February 2008
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On Heels of New Standards, Automakers Tout Fuel Efficient Technologies
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Transportation CO2 Emissions Climb While Overall Emissions Dip
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General Motors Opens Electric Vehicle Design Studio, Updates Chevy Volt
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Chinese Automaker to Produce Quick-Charge Iron Battery Hybrid
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GM’s Project Driveway Tests Hydrogen Vehicles With Consumers
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Survey Shows Broad Support for Transportation and Development Alternatives
On Heels of New Standards, Automakers Tout Fuel Efficient Technologies
Just one month after President Bush signed an energy bill mandating a 40 percent increase in fuel efficiency standards for passenger vehicles and light trucks by 2020, the 2008 Washington (DC) Auto Show is showing an unprecedented emphasis on energy and fuel-saving technology.
How green is this year’s show? Instead of rolling out the new 2009 Dodge Ram with a herd of 100 bulls as seen a week earlier at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, a convoy featuring plug-in electric hybrid vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells, and cars running on biodiesel opened the DC event. A three-hour forum about the future of green cars was also part of the schedule.
Competition between General Motors and Toyota for leadership in global sales may intensify as Toyota announced that it will counter GM’s plans to market a plug-in hybrid in 2010 with development of its own plug-in hybrid vehicle by the same year. Other car companies that seemingly had ceded interest in hybrid vehicles to other manufacturers are also now getting on board--including some unlikely players, such as Land Rover, whose LRX concept packs a two-liter four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine combined with lithium-ion batteries.
Ferrari aimed to show that environmental responsibility and performance could go together by disclosing that it was experimenting with ethanol in its high-priced sports cars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy. It unveiled a prototype F430 Spyder that burns E85 fuel, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, noted that automakers have recognized the business value of being green. The Toyota Prius, for example, helped secure a reputation for Toyota as an environmental leader. Toyota sold 277,000 of the gasoline/electric hybrid Prius in the United States last year, comprising approximately 75 percent of all hybrid vehicles sold. Toyota said it plans to offer hybrid technology in all of its model lines by 2020 and is also exploring pure electric and fuel-cell vehicles.
GM is ramping up its development and production of hybrids as well as vehicles that run on E85, an area in which Toyota is lacking. As Cole said. ''you have the two largest companies in the industry, and these guys are going to go after each other.''
Meanwhile, Ford introduced redesigned versions of the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. The new sport-utility vehicle models have a new 2.5-liter engine that boosts fuel economy by 1 mpg, while also boosting power 11 percent to 170 horsepower. The engine also will be the foundation for hybrid versions of the Escape and Mariner which are expected to achieve further gains in fuel economy. Ford is making flex-fuel versions of three more 2009 model vehicles that will be able to operate on E85: the E-Series van as well as the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator sport-utility vehicles.
Automakers are still concerned about the strength and size of the market for hybrids and whether consumers will pay a premium for fuel economy alone. Hybrid sales jumped 38 percent last year to 350,000 vehicles, but still accounted for just 2.2 percent of the 16.1 million vehicles sold. In 2007, Ford sold 25,108 of the hybrid SUVs, up from 22,603 in 2006. One in eight Ford Escapes or Mercury Mariners sold in 2007 was a hybrid.
Ford, however, has reportedly not made money on the hybrid versions of the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. Since introducing the first American hybrid in 2004, Ford has lost as much as $3,200 per vehicle. Ford is not alone in losing money in hybrid programs: Nissan Motor Co. said it was losing money on its hybrid Nissan Altima, while Honda Motor Co. stopped selling a hybrid version of its Accord sedan because of poor sales.
Ford's director of hybrid programs, Nancy Gioia, said the company's next generation of hybrid drivetrains, which are being introduced on the 2009 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, are more fuel efficient and less costly to build. Gioia said the company had reduced costs for its hybrid system by nearly 30 percent. "This helps us move toward our goal of being profitable, but we have more to do," said Gioia.
Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. has said that he was "less enthusiastic that (hybrids) are going to be the silver bullet…for a long time, a lot of us were looking for the solution and it's clear as we head down this road there isn't one," Ford said, "there's a menu of them."
William Kozyra, president and CEO of Continental North America, a major supplier of hybrid components, said that the costs of hybrids will drop dramatically. He noted that antilock brakes and electronic stability control systems cost one-tenth what they did 20 years ago. "I fully expect the cost of a vehicle’s hybrid system 15 to 20 years from now will be in the $300 to $500 range, not the $3,000 to $5,000 range," Kozyra said, noting there will be rapid evolution in batteries.
Resources
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/dc_auto_show.html
http://www.nbc4.com/goinggreen/15114975/detail.html?rss=dc&psp=goinggreen
Transportation CO2 Emissions Climb While Overall Emissions Dip
Total U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions decreased 1.5 percent in 2006, while greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector rose 0.5 percent, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). GHG emissions from all transportation sources reached 2,010 million metric tons-carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) in 2006, while overall U.S. GHG emissions dropped slightly below its 2005 level of 7,075 MMTCO2e.
Increasing trends in carbon dioxide emissions (which accounts for 83 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions) from gasoline and diesel fuel combustion have generally paralleled trends in car and truck use in the United States (as measured by “vehicle miles traveled” or VMT). Transportation sector carbon dioxide emissions in 2006 were 407 million metric tons higher than in 1990, an increase that represents a 46 percent share of the growth in unadjusted energy-related carbon dioxide emissions from all sectors over the period.
Since 1999, the transportation sector has led all U.S. end-use sectors in emissions of carbon dioxide. Petroleum combustion is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector, whereas carbon emissions from other end-use sectors are primarily related to electricity, half of which, in the U.S., is presently generated by burning coal. Increases in ethanol fuel consumption in recent years have mitigated the growth in transportation sector emissions somewhat. The EIA, however, counts emissions from energy inputs to ethanol production plants as part of emissions from the industrial sector.
Resources
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggrpt/
Toyota to Offer Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle
The Toyota Motor Corporation has announced plans to build a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in 2010. Toyota’s announcement sets up potential competition for General Motors, which earlier last year declared its intent to move the Chevrolet Volt, its plug-in hybrid concept car, into production by 2010.
Appearing at the Detroit Auto Show, Toyota President, Katsuaki Watanabe, announced that Toyota would develop a fleet of plug-in hybrids that run on lithium-ion batteries. The Prius and other non-plug-in hybrid vehicles presently sold by Toyota use nickel-metal hydride batteries. Current hybrid vehicles use power from the engine and regenerative braking to recharge the battery, whereas a plug-in hybrid can be recharged externally from an ordinary power outlet. The Chevrolet Volt will also use lithium-ion batteries, which are more expensive than the current nickel-metal hydride technology, but which can potentially provide a much longer range on a single charge.
Mr. Watanabe said the lithium-ion fleet would be made available first to Toyota’s commercial customers around the world, such as government agencies and large corporations, including some in the United States. He did not say when the model would be available to the general consumer market. Toyota also will be developing a new hybrid-electric car specifically for its Lexus division as well as another new hybrid for the Toyota brand. He said Toyota would unveil both at the 2009 Detroit show.
Toyota executives initially questioned the practicality of plug-in hybrids, saying consumers preferred the convenience of hybrids that did not have to be recharged. Toyota has sold more than one million hybrids worldwide, including more than 800,000 Prius models. But with Toyota joining General Motors and Ford, the world’s three biggest car companies are now all developing plug-in hybrid vehicles. Along with the Volt, GM has said it also plans to produce a plug-in version of its Saturn Vue hybrid.
Toyota announced last July that it was testing plug-in hybrids on public roads in Japan. In Detroit, Toyota officials said that the company had provided prototype versions of plug-in hybrid vehicles to university researchers in California and offered test drives of a prototype plug-in hybrid vehicle to journalists.
