Showing posts with label Alternative Fuels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternative Fuels. Show all posts

Toyota aims to supply thousands of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles by 2020

Interesting, I wonder how this compares to the Honda FCX-Clarity....
Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled its hydrogen-powered FCV-R Concept car at the Geneva Motor Show, restating its aim to sell vehicles based on the non-polluting sedan by 2015. Toyota, the largest seller of hybrid vehicles in the world, hopes that in the next decade, it will be able to supply thousands of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles annually in anticipation of the demand for petroleum-free autos. Didier Leroy, head of Toyota's European operations, said that the company is undertaking preparations so that it would be able to make “tens of thousands” of these vehicles each year in the 2020s.


John Hanson, a spokesman for the company's U.S. unit, said that Toyota has yet to announce the price or marketing plans for fuel-cell cars or set a global sales target. Toyota is currently selling the plug-in version of its Prius hybrid while this year, it has built vehicles that will be made at the battery-powered RAV4 and Scion iQ models. He added that there will still be challenges, including having to cut costs and resolve technical complications that had prevented retail customers from buying hydrogen fuel-cell cars.


Hydrogen is ideal to be used as fuel due to its abundance and as it’s able to make vehicles go on distances comparable to that of gasoline. The disadvantages include the high expense in making the fuel cells, the layers of plastic film coated with platinum placed between metal plates that make electricity, and the fact that there are only a few stations that have the equipment to dispense hydrogen fuel. At the 2012 Geneva Auto Show, Toyota presented the FT-Bh concept vehicle. Toyota claims that the carbon emissions level of this small, lightweight gasoline-electric hatchback is less than half the average for cars of the same size.


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Diesel to Have Its Day in U.S., Proponent Says

By Jim Mateja
WardsAuto.com, Oct 20, 2011 8:53 AM

CHICAGO – The formula for diesel vehicle growth in the U.S. comes down to a simple equation.

As the number of auto makers selling diesels increases, the number of motorists buying them will increase, too, insists Jeff Breneman, executive director of the U.S. Coalition for Advanced Diesel Cars, which represents suppliers to diesel producers.

Breneman tells a meeting of the Midwest Automotive Media Assn. here this week that pending government legislation requiring auto makers to obtain 54.5 mpg (4.3 L/100 km) from their vehicle fleets by 2025 has helped stoke interest in oil-burners.

But, he adds, the fact European auto makers selling diesels in the U.S. have seen unexpected demand fueled by consumer concerns for great mileage and travel range between fill-ups has prompted other car manufacturers to offer diesels in the U.S. as well.

The list includes a Mazda6 diesel planned for 2012 and, more importantly, a diesel Chevrolet Cruze slated for 2013.

An offering from General Motors’ volume division gives the diesel credibility and endorses the engine as a viable alternative to hybrids or electrics, Breneman says.

“The fact that Chevy will offer a diesel Cruze in 2013 is huge,” he says. “The gas-powered Cruze will get 40 mpg (5.9 L/100 km), so the diesel is expected to get 50 mpg-plus (4.7 L/100 km), and that will make it a game-changer.

“Ford, Toyota or Honda haven’t got a diesel for the U.S. yet, but get ready for 2013-2014. That’s when we’re going to see a lot more diesels.”

Breneman says the key to growth is availability, and that will be favorably affected by more auto makers offering more diesel models here soon.

“When given a choice between a diesel- or gas-powered Jetta, 33% of motorists opt for the higher-mileage diesel. But when the supply of diesels is gone, it takes at least six to eight more weeks for the boat to arrive with a fresh supply,” he says, adding he hopes shortage issues will be solved with more players in the game.

The 54.5-mpg mileage standard is just one reason for future growth.

“Emission regulations are now about the same in Europe and the U.S., even California, so it makes it economically feasible for auto makers to develop one product for all those markets,” he says.

“And with the 54.5-mpg regulation coming in 2015, the auto makers have a 14-year window to invest the capital in diesels without U.S. regulations pulling the carpet out from under them.”

Another positive influence is infrastructure, with 80,000 U.S. service stations, or 52%, having a diesel pump.

By comparison, electrics require costly charging stations short distances from one another, and only about 1,000 are in place, Breneman says.

Fortunately, many consumers are too young to recall GM’s failed attempt at offering diesels in the 1980s, he adds.

“They don’t remember the GM experiment, but are old enough to recognize the Volkswagen Jetta and Passat (in diesel version) as great cars.”

Breneman insists diesels deserve a chance that the government has been reluctant to give them.

“We’ve had the flavor of the month from our government for decades,” he says. “Once it was going to be hydrogen fuel cells and a hydrogen highway, but that was proposed 11 years ago and where’s the first hydrogen-fuel-cell car? (ahem.... http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/ )

“There also was going to be ethanol cars and hybrid cars and electric cars. The government has always told us what technology it wanted, but what we are saying is. ‘Tell us you want 50 mpg fuel economy and let us decide the technology.’”

Source;
http://wardsauto.com/ar/diesel_have_day_111020/

S. Korean Electronics Giant LG to Invest $7 Billion in

Interesting....
SustainableBusiness.com News

South Korea's electronics giant LG announced it will invest $6.83 billion in green business sectors by 2015.

The conglomerate says the investments - in electric vehicle batteries, LED lighting, solar PV and water treatment technologies - will generate $8.4 billion in revenue, while creating 10,000 green jobs around the world. It will also boost business for about 660 small and midsized enterprises in its supply chain.

About a third of the investment will be in lithium batteries for electric vehicles (by 2013). It's also planning to get into the solar polysilicon business by 2014.

Its LG Chem division says its goal is to be the world's top lithium battery manufacturer, taking a 25% share by 2015. It currently supplies Li batteries for GM's Chevy Volt and Opel Ampera. And it's working with GM on electric vehicle development.

LG Innotek, which makes LEDs, is looking for a 10% global market share. Its vertical manufacturing process makes all the components including chips, modules and packaging. Its flagship company, LG Electronics, will expand solar manufacturing from its current level of 300 megawatts (MW) to 1,000 megawatts by 2014. There too, they expect to be the global leader by 2015. They entered the US solar market in 2010.

In water treatment, LG recently acquired specialist Daewoo ENTEC, allowing it to offer a "total water treatment solution." Through the LG-Hitachi joint venture, the two compaies will collaborate on developing new technologies and services for the huge water treatment market, valued at over $430 billion a year.

"With the market expected to grow at an annual rate of five per cent due to increased pollution and the effects of climate change, we see the water treatment business as a crucial component of LG's future success," says Young-ha, Lee, CEO of LG Electronics Home Appliance Company.

Last year, LG announced it would invest $17.8 billion in green product development to lower greenhouse gas emissions 40% from 2009 levels by 2020.Its competitor, Samsung, is also invest heavily in green with $5 billion in investments by 2013.

South Korea has set an emissions reduction target of 30% by 2020. At the beginning of the worldwide recession, the country was widely praised for allocating about 80% of its stimulus spending toward green-oriented projects.

Source;
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/22947

Gas prices increase car buyers' hybrid sales

Here we go again....
As gas prices hit an average $3.51 a gallon nationwide on Monday, automakers and dealers are starting to see an uptick in sales of their most-fuel-efficient vehicles, including hybrids and electrics.

