Hybrid Cars
Diesel Lovin' VW Reveals Aggressive Hybrid Vehicle Plan
By Larry E. Hall
Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid
Volkswagen, along with other European auto companies, has long proclaimed diesels as a better green strategy than hybridization. True, diesels are efficient and practical, but in the U.S., they have a reputation of being noisy and smelly. VW has worked hard to overcome that image with cars like the Jetta TDI but now are apparently changing direction (although they still like diesels).
During a press conference last week at its Electronics Research Lab in Palo Alto, California, Volkswagen chairman Dr. Martin Winterkorn repeated the company's electrified slogan: “In the future, the heart of Volkswagen will also beat with electricity.” And in an opaque reference to the original Beetle, Winterkorn told the gathered media that “Volkswagen is working on the electric car for everyone.” (We'll report on VW's electric car strategy on PluginCars.com later today.) He added that hybrid and electric vehicles will account for three percent of the German carmaker's global sales by 2018.
The RoadmapWinterkorn concluded his remarks by laying out the company's roadmap for hybrid and electric vehicle introductions into the United States. First up is the 2011 Touareg Hybrid, which launches later this year.
Porsche Approves 918 Spyder Hybrid Supercar
The Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid debuted in Geneva.
Porsche AG's supervisory board has voted to move forward with production on the Porsche 918 Spyder, which first turned heads at March's Geneva Auto Show. The plug-in hybrid supercar has a top speed of nearly 199 mph, can accelerate from 0 to 62 in just 3.2 seconds, and comes with an astounding $650,000 price tag. The high-end carmaker says that it has received 2,000 non-binding submissions of interest for the 918—more than twice the required level of interest for the board to vote on production of a new vehicle.
The Spyder's two drivetrains provide a total of 718 hp, with 218 hp coming from a pair of 160kW electric motors and the other 500 coming from a 3.4 liter V8 engine. One motor will be mounted to each axis, with the V8 powering just the rear wheels. The electric drivetrain will provide about 16 miles of pure electric range when the vehicle's fluid-cooled lithium ion battery is fully charged—similar to Toyota's Prius plug-in hybrid.
Like the Prius, the Nissan LEAF and other more modestly priced plug-ins, the 918 will come with a dashboard computerized navigation system that tells drivers how far they can go on all-electric power and where the closest public charging station is.
Porsche says that the car will produce just 79g/km of emissions and get 78 miles to the gallon. (Of course, the method for calculating official fuel economy numbers for a plug-in hybrid remains a major point of contention within the industry and among regulators.) Since the 918 has four distinct modes—with each providing varying levels of performance and fuel economy—calculating its fuel efficiency is an even more complicated task. E-Drive Mode is the most efficient, with Race Hybrid Mode providing the gaudiest power numbers. In Race Hybrid Mode, the electric motors are used only for short bursts of additional passing power—meaning that fuel efficiency numbers plummet.
The Spyder isn't the only hybrid that Porsche is preparing for release in the near future. The Cayenne S hybrid SUV will be released in the coming months, with Panamera S sedan following next year. Both will be equipped with V6 engines and nickel metal hydride batteries, with the Cayenne yielding 25 mpg and the Panamera nearly 28 mpg.
Chevy Volt Offered at $350 Per Month, Matching Nissan LEAF Lease
General Motors announced today that the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid will be offered for sale at $41,000, or for a surprisingly low monthly lease cost of $350 per month (with a $2,500 initial payment.) The sticker price for the Volt is $8,200 higher than that of the $32,800 all-electric Nissan LEAF—though the two vehicles' lease prices are virtually identical.
The Volt's $41,000 sticker cost doesn't actually reflect what early buyers will pay for the car—the federal government is subsidizing the price of both it and the LEAF to the tune of $7,500. That brings real price of the Volt down to $33,500. For California drivers in particular though, the economic attractiveness of buying a LEAF versus a Volt is even stronger—the Volt plug-in hybrid isn't eligible for the state's $3,000 Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle rebate for plug-in hybrids.