The prototype offers a glimpse of how a future plug-in hybrid car will differ from the current Prius. It devotes extra room under the floor of the trunk to hold two nickel-metal hydride batteries compared to the Prius’s single battery. In addition to the single fuel-fill door on the left side of the car, the plug-in model has another door on the right hand side that opens to reveal an outlet for the electrical charger. One end of the charger looks like a small fuel nozzle; the other end is a conventional three-pronged plug.
Each charge, which Toyota claims will take about four hours, uses the equivalent of 2.7 kilowatt hours of electricity. Inside the car, there is an “EV” button which puts the car in electric vehicle mode, meaning the Prius is powered completely by its two batteries. The range of Toyota’s prototype is only about seven miles, in contrast to the Volt’s projected 40-mile range after a six-hour charge, but advanced battery technology is expected to increase the effective range of the production version.
Resources
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/business/14plug.html?ref=automobiles
http://www.news.com/Toyota-will-offer-a-plug-in-hybrid-by-2010/2100-13833_3-6225927.html
General Motors Opens Electric Vehicle Design Studio, Updates Chevy Volt
General Motors has opened a recently-renovated facility, the E-Flex Systems Design Studio, dedicated to its next-generation electric vehicles. GM will use this studio to develop electric vehicles using the E-Flex propulsion system. The first of these will be the production version of GM’s Chevrolet Volt concept car, due to be on the market in 2010. The company has issued a preview image of this future model undergoing wind tunnel testing, which reveals that the styling has changed considerably over the car that premiered at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2007.
The E-Flex Systems Design Studio will house approximately 45 creative designers, sculptors, design engineers, scientists, and administrative staff. According to Ed Welburn, GM's vice president of global design, GM's designers have already reduced the aerodynamic drag of the original Volt concept by 30 percent.
The Chevrolet Volt will be a plug-in electric vehicle which is expected to travel up to 40 miles on a single charge. On gasoline alone, average fuel consumption is estimated at over 50 miles per gallon, with a total range of over 600 miles for the prototype. The car unveiled at the Detroit show features an electric motor powered by lithium-ion batteries which need approximately six hours to be fully recharged. The car also has a 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine which will run on gasoline, diesel or E85 ethanol and charge the batteries if necessary. GM notes that battery development is on schedule and the current test version is performing as expected. The next test version is expected in early 2008.
Resources
http://www.technologynewsdaily.com/node/8753
Toshiba Announces “Super-Charge” Ion Battery
Toshiba announced a development that signals the opening of a new chapter in Lithium battery technology – a “Super Charge” ion Battery (SCiB), which recharges up to 90 percent of its energy in just five minutes, and has a lifespan of over 10 years. Slow charging is regarded as a major hurdle to public acceptance of battery-electric vehicles; thus, such a breakthrough has significant implications for the automotive industry as well as a whole host of portable consumer devices.
The first of Toshiba's groundbreaking SCiB packs will ship in March 2008 to the industrial systems market. There has been no mention of when the technology is likely to hit the consumer market. The rapid charging ability, long life, and high resistance to rupture and combustion of the SCiB may be a harbinger of a new generation of battery cells that will allow electric vehicle drivers to “refuel” in nearly the same amount of time that a conventional vehicle requires to fill its gas tank.
To this end, Toshiba is working on a high-performance version of the SCiB targeted at the automotive industry. Development of high-powered, long-lasting, rapid-charge battery cells would provide the automotive industry with a simple and extremely efficient alternative to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, whose main advantage thus far lies in their ability to refuel quickly. Electric motor drive trains using batteries, however, are generally much more energy-efficient, delivering up to three times more horsepower per unit electricity, compared to the electricity consumed to recharge hydrogen fuel cells.
