenhouse-gas emissions as well as ordinary pollutants (particularly soot) by displacing petroleum diesel fuel.

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of B20, like that of E85, is fuel cost. However, since it requires no changes in hardware (vehicle or refueling) or retraining of mechanics and users, studies have shown that it could be the most cost-effective way for some fleets to meet clean-air requirements (compressed natural gas cuts fuel and maintenance costs, but vehicles must be replaced or converted to use it, and mechanics must be retrained, which may tip the balance).

2006-11-10T01:06:00.000-08:00

Alternative Fuel Types -
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Methanol (M85)

Fuel Source

Methanol is typically made from natural gas; though it is possible to produce it by fermenting biomass (this is why it is sometimes called "wood alcohol"), this is not economically competitive yet. Because it is easier to transport natural gas to a distant market by converting it to methanol, which is a liquid at ordinary temperatures and pressures, than by chilling and liquefying it or by building a long pipeline, some petroleum-exporting countries are looking at exporting their "waste" natural gas (which they currently "flare off" in huge flames visible from the Space Shuttle!) by converting it to methanol; however, most of the natural gas that goes into methanol in the United States is still domestically produced. For reasons to be explained below, most fuel methanol in this country is sold as a blend of 85% methanol with 15% unleaded premium gasoline, whence "M85". In the not-too-distant future, "neat" (100%) methanol may be the preferred means of storing hydrogen for fuel-cell electric vehicles, but this technology is still in the R&D stage.

Wholesale Availability

There have been efforts to introduce M85 into various fuel markets, notably in California, but there is no nationwide transportation network in place for this as a bulk fuel (on the scale of gasoline, diesel fuel, or natural gas) yet. The methanol industry's efforts to enter the transportation fuels market recently have been largely focused on a derivative compound called methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), an additive used in oxygenated gasoline, though concerns about water table contamination have caused this to lose favor.

Retail Availability

There are still not very many M85 stations in the United States. However, only relatively small changes need to be made to a gasoline fueling station (linings and seals in tanks, pumps, dispensers, ...) in order to handle M85, compared to the completely new construction needed to handle compressed or liquefied natural gas (CNG or LNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), so M85 capability can be added in a big hurry if local governments, consumers (usually fleets), and retailers decide to develop a market.

Advantages

Alcohol fuels like M85 are perhaps the most "transparent" alternative fuels to the user, i.e., they are the least distinguishable from gasoline in how you buy and use them, which should ease acceptance. The fuel system of a car or truck only needs to be slightly changed (somewhat different materials, bigger fuel injectors, and a fuel composition sensor) in order for it to run on M85, and recently automakers have been offering M85 vehicles at no extra cost over their gasoline counterparts (or even for slightly less money), though at present automakers seem to be more interested in ethanol (E85). At least in California, the fuel costs about the same per mile as mid-grade gasoline (that is, you need about 1.7 gallons of M85 to get the same driving range as one gallon of gasoline, but price of a gallon of gasoline is about 1.7 times the price of a gallon of M85, so it balances out). And perhaps best of all, modern M85 vehicles are flex-fuel vehicles, which means that any mixture of M85 and gasoline in the fuel tank can be used by the engine; a fuel-composition sensor tells the engine computer what percentage of methanol is in the fuel, and it adjusts the injectors and ignition accordingly. Thus an M85 vehicle is a gasoline vehicle if M85 is not available, but you can top it off with M85 whenever you get back into an area where it can be found, and you don't have to carry (and pay for!) two separate fuel systems to do this.

Disadvantages

Methanol is more corrosive than gasoline (though it is less toxic, and not carcinogenic); this is why an automaker needs to change some of the materials in the fuel-handling systems of both the vehicle and the refueling station to materials that can withstand attack by the fuel. Special oil additives are necessary in order to protect the engine. Also, because the mixture of air to fuel is much richer than gasoline (about 8 to 1 by weight, compared to about 14 to 1 for gasoline), there is more liquid fuel available to wash oil off of cylinder walls during a cold start. Some early methanol users experienced durability problems, but development work has been making steady progress.

The richer fuel/air mixture needed by methanol also means that a given volume of gasoline will take you about 70% farther than the same tank full of M85; most automakers have at least partially compensated for this by putting a larger fuel tank in their M85 vehicles. And the reason that methanol is most commonly used in a mixture with 15% gasoline is to correct for two disadvantages of pure methanol. One is that a methanol flame is colorless, so gasoline is added to give the flame some color so rescuers can tell if a fire is present should an M85 vehicle get into a crash. The other is that methanol, being a pure chemical compound, has a single boiling point, so that it can cause cold-start problems in cold weather, or vapor lock in hot. Gasoline, being a mixture of compounds with different boiling points, always has some components that want to stay liquid and some that want to vaporize at a given temperature, so adding it to methanol confers this flexibility on the M85 mixture. Indeed, some manufacturers recommend mixing additional gasoline with M85 in very cold weather.

2006-11-10T01:03:00.000-08:00

Alternative Fuel Types -
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Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)

Fair warning: I am much more familiar with CNG than with any other alternative fuel, having owned and driven vehicles that use it since 1993. So you might want to de-weight some of the extra enthusiasm I show on this page relative to other fuels!

Fuel Source

Natural gas is, well, natural gas--the same stuff that heats your stove or your house. It is largely produced domestically in the United States; it can be imported through pipelines or as a cryogenic (super-cold) liquid on special tanker ships, but because this is a lot harder than pouring crude or refined oil into a tanker or a pipeline, we haven't built up an import dependency for natural gas as we have for petroleum. (Interest in imported natural gas is growing, however, as domestic production has lagged behind increasing demand for this clean fuel.)

Wholesale Availability

Natural gas is distributed nationwide through an extensive network of pipelines, which feed electrical generation plants and domestic and industrial heating uses. Thus the use in vehicles of natural gas is "piggybacking" on many years of infrastructure development.

Retail Availability

In order to store a reasonable amount of fuel (i.e., enough to drive a reasonable distance before refueling), natural gas has to be compressed to around 200 times atmospheric pressure--or even more for the tanks aboard large buses! This is like the pressure a mile and a quarter under the ocean, and requires special compressors to be "tapped into" the pipelines. When I bought my first CNG-powered vehicle in late 1993, I had to drive 35 miles roundtrip to the nearest public refueling station; now there is a station less than two miles from my job, so these refueling stations are becoming more common, and not just in Southern California. There are enough nationwide now that I was able to drive Clean Across America And Back in August 1998! In addition, there are home refueling appliances (from FuelMaker Corp.) now available that tap into your domestic natural-gas and electrical lines and slowly refuel your vehicle overnight, so you wouldn't need to use public refueling stations very much at all if you typically drive less than one or two hundred miles a day.

Advantages

Compressed natural gas is like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in many ways, only more so. It is very easy on the engine, giving longer service life and lower maintenance costs. CNG is the least expensive alternative fuel (except electricity) when you compare equal amounts of fuel energy, and, in my experience at least, its price has been relatively steady (except for one big jump when California utility regulators changed the rules!). At the peak of the big gasoline price run-up in April, 1996, I was paying half as much for a gasoline-gallon-equivalent of 130-octane natural gas as I would have paid for a gallon of 92-octane unleaded gasoline! Even with the natural-gas price spikes of the last few years, I have found the price of CNG to be less volatile, and on average lower, than that of gasoline.

The high octane rating of natural gas allows the CNG-powered Honda Civic GX to use a very high compression ratio and produce more power than stock gasoline versions. My own van has a stock compression ratio and about 10% lower power output than the gasoline version with the same-size engine, but I get significantly better fuel economy on the open road because the high octane rating of the fuel allows timing and mixture to be adjusted for more efficiency without causing detonation ("knocking"). And, as with LPG, because the fuel tanks have to withstand such enormous internal pressures, they are incredibly tough, with good results for safety. In addition, because natural gas is lighter than air and has very narrow flammability limits, if a leak develops it is very likely that the fuel will dissipate harmlessly into the air without causing a danger of ignition or explosion.

Natural gas has, over the course of the 1990's, proven to be the most effective fuel for reducing emissions in an internal combustion engine. The 1993 Dodge full-size CNG vans like mine were the first vehicles to meet the California Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards; the 1994 Chrysler/Dodge CNG minivans were the first to meet the Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) standards; the 1997 Ford CNG pickups and vans were the first to meet the Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) standards; and the CNG Honda Civic GX has been the cleanest internal-combustion-engine vehicle ever tested by the EPA in every year since its 1998 introduction. There are now a fair number of gasoline-powered vehicles that run cleaner than my van, but it took five years for the first gasoline vehicle to catch up (with a much smaller engine than my van's!), and in the meantime natural-gas-vehicle emissions have continued to plummet.