When Does a $41,000 Car Cost the Same as a $32,000 Car?GM says that the apparent disparity between the Volt's sticker and lease prices is a reflection of the company's calculation that the vehicle will maintain a very high residual value after three years—significantly higher than that of the LEAF. Even if that is the case, it's probably more than just a coincidence that the result of that calculation was a monthly lease that matches up so closely to the LEAF's.
But there also seems to be bit of a hitch in GM's residual value logic. If electric vehicle incentives are still being offered three years from now, will any original lessees be interested in buying their used Volt when they can get a brand new plug-in for almost the same price?
Remember, the $7,500 federal credit only applies to new vehicles, and is subtracted from the monthly payment of the original lease. That means that whether or not the lessee decides to purchase the car at the end of 36 months, the Volt will effectively come full circle—from a $41,000 car that leases for the price of a $32,000 car, to a used car that resells for the price of a $41,000 car.
AFS Trinity Awarded Patent for Ultracap Hybrids
AFS Trinity claims that its ultracapacitor technologies could push the mileage of a small plug-in hybrid SUV to 150 mpg.
AFS Trinity Power Corporation today announced that it has been awarded a patent for its Extreme Hybrid drive train that makes ultracapacitors a critical part of plug-in hybrid strategy. For the last few years, AFS Trinity has claimed that using ultracaps could push the mileage of a small SUV to 150 mpg.
Capacitors store only small amounts of electricity but can provide bursts of power—reducing strain on hybrid batteries primarily designed to store large amounts of energy. Think of capacitors as a way to provide instant oomph. In fact, F1 has been using something similar—an energy-saving device known as Kinetic Energy Recover Systems—for a few years. The benefit of ultracapicators for everyday hybrids is the ability to use smaller, less expensive battery packs—especially on plug-in hybrids—and to extend battery durability and performance.
The AFT Trinity patent provides broad protection for its technology, covering the use of ultracapacitors, flywheels, and “power batteries” used to protect the main energy storage battery bank.
“By seamlessly integrating ultra-capacitors into the electronic propulsion system of plug-ins, the AFS Trinity system eliminates peak electric loads on the battery caused by the frequent acceleration and braking events that are part of everyday driving,” wrote AFS Trinity Chief Executive Officer Edward W. Furia, in a letter to federal legislators. “This innovation allows plug-ins to travel farther on smaller, less-expensive lithium-ion batteries, while also increasing the useful life of the batteries.” Furia is advocating that government incentives should support power-based systems, not just vehicles like the Chevy Volt that have large battery packs.
With Cap and Trade Dead, What's Left of the Energy Bill?
Before an impassioned plea from former Vice President Al Gore, the Obama Administration was reportedly ready to throw in the towel on climate legislation as early as last summer.
The White House and leading Democrats in the Senate have abandoned all efforts to pass comprehensive climate legislation this year. Senate leaders are said to be drafting a pared down energy bill that would create a handful of new incentives and programs but do nothing to cap greenhouse gas emissions.
Highlights of the limited bill include $5 billion dollars for energy-saving home retrofitting incentives, $4.1 billion in compressed natural gas vehicle incentives, expanded land and water conservation measures, and new reforms aimed at fixing the Department of the Interior's shameful record on offshore drilling oversight. The legislation would also increase the cap on oil spill liability from $75 million to $10 billion.
No Mention of Electric Vehicles or BiofuelsWhat's more notable about the legislation is what's missing. In addition to cap and trade, there is no mention of hybrid or electric vehicle incentives, clean energy financing or renewable energy targets. Also absent is an extension of the ethanol subsidies that are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
Both EVs and ethanol could be addressed in separate measures or could be folded into the bill at a later date. The Promoting Electric Vehicles Act of 2010—which would allocate $6 billion for plug-in cars—was passed out of committee last week, while the House Ways and Means Committee is considering extending ethanol subsidies, but cutting them from $0.45 to $0.36 per gallon.
Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Costs Same as Gas Version
Ford today announced that its new 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid will be priced at $35,180—exactly the same as the standard gasoline version.
The MKZ Hybrid is a luxury variant of the 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid, which is priced at $28,825. Both vehicles have a 156-horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder coupled with an electric motor to produce a total 191 horsepower, and deliver fuel-economy ratings of 41 mpg in the city and 36 on the highway.