Resources
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2007_12/pr1101.htm
Chinese Automaker to Produce Quick-Charge Iron Battery Hybrid
Chinese car maker, BYD Automobile Co Ltd., says that it will begin mass production of a plug-in hybrid electric car that will use iron-based batteries in the second half of 2008. “The iron battery proves to have better safety performance and larger capacity,” according to Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, adding “the battery can be fully charged within ten minutes at a charging station or roughly 9 hours at home.”
Wang said the battery will be first equipped on the BYD F6 E model (E standing for electric), which will be priced at less than 150,000 yuan ($19,966) in the Chinese market. The F6 E will be a 'bi-fuel' vehicle operating on either gasoline or as a plug-in electric vehicle. The battery and gas engine do not operate simultaneously, however, differing from other hybrid vehicles.
BYD claims that a 10-hour recharge could power the car as far as 60-80 miles on electric power alone with a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour. The battery can be recharged up to 2000 times before it starts to degrade. The Shenzhen-based company, previously a mobile phone batteries producer, aims to sell 100,000 cars this year, an increase of 67 percent from last year's 60,000 units.
BYD has apparently created a new kind of battery that uses iron. No other large battery manufacturer uses iron in their batteries. BYD reports having 500 employees working on development and manufacturing of their iron battery which they project will be used in the future for everything from cars to mobile phones to laptops.
Resources
http://www.chinacartimes.com/2007/10/11/byd-to-mass-produce-electric-car/
http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1060020106.html
Clean Diesel Stars at Auto Shows
Twenty new and prototype diesel vehicles were on display at the heralded Detroit and Washington DC Auto Shows, suggesting 2008 may be the year of “clean” diesel in the automotive world. Innovations in diesel technology were showcased by BMW, Dodge, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Toyota, Audi and other manufacturers.
Diesel cars and trucks provide 20 to 40 percent better mileage and emit 10 to 20 percent fewer greenhouse gases than comparable gasoline vehicles. In addition to superior fuel economy and reduced emissions, American drivers who purchase cleaner-burning diesel cars, trucks and SUVs are eligible for similar tax incentives as purchasers of gasoline-hybrid electric vehicles.
The anticipated expansion of diesel cars and light trucks in the U.S. is driven by many factors, most notably the arrival of diesel engines that can meet the same emissions standards as gasoline-powered engines. The nationwide introduction of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel in October 2006 has enabled manufacturers to engineer diesel engines that are up to 97 percent cleaner than previous generation engines. Nearly a dozen automakers have announced plans to sell diesel versions of popular cars, pickups and SUVs in the United States by the end of this decade.
“The unveiling of these new models shows that automakers are investing in this high performance, environmentally-friendly technology," said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a coalition of vehicle manufacturers, engine makers, components suppliers and energy companies. "The new diesels are clean, quiet, fun to drive and don't require consumers to sacrifice power or performance to achieve better miles per gallon," Schaeffer continued.
Diesel vehicle announcements made in 2008 include:
- BMW Group showed two vehicle models, the 335d and the X5 xDrive 35d, equipped with the BMW Advanced Diesel Engine with “BluePerformance”, available later this year.
- Volkswagen will introduce a clean diesel Jetta into the U.S. market this year.
- GM intends to offer the Chevy Silverado with a diesel engine beginning in 2009.
- Audi will equip the A4 sedan with a diesel engine and will also sell a Q7 3.0 with a turbo direct injection (TDI) engine by the end of 2008 or early 2009.
- Toyota intends to launch a diesel-powered Tundra pickup truck and Sequoia SUV in the United States in the near-future.
- Honda will put diesel engines in Acura vehicles starting in 2009, with similar plans for the Honda model lineup thereafter.
- Other automakers revealed concept cars that will employ clean diesel technology, such as the Chrysler Jeep Renegade, Mercedes GLK Freeside, Land Rover LRX, Audi R8 V12 TDI and the Mitsubishi RA.