Disadvantages

Again, CNG is like LPG, but more so. The tanks are quite bulky and heavy, about three times more so than LPG tanks (have a look at the photos of my van--the tanks are half-inch-thick aluminum clad with reinforced fiberglass), though modern composite technology is starting to be used to cut weight and cost (as on the Honda Civic GX). Range is significantly less than for an equivalent gasoline vehicle, unless you really go overboard adding extra fuel tanks! And again, mostly because of the heavy-duty tanks, there is currently a large price premium for a CNG vehicle compared to a gasoline version ($3000-5000). The fuel and maintenance costs can be enough cheaper, however (like the first time you don't have to spend $2000 to overhaul the engine!), in a high-mileage application like a transit bus, a taxi, or a shuttle van, that this will repay the higher initial purchase price over time (and, depending on where you live, you can piece together enough federal, state, and local incentive money to cover most of the extra purchase cost in the first place--this was true for me). Finally, the refueling infrastructure is still growing, as noted above.

2006-11-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

Alternative Fuel Types -
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Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG, commonly known as propane)

Fuel Source

Liquefied petroleum gas, as the name suggests, is partly a byproduct of petroleum refining; in California the state's oil refineries are the main source, but nationwide well under half of LPG comes from petroleum refining, and the rest from natural gas processing. It consists of hydrocarbons that are vapors, rather than liquids, at normal temperatures and pressures, but which turn liquid at moderate pressures; its main constituent is propane, and it is sometimes referred to by that name.

Wholesale Availability

Since everything from barbecue grills to portable heaters runs on LPG, and since it is used for home heating in rural areas where natural gas pipelines don't run, there is an extensive distribution network nationwide, and has been for many years.

Retail Availability

See above; LPG is easy to find. It may be expensive if you buy it from a retailer who's used to filling five-gallon barbecue-grill bottles, but there are lots of places that will sell you automobile-sized fill-ups at a lower price per gallon.

Advantages

Because it's so widely available, LPG is the least "alternative" of alternative fuels if "alternative" equates to inconvenience, and most of the alternative fuel used in the United States is LPG. (One might also say, given LPG's dominance of the alternative-fuel market, that it's the most alternative fuel...) In order to liquefy the fuel, it is stored in sturdy tanks at about 20 times atmospheric pressure; since these are much tougher than typical sheet-metal or plastic gasoline tanks, and since they have a built-in shutoff valve to seal the tank if the fuel lines start leaking, LPG is safer than gasoline. (The tanks are a permanent part of the vehicle, unlike barbecue-grill tanks, so they are immune to the usual cause of LPG fires, which is leakage due to the operator's failure to hook the tank up properly.) It is also somewhat cheaper than gasoline in most places at most times, when you compare the price of a gallon of gasoline with the price of the somewhat larger volume of LPG needed to drive the same distance.

Because LPG enters the engine as a vapor, it doesn't wash oil off cylinder walls or dilute the oil when the engine is cold, and it also doesn't put carbon particles and sulfuric acid into the oil. Thus an engine that runs on propane can expect a longer service life and reduced maintenance costs. (Incoming liquid gasoline cools the combustion chamber and valves as it vaporizes, so you might expect, for example, that you'd need a valve job more often on an LPG-burning engine because the gaseous fuel doesn't give this cooling effect. However, modern valve and valve-seat materials, designed for unleaded gasoline, don't have problems with the "dry" fuel. More recently, direct injection of LPG in the liquid state, with attendant cooling effect as well as improved emissions control, is being tested.) Its high octane rating (around 105) means that power output and/or fuel efficiency can be increased, without causing detonation ("knocking"), in a vehicle that isn't required to run on gasoline as well.

Disadvantages

LPG is, again, in some ways the least "alternative" of alternative fuels; because its source is partly petroleum, it does less to help relieve the petroleum dependency problem than some other alternative fuels, and given the dominance of the petroleum source in California it is not even considered an alternative fuel for some state incentive programs. On the other hand, nationwide about 90% of LPG is domestically produced (even if a fraction comes from an imported petroleum feedstock), and most of the remainder comes from Canada (which is a heck of a lot more stable than the Mideast!), so LPG does help to remedy the national security component of the overall petroleum dependency problem.

Its somewhat lower energy content compared to gasoline means you need a slightly bigger tank to get the same driving range; the tank will also be heavier because it has to be strong enough to withstand the LPG storage pressure. Mostly because of the special fuel tank, a vehicle that runs on LPG will typically be somewhat more expensive (around $1000-2000) than an equivalent gasoline-powered vehicle. Finally, the refueling procedure on an older-style tank (evolved from that for filling grill bottles) involves the release of some raw fuel vapors (unburned hydrocarbons) into the air, though these are much less reactive (have less "ozone-forming potential") than gasoline vapors; however, I understand that modern propane tanks, and the dispensers that fill them, are designed to eliminate most of this spillage.

2006-10-20T00:28:00.000-07:00

Ohio’s Myers Motors all electric NmG

With the cost of fuel hovering just below $3.00 a gallon, alternative vehicles are becoming more and more attractive to average citizens. Unfortunately most alternative vehicles are only suited for weekend mechanics or people with expendable income. Enter Myers Motors and their all electric NmG (No More Gas). I had the good fortune last week while traveling to stop and visit with Dana Meyers, the president of Myers Motors. We had an enjoyable interview and a test drive in their little electric vehicle in Tallmadge Ohio.The Myers Motors design originally was part of the Corbin Motors company in Hollister California. The Sparrow as it was known, was built between 2000 to late 2002 before Corbin Motors filed bankruptcy. The futuristic looking electric car (licensed as a motorcycle) sold for a reasonable MSRP $13,900 to about 350 fortunate owners. Myers Motors purchased the assets including a bunch of ‘shells’ and redesigned (and continues improve) the electrics and drive train. This new vehicle, the NmG, runs on three wheels, handles like a go-cart. It accelerates extraordinarily quickly to a top speed of 70 mph; believe me it is quick — I shockingly found this out while pulling into traffic and chirping the single rear drive wheel. I think I was expecting golf cart like acceleration.According to Dana Myers, he sees a bright future for electric vehicles. Not only is their vehicle unique, it is also reasonable to operate. The simple electrics are designed to recharge at home from either a 220 or 110 outlet and can be fully recharged in 6-8 hours for about 55 cents at 11 cents per kilowatt hour. (quicker with the 220 charger) Myers research shows that most people commute less than 20 miles and are with one person in the vehicle where the NmG is perfectly suited. My primary pet peeve with the all electric NmG is that the range using 13 gell cell batteries is only about 30 hours. (see online manual)Nevertheless, the electric NmG was very impressive. The hand built vehicles are constructed by craftsmen in a nice size facility in northeastern Ohio. (close to Akron) From the electric windows to the excellent instrumentation, I felt my lime green test ride was surprisingly comfortable. The little one seater has windshield wipers, heater/defroster, audio system and a cute little 6 cubic foot trunk. The would be gas door hids a recharging plug.Dana Myers had to make several concessions to keep the MSRP at $24,900, this includes the very safe but somewhat low tech batteries that give an unacceptable range even for electric vehicles, in my opinion. It will be interesting to see just what can be accomplished with A123 Battery package or an eventual fuel cell system?All in all, I enjoyed my visit with Dana and his enthusiasm for the NmG. I wish him well at marketing a one seat vehicle that can only go 30 miles between charges. If you are interested in adding a fun to drive EV to your garage, be sure to contact Myers Motors at 330.630.3768 or visit http://www.myersmotors.com/ to checkout the NmG.

Hybrid Cars

2006-10-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hybrid fuel vehicles incorporate two different fuel types to produce a cleaner running, more environmentally friendly vehicle. Hybrid vehicles are most commonly a cross between diesel fuel and electricity. While they are not entirely "green" they are a great step forward in automotive technology in the world's slow transition towards emission-free automobiles.There are many trends throughout the hybrid fuel vehicle industry in the design department, which include lighter body parts and frames, and better drag coefficients. In order to achieve a car that is highly fuel-efficient that also performs up today's standards, the prior listed items are a must. With smaller cylinder engines powering the vehicle, weight is a definite hindrance to overall performance. With less vehicle weight to propel, the engine doesn't need to work as hard resulting in better fuel economy. Many new technologies are being incorporated into the design of the body and frame (aluminum and plastics as opposed to steel and sheet metal) in attempts to achieve lighter vehicle weight while still maintaining structural integrity and safety in all forms of driving and crash tests. The aerodynamics of the vehicle are also very important. Lower drag coefficients translate directly into better efficiency because the car fights less against the wind as it moves.The Dodge ESX is a great example of a very efficient hybrid-fuel engine/drivetrain that exhibits many common amenities, good vehicle performance, style, and low emissions. The lightweight shell of the vehicle is powered by a diesel/electric powerplant, coupled with lead-acid batteries to drive twin electric motors, one in each rear-wheel hub. Energy comes from a three cylinder turbo-diesel engine driving a powerful alternator which produces the current required to power the electric wheel motors. The lead-acid batteries provide power for acceleration and capture regenerative braking energy. This car represents a great step forward in hybrid-fuel technology, but these technological advances don't come cheap. One drawback to these forward thinking technologies is that they are very expensive and hard to mass produce with current manufacturing. The next challenge will be to develop methods to reduce cost, so as to make the car more acceptable to the public's wallet. One current mass produced hybrid, the Honda Insight, incorporates similar technologies, but in a more "primitive" form. The simplicity of the Insight's design has advantages over the ESX in production and cost-efficiency.