This is the second major sign in the past week that hybrids are headed to the heart of the mainstream market. The other news is that Honda, starting next year, will only offer the hybrid version of the Honda Civic in Japan, and will stop selling the gas-powered Civic in the company's domestic market.
Kiss Hybrid Premium GoodbyeThe consistent criticism levied against hybrids is their additional cost compared to similar conventional vehicles. Hybrid critics acknowledge that gas-electric cars save gas, but they say the additional cost—in some cases, thousands of dollars more—means that consumers will not recoup the premium during their ownership period. That argument is erased if the hybrid version is offered at the same price as the conventional gas-powered car—or if the premium is only a couple hundred dollars. The hybrid premium argument is similarly erased if a popular high-volume vehicle is only offered as a hybrid.
James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book, told Detroit News, "It's very big news and I give Ford thumbs up for making it happen...The price difference is being washed away."
DOE Announces $122 Million 'Sunlight to Fuel' Grant
The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis is one of three Energy Innovation Hubs that DOE secretary Steven Chu will create for advanced energy research.
The Department of Energy has awarded a $122 million grant to a team of researchers based out of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to develop an efficient process for creating liquid fuel from sunlight. The process would essentially create artificial photosynthesis, but instead of converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar like plants do, researchers will create oxygen and hydrocarbons—the essential component of fuel used in combustion engines.
The potential applications of sunlight-to-fuel technology include carbon capture techniques that could allow factories and power plants to convert their carbon emissions into combustible fuel and oxygen on-site. Of course, implementation of any such method is anything but certain and years—if not decades—down the road.
Artificial photosynthesis is not a new idea, though issues of cost, scaling and efficiency have plagued the technology and prevented any serious attempts to move it out of the laboratory. The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis hopes to tackle these problems by using cobalt oxide nanocrystals as a catalyst in the photooxidation process. The nanocrystals are smaller and faster than other materials that have been used in artificial photosynthesis research, allowing for a much more efficient absorption of photons. Cobalt oxide is also cheap and abundant, whereas some of the other catalysts that have been experimented on are among the rarest and most expensive metals on earth.
Another challenge the team hopes to overcome is eliminating the intermediary processes that drive up costs and prevent viability. The JCAP will attempt to directly create a liquid fuel that doesn't need to be refined any further. In the past, researchers have been able to use solar energy to produce methane and other other gases that would then need to be liquified and refined in order to be used as fuel. Those processes greatly multiply the cost of production.
Are E85 Vehicles Destined for Extinction?
In 1988, the United States government began allowing carmakers to use E85 flex-fuel vehicles—which run on a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline—to help meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. For each mile-per-gallon a flex-fuel equipped vehicle is theoretically capable of getting from ethanol, the government said it would add to the vehicle's total fuel efficiency rating. For example, an E85 light duty truck that averages 13 mpg is currently credited with about a 23 mpg rating.
What the credits essentially do is help automakers cook their fuel economy books by producing hundreds of thousands of flex-fuel vehicles that will likely never even use E85—all the while getting credit for decreasing the amount of gasoline used by their fleet.
When gas prices are low, there is often virtually no economic incentive for drivers to fill their cars and trucks with ethanol. What's more, currently only about 2,500 of the 162,000 gas stations in the United States actually offer E85—and most of those are located in the Midwest. This means that many drivers of flex-fuel vehicles have no chance of using the fuel to significantly cut their petroleum consumption—even if they wanted to.
The End is Near?The federal government's special affinity for ethanol dates back decades, but it may be coming to an end soon. The E85 CAFE credits are scheduled to end in 2016, and a slew of other ethanol production and blending incentives have either expired or are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010.
Despite this, automakers say they're on track to follow through with their promise to double production on flex-fuel vehicles over 2006 levels. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler say that by the end of the year they will be prepared to collectively produce 1.4 million flex fuel vehicles per year, beginning in 2011. By 2012, American automakers say that half of the vehicles they make will be flex-fuel-capable.