Resources
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/01/22/075598.html
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-in/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/01-22-2008/0004740381&EDATE=TUE+Jan+22+2008,+09:17+AM
General Motors Expands Market for Hybrid Diesel Buses
General Motors announced that it will more than double the number of diesel-electric hybrid buses it has in operation, winning orders for 1,700 GM-Allison hybrid buses to be used in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Minneapolis-St. Paul. "GM's strategy is to save as many gallons of fuel as possible by applying hybrid technology first to high-volume and high fuel-consuming vehicles such as mass transit buses," said Beth Lowery, GM vice president for energy, environment and safety policy.
The Washington-area bus authority will buy 952 buses, while Philadelphia's Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has ordered 480 hybrid buses and Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro Transit plans to purchase up to 300 hybrid buses.
The hybrid buses GM will deliver weigh about 960 pounds more than a typical bus, have two 100-kilowatt motors and a 600-volt nickel metal hydride battery that captures energy when the bus brakes. The buses especially make sense in cities because hybrids are most efficient in stop-and-go driving situations.
A 2006 study by the Department of Energy said the efficiency gains of hybrid buses for the year were on average 34 percent higher compared to conventional diesel buses. Hybrid buses, however, cost more. The GM-Allison hybrid bus costs about $500,000 each versus $300,000 for a standard diesel bus. Many American cities have been able to afford them only with the help of federal grants. The Capital Area Transit Authority in Lansing, Michigan won a federal grant to pay 80 percent of the costs of its three GM-Allison buses, while the state paid the remaining 20 percent.
In another Michigan city, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority said last year it would replace its entire 69-bus fleet with hybrid buses and became the first bus system in Metro Detroit to purchase a GM-Allison hybrid bus. It took delivery of its first GM-Allison hybrid last October and will buy five more in March as part of a 20-bus order.
GM's primary competitor in the hybrid-diesel bus market is Daimler AG. Last month, Daimler announced it was selling 1,050 Orion VII diesel hybrid buses to New York by 2010 and 202 to Ottawa, Ontario. The Orion VII is estimated to achieve up to 30 percent better fuel economy with dramatic reductions in greenhouse gases and smog-forming gases. Daimler reports that more than 2,600 orders have been placed since 2003.
Resources
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/01/25/gm-receives-orders-for-hybrid-buses/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-21-masstransithybrids_N.htm
Daimler Launches Next Generation Commercial Vehicles
Daimler has launched its ‘Shaping Future Transportation’ initiative by showcasing 16 trucks and buses featuring alternative drive systems and fuel sources. Daimler, which has already demonstrated the effectiveness of biodiesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) in its Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles over the past ten years, views hydrated vegetable oil-derived fuels (HVOs) and biomass-to-liquid (BTL) fuels as the most promising renewable fuels in the near future. Hybrid technology and natural gas will also play a key role, according to Daimler, which has delivered over 1,500 hybrid buses and trucks together with 1,500 natural-gas-powered vehicles. “The Shaping Future Transportation” initiative demonstrates that environmentally-friendly commercial vehicles from Daimler are no longer prototypes, but real vehicles that are being used by customers,” said Andreas Renschler, Head of Daimler Trucks Division. Daimler claims to have the world’s largest fleet of “environmentally-friendly” commercial vehicles in use.
Other vehicles from Freightliner, Mitsubishi Fuso, Orion and Thomas Built Buses have also been exhibited at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Hybrid technology plays a key role in these vehicles, reducing diesel consumption up to 30 percent in some trucks and buses, depending on the application. Because of their decreased fuel consumption, trucks and buses equipped with hybrid drives also produce fewer pollutants and less CO2. Daimler plans to employ alternative drive systems in additional vehicle models and regions, focusing primarily on hybrids. In North America, Freightliner will manufacture 1,500 M2 hybrid trucks over the next three years and also produce a hybrid version of its Thomas-Built school bus.