Electric Cars

2006-10-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

The idea of a car powered by electricity is not a new one. The first electric direct current motor was invented in 1830 by Joseph Henry, and this piqued the curiosity of engineers who became interested in creating an electric vehicle that would be a reliable source of transportation. We have come a long way since then, and are now closer than ever to achieving an affordable, efficient, mass-produced electric vehicle.

One of the biggest reasons to switch to electric vehicles is the positive environmental impact. Why is this true? Gasoline powered automobiles each have their own little power generator. Just imagine, millions of little power plants scattered throughout the country, some in bad condition, spewing out exhaust. Although the electricity that powers electric vehicles still has to be created in a power plant of some kind (to be used on a large scale), the centralization of power production allows for more efficiency and greater regulation. Additionally, electricity can be harnessed from the sun, wind, and rivers, allowing for less overall pollution.History(taken from http://library.thinkquest.org/20463/history.html) Even though the development of electric vehicles began in the early 1800's, the process was not perfected until much later, after the creation of rechargeable batteries by the French engineer, Gaston Plante, in 1859. After this invention, the electric car industry quickly expanded to reach over 50 companies in 1912 and produce over 34,000 electric cars.

At this point in time, gas-powered cars were still very unreliable and required the driver to "crank" the vehicle before driving. Despite the fact that EVs were quieter, more reliable, and more efficient than gas-powered cars, their limited range led to a decrease in their popularity. With the invention of the electric starter for gas-powered cars, a dramatic increase in their reliability, and the cheap price of gasoline, gas-powered cars took over the market and the EV industry vanished. With the oil crisis of the 1970's, electric cars began to reemerge. Many carmakers, such as Sebring/Vanguard, General Motors (GM) and Ford developed several electric vehicle models. Unfortunately, the high cost of EVs made them very difficult to sell, and most of the carmakers could not afford to make electric cars or could not make a profit, and they abandoned EVs. As gas and oil prices dropped in the 1980's and gas-powered cars became more efficient, got better gas mileage, and were now being equipped with anti-pollution devices, it seemed like the EV industry would never come back. Fortunately for the EV industry, the pollution caused by gas-powered cars was beginning to get out of hand and the government and carmakers sought ways to improve the air quality. EVs seemed like the perfect solution, but carmakers were not willing to risk entering that industry. As a result, the only EVs on the road were those converted from gas-powered cars by hobbyists.

The 1990's brought around a significant change. New types of batteries were being developed; batteries that would greatly extend the range of EVs. Carmakers began to find ways to increase the efficiency of their vehicles. This increase in efficiency gave EVs the increase in performance and range that they needed. Electric vehicles were once again becoming a viable alternative to gas-powered cars. The high price of the batteries kept car makers from bringing EVs to the average consumer, but companies that needed fleets of vehicles to travel short distances at a time for deliveries and such were quick to buy a vehicle that was quiet, could be refueled for practically nothing, and was nearly maintenance free. States like California and New York realized how much of an effect EVs could have on the pollution level and began legislation to force carmakers to sell EVs. Realizing that they could possibly be forced to sell EVs, many car companies began researching. Most of the car companies gave little funding to this research however, and most have simply converted one of their gas-powered models into an electric version. GM, however, spent several years researching and built an electric car from scratch. The result was an efficient, powerful, and state-of-the-art vehicle that blew away the competition. About two years ago, California and New York declared mandates stating that 2% of all vehicles sold in 1998 had to be electric cars. Carmakers spent more money fighting these mandates than they did researching. They finally succeeded in New York, and were successful in appealing the mandate. The California mandate still stands, however, and in fact, that figure jumps up to 10% in 2003.

Although most car companies have created simple conversions to meet the mandate, a few, like GM, have spent some time researching and building quality EVs. Widescale use and Roadblocks(taken from http://www.rqriley.com/ev-tech.html)
The roadblocks to widescale use of EVs include technical, economic, and perceptual disadvantages, at least from the perspective of today's technology and consumer mindset. Technical problems have traditionally centered on the limitations of the storage battery, which is responsible for today's emphasis on hybrid systems. However, HEVs also have intrinsic disadvantages - primarily greater vehicle mass and higher manufacturing costs, which are natural by-products of their inherently greater mechanical and electrical complexity. This, in combination with the economic and technical success of CVs, makes a poor case, at least on a business and marketing level, for a widescale switch to electric cars.

Although environmental and energy projections point to calamitous economic results at some point in the future, corporate decisions are based on near term marketing and economic goals. It would be unrealistic to expect traditional corporate priorities to somehow lead to the rapid development of electric cars, at least without outside influence. Today, the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), and mandates by several states modeled after California's 2003 deadline for zero emission vehicles (ZEVs), have created an environment in which automakers are willing to invest in bold new development efforts.

The PNGV program combines government and industry resources to develop a prototype design for an affordable production-ready 35 km/l (83-mpg) family sedan by year 2004. Although PNGV is not specifically oriented to EV technologies, many of the technologies on which EVs depend are included within the program. Also, program goals center on year-2004 manufacturable technologies, rather than basic research that may have long-term payoffs. Figure 1 provides an overview of candidate technologies and the milestones along the path to a production prototype.
PNGV goals must be achieved without sacrificing key vehicle performance, safety, emissions, size, and economic criteria.

Conclusion Although electric vehicles may not be widely available today, demand will surely increase in the years to come. People will want a car that's efficient, eco-friendly, sporty, and just plain cool. The electric vehicle will provide that niche. Welcome to the future.