New Ford Explorer, Not A Hybrid, Boosts Fuel Economy By 30 Percent
There was a time when automakers could meet fuel efficiency standards by shifting to smaller cars. No longer. Thanks to the so-called “footprint formula” used to establish higher fuel efficiency standards, automakers will need to make big gains in all segments in order to meet tougher efficiency levels starting in 2012. That’s why small cars like the gas-powered Honda Fit, which is rated at 35 MPG on the highway, might be offered as the Honda Fit Hybrid to push the MPG even higher. At the same time, full-line carmakers, using every efficiency trick in the book, will make their larger vehicles go further on a gallon of gas.
Case in point: The next-generation Ford Explorer, once the poster child for SUV-obsessed America, will move to a car-like unibody construction and add an EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engine and six-speed automatic transmission as its standard powertrain. As a result, the 2011 Ford Explorer should turn in combined highway-city fuel economy above 20 MPG.
Creativity is the key to improving efficiency. Ford has gone through the entire vehicle and put it on a weight-reduction program, using lightweight steel, aluminum and composites to drop weight—and thus maintained its heavier predecessor’s performance with a smaller powerplant.
Other factors boosting the fuel economy are twin independent variable camshaft timing, electric power-assisted steering, advanced battery management, fast engine warm-up and aggressive deceleration fuel shutoff. The Explorer also features Ford's first U.S.-application of a variable-displacement air conditioning compressor that reduces parasitic engine drag. This year's 4.0-liter V6 Explorer is EPA-rated at 14 MPG city and 20 MPG on the highway. A 30 percent improvement would mean the 2011 2.0-liter EcoBoost model should deliver about 18 MPG in the city and 26 MPG on the highway. The EPA has not yet certified official fuel economy numbers.
Big Sellers MatterThe current Explorer's seven-passenger capacity and towing abilities are expected to be maintained in the new models. Before you start thinking the Explorer’s off-road capabilities might be compromised by the move to unibody construction, note that the Jeep Grand Cherokee—which has impeccable off-road credentials—has featured a similar structure throughout its modern life.
NASA and Boeing Look to Hybrid Jets for Possible Fuel Savings
Over the next half century, international air travel is expected to as much as triple. But with more flights and more flyers comes a rising environmental and consumer cost to flying.
So what's being done to make air travel more efficient? In the short run, the answer is actually building larger aircraft. The Airbus 380, which is the largest passenger airliner in the world, has actually managed to bring down per passenger fuel use by 20 percent compared to a 747 simply by seating more flyers. The plane is also capable of running on a biofuel blend—which may or may not be impressive depending upon your opinions about biofuels.
In the longer term though, there numerous hybrid and electric airplane concepts that could provide possible alternatives to traditional internal combustion aircraft. Boeing recently presented a design called the SUGAR Volt to NASA as part of the N+3 initiative, whose goal it is to "overcome significant performance and environmental challenges or the benefit of the general public."
Boeing's SUGAR Volt could yield as much as a 70 percent increase in fuel economy.
The SUGAR Volt is in many ways similar to hybrid vehicle. Twin jet engines are used to power electric motors that in turn supplement those engines, yielding as much as a 70 percent increase in fuel economy. But the principle at play here isn't regenerative braking.
Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Road Manners: First Reviews
Before the end of this year, Hyundai will put its first hybrid on the market. As we’ve reported, the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid represents another compelling high-mpg mid-size sedan for hybrid shoppers. The gas-electric Sonata stacks up against the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Toyota Camry Hybrid. In fact, Automotive News today claimed, “A hybrid variant is the cost of entry in the mid-sized sedan segment these days.” We would have been shocked to see this statement even one year ago.
The most important information for those considering the Sonata hybrid is not yet available: Price. Autoweek is guessing mid-$20,000s. That matches speculation from Edmunds, which says Hyundai will try to will undercut the Toyota Camry Hybrid and offer a price of $24,900. Automobile magazine’s guess is $27,000.
The Fusion Hybrid and Sonata Hybrid both average about 39 MPG—with the Fusion getting slightly better mileage in the city, and the Sonata emphasizing highway efficiency. The Camry MPG stats are 33/34.
Hyundai predicts 5 percent to 7 percent of Sonatas sold will be hybrids, which means about 15,000 units a year. Right now, there is a capacity for 35,000 Sonata hybrids a year to supply the U.S. and Korean markets.