Meanwhile, the second-generation Mitsubishi Fuso Aero Star hybrid will be launched this year in Japan. In Europe, the first Mercedes-Benz Atego BlueTec hybrid trucks will be delivered to customers in Germany, France, and the Czech Republic next year. At the same time, customers in the United Kingdom will be conducting a pilot project with ten Mitsubishi Fuso Canter Eco Hybrids. For public transportation needs, Daimler unveiled a three-axle articulated Mercedes-Benz bus with the designation Citaro G Blue Tec Hybrid, which will go into series production in 2009.
Daimler also is investigating use of alternative non-petroleum based fuels. According to the commercial vehicle experts at Daimler, the most immediately promising fuels from renewable resources are hydrated vegetable oil-derived fuels (HVOs). After HVOs, Daimler also projects biomass-to-liquid fuels (BTL) to become an important fuel. In cooperation with the oil company OMV and the vehicle fleets of two of its customers (DHL and SSB-Stuttgart), Daimler has commenced fleet testing of HVO fuel in Mercedes-Benz trucks and buses. Biodiesel has been commonly used in Mercedes-Benz trucks for the past ten years, and Mercedes-Benz has been producing and delivering buses and municipal vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) for nearly as long.
Daimler’s conventional diesel engines have also continued to evolve in terms of reduced emissions and increased energy efficiency and are expected to remain part of the company’s production plans for the foreseeable future. Emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxides have decreased by more than 90 percent on average since 1990. Mercedes-Benz BlueTec diesel technology has led to substantial reductions in fuel consumption for its trucks and buses. In the case of long-haul trucks, for example, the annual reduction amounts to around 2,000 liters of fuel per vehicle or more than five tons of CO2 emissions per year, compared to previous generation trucks.
Daimler has decided to use a parallel hybrid engine design for its advanced trucks. In parallel systems, the electric motor is incorporated into the power train, where it works in parallel with the diesel engine to propel the vehicle. However, Daimler’s hybrid buses are equipped with a serial hybrid drive, where a generator directly connected to the diesel engine provides the energy for the electric motors. In addition, all of the auxiliary systems of the Mitsubishi Fuso and Mercedes-Benz hybrid buses are electrically powered, which makes completely electrical and emission-free driving possible for short stretches.
The technological transition to a zero-emission vehicle is being ushered in by the Mercedes-Benz Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid, which employs an innovative drive concept featuring wheel-hub motors. In principle, future generations of the vehicle will need only to replace the diesel-engine generator with fuel cells, as the electric drive components have already been tried and tested.
Fuel cell vehicles have already proved their suitability for day-to-day operations in a test that involved 30 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses. The vehicles were driven more than two million kilometers in over 125,000 hours of operation. However, the fuel cells’ service life needs to be substantially lengthened and their cost drastically reduced before they can be used in mass-produced commercial vehicles.
Honda to Build Home Station to Fuel Hydrogen Car
The Japanese automobile-maker Honda said that it will make its new fuel-cell powered automobile, the FCX Clarity, available on a limited retail basis to U.S. customers in summer of 2008. Speaking at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, Tetsuo Iwamura, president and director of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., said that it is Honda’s intent to make the FCX Clarity “the first fuel-cell car to be placed in the hands of individual retail customers on a regular and continuing basis.”
The FCX Clarity carries four passengers and uses a fuel-cell stack in combination with a lithium ion battery pack and a single 171-liter hydrogen storage tank to power the vehicle’s 100-kW electric drive motor. The company currently plans to make the vehicle available through a three-year lease term at a price of $600 U.S. per month.
The test market will be in Southern California, where a significant number of hydrogen fueling stations are operational. The car, despite its futuristic energy source, is notably unremarkable in appearance, resembling Honda’s other conventionally-propelled models. The on-board energy supply requires special equipment to recharge the fuel cell), but can be replenished within minutes and provide a travel range up to 270 miles on a single charge. Honda’s full-cycle calculation suggests that a fuel-cell vehicle can reduce carbon dioxide output by half compared with a gasoline vehicle.