Toyota's Prius, which has a commanding lead in market share among hybrids, saw a 69.9% sales increase in February compared with February last year, Autodata reported. Among others, Honda's Civic hybrid had a 53.8% sales increase, and sales of Ford's Fusion hybrid were up 11.7%.

Dealers say they believe customers are starting to take notice of gas prices in making their buying decisions, though numbers still are small.

"It's just starting," says Adam Lee, chairman of 20-dealership Lee Auto Malls in Maine. "We are not seeing a dramatic increase in sales (of hybrids and small cars), but we will."

The number of potential car buyers researching hybrids at the Edmunds.com with the gas price run-up.

"We've had kind of a slow, steady increase in prices" that has helped automakers prepare, says Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com senior analyst.

Four out of five consumers in a Kelley Blue Book survey say that gas prices are influencing vehicle choices, up 11 percentage points from January.

Automakers say they are far more ready with fuel-efficient traditional cars, in addition to alternative-power vehicles, to handle soaring gas prices than they were in 2008, when average prices peaked at $4.11 a gallon.

"We are fairly well positioned for it," says Al Castignetti, vice president for Nissan in the U.S. With small cars, plus a bevy of new, smaller crossovers, "I have such a broad array of product offerings."

Ford Motor points to now having four models that get more than 40 miles per gallon.
Demand for four-cylinder engines has risen dramatically, says General Motors spokesman Tom Henderson, and GM is selling every one of the Volt extended-range electric cars that it can produce.

For now, most automakers aren't making big changes at factories to shift to more small or hybrid cars or making big ad buys to tout them. Says Honda spokesman Kurt Antonius, "People already perceive Honda's cars and trucks as fuel efficient, so we don't need to develop a special ad campaign during these challenging times at the pump."

Most car buyers won't make dramatic changes until gas prices pass $4 a gallon nationally, predicts Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation, the country's largest new car dealership chain.

By Chris Woodyard, USA Today

Source;
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/environment/2011-03-08-ecocars08_ST_N.htm#

Volt and Leaf Fail to Topple Honda Civic GX From Green Book List

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a Washington-based nonprofit group financed by foundations, electric utilities and state and federal agencies, released its annual list of the 12 greenest vehicles of the model year on Tuesday. With five models having displaced 2010 honorees, this year’s list differs markedly from last year’s group.

With the Nissan Leaf electric car and Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid now being delivered in the United States, one would think they would duke it out on the group’s list for top honors, too. Not so.

The Leaf earned second place in this, the council’s 14th Green Book annual ranking. As for the Volt? It managed a 12th-place finish, while topping the list for the eighth consecutive year was the Honda Civic GX — a limited-production model that burns compressed natural gas and that was expected to be available for retail sales nationwide in 2012.

In between are conventional hybrids and vehicles with old-fashioned gasoline-combusting engines. In fact, six of the vehicles on the list use only internal-combustion engines.

How can this be? The council uses a novel, holistic method of calculating the slippery notion of greenness, one that owes little to fuel-efficiency or tailpipe-emissions considerations made by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“We consider not just what emissions are coming out of the tailpipe while the vehicle is running,” said Therese Langer, the group’s transportation director, in a telephone interview. “The E.P.A. would consider the Leaf a zero-emissions vehicle because electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions,” she said.

The so-called upstream emissions of an electric vehicle, however, can be substantial, she said, depending on where and how its electricity is generated. Electricity produced hydroelectrically, for example, will generally produce far lower carbon emissions than energy produced by burning coal.

But the council methodology also includes emissions associated with the generation of the electricity used to power a battery; the production of raw materials like steel and aluminum — and in an E.V.’s case, a lithium-ion battery unit; and its eventual disposal.

This was the first year in which the group incorporated emissions data associated with battery manufacture and disposal, for which it used the GREET model created by Argonne National Laboratory, an Energy Department lab. This explains why hybrids, which rely on power generated by electric motors and stored in batteries, claimed just three of the top 12 spots this year, compared with five in 2010.

The 12 greenest vehicles for 2011, from top to bottom, are:
• Honda Civic GX
• Nissan Leaf
• Smart Fortwo cabriolet and coupe
Toyota Prius
Honda Civic Hybrid
Honda Insight
Ford Fiesta SFE
Chevrolet Cruze Eco
Hyundai Elantra
• Mini Cooper
Toyota Yaris
• Chevrolet Volt

For more information and the listings of the “Greenest” and “Meanest,” as well as best-in-class lists from the council, visit its Greenercars.org Web site.

Source;
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/volt-and-leaf-fail-to-topple-honda-civic-gx-from-green-book-list/

Honda Civic GX Natural-Gas Vehicle: First Drive Review

Good read, apparently the GX model for 2012 will be available for Canada, potentially on a order by order basis....
So here's the bottom line on driving a natural-gas vehicle: If you didn't have to refill it, you'd never know it was fueled on anything other than gasoline.

Except for two things, that is: First, you lose up to half of a gasoline car's range, with our natural-gas fueled Honda Civic GX only providing about 180 miles before it needs more fuel (against up to 400 miles for the gasoline Civic).

Second, you also lose about two-thirds of the trunk space offered in a standard Civic sedan, because the high-pressure natural-gas tank is located at the rear of the trunk.

Driving: indistinguishable
Other than that, natural gas may be the easiest alternative fuel to use--if there's a public fueling station nearby.

The performance is indistinguishable from the gasoline equivalent, and from behind the wheel, you'd never know it wasn't the real stuff.

If anything, we thought our GX might be a bit quieter than other Civics we've tested, but we couldn't do a side-by-side comparison to check out our impression.

Only one test car nationwide
Honda is presently the only manufacturer that sells natural-gas vehicles to the public, and at the moment, it only does so in four regional markets--Oklahoma being the latest.

We'd wanted to test a Civic GX for a while, but it took a trip to Los Angeles to make it happen, because there's only a single one in the company's nationwide media fleet.

We actually drove a 2009 model, but the 2010 and 2011 models are essentially unchanged. The Civic will be entirely redesigned for the 2012 model year, when Honda says it will make the GX natural-gas model available in all 50 states.

Pricey for a base Civic
On the window sticker, the suggested retail price for the Civic GX is listed as $18,255. Then in very tiny letters, there's a single line that says, "Incremental Cost (CNG)" and adds another $6,935, for a total price of $25,860.

Source;
http://www.greencarreports.com/review/1051854_honda-civic-gx-natural-gas-vehicle-first-drive-review

Japan to sell fuel cell cars in 2015

-100 refuelling stations by 2015
-Four areas in Japan to benefit
-Progress is being made in Europe, too

Sales of hydrogen fuel cell cars will kick off Japan in 2015, car manufacturers and hydrogen suppliers jointly announced recently.

Although numbers of vehicles have not been discussed, the partnership of Honda, Nissan and Toyota said 2015 would mark the start of 'mass production' of fuel cells.

Hydrogen suppliers have committed to establishing a network of 100 refuelling stations in Japan to serve the cars.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it would support the expansion of the hydrogen network.

Work is also underway on developing fuel cells and hydrogen refuelling in Europe. There are already a chain of refuelling points along the HyNor 'hydrogen highway' in Norway, between Oslo and Stavanger.