How Does It Drive?There's no confirmed price tag, but we do have new information in the form of first driving experiences by auto journalists at the Namyang Proving Ground in South Korea. Here are a few highlights:
MINI Set to Debut a Trio of New Vehicles in Geneva
The finalized production versions of the new MINI Coupe and Roadster will debut in Geneva next year, with both models planned for a 2011 release.
MINI is working to finish a two-seat concept small car that it will debut at the Geneva Motor Show next March. The car will be an update of an existing concept that first appeared in Geneva in 1997 as the MINI Spiritual. The vehicle's styling is expected to be the first showing of a revitalized retro look for the next wave of offerings from the company, including updates of their current vehicles and two already confirmed releases that will also debut in Geneva.
The new releases, the 2012 Coupe and Roadster models, will be available in 2011—within six months of one another. Not many details about the vehicles are available yet—including estimated fuel economy numbers—but expect that to change by the time they get to Geneva.
In the meantime, MINI will release its new Countryman model later this year. The car, which has been called the “Maxi-MINI” by Edmunds because it's the largest car the company has produced to date—nearly a half foot longer than the Clubman and 16 inches longer than the Cooper.
The new city car concept is based on the MINI Spiritual, which debuted in Geneva in 1997 but didn't make it to market.
Honda Civic Going 100-Percent Hybrid, In Japan
2010 Honda Civic Hybrid
Reuters and 24/7 Wall Street are reporting that Honda is phasing out the gas-powered Civic for the Japanese market, and will only sell the hybrid version.
Honda will roll out an all-new Civic worldwide in late 2011.
As we reported a few days ago, Honda is boosting investment in hybrid technology, based on the belief that conventional hybrid technology can provide fuel economy and CO2 benefits more cost effectively than plug-in cars or clean diesel models.
The 24/7 Wall Street writer Paul Ausick speculated, “US buyers may also see the day, sooner rather than later, when only a hybrid Civic is available.” Yet, U.S. sales of the Honda Civic Hybrid in the first half of 2010 are down by almost 75 percent. Meanwhile, in Japan, hybrids remain hot sellers. Toyota Prius has been the top-selling vehicle in Japan for the past 14 months.
Chevrolet and GMC CNG Full-Size Vans Available in Fall
By Larry E. Hall
Is this Chevy Van green? If it's powered by compressed natural gas, it is.
General Motors announced this week that it completed the production process for its Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered versions of the 2011 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans for fleet and commercial customers that will arrive later this year. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) powered versions of the vans will follow.
The decision to offer these two alternative fuel vehicles was made in response to the industry commitment to expand the CNG and LPG infrastructure in key fleet markets said Brian Small, general manager of GM’s fleet and commercial operations.
Fleet operators have long recognized the benefits of CNG over gasoline: with a similar equivalent fuel mileage there’s a significant cost savings at the pump—CNG costs less than $2.00 per gallon (equivalent) in many parts of the U.S.—and for the environment there are fewer emissions out the tailpipe. The roadblock has been the poor availability of refueling locations. Now, with an expanding infrastructure, fleets see not only the opportunity for cost savings but to go green.
Honda Dedicates A Factory for Producing Large Hybrids
Honda will dedicate its Yorii factory, north of Tokyo, to producing hybrid SUVs and minivans—instead of making clean diesel vehicles or micro-cars as previously announced. Nikkei is reporting that the Yorii factory will begin production in 2013. Specific models to be produced have not been announced.
In February, we reported that Honda is developing a hybrid system suitable for larger cars such as the Odyssey minivan and the Pilot sports utility vehicle. Tomohiko Kawanabe, Honda’s chief operating officer for automobile research and development, told Reuters, "We've left the research stage and entered the field of development." Kawanabe said these vehicles could hit the US market in about three years—a timeline that coincides with this week’s news about the Yorii factory.
Honda took an early lead in hybrid development about a decade ago, but has since fallen behind in the hybrid and electric vehicle race. The company had been following a two-part efficiency strategy: diesel engines for larger vehicles and hybrid powertrains for cars. However, it appears the carmaker is focusing its mid-term efforts on hybrids.