2006-09-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

The little hybrid car that could

One of the most impressive cars at this week's Philadelphia Auto Show doesn't come from Japan, Germany or Detroit.
It came from the auto shop at West Philadelphia High School.
The car - designed and built by students in the school's Academy for Automotive and Mechanical Engineering - delivers more horsepower than some Porsches and gets gas mileage comparable to a Toyota Prius. It runs on fuel made from soybeans.
Last year, the car was the surprise winner of a competition for eco-friendly vehicles, the Tour de Sol. The students, hoping to prove their success was no fluke, will enter the car again this year.
They'll be back despite an effort by school district budget-cutters last year to eliminate the program. It was saved by an outcry from parents and area auto dealers, who see the program as a source of hard-to-find trained mechanics.
The high schoolers' engineering feat may have observers wondering why Detroit hasn't already made such a car.
"This is off-the-shelf technology, and we're not 180 I.Q. people around here," said Simon Hauger, a physics teacher who is the West Philadelphia automotive program's administrator.
"We're super low-budget," he said, so automakers "should be cranking them out.
"Who wouldn't want a cool sports car hybrid?"
The Motor City could have built one, but years ago, the Big Three domestic automakers misjudged where oil prices and consumer desires would be today.
President Bush, in his State of the Union speech last week, conceded that "America is addicted to oil" and encouraged research into alternative fuels and power systems such as hybrids.
Major automakers are showing several hybrids at the auto show, which opened yesterday, each developed with multimillion-dollar budgets.
The West Philadelphia team's budget was considerably smaller. "We've estimated that there's probably between $80,000 and $100,000 worth of parts in the car," Hauger said. That includes carbon-fiber body panels donated by Hexcel Corp., of Stamford, Conn., and wheels and tires from OZ Racing. Philadelphia-based refining company Sunoco gave $5,000.
Still, he said, for last year's campaign leading up to the Tour de Sol, his team and students spent about $25,000. That included building the car and incidentals, such as lodging costs on the way to the race in upstate New York.
"The Robin Hood Motel," Hauger said, laughing. "Use your imagination - it probably was as bad as it sounds. We're really low-budget."
They raised the funds through Philadelphia Academies Inc., a nonprofit board that steers city high schoolers to career-focused schools and gets support from businesses and individuals.
The West Philly squad's car is based on a kit called the Attack, made by K-1 Engineering, based in Serbia and Montenegro. The kit's carbon-fiber body fits over the chassis and frame assembled from a K-1 kit and a Honda Accord donor vehicle, which the team modified extensively.
The students altered the frame to accommodate a 200-horsepower electric motor under the front hood. An upgraded 150-horsepower, turbocharged Volkswagen diesel engine occupies what would be the trunk on most cars.
To comply with Tour de Sol rules, the engine runs on "biodiesel" fuel: It's biodegradable and nontoxic, and has significantly lower emissions than petroleum-based diesel when burned.
The Attack's soybean-based biodiesel was made by students and Hauger in their West Philadelphia garage, Hauger said.
The car cotillion taking place in Center City this week will serve as a tune-up for the team's bigger goal: winning the Tour de Sol again in May. Last year, the West Philadelphia team stunned rivals at the contest for electric and low-emissions vehicles at Saratoga Spa State Park in New York, as it built the fastest, cleanest, and arguably best-looking car of the field. The team - with different students - also captured the crown in 2002 with an electric-powered Saturn.
But it is this week's show - attended by nearly a quarter-million visitors last year - that could give the program priceless visibility and attract corporate sponsors.
For individual students, it's a chance for exposure to recruiters for auto-technology schools and potential employers, not to mention basking in the oohs and ahhs of show attendees.
"It's good to be on the team," said Bruce Harmon, a soft-spoken 18-year-old who said he got one step closer to his dream of designing cars when he transferred to West Philadelphia High this school year.
Although the program developed an environmentally friendly hot rod that puts Detroit gas guzzlers to shame, the West Philadelphia program is handicapped by Philadelphia's chronic school budget woes.
"Almost all of the automotive programs in neighborhood schools have disappeared" in the city, said Ann Cohen, president of Philadelphia municipal workers union AFSCME Local 1637. Cohen chairs the nonprofit Philadelphia Academies Inc.; the union works to put the high schoolers in apprenticeship programs. Of the city's 59 high schools, five today have auto programs.
That might seem counterintuitive, given the shortage of trained auto technicians nationwide. The most commonly cited estimate is that 60,000 new technicians are needed in the auto-repair industry. The number is expected to hit 110,000 before the decade is out.
The West Philly program was on the budget chopping block last year, but the team's Tour de Sol victory and public outrage at the proposed elimination spared it.
"Everybody rallied together for the program," including sponsors Pep Boys, Sunoco, Central City Toyota, and Gary Barbera," Cohen said.
In the high school's neighborhood, the median household income is $21,300, about half the national average, with nearly a third of residents below the federal poverty line.
"The urban environment is challenging," said Hauger, who is in his 13th year of teaching. But projects such as the hybrid car make abstract class concepts real, he said.
"They're doing real problem solving... . I've seen cases where kids are marginal" academically, he said, "but this has given them the extra push to succeed."
Alumni and at least one current member of the program have received jobs or scholarships as a result of their involvement in the program.
Tyson Drummond, this year's team captain and a senior, works part time as an apprentice in the city's fleet maintenance division.
Still, the auto program has a big shortcoming as a means of getting good jobs for its graduates: lack of certification by the National Automotive Technicians Foundation, or NATEF. That's the educational arm of the Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, which most consumers know simply as ASE.
The endorsement requires schools to teach core automotive subjects with expensive equipment and training modules.
Teachers and local auto dealers are clamoring for it.
"It's reprehensible that we don't have a NATEF-certified school" in Philadelphia, said Kevin Mazzucola, executive director of the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia.
High schools in surrounding counties, including Bucks County Technical High School in Fairless Hills, the Center for Arts and Technology campuses in Coatesville and Phoenixville, Delaware County Technical High School in Folcroft, Camden County Technical School in Sicklerville, and many others in the region carry the certification.
Last week, Philadelphia School District chief executive officer Paul Vallas agreed that it was sorely needed. In a meeting with the regional auto dealers' group, he all but ensured that Philadelphia vocational schools - starting with West Philadelphia - would get the certification over the next two years.
"We're actually looking at laying out a two-year plan to get all five of our automotive training programs certified," Vallas said.
He added, "Clearly, our premier program is the West Philly auto program."
The NATEF certification is "another way of making our kids more competitive, another way of leveling the playing field, and of filling opportunity gaps," Vallas said.
On Thursday, a city Parking Authority flatbed hauled the team's finished, spiffed-up car to the Convention Center.
Hauger said he fantasized about what the students could do if they had the financial firepower of the colleges and corporate teams they compete against at Tour de Sol.
"It would be nice to get a corporate sponsor that could underwrite this" and throw money at their electrical problems and rough engineering until they were solved.
"That's what it would take. It would be nice."

2006-09-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

ONE GUARANTEED HOT TICKET at the Los Angeles Auto Show this January will be the North American debut of the Fetish, a $686,000 Batmobile-style roadster from French boutique carmaker Venturi that can bolt from zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds—with zero emissions.The Fetish, powered by 100 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, is part of a vanguard of alternative-fuel vehicles that are ditching the Love Bug image of the eco-hip Toyota Prius hybrid in favor of qualities long proven to sell cars: head-turning curves and plenty of horsepower. Last year, major manufacturers developed a dozen concept cars as market gauges, merging hot-rod punch with green technology. According to industry pundits, the flashy designs suggest that the alt-fuel virtues of higher gas mileage and lower emissions will soon be marketed like spoilers and sunroofs—fringe benefits to a sweet set of wheels.
Peugeot's concept Quark ATV, a combo hydrogen-fuel-cell-and-electric "urban machine" (Peugeot)
"We're at a shift in the personality of these cars," says Jeff Bryan, reviews editor at Edmunds.com, a top consumer automotive portal. "Buying a hybrid is still a political statement. But people are starting to demand performance and style."Some 2005 hybrids already provide a bit of both—and are making a killing. Ford dealers sold more than 1,100 2005 Escape Hybrids—the first hybrid SUV—this past October, and some 4,000 still in production are already reserved. Lexus claimed a record 11,000 pre-orders by late fall for its luxury hybrid SUV, the RX 400h, out in early 2005. In December, Honda rolled out a hybrid
Green Fuels Special Issue

2006-09-03T00:25:00.000-07:00

Volvo Environmental

Volvo Bi-Fuel cars are equipped with dual fuel systems and tanks – one for methane gas and one for the backup fuel (petrol).
Methane – an environmentally sound choice
Methane can come from either natural gas or bio methane. Natural gas provides approximately 25% lower carbon dioxide emissions than petrol – and as bio methane does not come from a fossil source and is a natural part of our eco-cycle, it causes no greenhouse effect at all.
Long mileage range – without so much as a dent in load capacity
To provide you with the same generous space as our petrol or diesel driven models, the methane tanks are fitted beneath the floor. A full tank of methane will take you between 250 and 300 km*, while the reserve tank holds enough petrol to take you a further 300 to 350 km. The engine automatically switches to petrol if the gas tank empties while you’re driving. And you're free to switch between fuel types whenever you like.
*Depending on the type and grade of the gas.
An economical choice
Compared with a conventional car, a Volvo Bi-Fuel can help reduce your total running costs. In most European countries, the cost of fuel for a Volvo Bi-Fuel running on methane will be between 10% and 60% of that for its petrol driven alternative. The variations between countries are mainly due to differences in fuel tax, but there are also some local variations in pre-tax pricing.
Apart from fuel savings, there are other economical benefits to be found such as:
Admittance to certain toll roads and city centres where vehicles using conventional fuels have restricted access.
Governmental purchasing subsidies or favourable financing rates.
Other preferential treatment, such as free or subsidised inner-city parking.
Fiscal incentives in the form of reduced purchase tax or excise duty, and lower annual road tax, plus favourable treatment concerning company car tax values.
EU-wide proposal for increased use of alternative fuels (natural gas – CNG – and biofuels) means you’ll be in a position to benefit as soon as changes are put into place.

Vehicle offer
The following Volvo models are available in Bi-Fuel versions*: S60 CNG/biogas/petrol
V70 CNG/biogas/petrol*Bi-Fuel vehicles may not be available in all countries, please check with your Volvo Dealership.

2006-08-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Hydrogen Device

Could Boost Fuel Cell Industry

Development of Hydrogen generation systems unfolds significant growth opportunities for fuel cell technology. Hydrogen generation system, converts Fischer-Tropsch fuels into hydrogen, which is, then turned into high value and cleaner sources of energy like electricity and heat employing fuel cell technology.
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The ability to harness hydrogen for energy, competently and cost-effectively, will introduce a new chapter in a nations economic prowess restructure industries and improving lives. With Fuel cell automobiles being approximately 100 times cleaner, less noisy, cost effective as compared to any Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) the advantages are phenomenal.
The research report on fuel cell technology, "Market for Fuel Cell Technology (2006-2007)" brings to light the revolutionary potential of the fuel cell technology for global automotive industry. In 2005, around 35 stations for hydrogen generation became operational globally with the majority being located in the U.S. By the end of 2005, globally the number of stations stood at 120 and is expected to grow to 165 by the end of 2006. The report finds out that Hydrogen generation is attracting increased attention with countries trying to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and to reduce emission of green house gases.
The industry report deals with certain critical issues associated with the market of fuel cell technology. It focuses on the following:
The significant features of fuel cell technology.
The current status of fuel Cell industry.
The Automotive Hydrogen Infrastructure.
The countries investing in R&D for fuel cell industry.
The Government initiatives for growth of business.
Competitive advantage of companies operating different fuel cell projects.
RNCOS market research report "Market for Fuel Cell Technology (2006-2007) offers a detailed analysis of the Global fuel cell industry highlighting the rapid developments and future prospects. There's immense scope of success for serious contenders aiming to redefine and develop fuels for engines that move our world.
About RNCOS: RNCOS, incorporated in 2002, provides Market Research Reports for your business needs and aims to put an end to your information pursuit. Our expertise in gathering global business information for industry research, corporate training, growth consulting, and business consulting, brings reputed companies and firms to us for business enhancement solutions. We can be your one-stop-shop for Industry research information and niche market analysis.