Mercedes is already trialing fuel-cell versions of the B-Class, while Kia and General Motors have both said they will sell 10,000 fuel cell vehicles each by 2015.

Source;
http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/japan-to-sell-fuel-cell-cars-in-2015/254919

Is the US ready to accept diesel?

By: Glenn Brooks, Monday, September 27, 2010, AutomotiveWorld.com "Hybrids are costly and although sales are strong in the US and Japan, globally they are not so successful. Of the 60 million vehicles built a year, just 1% are hybrids."

So said Mazda president and CEO Takashi Yamanouchi at the New York auto show earlier this year. With its sole hybrid model, the Tribute HEV, having recently been withdrawn from the US market due to disappointing sales, Mazda has been brave enough to address a situation many rivals remain in denial over. While no-one doubts the success of the Toyota Prius in both the US and Japan, this car is the sole exception to the global reality of hybrid vehicles being little more than pricey niche models.

Honda, Toyota's main rival in gasoline-electric technology, has tried to emulate the success of the Prius with its CR-Z, Insight and Civic Hybrid models. But with fewer than 5,000 Civic Hybrids and 15,000 Insights sold in the US in the first eight months of 2010, even American Honda would hesitate to label those numbers a good result.

It would be surprising if VW wasn’t planning to build diesel engines at its new Mexican powertrain plant.

Some of the reason why the fizz has gone out of US market hybrid sales is the end of tax credits for most brands. The cars are also typically high-priced and, with the weight of two propulsion systems onboard, are often none-too-economical in the freeway conditions typical of many owners' daily commutes.

Perhaps another, equally unseen factor is also contributing to declining hybrid sales: the US consumer's endless desire for novelty. Once seemingly everyone has a Prius it's time to find The Next Big Thing. Could that be diesel? The received wisdom that Americans dislike compression-ignition cars is outmoded as anyone who takes even a casual look at the recent sales figures for Volkswagen of America.

It is also worth noting the wording of VW's recent statement concerning its forthcoming 330,000/annum 'engine' plant that's due to come on stream in Silao, Mexico in 2013. No doubt the majority of engine production will be gasoline units but with sales of its diesel models rising rapidly in North America and all those TDI engines currently being imported from Europe, it would be surprising indeed if VW wasn't planning to also build diesels at Silao.

Volkswagen may have the diesel segment to itself for the foreseeable future

With 23% of its annual US sales already diesel and plans to lift its overall annual numbers to 800,000 vehicles by 2018, VW could even have much of this market to itself for the foreseeable future: neither General Motors, Ford, Toyota nor any other major player has plans to manufacture passenger car diesel engines in North America.

Until Volkswagen starts building diesel engines in Mexico and/or the US, we just don't know what the true potential for vehicles like the Jetta TDI (presently 25% of the car’s average 11,000 monthly sales in 2010) or Audi A3 TDI (fully 50% of sales in August) might be: much of the exchange rate volatility from imports of European engines is currently passed on to the US consumer in the form of high stickers for such models.

As the prices of diesel cars in the US market fall, as surely they will, so their popularity will grow. In the premium segment, the signs are already unmistakable. BMW, which had not offered a diesel in the US for 24 years, quietly introduced the 335d and X5 xDrive35d in 2009. Despite limited promotion, sales have surged. Lexus, the long time leading premium brand is no doubt already feeling alarmed, saddled as it is with slow-selling hybrids such as the HS 250h and LS 600h but without even one diesel offering: last month, BMW became the US market's number one premium brand.

Source;
http://www.automotiveworld.com/news/environment/83958-is-the-us-ready-to-accept-diesel

2011 Nissan Leaf First Drive

I am interested to see how this does, it looks like a great start in the 'alternative fuel' race....
If Fortune Favors the Brave, This Car Deserves To Succeed
Given that there has been so much talk and so many wise words from so many different directions about our all-electric future, it can almost go unnoticed that the one thing no one has actually gotten around to doing is translating a single syllable into something a normal family with a normal budget can go out and buy.

Until now.

The 2011 Nissan Leaf is not a low-volume slice of automotive exotica like a Tesla Roadster, nor is it an electrified version of a conventional gasoline car like the Mitsubishi i MiEV, and it is certainly not a plug-in hybrid like a Chevrolet Volt or a conventional hybrid like a Toyota Prius. The 2011 Nissan Leaf is a brand-new, purpose-built, mass-produced, battery-powered family car and, as such, the very first of its kind in the world. And we've driven it.
But is it a real car for real people?

You Say You Want a Revolution
The moment of truth is upon us. We're in the East End of London in a large concrete parking lot upon which Nissan has marked out a track for us to sample the 2011 Nissan Leaf. Actually, two Leafs are here today. One is for static assessment, and it cannot be driven. The car that can be driven is a late-series prototype, and this one wears the body of a Nissan Tiida, known as the Versa in the U.S. Underneath the bodywork, however, this car is pure Leaf. It is very like the car that John O'Dell, editor of Edmunds.com's Green Car Advisor, drove last summer.

Before you even slot the shift lever into Drive and tentatively press the throttle, the 2011 Nissan Leaf has done much to win you over. For a start, there's no reason not to have one — in design terms, anyway.

This is a full five-seater with a conspicuously large trunk. You sit a little higher than you might expect because there are 48 lithium-ion battery modules under the floor, but that's no bad thing. The cabin is spacious, airy and promising. The electronic dashboard works particularly well, using state-of-the-art graphics to present almost certainly more information than you will ever need, a way to reassure you that the Leaf is not going to run out of electrons without giving fair warning first. Nissan calls this "range anxiety" and, as we shall see, it's an understandable affliction.
At first, the Leaf is entirely as expected. Once you're satisfied the Leaf is actually awake, you select Drive. Then one small squeeze of the throttle later, you're under way. It's not silent, not quite at least, but even in the unlikely event that your everyday steer is a Rolls-Royce Phantom, you're going to be stunned by the Leaf's smoothness and refinement.

The Fun-To-Drive Quotient
You ease the Leaf through the first corner and see a long straightaway appear, so naturally you nail the throttle to the floor, expecting acceleration of the barely discernible variety. But that's not what you get.

Because maximum torque is always and instantly available, the Leaf jumps forward with sufficient alacrity to make you wonder if it should not be renamed "Leap," a word that describes both its throttle response and game-changing technology with equal precision. Nissan reckons this electric vehicle's midrange punch is on a par with a sedan powered by a 2.5-liter V6 (probably it really means a Nissan Altima 2.5 with its inline-4, but whatever), and we'd not argue with that.

The 2011 Nissan Leaf also has a party piece, a feature quite incidental to the reason it exists but likely to add considerably to its appeal. And that is the location of the batteries under the middle of the car instead of in the trunk. Because the Leaf represents a clean-sheet design, Nissan created a platform that centralizes the weight of its heaviest components — the batteries — within the span of the wheelbase. And this bit of physics when combined with a very low center of gravity makes the Leaf very responsive to directional changes.

That is to say, all this makes the Leaf implausibly good fun to drive. OK, this is no Porsche Cayman, but when your expectations on the dynamic front are precisely zero, anything comes as a pleasant surprise, so the Leaf's ability to corner both flat and fast adds up to considerably more.