In April, Honda president Takanobu Ito, said the company had grown “complacent,” and specifically pointed to its poor performance with hybrids as a key sign of the problem. “Even before the green thing was big, they were into green,” Ed Kim, an industry analyst at AutoPacific Inc. in Tustin, California, told BusinessWeek. “Over the last few years, they’ve been completely leapfrogged in new engine technologies.”
To correct the situation, Ito is pushing his engineers to have the next-generation Honda Insight beat the Toyota Prius’s fuel economy numbers—and to deliver it as soon as possible. In addition to trying to beat the mileage of the Prius, Ito wants to roll out a new two-motor hybrid technical design—one motor employed to increase engine power and another solely to charge the battery. The new system is also likely to employ lithium ion batteries instead of the nickel metal hydride technology currently in use. Honda reportedly will apply its new hybrid approach to a new minivan and unspecified Acura models.
Fiat's 100-MPG MultiAir Hybrid: Nothing But Hot Air
After about six years of big announcements about hybrid and electric cars from Chrysler, the company has delivered nearly zero gas-electric vehicles. Way back in 2004, Dodge was promising a Ram hybrid pickup. That never materialized. In 2008, hybrid versions of the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen full-size SUVs were killed just two months after production began. (We reported about 100 sales of the Chrysler hybrids over three months.)
Those hybrids were canceled one month after Chrysler executives unveiled a set of “production intent” electric cars on live national television. Not a single one of those models, such as the Dodge Circuit, will see the light of day.
Prospects for a hybrid or electric car from Chrysler became even slimmer after Fiat took control of the company. In November 2009, Fiat canceled Chrysler’s vapor-ish ENVI program—the in-house start-up intended to develop alternative drivetrains.
Fast forward nine months: Fiat is now reportedly working on a hybrid version of its Fiat 500 TwinAir minicar. The TwinAir 900cc two-cylinder motor, combined with a hybrid system and Fiat’s dual clutch transmission, is expected to deliver 100 miles per gallon.
Fiat's MultiAir system uses electro-hydraulic control of the inlet valves, rather than a conventional camshaft, to manage the amount of air entering the engine. This allows more precise management of combustion, reducing fuel consumption.
Bill Gates Invests in Better Internal Combustion Engine
There's a truism in Silicon Valley: Investment money flows to good ideas, but it flows more freely to good ideas with credentialed people behind them. The truism played out this week when start-up EcoMotors scored a $23.5 million Series B round of investment from Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and alternative energy investor Vinod Khosla. The money will be used for engineering and further testing of the company's Opoc engine.
EcoMotors, a two-year-old start-up with fewer than 40 employees, is headed by ex-G.M. executive Don Runkle. Its piston-opposed engine design is conceived by ex-VW powertrain executive Peter Hofbauer, who designed the high-speed diesel engine that became the foundation for the Volkswagen Jetta Clean Diesel. The Opoc engine operates on a two-cycle principle, generating one power stroke per crank revolution per cylinder. It comprises two opposing cylinders that move in opposite directions with a crankshaft between them. The engine can run on unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel.
While the investment in EcoMotors is dwarfed by the hundreds of millions of dollars backing various battery and plug-in car ventures, the company may be able to more quickly deliver its engine in volume—partly because it doesn't represent a significant shift in automotive technology or infrastructure. The key word is affordability. Electric cars are expected to face cost obstacles for some time, and the economics of fuel cells are even more challenging.
Peter Hofbauer explains the benefits of the Opoc engine.
Investing in Internal Combustion for the MassesEcoMotors promises that the Opoc engine will provide a 50 percent fuel efficiency improvement on current engines while using half as many parts, and delivering a modular engine architecture capable of dramatically reducing emissions especially in city driving. Gates, who invested through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said, “The Opoc engine can be an important step in providing affordable, low-emission transportation for the developing world.”