2006-08-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Alternative fuels, especially for cars, are a global issue. Go to almost any city in the world and before too long you will realise that we all share a common problem - exhaust fumes from petrol and diesel engines have created smogs and reduced the quality of the air we breathe. Alternative fuels for cars have become an essential part of everyday life.
Over recent years, authorities in many countries have taken action to curb the amounts of harmful exhaust emissions released in cities. In some Italian cities where alternative fuels are not widely used, drivers may only use their vehicles on alternate days. As for Japan, there is a ban on the use of vehicles which have not met stringent emissions tests. A practical alternative to these fuels for cars has to be found. It seems likely that restrictive measures will be used more widely in the future and that drivers will need to become more aware of what they can do to stay on the road.
Global acceptance of alternative fuels is the cleaner way ahead, so welcome Shell Gas Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). LPG, the most versatile of the alternative fuels, has been in use commercially for over 60 years and has an impressive safety record. First choice among alternative fuels, LPG also has the lowest life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of all commercial fuels and LPG engines emit fewer of the particulates which cause smog.
In addition, using LPG will prolong engine life and reduce the consumption of lubricating oils. Other alternative fuels for cars cannot match this performance.
Whether for private transport by car, public transport by bus or taxi, alternative fuels are here to stay. Only LPG from Shell Gas can offer a practical, cleaner alternative to petrol or diesel.
You can also enjoy the benefits of LPG for your business vehicles. Using LPG to power fork lift trucks or fuel your fleet can reduce costs as well as harmful emissions.

Ownership of LPG cars is gathering speed. Did you know that over four million vehicles worldwide are now powered by LPG? - that number is increasing every day. So why have so many drivers switched from conventional petrol and diesel car driving to LPG cars, and why should you consider joining them?
We all know that using petrol or diesel can reduce air quality in cities and that the exhaust fumes contribute to the greenhouse effect. Filling your tank with LPG can help to reduce the impact your car makes on the environment around you.
For instance, LPG cars produce 90% fewer particulate emissions and 90% less Nitrogen Oxides than diesel engines. LPG engines produce 75% less Carbon Monoxide than petrol and have 87% less Ozone forming potential. If you spill LPG, it evaporates rather than soaking into and polluting the ground. LPG engines run up to 50% more quietly than diesel engines.
But what will helping to reduce pollution mean for you and your car?
Reduced vibration in LPG car engines, means longer engine life. As LPG is a gas in the engine, it doesn’t wash away oil from the cylinder walls. Wear and tear on LPG cars cylinder bores is lessened. This means that you don’t have to replace lubricating oils as frequently as on conventional engines. LPG cars are much cheaper than the equivalent petrol or diesel and there is often favourable tax or licensing concessions, which means running on LPG can save you money too. Crash and fire tests show that LPG tanks are safer than petrol.
In many countries, grants and subsidies help drivers convert conventional cars to LPG cars. In other words, LPG cars are a practical and clean alternative to petrol and diesel vehicles - and LPG is available now.

2006-08-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

VeraSun Names

Paul Kreter as Vice President, Ethanol Sales

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Industry veteran joins ethanol producer to lead marketing efforts

BROOKINGS, S.D., Aug. 4 -- VeraSun Energy Corporation, the nation's second-largest ethanol producer, today announced the appointment of Paul Kreter to the position of Vice President, Ethanol Sales. In this role, he will be responsible for assisting in the development and execution of the Company's ethanol sales and distribution strategy.
Kreter brings more than 20 years of experience in the petrochemical industry to his new role at VeraSun. Previously, he worked at Methanex Methanol Company, where he was responsible for sales to some of the largest methanol consumers in the world. Kreter began his career with ARCO Chemical Co. as a research chemist, ultimately moving into sales of chemicals and MTBE.
"We're pleased to have an industry veteran like Paul Kreter join VeraSun," said Bill Honnef, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing. "His experience and expertise will complete the VeraSun Ethanol Sales and Marketing Team."
Kreter graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, and earned an MBA from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from The Ohio State University.
About VeraSun Energy Corporation
VeraSun Energy Corporation is the second-largest ethanol producer in the U.S. based on production. The company has two operating production facilities located in Aurora, South Dakota, and Fort Dodge, Iowa, is constructing a third facility in Charles City, Iowa, and has two additional facilities under development in Welcome, Minnesota, and Northwestern Iowa. Upon completion of the new facilities, VeraSun will have an annual production capacity of approximately 560 million gallons of ethanol per year.
VeraSun's branded E85 is now available at more than 70 retail locations. The company markets VeraSun E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline for Flexible Fuel vehicles(FFVs), directly to fuel retailers under the brand VE85(TM). For more information, please visit the VeraSun websites at http://www.verasun.com/ or http://www.ve85.com/ .
Web sites: http://www.verasun.comhttp://www.VE85.com

2006-07-17T00:13:00.000-07:00

These days we don't only need to use petrol in cars. Although they are not as common at the moment there are a lot of different options.Quite often if you use a non-petrol car, then the fuel is cheaper and you can get discounts and exemptions. For example, energy efficient cars don't have to pay the London Congestion charge. This means that companies who have a lot of cars are switching to cleaner ones. The only problem with most of these types of car is that the fuel isn't available everywhere so you might go out and get stuck!
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LPG

LPG stands for Liquefied Petroleum Gas. It’s a mixture of light hydrocarbons, which are gases. LP Gas occurs naturally in crude oil and natural gas production fields and is also produced in the oil refining process. It can be easily liquefied for storage and transportation by an increase in pressure or by a reduction in temperature. Therefore it can be moved around like a liquid, but burned like a gas. Its a lot cleaner burning than petrol too, because it lacks many of the toxic chemicals found in petrol. There are LPG cars commercially available to the public and you can also get your current car converted to take LPG if it is not too old.

LNG

Liquefied Natural Gas is called LNG. It has a higher energy density than any other fuel available today. LNG also has a higher octane rating, which allows vehicles to run more efficiently. Natural Gas is not a new intervention, but has been around for over 100 years. LNG is a likely fuel for cars in the near future.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is one of the most promising of all the alternative fuels to be the power source of tomorrow for cars. It is easily produced through electrolysis, simply splitting water (H20) into oxygen and hydrogen by using electricity. Most hydrogen is made from natural gas, though. When it's burned, it turns into heat and water vapour, making it the cleanest burning of all the fuels on this page. It is still in the experimental stage, but various German cars companies and some American ones are working on it's development.

Electricity

Electric cars are usually powered by batteries that are recharged nightly. Some, which are called hybrids, contain a fuel=cell that uses another form of energy (usually petrol) and converts it into electric power. Electric powered cars are becoming the most popular alternative-fuel vehicles. They are also one of the easiest to find. One thing about them which some people don't realize, is that although they are zero-emission cars, they do relay on power from power-plants. Fossil-fuel powered plants produce much population.

Alcohol

Methanol and ethanol are alcohols. Ethanol is usually made from corn or biomass (agricultural biological waste). Methanol can be made from various biomass like wood or from coal. However, today most methanol is made from natural gas, because it is cheaper. Alcohol fuels contain more power, but less energy, in a gallon than petrol. That means that it'll make you're car go faster, but you'll get less MPG.

Fuel Cells

Fuel-cells are batteries that are use fuel sources such as petrol, methanol, hydrogen, or natural gases for power. They convert the energy from that fuel source into electricity that powers the car. About every car manufacturer is working on developing fuel-cell cars at this time. The Honda Insight is a fuel-cell car that is available on the market. It gets around 70 miles per gallon. There is emission, but much less than regular cars.

Hybrid Cars

Hybrids are cars that use two fuel sources for energy. Most that are available now are use petrol-electric power. They gets more MPG and produce less pollution than regular cars. Hybrid cars are probably the best thing to buy, so you aren't stuck if one fuel source runs out.