Reality Bites
And now we must let the cold light of day flood into this rosy picture. Because while the Nissan Leaf might be surprisingly good to drive, what matters — and what, ultimately, will determine its success or failure — is what it is like to live with.
The bottom line is that currently the 2011 Nissan Leaf has a range of just 100 miles, and that's worked out to the U.S. LA-4 driving cycle (the original EPA city driving cycle, before the current FTP cycle was instituted), and this means that even Nissan admits that the car's owners are going to struggle to achieve it. Moreover, the Leaf will top 90 mph, but it won't travel 100 miles at that sort of speed — 60 miles is more like it, we're told. So this confirms what we all know about electric cars, which is that they are meant for city streets, not interstate freeways.
It's also useful to remember that it takes eight hours to recharge a Leaf with an industrial-type 220-volt hookup, though you can get an 80 percent recharge in 30 minutes from a specialized high-energy recharge station.

The math still adds up for most people, since we live in cities. And, as we're constantly reminded, 80 percent of us cover less than 60 miles daily. So Nissan considers the Leaf to be an eminently viable proposition as a result.

Besides, the Leaf also does much to minimize any residual range anxiety that you might have. Its navigation system is hooked up to a global database, so as the charging infrastructure expands, the nav will automatically update and always be ready to take you to the nearest power supply. Over and above that, the car's operational radius is displayed on the nav screen, so if you program a destination that's beyond the circumference, the nav will not be shy about letting you know.
You can even talk to the 2011 Nissan Leaf through your mobile phone, telling it, for instance, to warm up its interior on a cold morning while it's still parked and charging in your garage, saving you battery life and a cold backside. Once it's charged, it will send you a text saying it's hot to trot.

The Cost of Being Green
Of course what you pay for the electricity and how clean it really is depends on prices that change and the kind of power station in which the electricity was generated, but it's still safe to say that the Nissan Leaf's cost per mile traveled is a small fraction of what it would be for a car of the same size that burns gasoline.

But there's another saving, too. Where a conventional car needs an annual checkup, the Nissan Leaf effectively looks after itself. In fact, Nissan says the only routine maintenance required at the dealer will be the renewal of brake pads, and since the Leaf's regenerative braking system minimizes pad wear, it could be some years before the car needs any maintenance at all.
In around five years, however, the Leaf's lithium-ion batteries will only take around 80 percent of their original charge, so you might feel inclined to change them, not least because the replacements will almost certainly have far greater range than the old ones even when they were new. Indeed Nissan says it has targeted a cruising range of 300-350 miles for the Leaf, though the company admits the technology that will achieve it does not currently exist.

Will This Car Succeed?It's the million-dollar question — or multibillion-dollar question, if you're Nissan. Certainly the 2011 Nissan Leaf will prove an outstandingly able device for delivering urban mobility. The immediacy of its motor response coupled with its unforeseen dynamic nimbleness will make light work of heavy traffic and there really is very little for the range-anxious to fear so long as you remember to put the plug in the wall at night.

But as with other EVs we've driven, the 2011 Nissan Leaf will have to wait for the rest of the world to catch up with it. Only when it's possible to recharge your Leaf with another hundred miles of power in the time it takes to knock back a coffee will this car's true potential be unleashed. And only when batteries are capable of sustaining the Leaf for more than 300 miles or more will this and other EVs stand a chance of prevailing over the conventional automobile with an internal-combustion engine that has served us so well and for so long.

Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen, though. Even in 2050, up to half the cars on our roads will still be powered by internal-combustion engines, Nissan says. So while the 2011 Nissan Leaf is undoubtedly the start of something big, it seems the finish is so far away that few of us reading this today will even be here to see it.
Source;

Huge New Fuel Source Found: Old Cars

Talk about unfortunate timing: Just as the scrapping incentives all around the world are running out, a Japanese company found a way to turn old cars into fuel.

According to The Nikkei [sub], Japan’s JFE Engineering Corp. is set to open an automobile recycling center that turns the increasing amounts of plastics found in a car back into fuel.

The Nikkei says that the Kanagawa plant (halfway between Tokyo and Yokohama) will open in July. It has the capacity to process some 40,000 tons of scrap a year, which comes from automobile crushing sites in the Tokyo area. When the plant is through with the scrap, 9,000 tons of steel, copper and other valuable metals will have been sorted out. The sorting magnets are especially green: They use wind power. The many plastics in the cars will be put under pressure to create 30,000 tons of fuel a year.

Europe will be taking note of the new technology. Japan and Europe have strict end-of-life regulations on the books. In Europe, the manufacturer has to bear the cost to remove the dead vehicle off the road in an environmentally responsible way. In Japan, the cost is born by the consumer, in form of a deposit when the new car is bought. In the end, the consumer always pays. The new technology possibly could lessen the burden.

The cost of the new plant is vaguely described as “billions of yen,” but the return of investment promises to be considerable. JFE wants to generate 1.5 billion yen in revenue by fiscal 2013.

They get their money through disposal and from selling recovered metals and the produced fuel. Imagine a refinery that gets paid for graciously taking the crude.

Source;
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/huge-new-fuel-source-found-old-cars/

Honda Plans Lithium-Ion Civic to Narrow Toyota’s Lead

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second- largest carmaker, plans to introduce lithium-ion battery-powered hybrid cars as it struggles to narrow Toyota Motor Corp.’s lead in sales of gasoline-electric cars.

Honda plans to use lithium-ion batteries in its Civic compact “within the next two to three years,” as well as in its Acura luxury cars and other models, Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo said in an interview.

Honda has failed to match Toyota’s success with hybrids, led by the top-selling Prius. Lithium-ion batteries can store as much as twice the energy of nickel-metal hydride batteries that currently power the Prius and Honda’s Civic, Insight and CR-Z hybrid models, said Takeshi Miyao, a supply-chain analyst for auto consultant Carnorama in Tokyo.

“Lithium will become a lot more prevalent,” Kondo said in a March 16 interview at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo. The lithium-ion batteries will be produced with Honda’s joint- venture partner, Kyoto-based GS Yuasa Corp., starting in the second half of this year, he said. The venture is 49 percent owned by Honda.

Honda fell 1.5 percent to close at 3,200 yen in Tokyo trading.

“With lithium-ion being used in upcoming electric cars, Honda may be switching to the new technology to compete,” said Mitsuru Kurokawa, an analyst at consulting company IHS Global Insight in Tokyo.

Insight Misses
Honda’s Insight hybrid fell short of the company’s global sales target of 200,000 units in the first year after its February 2009 debut. Deliveries totaled 143,015 as of last month.

Toyota’s third-generation Prius replaced the Insight as the best-selling car in Japan after its release last year. Toyota sold 27,008 Priuses in February, compared with Honda’s 3,517 Insight deliveries.

In the U.S., Toyota sold 7,968 Prius cars last month, compared with Honda’s 2,014 Insights. The hybrid version of the Civic sold 346 units. The larger Prius is more fuel-efficient than Honda’s hybrids, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data.

Honda Chief Executive Officer Takanobu Ito said in July the carmaker is developing a new hybrid system to be installed in mid- to large-size vehicles. The company will also add a hybrid version of its Fit subcompact later this year.