In tandem with its plans to bring the FCX Clarity to market, Honda is developing a home-based hydrogen generation and fueling device, which has applications as an energy-saving power station for other household uses. With this move, Honda hopes to break the “catch-22” dilemma that deters motor companies from developing hydrogen cars, because no hydrogen distribution infrastructure widely exists, and fuel companies from distributing hydrogen, because there are no cars that use it. To help consumers through the infancy of hydrogen technology, Honda is attempting to decentralize the production of hydrogen.
Using an existing natural gas supply, the Home Energy Station IV produces and stores hydrogen, which, in additional to refueling a fuel-cell vehicle, can provide heat, hot water, and electricity to an average-size home. According to Honda, a home using Home Energy Station IV to help produce heat and electricity and refuel an FCX Clarity can reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 30 percent and energy costs by an estimated 50 percent, compared to the average U.S. home with grid-supplied electricity and a gasoline-powered car.
The FCX clarity boasts a number of improvements over the current FCX prototype, including a 20-percent increase in fuel economy – increasing to the approximate equivalent of 68 mpg—and a 30-percent increase in vehicle range – up to 270 miles. These improvements stem from a 25-percent improvement in power-to-weight ratio, in part from an approximate 400-pound reduction in the fuel cell powertrain weight, which increases performance and efficiency despite a substantial increase in overall vehicle size. The new FCX also features a 45-percent reduction in the size of the fuel cell powertrain—nearly equivalent, in terms of volume, to a modern gas-electric hybrid power train—and an advanced new lithium-ion battery pack that is 40 percent lighter and 50 percent smaller than the current-generation FCX's ultra-capacitor.
Resources
http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/nov2007/bw20071127_309229.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_science
http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/owning/home-energy-station/
GM’s Project Driveway Tests Hydrogen Vehicles With Consumers
General Motors (GM) is preparing a 2008 rollout of Project Driveway, which will park more than 100 Equinox fuel-cell powered crossover wagons with selected drivers in Westchester County, N.Y.; Orange County, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. GM said the research project would give it the world’s largest fleet of fuel-cell cars driven by actual consumers. Interested drivers can apply for a no-cost, three-month test of the Equinox at chevrolet.com/fuelcell. GM will provide use of one Equinox, each valued at up to $1 million, as well as the cost of hydrogen fuel and insurance.
Maria Recchia-O’Neill, science coordinator for the Port Chester Public Schools in New York, will be among the first to receive an Equinox. Like other recipients, Ms. Recchia-O’Neill won her spot through curiosity and enthusiasm; GM is seeking testers who are active in its online forums for fuel-cell vehicles. Initial Project Driveway recipients have been selected, but GM said it would be choosing new candidates for 2009 test drives. The company expects several hundred people to test the Equinox through 2010.
Like other fuel-cell cars, the Equinox generates electricity from a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, with no smog-forming emissions or greenhouse gases. The crossover wagon delivers the equivalent of about 43 miles per gallon and can travel roughly 170 miles on a tank that holds four kilograms of pressurized hydrogen. Each kilogram contains roughly the energy of one gallon of gas.
GM expects the test will provide street-legal proof that fuel cells can be harnessed in an otherwise typical car. Seeing the cars operating smoothly under everyday driving conditions could ease consumer skepticism over hydrogen safety and reliability. In contrast to leaking gasoline, which can pool dangerously, for example, gaseous hydrogen is likely to dissipate harmlessly into the atmosphere if the hydrogen tank were ever pierced — something that many engineers say is extremely unlikely. “I’ve asked all the right questions of engineers, and I’m completely comfortable with this technology,” Ms. Recchia-O’Neill said. “As I’ll tell my students, today we don’t even think about gasoline for its chemical properties, even though we’re driving with a tank of highly combustible liquid.”
Several other automakers are developing and testing hydrogen models. Ford has 30 fuel-cell Focus compacts in use around the world, largely in municipal and corporate fleets. BMW has lent 25 copies of its Hydrogen 7 to celebrities, including Will Farrell and Jay Leno. The revamped 7-Series sedan burns gasoline or hydrogen in an internal combustion V-12 engine rather than using a fuel cell.