Solar Power

Solar power? No emission or toxic gases, no fuel to buy, just a car covered in solar cells. There's a few problems with it though...no sun, no power. It really wouldn't be the best choice of a car for Britain. Some solar-powered cars store energy in a battery cell so you can drive when the sun isn't out. But if the sun doesn't come out for a few days, you're stuck at home.

Bio-Diesel

Bio-diesel is a lot like normal diesel fuel, but it's made from plant and animal waste or fat. It's not necessarily a clean burning fuel, but it is made from a renewable resource. In Australia, it's becoming a popular alternative to petrol, but it really hasn't caught on in America yet. Bio-diesel can be used in diesel engine cars, but not normal petrol engine cars.

2006-07-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

These rugged pickups owe their strength and reliability to the VORTEC 5300 V8 engine. It owes its 10% edge in fuel efficiency to electric/hybrid technologies such as fuel shutoff at idle, electro-hydraulic power assist and regenerative braking.
Tools and appliances can be powered by the four 120-volt AC outlets, two in the cab and two in the truck bed, providing convenience without sacrificing valuable truck bed space. Availability is limited. Please contact a dealer near you.

2006-07-01T00:55:00.000-07:00

Biodiesel as a Transportation Fuel

What is biodiesel?

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel produced from renewable resources, such as soybeans or used restaurant grease. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in diesel engines with no major modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

Is biodiesel used as a pure fuel or is it blended with petroleum diesel?

Biodiesel can be used as a pure fuel or blended with petroleum in any percentage. B20 (a blend of 20 percent by volume biodiesel with 80 percent by volume petroleum diesel), B2, and B5 are common fuel blends used today.

Is it approved for use in the U.S.?

Biodiesel is registered as a fuel and fuel additive with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and meets clean diesel standards established by the California Air Resources Board (ARB). Neat (100 percent) biodiesel has been designated as an alternative fuel by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

How do biodiesel emissions compare to petroleum diesel?

Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the health effects testing requirements under the Clean Air Act. The use of biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine results in substantial reductions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter compared to emissions from diesel fuel.

Can biodiesel help mitigate "global warming"?

A 1998 biodiesel life cycle study, jointly sponsored by DOE and the U.S. Department of Agriculture,concluded biodiesel reduces net carbon dioxide emissions by 78 percent compared to petroleum diesel. This is due to biodiesel's closed carbon cycle.The CO2 released into the atmosphere when biodiesel is burned is recycled by growing plants, which are later processed into fuel.

Is biodiesel better for human health than petroleum diesel?

All outdoor air pollution is estimated to pose one percent of our cancer risk. Scientific research confirms that biodiesel exhaust has a less harmful impact on human health than petroleum diesel fuel. Biodiesel emissions have roughly 45-90 percent lower toxic emissions compared to diesel.

Does biodiesel cost more than other alternative fuels?

When evaluating the total costs associated with other alternative fuel systems, many fleet managers have determined biodiesel is their least-cost-strategy to comply with state and federal regulations. Use of biodiesel does not require major engine modifications. That means operators keep their fleets, their spare parts inventories, their refueling stations, and their skilled mechanics. The only thing that changes is air quality.

Do I need special storage facilities?

In general, the standard storage and handling procedures used for petroleum diesel can be used for biodiesel. The fuel should be stored in a clean, dry, dark environment. Acceptable storage tank materials include aluminum, steel, fluorinated polyethylene, fluorinated polypropylene, and teflon. Copper, brass, lead, tin, and zinc should be avoided.

Can I use biodiesel in my existing diesel engine?

Biodiesel works in any diesel engine with few or no modifications to the engine or the fuel system. Most major engine companies have stated formally that the use of blends up to B20 will not void their parts and workmanship warranties. This includes blends below 20 percent biodiesel, such as the two percent biodiesel blends that are becoming more common.

Where can I purchase biodiesel?

Biodiesel is available many places in the United States. The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) maintains a list of registered fuel suppliers. A current list is available on the biodiesel website or by calling NBB at (800) 841-5849.

Is biodiesel being used in California?

Currently, more than 4 million gallons of biodiesel per year is being used in California at such locations as the Channel Islands National Park, Yosemite National Park, the City of Berkeley, and at U.S. Military installations.

2006-07-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

Reducing Petroleum Use &
Encouraging Alternative Fuel Use

As the fifth largest economy in the world, California is a nation state that runs on energy. Every day, we spend $22 million for natural gas, $82 million on electricity, and $82 million for gasoline and diesel. In addition, the demand for transportation fuels in California is increasing at a rapid rate, projected to grow by almost 35 percent over the next 20 years. Petroleum will be the primary source of California's transportation fuels for the foreseeable future, and as demand continues to rise and in-state and Alaskan petroleum supplies diminish, California will rely more and more on foreign imports of crude oil.

The State of California has supported the development of alternative transportation fuels (fuels other than gasoline or diesel) since the creation of the Energy Commission in 1975. Earlier programs included demonstration programs with vehicles using ethanol and methanol; infrastructure development for methanol/gasoline blends; support for flexible fuel, natural gas, and electric vehicles.

Nearly 100 percent of the state's transportation system is fueled currently by fossil fuels. Moving toward a more diversified range of fuels and supporting the advancement of higher efficiency vehicles is one of the goals of the state's programs.
Even though improving vehicle efficiency is the single most effective means to reduce petroleum dependence, the Energy Commission and the California Air Resources Board have concluded that improving vehicle efficiency alone will not be enough. For that reason, California must also focus on increasing our use of alternative fuels, including:

Biodiesel
Electricity
Ethanol
Gas-to-Liquid Fuels (natural gas to diesel fuel)
Hydrogen
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG, also known as propane)
Natural Gas

The Energy Commission's 2003 Integrated Energy Policy Report recommended several actions to promote affordable energy supplies; improve energy reliability; and enhance public health, economic well-being, and environmental quality.

One of the transportation energy recommendations established a goal for the use of alternative fuels:
"Increase the use of non-petroleum fuels to 20 percent of on-road fuel consumption by 2020 and 30 percent by 2030 based on identified strategies that are achievable and cost-beneficial."

California is already home to a growing number of alternative fuel vehicles, through the efforts of the Energy Commission, California Air Resources Board, local air districts, federal government, transit agencies, utilities, and other public and private entities. More than 61,000 cars, transit buses, and trucks currently operate on natural gas and LPG, along with over 10,000 electric vehicles. California also has more than 900 fueling stations dispensing a variety of non-petroleum fuels.

Increasing the use of these fuels, however, faces significant uncertainties such as the availability of new vehicle technologies, the cost and availability of new fueling infrastructures, and acceptance of these fuels by consumers.

Currently, the Energy Commission is working with stakeholders of various alternative fuels. These stakeholder working groups have participated in informal surveys to identify the principal barriers that exist to developing a more robust alternative fuels market in California, and to develop recommendations for overcoming or mitigating those barriers.
The Energy Commission is developing its 2005 Integrated Energy Policy Report. This major energy policy document for the state is expected to include the results of the stakeholder working groups and recommend actions that the state can take to help meet the 2020 goal of 20 percent alternative fuel use in California.

Over 100 participants have provided ideas, comments, and concerns during this process. By working together in this way, private industry, public agencies, and public interest groups can help to ensure that the future of California's transportation energy use is protected from supply disruptions and high prices.

2006-07-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

FreedomCAR and Fuel Technical Partnership
Technical Goals

To measure progress toward the long-term vision, the partners have identified a number of technology-specific goals for the years 2010 and 2015. The Partnership focuses on component, subsystem, and infrastructure technologies to achieve these goals. As business cases for the technologies can be established, industry partner companies will make independent decisions concerning commercialization.

Technology-Specific 2010 and 2015 Goals1
This section summarizes the key technical goals for the 2010 and 2015 time frames. The technical teams will establish additional goals and milestones as appropriate.