Cost Savings
While similarly sized lithium-ion batteries may cost 30 percent more than nickel-metal hydride cells, carmakers may be able to find savings by using smaller packs because of their higher energy density, Miyao at Carnorama said.

Lithium-ion costs will also decline as technical advances are made and production increases, according to research company Fuji Keizai Group.

Nissan Motor Co. will roll out its first lithium-ion battery-powered car, the Leaf, this year in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn predicts electric vehicles will account for 10 percent of global car sales by 2020.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.’s Subaru unit and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. introduced electric vehicles last year. Mitsubishi will start delivering its 4.6 million yen ($51,000) i-MiEV to retail customers next month.

Toyota plans to begin retail sales of a lithium-ion powered plug-in Prius in two years. The company will also start selling a short-distance all-electric car in 2012.

Separately, Honda’s Kondo said he expects overall vehicle demand in the U.S. to rise to between 11 million and 12 million units this year from 10.4 million in 2009. That’s still lower than the 13.2 million sold in 2008.

Honda’s U.S. sales in the first 10 days of March were up almost 20 percent from a year earlier, Kondo said. For the full month, sales will likely exceed the 13 percent growth posted in February, he said.

Source;
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-18/honda-plans-lithium-ion-civic-to-narrow-toyota-s-lead-update1-.html

Honda drives toward home solar hydrogen refueling

* Hydrogen car FCX Clarity to go to market around 2018
* Carmaker touts solar-powered home refueling option
* 48 solar panels for 10,000 miles per year

By Mary Milliken

TORRANCE, California, March 12 (Reuters) - Coming not so soon and probably not to a house near you is the home solar hydrogen refueling station -- Honda Motor Co's (7267.T) latest idea in its drive to make hydrogen the fuel of choice for zero emission cars.

The Japanese auto giant believes hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles offer the best long-term alternative to fossil fuels and the company showed on Friday a refueling breakthrough that it says points to a home version down the road.

Most major automakers have spent billions of dollars in researching hydrogen-powered fuel cells, tempted by the idea of a car that uses no gasoline and emits only water vapor. But Honda is widely seen as the hydrogen leader, while others like General Motors GM.UL put more effort into battery-powered electric vehicles like the upcoming Volt.

One of the big barriers to hydrogen car deployment is the lack of refueling infrastructure, leading Honda to bet that the future lies in combining a public station network with a more modest home option.

Honda's home option will comprise a solar-powered hydrogen refueling station using solar panels.

"Customers can choose how they interact with both of them based on their annual miles and their habits," said Stephen Ellis, fuel cell manager at the Honda's North American headquarters in Torrance, California.

'BIGGEST PROGRESS'

"The key thing to remember is that with five-minute refueling you are good for another 240 miles," Ellis added.

That range comes from the "fast-fill" public station, of which there are just a handful in Southern California, where Honda leases 15 FCX Clarity hydrogen-powered vehicles and is set to distribute more in coming months.

Eight hours of home solar refueling would guarantee a smaller range of 30 miles (50 km) or about 10,000 miles (16,000 km per year -- enough for an average commuting car.

At the Los Angeles R&D center, engineers refueled the sleek FCX Clarity sedan with a new single-unit station connected to a solar array that replaces a two-unit system, cutting costs and improving efficiency by 25 percent.

"This is wonderful progress, the biggest progress," said Ikuya Yamashita, the chief engineer of the station.

The station uses a 6-kilowatt solar array, composed of 48 panels and thin film solar cells developed by a Honda subsidiary. It breaks down the water into hydrogen in what Honda calls a "virtually carbon-free energy cycle."

The FCX Clarity's hydrogen "stack" -- or the electricity generator -- is around the size of an attache case, tucked between the two front seats, and is a fifth of the stack size developed a decade ago.

The car is likely to be sold commercially around 2018 in the luxury large sedan category, while the solar hydrogen refueling system could move beyond the research stage and into the market-ready phase around 2015.

"A lot of this work is not necessarily for today's economic situation," said Ellis. "This is for tomorrow, when most people feel energy prices will be higher."

(Additional reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Gary Hill)

Source;
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1212479020100313?type=marketsNews

Honda’s Hybrid Comeback: Hybrid Minivans and SUVs

Honda unveiled a sleeker more stylish Odyssey minivan concept at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show. New design elements could appear in the 2011 Odyssey. Within three years, Honda could produce a hybrid gas-electric version of the minivan.

Honda is developing a hybrid system suitable for larger cars such as the Odyssey minivan the Pilot sports utility vehicle. Tomohiko Kawanabe, Honda’s chief operating officer for automobile research and development, today 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.


Honda took an early lead in hybrid development about a decade ago, but has fallen behind Toyota and Ford in the race for appealing fuel-efficient gas-electric vehicles. Honda has been advocating a two-part efficiency strategy: diesel vehicles for larger vehicles and hybrids for cars. However, it appears that the company might be flipping that strategy by producing larger hybrids for the US market and diesels with smaller engines for Europe and Asia.


In late 2008, the company abandoned its large-vehicle diesel strategy, but held firm to its goal of producing smaller relatively affordable hybrids. In July 2009, Honda president Takanobu Ito promised to speed up production of hybrid cars, focusing on small hybrids, such as the CR-Z and a Honda Fit Hybrid. Ito said, "Our theme is hybrids." In January 2010, Ito said that it apply hybrid technology to Acura vehicles.


However, its biggest move in that direct, the 2010 Honda Insight, failed to capture interest from consumers. Last week, Honda Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo told Bloomberg that the 2010 Honda Insight might have compromised too much size in the name of efficiency, and hinted that the company might abandon plans for a gas-electric Fit. “There are plenty of people who think that the current Fit meets their needs already” Kondo said. “A hybrid version might seem expensive. Our engineers are really struggling.”


New Life for Honda Hybrids


In today’s interview with Reuters, Honda’s Kawanabe said the company is studying development of a small diesel engine for emerging markets including India, as well as in Europe. "If you want to compete in markets like India, and also Europe, (a small diesel engine) is necessary."


Honda's single motor hybrids are less expensive than gas-electric systems offered by Toyota and Ford, which are considered “full” hybrids. However, many observers believe that Honda will need to develop a full hybrid system, and eventually a plug-in hybrid, to be competitive.


The prospect of a full range of Honda hybrids, especially a Honda hybrid minivan, is expected to be well received by hybrid fans. Toyota’s recent quality problems could create an opportunity for Honda to become competitive with hybrids. If Honda can succeed, a new level playing field for hybrids could emerge, with Toyota, Ford, Honda, General Motors and Nissan going head-to-head with electric-drive vehicles.

Source;

http://www.hybridcars.com/news/honda-hybrid-comeback-hybrid-minivans-and-suvs-27277.html

Auto Tech: What is a Hybrid?

Here's a interesting read....
With all the interest in electric, plug-in electric, hybrid electric and hybrid vehicles, perhaps it is time to take a step back and just look what all these names mean. They are not all the same, yet some different technologies share the same names and sometimes similar technologies use different names. A lot of it seems to depend on the marketing the manufacturers are using for a vehicle, so let’s try to clear up some of the confusion surrounding types of systems and terminology when it comes to alternate energy sources for vehicles.