Corn and Cellulosic Ethanol Fight for Viability, Government Favor
Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson is calling for the EPA to move quickly on increasing the allowable blend of corn ethanol in gasoline by 50 percent, saying that regulatory agency has studied the issue “to death,” and that delays on the ruling have “put energy security at risk.” Meanwhile, the EPA has proposed a reduction in the federal cellulosic ethanol blend mandate, saying that the infrastructure doesn't exist yet to meet targets. This news comes on the heels of a string of setbacks that have hit the American biofuels industry of late, leading to questions about whether it will ever make good on the promise it was once considered to hold.
More Money, More ProblemsPresident Bush's 2006 State of the Union speech helped to put biofuels on the map in the United States.
It's been more than four years since then-President George W. Bush told the country in his State of the Union speech that it would soon be using corn, wood chips and switch grass to power its automobiles. Biofuels, Bush said, would play a major role in helping to replace 75 percent of foreign oil imports with renewable fuels by 2025. Since then, United States government has doled out more than $17 billion dollars to help get biofuels off the ground and into our gas tanks.
Today, the industry is in a state of flux. While corn ethanol has enjoyed early success, the political climate is beginning to shift against it despite numerous powerful allies and millions of dollars in annual lobbying and advertising spending. The EPA has delayed a ruling that would increase the allowable level of ethanol in gasoline from 10 to 15 percent, and many of the tax credits and subsidies that the industry depends upon are set to expire at the end of the year.
Cellulosic ethanol has also enjoyed a great deal of government support. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in research and loans to help get factories built and operating, but the fuel has yet to make a ripple in the market. POET, one of the nation's largest biofuels companies has been promising to start large-scale production for years, but has gradually pushed back the opening of its facility from 2009 to 2012.
From Smart to Maserati, European Carmakers Going Green with Stop-Start
The Maserati Quattroporte is one of dozens of new models that will use stop-start technology.
According to new research from the Yano Research Institute, more than 10 million cars worldwide will be equipped with stop-start systems by 2015—up from 900,000 in 2009. Start-stop systems, while sometimes referred to as micro-hybrids, are not really gas-electric hybrid vehicles. Cars using stop-start do not provide propulsion to the wheels. Instead, cars with stop-start use regenerative braking and battery storage to not burn fuel while at a stop.
Europe’s increasingly strict emissions laws are forcing global automakers to adopt a range of greener technologies—and stop-start is a relatively cost-effective approach to increasing efficiency and reducing emissions. In fact, last month, Maserati CEO Harald Wester promised that the next-generation Maserati Quattroporte would use a stop-start system, as well as downsized engines.
As we reported last year, European carmakers see stop-start technology as a key strategy for reaching stricter emission standards—but the technology has not yet taken hold in the United States. Although all hybrids can shut down the engine when coming to a stop, currently there's not a single conventional vehicle available in the U.S. with stop-start. That could change when tougher U.S. fuel-economy standards are implemented beginning in 2012.
The Push for Stop-StartManufacturers of advanced auto batteries are primarily focused on the growing market for hybrid and electric cars. Yet, they are eyeing the stop-start market, because it’s likely to greatly contribute to the overall growth of vehicle energy storage.
Smart ForTwo Now Available in Any Color You Want
Two examples of the laminated wraps available with the Smart ForTwo.
What’s it going to take to revive sales of the Smart ForTwo?The 2008 launch of the Smart ForTwo—the only conventional gas-powered car rated above 40 MPG on the highway—was well timed for rising gas prices. When gas hit $4 a gallon in June 2008, dealerships had a hard time keeping up with the demand for the Smart car, which represented an innovative fuel-efficient strategy for urban mobility.
Two years later, it’s different story. Smart’s U.S. sales dropped to 577 cars in June, down 48 percent from June 2009. For the first six months, sales fell 61 percent to 3,349 cars.
In an attempt to get its mojo back, Smart USA is now offering a nifty gimmick: the small two-seater can be painted any color you like. "Smart Expressions builds on the innovative smart brand and empowers owners to be creative with their vehicle through a number of personalization choices," said Jill Lajdziak, president, Smart USA.
Customers can choose from 93 colors or custom-match the car to any color under the sun. Smart also offers 35 designs of laminated vinyl wraps in either matte or glossy. The wraps cost $1,350 plus $300 installation. The program is made possible because the six exterior color body panels can be swapped out at a dealership in about 90 minutes.