To ensure reliable systems for future fuel cell powertrains with costs comparable to conventional internal combustion engine/automatic transmission systems, the goals are:
Electric propulsion system with a 15-year life capable of delivering at least 55 kilowatts (kW) for 18 seconds, and 30 kW continuous at a system cost of $12/kW peak
60% peak energy-efficient, durable fuel cell power system (including hydrogen storage) that achieves a 325 watts per kilogram (W/kg) power density and 220 watts per liter (W/L) operating on hydrogen. Cost targets are at $45/kW by 2010 ($30/kW by 2015)2
To enable clean, energy-efficient vehicles operating on clean, hydrocarbon-based fuels powered by either internal-combustion powertrains or fuel cells, the goals are:
Internal combustion engine powertrain systems costing $30/kW, having a peak brake engine efficiency of 45%, and that meet or exceed emissions standards
Fuel cell systems, including a fuel reformer, having a peak brake engine efficiency of 45%, and that meet or exceed emissions standards with a cost target of $45/kW by 2010 and $30/kW in 2015 2,3
To enable reliable hybrid electric vehicles that are durable and affordable, the goal is:
Electric drivetrain energy storage with 15-year life at 300 Whr per vehicle with discharge power of 25 kW for 18 seconds and $20/kW
To enable the transition to a hydrogen economy, ensure widespread availability of hydrogen fuels, and retain the functional characteristics of current vehicles, the goals are:
Demonstrated hydrogen refueling with developed commercial codes and standards and diverse renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. Targets: 70% energy efficiency well-to-pump; cost of energy from hydrogen equivalent to gasoline at market price, assumed to be $1.50 per gallon (2001 dollars) 4
Onboard hydrogen storage systems demonstrating specific energy of 2.0 kWh/kg (6 weight percent hydrogen), and energy density of 1.5 kWh/liter at a cost of $4/kWh by 2010 and specific energy of 3.0 kWh/kg (9 weight percent hydrogen), 2.7 kWh/liter, and $2.00/kWh by 2015
Internal combustion engine powertrain systems operating on hydrogen with a cost target of $45/kW by 2010 and $30/kW in 2015, having a peak brake engine efficiency of 45%, and that meet or exceed emissions standards.
To enable lightweight vehicle structures and systems, the goal is:
Material and manufacturing technologies for high-volume production vehicles that enable or support the simultaneous attainment of:
50% reduction in weight of vehicle structure and subsystems
Affordability, and
Increased use of recyclable/renewable materials.
Notes
Cost references based on CY 2001 dollar values. Where power (kW) targets are specified, those targets are to ensure that technology challenges that would occur in a range of light-duty vehicle types would have to be addressed.
Does not include vehicle traction electronics
Includes fuel cell stack subsystem, fuel processor subsystem and auxiliaries; does not include fuel tank
Targets are for hydrogen dispensed to a vehicle assuming a reforming, compressing and dispensing system capable of dispensing 150 kg per day (assuming 60,000 SCF per day of natural gas is fed for reforming at the retail dispensing station) and servicing a fleet of 300 vehicles per day (assuming 0.5 kg used in each vehicle per day). Targets are also based on several thousand stations, and possibly demonstrated on several hundred stations. Technologies may also include chemical hydrides such as sodium borohydride.
Based on lower heating value of hydrogen; allows over 300-mile range

Bifuel and CNG Vehicles

2006-07-01T00:41:00.000-07:00

Bifuel and CNG Vehicles

A bi-fuel vehicle has two separate fuel systems, one for gasoline or diesel and another for either liquefied propane gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG). Because CNG and LPG stored in pressurized tanks, they cannot be simply pumped into the gasoline tank. The bi-fuel design allows the use of an alternative fuel when available.

The need for two separate fuel systems and a storage tank for a gaseous fuel increases the cost of bi-fuel vehicles and reduces cargo space. A propane tank, for example, is about the size of a spare tire.

Where low cost CNG or LPG is available, however, bi-fuel vehicles can offer a cleaner, more economical alternative to gasoline or diesel. CNG is one of the cleanest of the fossil fuels. Compared to gasoline, its use could bring about a significant reduction in tailpipe emissions of carbon monoxide (about 70%), nitrogen oxides (about 50%), and ozone-causing pollutants (about 90%). In addition, particulate emissions would be almost eliminated. In tests conducted in California, propane-powered vehicles produced about 45% less carbon monoxide than did gasoline vehicles and about 20% less nitrogen oxides; they also had about 60% less smog forming pollution.

Flex-Fuel Vehicles

2006-07-01T00:40:00.000-07:00

Flex-Fuel Vehicles
A flexible fueled vehicle (FFV) has a single fuel tank, fuel system, and engine. The vehicle is designed to run on unleaded gasoline and an alcohol fuel (usually ethanol) in any mixture. The engine and fuel system in a flex-fuel vehicle must be adapted slightly to run on alcohol fuels because they are corrosive. There must also be a special sensor in the fuel line to analyze the fuel mixture and control the fuel injection and timing to adjust for different fuel compositions. The flex-fuel vehicle offers its owner an environmentally beneficial option whenever the alternative fuel is available.

Flex-fuel technology was created by Ford Motor Company in the mid-1980s. Flexible fueled vehicles (also called variable fuel vehicles) have been produced by Ford (Ranger, Crown Victoria and Taurus), GM (Chevy S-10 and GMC Sonoma), and Daimler-Chrysler (Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan).

2006-06-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Ethanol Vehicles

What Types of Vehicles Use Ethanol?

on gasoline/ethanol blends with up to 10% ethanol. In fact, some states require the seasonal or year-round use of up to 10% ethanol as an oxygenate additive to gasoline to mitigate ozone formation. These low percentage oxygenate blends are not classified as alternative fuels. We speak of ethanol vehicles as those specifically manufactured to be capable of running on up to 85% denatured ethanol, 15% gasoline (E85), or any mixture of the two up to the 85% ethanol limit. E85 may be seasonally adjusted in colder climates such that the real proportion of E85 is less than 85% ethanol. Vehicles manufactured for E85 use are commonly called flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs).Light-duty FFVs include a wide range of vehicles, from compacts to sport utility vehicles to pickup trucks. Unlike bi-fuel natural gas and propane vehicles that have two unique fueling systems, FFVs have only one fueling system. To qualify as an alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) for tax credits, incentives to meet requirements for mandated fleets (federal, state, and fuel provider fleets) under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct), a vehicle must be capable of using fuel blends up to 85% ethanol.

Vehicle Availability

FFVs are widely available. As of 2005, the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition estimated that approximately 5 million FFVs have already been sold in the United States, although many buyers remain unaware that they may fuel with E85. Check your owner's manual, visit with your dealer, or to determine if you drive a vehicle that can fuel with E85.

Fuel Availability

E85 fueling stations are located primarily in the Midwest; more than 150 public E85 stations are available across the United States. The actual fueling process is the same as fueling with gasoline or diesel. Visit our station locator to find the stations in your area.Vehicle ExperienceFFVs have recently become widely used by consumers, but they have operated in private and government fleets for years. Take a look at our Clean Cities fleet success stories for details.

Vehicle and Fuel Cost

E85 is usually sold at prices comparable to regular grade gasoline, although prices vary regionally.With the mass production of some E85 compatible vehicles, original equipment manufacturers usually offer these vehicles at the same prices as comparable gasoline vehicles. In some cases, E85 compatibility is offered as a vehicle option at a slight cost increase to the consumer.

Maintenance Considerations

Use of special lubricants may be required for FFVs. Check the owner's manual or consult with the manufacturer to ensure that the correct engine oil is used. Use E85 replacement parts (identify E85 as the fuel when ordering). Maintenance assistance is available from local dealers; practices are very similar, if not identical, to those for conventionally fueled vehicles.

Benefits

Compared with gasoline-fueled vehicles, most ethanol-fueled vehicles produce lower carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions and the same or lower levels of hydrocarbon and non-methane hydrocarbon emissions. Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions are about the same for ethanol and gasoline vehicles. E85 has fewer highly volatile components than gasoline and so has fewer evaporative emissions.Ethanol is domestically produced, so its use helps reduce the nation's dependence on imported oil and can help boost the agricultural sector's economy. In addition, it's a renewable fuel made from domestically grown crops like corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, barley, and wheat. Currently, increased R&D efforts are being conducted on the use of cellulosic biomass, such as corn stover, switchgrass, and other bio-feedstocks for the production of ethanol.General Motors has a fun "Cornulator" on its Live Green. Use it to estimate barrels of oil saved by fueling with E85.PerformanceEthanol is a high-octane fuel and has 80% or more of the energy content of gasoline. Some auto manufacturers are installing larger fuel tanks, so the range of FFVs is similar to gasoline vehicles. Power, acceleration, payload, and cruise speed of vehicles operating with E85 are comparable to those operating with equivalent conventional fuels.

Model:
Chrysler Sebring

Manufacturer:
DaimlerChrysler

City MPG:15
Highway MPG:20
Emission Certification:LEV
Fuel Configuration:Ethanol
Incremental Cost:$ 0
Transmission:4-speed automatic
Engine:DOHC 24-Valve 2.7
Dealer Phone:800-999-3533
Description:
The Chrysler Sebring 4-door sedans can be ordered with the 2.7-liter V6 engines that can run on E85 (ethanol), gasoline, or any combination of the two fuels.

Model:
F-150
Manufacturer:
Ford Motor Co.

City MPG:11
Highway MPG:14
Emission Certification:ULEV
Fuel Configuration:Ethanol
Incremental Cost:$ 0
Transmission:4-speed automatic,
Engine:SOHC 5.4 L
Dealer Phone:1-800-34-FLEET
Description:
None of Ford’s 2006 E85 models can be purchased in California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, or Vermont.