First, the term Hybrid can have several meanings. It could even be a conventional engine that uses two different types of fuel such as gasoline and natural gas, although popular use lately has been referring to these as bi-fuel vehicles. When most people hear “hybrid”, they think of gasoline/electric combined powertrains – Toyota’s Prius is the most recognizable symbol of this technology.

You may here the term “mild hybrid”. This was made popular with the introduction of the Saturn Vue hybrid and is now used on the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. This system uses an electric motor/generator that bolts onto the engine in place of the conventional charging system. During acceleration, the unit adds power to the conventional gas engine and during deceleration, the unit becomes a drivetrain-driven generator to recharge the auxiliary battery pack. Much of the fuel economy savings from any hybrid system come from the energy during vehicle deceleration by the generator unit.

Another major feature of hybrids is their ability to stop the gasoline engine while the vehicle is sitting at a stop light and then restart it again instantly when the driver wants to move the vehicle. Even the mild hybrids have this capability to save fuel.

Some vehicles use what may be called a “medium” hybrid system, such as the Honda Civic or Insight, although you won’t hear Honda referring to it with that term. Honda calls it an Integrated Motor Assist, where the electric motor is used in place of the flywheel in a conventional transmission. This electric motor can assist the gas engine during acceleration and recharge the battery pack during deceleration just like the mild hybrids but does so much more efficiently and provides more power. Honda has made many improvements on the system since it was first introduced over a decade ago and when combined with intelligent valve control systems, is now almost equal to what we traditionally call a “full hybrid.”

Toyota’s Prius is the best known example of a “full hybrid,” a vehicle that can operate on electric power alone for some distance. It does this with a transmission that contains two motor/generator units. The design of this transmission allows the engine to remain off while one electric motor moves the vehicle. If you need more power or the battery charge is low, the gas engine will also start up to work in combination with the electric motors. Today several vehicles use a hybrid system that will operate on electric power by itself. Toyota has the Prius, Camry and Highlander, while Lexus has a full range of hybrids. Ford has the Escape and Fusion Hybrids, while GM and Dodge are using a similar system in rear wheel drive configuration in their hybrid sport utilities. GM also is using it in pickup models.

The yet to be produced Chevy Volt is also a hybrid but with a different concept. This vehicle operates on electric power all the time. When the battery pack becomes discharged, a small gas engine turns on to operate a generator, which recharges the battery pack. The gas engine never directly powers the wheels, yet this vehicle is also considered a hybrid.

Plug-in Hybrid is a new term, where the vehicle can be recharged by plugging it in to either 110-volt of 220-volt electrical outlets. This type of vehicle will operate on electric power most of the time but could still use a gas engine to supply energy for extended trips.

Electric vehicles are just what the name sounds like. They operate on Electric power only. Golf carts are a popular example, but several manufacturers are introducing electric passenger vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf or the Mitsubishi iMIEV. Toyota has announced plans for a fully electric small car similar to the FT-EV2 concept car will go on sale in 2012. Recharging these vehicles at home or work will become common practice, although already MacDonalds has announce they will offer free-to-use charging stations at some facilities and already opened the first one this past July in the U.S. In Japan, they are already working on infrastructure for electric car battery swap stations, where you pull in and exchange your leased battery for another in less time than it takes to fill a conventional car with gasoline.

While conventional gasoline powered vehicles will still dominate the marketplace for a long time, there are alternatives on the marketplace, and that is good for the future of the automobile.

Jim Kerr is a master automotive mechanic and teaches automotive technology. He has been writing automotive articles for fifteen years for newspapers and magazines in Canada and the United States, and is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC).

Source;
http://www.canadiandriver.com/2010/01/27/auto-tech-what-is-a-hybrid.htm

Do YOU Know All About Electric Vehicles OR Do YOU Just Know The Myths?

Here's a good read....
Soon enough it seems that all that will be available to drive will be electric vehicles. With governments across the globe embracing electric vehicles, and pushing for innovation and product development, the days of the gasoline-powered automobile look numbered.

But, are EVs so bad?

According to Plug In America, they are not. Granted, they may be slightly biased.Take a look below and scan through the top 12 myths about EVs. Do YOU think these myths are fact or fiction?

Let us know, SPIES!

Press release follows:

Plug In America, a nonprofit group leading the clean-vehicle movement, is issuing the following list of common misconceptions or “myths” about all-electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars. Media and others continue to misunderstand and mischaracterize this new technology. Thousands of these clean vehicles—many of them zero-emission—are expected to start coming to auto dealerships in late 2010. See Plug In America’s Tracker for a comprehensive list of such vehicles on the road today and expected for delivery in 2010 and beyond.

Acronyms and definitions:
· EV: Electric Vehicle, meaning all-electric (no gas)
· BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle or all-electric vehicle
· PHEV: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle
· Plug-in or Plug-in electric vehicle: Either a BEV or a PHEV

Number of EVs Driven Today:

Plug In America estimates that there are 3,000 highway-capable EVs from major automakers on U.S. roads today:

· 800 Toyota RAV4-EVs
· 1,000 Teslas
· 150 Ford Ranger trucks
· 50 Chevy S-10 trucks
· 500 test-only BMW Mini Es
· 500 others including Solectrias and EPIC Mini-Vans

MYTH: EVs don't have enough range. You'll be stranded when you run out of electricity
FACT: Americans drive an average of 40 miles per day, according to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. Most new BEVs have a range of at least double that and can be charged at any ordinary electrical outlet (120V) or publicly accessible station with a faster charger. The latter, already in use, will proliferate as the plug-in infrastructure is built out. At present, all it takes is planning for EV owners, who can travel up to 120 miles on a single charge, to use their cars on heavy travel days. Alternatively, a PHEV goes at least 300 miles on a combination of electricity and gasoline.

Myth: EVs are good for short city trips only
FACT: Consumers have owned and driven EVs for seven years or more and regularly use them for trips of up to 120 miles.

MYTH: EVs just replace the tailpipe with a smokestack
FACT: Even today, with 52% of U.S. electricity generated by coal-fired power plants, plug-in cars reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and most other pollutants compared with conventional gas or hybrid vehicles. Plug-ins can run on renewable electricity from sources such as the sun or wind. PHEVs will reduce greenhouse gases and other emissions, even if the source of electricity is mostly coal, a 2007 study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and NRDC showed. Read the summary of some 30 studies, analyses and presentations on this topic.

MYTH: The charging infrastructure must be built before people will adopt EVs
FACT: Most charging will be done at home, so a public charging infrastructure isn’t a prerequisite. Still, a robust infrastructure will help, especially for apartment dwellers and those regularly driving long distances. But at least seven companies are competing to dominate the public-charging-station market and a trade group representing the nation's electric utilities has pledged to “aggressively” create the infrastructure to support “full-scale commercialization and deployment” of plug-ins.

MYTH: The grid will crash if millions of plug-ins charge at once
FACT: Off-peak electricity production and transmission capacity could fuel the daily commutes of 73% percent of all cars, light trucks, SUVs and vans on the road today if they were PHEVs, a 2007 study by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found. Also, utilities are upgrading some local distribution systems to accommodate plug-ins, just as they do when residents add more air conditioners and TVs. Plug-ins, which can be seen as energy storage devices on wheels, can actually benefit the grid, making green energies like solar and wind power even more viable.