Of course, hydrogen is still hard to come by. The scarce fueling infrastructure means that Equinox testers must live or work near hydrogen stations. In New York, there is a station in White Plains, and GM expects stations in the Bronx and near Kennedy Airport to open by March. Ben Knight, Honda’s research and development chief in the United States, said in an interview that Honda realistically saw 2018 to 2020 as the rough target for fuel-cell cars in showrooms. GM has continued to say it will have showroom-ready models much earlier, by 2011 or 2012.
Resources
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/autos/0710/gallery.chevrolet_equinox_fuel_cell/
http://www.gm.com/explore/technology/news/2006/fc_fleet_launch_091806.jsp
Public Transportation Ridership Continues to Grow
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced that Americans took nearly 50 million more trips on public transportation during the third quarter of 2007, compared to the third quarter of 2006, representing a 2 percent increase in ridership. Noting that more and more Americans are choosing to ride public transportation as gas prices remain high and traffic congestion remains a problem, APTA President William W. Millar said, “the greater use of public transit in the third quarter of 2007 demonstrates the importance of a community having a good public transportation system to help its residents save time and money.”
In the third quarter of 2007, light rail (modern light rail, streetcars, trolleys, and heritage trolleys) had the highest percentage of ridership growth among all modes of transportation, with an 8.9 percent increase. Some of the areas reporting the highest increases in light rail ridership opened new services. The Regional Transit Authority of New Orleans, LA showed the largest increase at 115.7 percent, as it restores more service. Other areas showing notable percentage increases in light rail system ridership are: Denver, CO (65.1percent), St. Louis, MO (25.8 percent), Kenosha, WI (23.3 percent), New Jersey (14.1 percent), Tampa, FL (13.1 percent), and San Diego, CA (12.5 percent).
Commuter rail had the second highest growth rate of all modes at 5.4 percent. Areas with significant commuter rail ridership increases included: Harrisburg to Philadelphia, PA (50.2 percent), Oakland, CA (16.2 percent ), Oceanside, CA (12.8 percent), Dallas-Forth Worth, TX (12.3 percent), Stockton, CA (12.4 percent), Philadelphia, PA (9.4 percent), and Anchorage, AK (9.0 percent). Heavy rail (subways) ridership grew nationally by 4.0 percent during the third quarter of 2007. Areas showing the largest increases in ridership are: San Juan, Puerto Rico (10.6 percent), Atlanta, GA (10.4 percent), and Staten Island, NY (10.2 percent).
Bus ridership throughout the country showed a slight increase of 0.1 percent, although in communities with a population below 100,000, bus ridership showed a 7.5 percent increase. Trolley bus ridership increased by 1.5 percent and all other types of public transportation increased by 6.7 percent.
Resources
http://www.apta.com/research/stats/ridership/
Survey Shows Broad Support for Transportation and Development Alternatives
Three-fourths of Americans believe that being smarter about development and improving public transportation are better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads, according to a survey sponsored by the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America. The 2007 Growth and Transportation Survey provides a snapshot of what Americans are thinking in terms of how development trends are affecting their immediate community.
Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed believe new communities should be designed to reduce the need to drive by allowing more options to walk or bike. Ninety percent of respondents also supported improving public transportation and making it more accessible. Half of those surveyed think improving public transit would be the best way to reduce congestion, and 26 percent believe developing communities that reduce the need to drive would be the better alternative. Only one in five indicated they thought that building new roads was an effective response to reduce congestion.
A question regarding climate change was added to the survey and nearly three-quarters of respondents expressed concern about the impact of growth and development on climate change, as well as the impact on traffic congestion. The 2007 Growth and Transportation Survey was conducted by telephone among 1,000 adults living in the United States in October 2007. The study has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Resources
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/narsgareport2007.html
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