Model:
Titan
Manufacturer:
Nissan

City MPG:10
Highway MPG:14
Emission Certification:LEV
Fuel Configuration:Ethanol
Incremental Cost:$ 0
Transmission:5-speed automatic
Engine:5.6L
Description:
The Titan FFV has a 5.6L DOHC V-8 engine capable or running on standard gasoline, E85, or any mixture of the two fuels. Revised intake valves, fuel injectors, engine calibration and Iridium spark plugs give the Titan FFV improved combustion efficiency. The MY05 Titan FFV will be available in all existing Titan configurations. Options and pricing remain the same as standard Titan models.

2006-06-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Neighborhood
Electric Vehicles

Neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) can potentially meet the needs of many people and businesses. If you usually drive short trips on local streets, need just a small amount of cargo space, and drive less than 25 miles at a time, then an NEV might be a perfect fit for you.
What Is a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle?
Neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs), or low-speed vehicles (LSVs), are compact, one- to four-passenger vehicles powered by rechargeable batteries and electric motors.
On June 17, 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) officially recognized NEVs as a form of transportation. Since then, 37 states have passed legislation allowing these vehicles to be driven on roads with posted speed limits of 35 miles per hour or lower.
NEVs are designed for drivers traveling short distances at slow speeds where traffic, parking, and air pollution may be concerns. An NEV is a cost-effective solution to these problems because it is more compact than a conventional vehicle and requires less space to park and less space on the road. Like a full-size EV, an NEV is a zero emission vehicle and produces no tailpipe or evaporative emissions.
Vehicle Availability
There are several good options if you are interested in buying an NEV. Some of these vehicles may look like golf carts or futuristic space vehicles, but regardless of their appearance, they are solid vehicles that can come equipped with a windshield, turn signals, wiper blades, rearview mirrors, head and tail lights, seatbelts, reflectors, and a parking brake.

Fuel Availability

You can recharge an NEV by simply plugging it into a standard 110-volt outlet. Many NEVs are charged on the private grounds where they operate. But there are also a number of electric fueling stations throughout the country where NEVs can be recharged. To view a list of all available electric vehicle charging stations, go to the Alternative Fuel Station Locator.

Benefits

NEVs emit zero tailpipe emissions or evaporative emissions that contribute to air pollution and global warming. While some pollution can be attributed to power stations that burn natural gas and coal to produce the electricity used to re-charge the vehicle's battery, NEVs, when used instead of automobiles, can help reduce air pollution and our nation's dependence on imported oil.

NEVs are smaller and take up less space on the road, so they help reduce traffic congestion.
They are inexpensive to fuel because the cost of electricity per kilowatt-hour usually compares favorably to that of gasoline. Rates vary depending on location.
More than 95% of the electricity used to recharge NEVs originates from domestic resources, so driving an NEV reduces the nation's dependence on imported oil.

2006-06-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

Model:Civic GX
Manufacturer:Honda
City MPG:30
Highway MPG:34
Emission Certification:SULEV
Fuel Configuration:Natural Gas
Incremental Cost:$ 4500
Transmission:Automatic (CVT)
Engine:SOHC 1.7 L
Dealer Phone:
1-888-CC-HONDA
Description:
This 4-door compact sedan for fleets features a 1.7-liter, 4-cylinder SOHC natural gas engine and has a driving range of about 200 miles. California Emissions Certification: AT-PZEV. U.S. EPA Emissions Rating: Tier-II Bin-2 + ILEV. Fuel Capacity is 7.2 gasoline gallon equivalents at 3,000 psi and 8.0 GGE at 3,600 psi

Natural Gas Vehicles

What Types of Vehicles Run on Natural Gas?

According to the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition (NGVC), as of 2005 there are 130,000 light- and heavy-duty compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicles in the United States and 5 million worldwide.
Dedicated natural gas vehicles (NGVs) are designed to run only on natural gas; bi-fuel NGVs have two separate fueling systems that enable the vehicle to use either natural gas or a conventional fuel (gasoline or diesel). In general, dedicated NGVs demonstrate better performance and have lower emissions than bi-fuel vehicles because their engines are optimized to run on natural gas. In addition, the vehicle does not have to carry two types of fuel, thereby increasing cargo capacity and reducing weight.
There are a few light-duty NGVs still available, but if you want a specific type of vehicle, you may want to consider retrofitting a vehicle to an NGV by using an aftermarket conversion system. Heavy-duty NGVs are also available as trucks, buses, and shuttles. Approximately one of every five new transit buses in the United States is powered by natural gas. Learn more about how natural gas vehicles are being used by reading our CNG and LNG Success Stories.
As a new twist, tests are being conducted using natural gas vehicles that are fueled with a blend of compressed natural gas and hydrogen. For more information on CNG/hydrogen blends.

Vehicle Availability

This model year, auto manufacturers are producing fewer models than in years past. In order to get more vehicle options, you may choose to retrofit your own vehicle. Learn more about aftermarket vehicle conversions.
Light-Duty Vehicles
Light-duty dedicated NGVs
Light-duty bi-fuel NGVs
Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Heavy-duty NGVs
Other Natural Gas Vehicle Purchasing Tools:
National Gas Vehicles Purchasing Guide (2003) )A Natural Gas Vehicle Guide to purchasing light-duty natural gas vehicles, prepared by the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition. (2003)
Heavy Vehicle and Engine Resource Guide -This is a U.S. Department of Energy guide that provides a comprehensive product catalog of medium- and heavy-duty engines and vehicles with alternative fuel and advanced powertrain options. (December 2001)
Clean Fleet Guide-This online tool helps fleets decide on which alternative fuel vehicle is right for them.

Fuel Availability

CNG fueling stations are located in most major cities and in many rural areas. Public LNG stations are limited and used mostly by fleets and heavy-duty trucks. LNG is available through suppliers of cryogenic liquids. You may use the Refueling Station Locator to search for a CNG or LNG refueling station near you.

Vehicle Safety

Natural gas vehicles are just as safe as today's conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles. They use pressurized tanks, which have been designed to withstand severe impact, high external temperatures, and environmental exposure.
Adequate training is required to operate and maintain natural gas vehicles because they are different than gasoline or diesel vehicles. Training and certification of service technicians is required. Learn more about alternative fuels training programs.

Vehicle Costs

In general, a natural gas vehicle can be less expensive to operate than a comparable conventionally fueled vehicle depending on natural gas prices. Natural gas can cost less than gasoline and diesel (per energy equivalent gallon); however, local utility rates can vary.
Purchase prices for natural gas vehicles are somewhat higher than for similar conventional vehicles. The auto manufacturers' typical price premium for a light-duty CNG vehicle can be $1,500 to $6,000, and for heavy-duty trucks and buses it is in the range of $30,000 to $50,000. Federal and other incentives can help defray some of the increase in vehicle acquisition costs. In addition, fleets may need to purchase service and diagnostic equipment if access to commercial CNG/LNG vehicle maintenance facilities is not available. Learn more about NGV tax incentives.
Retrofitting a conventional vehicle so it can run on CNG may cost $2,000 to $4,000 per vehicle.
Maintenance Considerations
High-pressure tanks that hold CNG require periodic inspection and certification by a licensed inspector. Find a certified cylinder inspector on the CSA - International Web site.
Fleets doing on-site maintenance may need to upgrade their facilities to accomodate NGVs. Costs for upgrading maintenance facilities will depend on the number of modifications required.
Some natural gas vehicle manufacturers now recommend oil changes at intervals twice as long as similar gasoline or diesel models (10,000-12,000 miles). Refer to the vehicle owner's manual or consult the manufacturer to determine proper maintenance intervals.

Benefits

Compared with vehicles fueled by conventional diesel and gasoline, NGVs can produce significantly lower amounts of harmful emissions such as nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and toxic and carcinogenic pollutants. NGVs can also reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas. For details, see the following publications from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:
Clean Alternative Fuels: Compressed Natural Gas
Clean Alternative Fuels: Liquefied Natural Gas-- The cost of a gasoline-gallon equivalent of CNG can be favorable compared to that of gasoline, but varies depending on local natural gas prices. Natural gas is mostly domestically produced. In 2004, net imports of natural gas was approximately 15% of the total used, with almost all the imports coming from Canada.
Some natural gas vehicle owners report service lives 2 to 3 years longer than gasoline or diesel vehicles and extended time between required maintenance.

Performance

Vehicle range for CNG and LNG vehicles generally is less than that of comparable gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles because of the lower energy content of natural gas. Extra storage tanks can increase range, but the additional weight may displace some payload capacity.
NGV horsepower, acceleration, and cruise speed are comparable with those of an equivalent conventionally fueled vehicle.
Depending on the number of cylinders and their locations, some payload capacity may be compromised with NGVs.
Bi-fuel NGVs offer a driving range similar to that of gasoline vehicles.