MYTH: Battery chemicals are bad for the environment and can't be recycled
FACT: Ninety-nine percent of batteries in conventional cars are recycled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The metals in newer batteries are more valuable and recycling programs are already being developed for them. Utilities plan to use batteries for energy storage once they are no longer viable in a vehicle.

MYTH: EVs take too long to charge
FACT: The most convenient place and time to charge is at home while you sleep. Even using the slowest 120-volt outlet, the car can be left to charge overnight, producing about 40 miles of range. Most new BEVs and PHEVs will charge from 240-volt outlets providing double or triple the charge in the same amount of time. Charging stations that reduce charging time even more are beginning to appear.

MYTH: Plug-ins are too expensive for market penetration
FACT: New technologies are typically costly. Remember when cell phones and DVDs were introduced? Also, the government stimulus package includes a $2,500 to $7,500 tax credit for EVs and PHEVs. Some states are considering additional incentives ($5,000 in California and Texas). And, the purchase and lifetime operating cost of an EV is on par with or less than its gas-powered equivalent because EVs require almost no maintenance or repair: no oil or filter changes, no tune ups, no smog checks.

MYTH: Batteries will cost $15,000 to replace after only a few years
FACT: The battery is the priciest part of a plug-in, but costs will drop as production increases and the auto industry is expected to be purchasing up to $25 billion in advanced batteries annually by 2015. Some car makers plan to lease their batteries, so replacement won’t be an issue. The Chevy Volt PHEV will have a 10-year battery warranty that would cover battery replacement.

MYTH: There isn't enough lithium in the world to make all the new batteries
FACT: Even in a worst-case scenario of zero battery recycling, aggressive EV sales, no new mining methods or sites, existing lithium stores will be sufficient for projected EV production for the next 75 years. See an analysis at PlugInAmerica.org. Also, lithium comes from many countries (24% is found in the United States), so we won’t be dependent on any one global region.

MYTH: Lithium batteries are dangerous and can explode
FACT: Among the many kinds of lithium-ion batteries, lithium-cobalt batteries found in consumer electronics can pose a fire risk in certain circumstances. These risks can be mitigated by the use of advanced-battery management systems and careful design that prevents “thermal runaway.” Most plug-in vehicle makers are working with other battery types (such as lithium-iron-phosphate and lithium-manganese) which have inherent safety advantages and provide more years of service.

MYTH: Most of us will still be driving gas cars through 2050
FACT: Several irrefutable factors are driving the shift from gasoline to plug-in vehicles: ever-toughening federal fuel economy standards and state caps on greenhouse gas emissions; projected price hikes for petroleum products as demand increases and supply flattens or drops; broad agreement over the need for America to reduce its reliance on petroleum for economic and national security reasons; and climate change, which is occurring faster than previously thought, according to the journal Science and many other sources.

Source;
http://www.autospies.com/news/Do-YOU-Know-All-About-Electric-Vehicles-OR-Do-YOU-Just-Know-The-Myths-50647/

Fuel cell vehicles finish 707-mile demonstration run in Japan


Toyota, Nissan and Honda all participated in a fuel cell demonstration run in Japan last week. The three automakers brought their most advanced hydrogen fuel cell vehicles out for the two-day trip from Tokyo to Fukuoka with an overnight stop in Osaka. The driving teams piloted a Honda FCX Clarity, a Nissan X-Trail FCV and a Toyota Highlander FCHV-adv. Back in 2007, a Toyota FCHV traveled from Osaka to Tokyo on one tank of H2.
Over the course of the trip the three vehicles covered 706.5 miles and consumed 28.8 kg of hydrogen. That works out to an average of 73.6 miles / kg. One kg of hydrogen has roughly the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline, so the mileage works out to about 73-74 mpg.
The drive was organized by the Japan Hydrogen and Fuel cell project. While all three of the automakers are developing plug-in battery electric vehicles, all three also continue to work on fuel cells. Both Toyota and Honda maintain that they feel hydrogen remains the best long term solution for full function vehicles.
Source;

Honda’s Rodney Dangerfield of Alt-Fuel Vehicles

With all the excitement about electric vehicles these days, the natural gas Honda Civic GX just doesn’t get any respect. Perhaps that’s because it still burns fossil fuel in an internal combustion engine, which may seem to some like incremental innovation. But a closer look at the car, which debuted in 1998 and has sold several thousand since then, reveals an interesting story about the cleanest internal combustion vehicle in the United States.

The Civic GX program was born of an era when the enemy was smog emissions and air quality, not global warming.

“At the time, we were considering the ZEV mandate,” Steve Ellis, Honda’s manager for alternative fuels sales and marketing, said in reference to the California Air Resources Board mandate that large manufacturers produce a certain number of zero-emissions vehicles. “The goal was originally clean air, so Honda engineers set out to use the cleanest fuel — natural gas.”

The program was launched alongside the EV Plus, Honda’s contribution to the first wave of modern, production electric vehicles spurred by California regulators in the 1990s. Honda leased about 300 EV Plus cars from 1997 to 1999, but ended the program shortly thereafter in favor of more extensive development of its hydrogen-fuel-cell program.

It is fairly easy and cheap to convert internal combustion engines to run on natural gas, but the results of a simple conversion are not very good. While the internals of an engine running on natural gas are very similar to those of a gasoline engine, the natural gas engine must run at a much higher compression ratio to generate the same power as a gasoline engine.

These days a typical gas engine runs at a compression ratio of about 9-to-1. A high performance car might run at 10.5-to-1. Generally speaking, the higher the compression ratio, the more power an engine can produce, but above a certain ratio gasoline will prematurely and spontaneously ignite in the chamber, which is something to avoid. The higher the octane rating of the fuel, the more it can tolerate high levels of compression.

Natural gas has a very high octane rating, so Honda engineered an engine with a 12.5-to-1 compression ratio, allowing it to produce roughly the same output as a similarly sized gasoline engine. To run that high, the internal components of the engine read like a spec sheet from an import-tuner magazine: forged pistons, modified valve seats, modified crank journals and a forged crankshaft. Even with these mods, the 1.8-liter Civic GX engine produces only 113 horsepower compared to 140 for the standard gas-powered 1.8 liter. Perhaps Honda should bump the compression to 15-to-1.

The fuel-delivery system is completely different, since it is delivering compressed gas from a 3,600 psi “tank” to the fuel rail at 40 psi instead of delivering liquid gasoline to the injectors. The catalytic converter is also different, having been optimized for natural gas combustion. As a result Honda claims smog emissions from the Civic GX are so low as to be immeasurable. The GX is the cleanest internal combustion car in America.

But the environmental debate about cars has moved on from the old enemies of nitrous oxides and carbon monoxide. Part of the reason is manufacturers have made internal combustion engines so “clean” with respect to smog emissions that customers can no longer kill themselves leaving the engine running in a closed garage. The other reason is that carbon dioxide, the friendly gas of soda pop and champagne and the same gas we exhale with every breath, has emerged as public enemy No. 1, surely dooming our civilization to mass extinction if we don’t act before the next election cycle.

What then will become of the Civic GX, which starts at $25,340? There is no way around the fact that when you burn a hydrocarbon you create carbon dioxide. Even though natural gas is the least carbon-intensive of fuels, with just one carbon atom to four hydrogen atoms, it saves only 25 percent on CO2 emissions per mile when compared to a comparable gas-powered car, according to Honda.

So the Civic GX may get no respect from the global warming crowd, but there are still reasons to support natural gas as a viable alternative to gasoline. While the carbon footprint per mile doesn’t compare favorably to an electric drivetrain, the fuel being burned is almost entirely domestically sourced, with only 2 percent imported from other countries.

Natural gas is a viable alternative across all types of vehicles in the fleet, from small cars like the Civic GX to large cargo haulers. So, the ability to displace foreign-sourced gasoline miles with domestically sourced natural gas miles is very attractive to those whose motivation to get off gas is more closely tied to energy independence and foreign policy.

Last but certainly not least, natural gas has been consistently cheaper than gasoline for the past decade by about 50 cents to a dollar per “gasoline-gallon equivalent,” and natural gas cars avoid the significant expense of batteries.

Even optimistic projections of electric-vehicle adoption still have internal combustion vehicles as the dominant form of transportation for many decades to come, so driving a shift from gasoline to natural gas is a smart goal to pursue in parallel with the electrification of the nation’s vehicle fleet.

Source;
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/11/honda-civic-gx/

Honda considering electric car launch in major markets, CEO says

Hybrids and fuel cells. That's where Honda seems to have put the vast majority of its engineering resources over the last decade or so, first with the two-seat Insight – the first hybrid sold here in the States, beating the much more successful Toyota Prius to market by a few months – and later the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle. According to company CEO Takanobu Ito, though, a new wind may be blowing into a town near you, and it's electric.

While the Japanese automaker sees hydrogen as the real solution to our dependence on petroleum, the fact that it's taking so long for a real hydrogen infrastructure to be built up around the world means that Honda is considering launching a fully electric automobile in major markets in Europe, Japan and the United States. Whether or not it will look anything like the EV-N concept from the Tokyo Motor Show remains to be seen... but we're hoping.

Source;
http://green.autoblog.com/2009/10/20/report-honda-considering-electric-car-launch-in-major-markets/#

Honda Wins 2009 Grove Medal For FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Technology

At the 11th Grove Fuel Cell Symposium in London Honda received the prestigious Grove Medal in recognition of the FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle.

The FCX Clarity has 2-3 times better fuel economy than its petrol equivalent and 1.5 times that of a petrol-electric hybrid. In addition to this excellent fuel economy the FCX Clarity produces no harmful gases, its only emission is water. The FCX Clarity is also a practical car with room for four people and luggage and it is ready for use on the road.

The award was accepted by Yuji Kawaguchi, Managing Director of Honda R&D Ltd. On accepting the award he commented; "We are honoured to accept this medal. At Honda we believe that the automobile holds the potential for limitless dreams and excitement in the future. The FCX Clarity represents the beginning of that future. We hope you will continue to look to Honda with anticipation and we will continue to strive to become a company that society wants to exist. " Honda was chosen for the award by the Grove Symposium Steering Committee. Each individual Committee member proposes one or more possible candidates for the Medal. They must write a supporting case detailing the scientific breakthrough and innovation of the particular development and its importance for the fuel cell industry. They also consider other developments or breakthroughs carried out by the individual or company and their ongoing commitment to fuel cells. The candidates are then discussed in turn in the following Committee meeting and a vote is taken. A clear majority is required to award the medal. Honda's FCX Clarity scored very highly in all categories. The Grove Committee made the following comments regarding Honda's achievement: "Honda's commitment to fuel cells has been evident for a long time. The FCX Clarity shows not only scientific breakthrough but also styling that has captured the public imagination, and Honda's move to small-scale automated production marks a watershed in the introduction of fuel cell vehicles. The Grove Committee was unanimous in its choice and is delighted to present this year's medal to Honda."

Source;
http://www.voxy.co.nz/business/honda-wins-2009-grove-medal-fcx-clarity-fuel-cell-technology/5/25324

Tech News: European Diesel Hybrids

Here's a good article at Road & Track about what I thought was going to be the 'next big thing'....
Diesel-electric hybrid concepts from European automakers are all the rage at the 2009 Frankfurt International Motor Show.
Hybrids are great. Their clever interaction of combustion engine and electric motor can be optimized to exploit both means of propulsion.
Diesels are great too. Compared with gasoline counterparts, they offer a 25-percent benefit in fuel economy. And, unlike gasoline engines, diesels have gobs of low-end torque — just the thing for getting off the line adroitly.
Electric motors are great as well. They use no petroleum at all. And they too have gobs of low-end grunt, producing maximum torque from the first twist of the output shaft.
In fact, though, Europeans got on the hybrid bandwagon only lately. For a while there, they were most vocal in pointing out hybrid shortcomings of dual-propulsion complexity, battery weight and cost. Diesels, they propounded, were a much more rational engineering solution (especially when encouraged by fuel tax benefits in many European countries).
But there's an excellent argument that a diesel-electric hybrid is the automotive equivalent of wearing a belt and suspenders.
Diesels are more expensive than their gasoline counterparts, as are gasoline-electric hybrids. Thus, in a very real sense, a diesel-electric hybrid pays double for its technology. The costs of a diesel's necessarily robust construction, high-pressure injection and complex emissions controls must be added to the hybrid's electric motor, power electronics and battery costs.
What's more, a gasoline-electric mating is a fundamentally better one than diesel-electric. A gasoline engine's relative lack of low-end torque blends perfectly with an electric motor's instant twist. Also, a diesel's inherently abrupt startup and shutdown are a real challenge for engineers seeking transparent transitions, especially in Start/Stop, a key feature in the efficiency of hybrid interactions.
A diesel is super efficient at light load, when its air-fuel leanness extends to 50:1 and beyond. By contrast, a gasoline engine demands its ratio closely kept to around 14.7:1, and it's notoriously inefficient at light load. What's more, light load is the most efficient time for hybrids to run in pure electric mode. Whether off the line or at light load, gasoline and electric characteristics complement each other. Diesels and electrics are redundant.
Among European automakers, Porsche seems to sense this. The company has a quandary at the moment, whether to bring its highly successful Cayenne SUV to the U.S. in diesel form or as a newly developed gasoline-electric hybrid being introduced in Europe next spring.
The latter is quite an elegant system, its powertrain consisting of a 3.6-liter 333-bhp supercharged V-6 engine, intermediate clutch, 38-kW electric motor, lock-up torque converter and 8-speed automatic transmission, in that order. Think Honda Integrated Motor Assist with a clutch added between engine and motor. Disengagement of this clutch gives the Cayenne S Hybrid its pure-electric modes, including one called "Sailing," a coasting mode at speeds up at 86 mph.
Porsche's system is modular, and in time we can expect its recently introduced Panamera sedan to have a hybrid version — a gasoline-electric one.
No Zuffenhausen engineers are wearing belts and suspenders.

Source;
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=36&article_id=8379&print_page=y