Green Options » automobile

Daimler’s First Electric Car

Lisa Wojnovich — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:09:55 +0000

Most odd stories relating to the environment tend to revolve around researchers and scientists and their slightly off the wall discoveries. But not so today. Today, in news of the weird — or at least slightly surreal — I bring you Daimler, the German automaker, who announced last week their very first hybrid car, the Mercedes Benz S Class. It’s a limousine.

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More Money for the Auto Industry

Lisa Wojnovich — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:43:09 +0000

Three more car companies received sizeable loans from the federal government yesterday, but don’t worry; it’s not another bailout. In fact, the$8 billion is just the start of a larger $25 billion project called the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM for short) that was thought up back in 2007 and funded by Congress in late 2008 during the Bush administration. The project, overseen by the Department of Energy, is a federal grant and loan initiative bent on providing low interest capital to automobile manufacturers — as well as the makers of their component parts — to promote the development of new automobile technologies that guzzle less gas — and in some cases, no gas at all.

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The Chevy Volt: Coming Soon to a Dealership Near You

Lisa Wojnovich — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:05:08 +0000

Last week at the Detroit auto show, new, battery-powered, green cars reigned supreme. General Motors announced finalized plans for its Chevrolet Volt, which will be on the market in both fully electric and plug-in hybrid forms by late 2010. LG Chem, a South Korean company, won the much anticipated contract to manufacture the Volt’s lithium-ion batteries, beating out several other contenders, including Massachusetts’s A123Systems and Germany’s Continental AG.

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US Scientists Make Car Parts and Biodiesel From Coconuts

Andrew Williams — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:00:01 +0000

A team of researchers at Baylor University, Texas, have figured out a way to make car parts from coconuts, opening the door to the replacement of environmentally damaging plastic with an abundant, renewable resource.

The team have also created biodiesel from coconut oil, and are confident the new fuel could be an economically viable substitute for gasoline, as well as a vital source of income for more than ten million coconut farmers worldwide struggling on tiny annual incomes, typically as little as $500.

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CO2 vs. Fluorocarbons: The Battle for the Automotive Air Conditioning Market Rages On

Lisa Wojnovich — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:35:25 +0000

Ever heard of HFO-1234yf? No? Well, give it time. You will. That random alphanumeric string is the trade name of a new chemical refrigerant (whose technical name is an even bigger mouthful, 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene) jointly developed by Honeywell and Dupont. And after December 8, when the Society of Automotive Engineers’ International Research Program endorsed it as the best answer to Europe’s new, stringent, and impending regulations governing mobile air conditioning (MAC) systems, HFO-1234yf looks to be poised to become the latest industry standard.

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There is no point in calculating your carbon footprint - you need to understand it!

Dave Harcourt — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:40:27 +0000

Ten credible on line calculators gave Carbon Footprints that ranged from 27 000 to 76 000 pounds of carbon emitted a year for the same input data. An understanding of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with what we do and consume will give us a better chance of reducing our emissions than using such inaccurate calculators.

What’s the problem?

J. Paul Padgett and collegues at Vanderbilt University and the University of Washington analysed the results obtained using 10 carbon footprint calculators from credible organisations including; American Forests, Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), CarbonCounter,The Conservation Fund and the Environmental Impact Agency (EPA). Their results are published in the Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008). They identified the massive range refered to above, that ammounts to a difference of 180% between the lowest and highest figures and concluded that “Given their prevalence and potential influence, CO2 calculators can provide even greater public benefit by providing greater consistency and clarity.

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Report: America’s Love Affair With Cars is Ending

Nick Chambers — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:14:07 +0000

According to a just-released report from the well-respected Brookings Institution, the US is experiencing its longest and quickest decline in the amount of driving since World War Two — a decline which the report’s authors claim marks a permanent shift away from the automobile and towards other forms of transportation.

The report, The Road… Less Traveled: An Analysis of Vehicle Miles Traveled Trends in the U.S., points out that the beginning of the current decline in driving predated the high gas prices of last summer and, as gas prices have come back down over the last few months, drivers are not going back to their cars (click the graph below for an expanded view of these statistics).

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Mitsubishi Partnering with California and Oregon to Bring Electric Cars to Market

Nick Chambers — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:27:14 +0000

After my test drive of the Mitsubishi i MiEV at the 2008 LA Auto Show yesterday, I walked away with the distinct feeling that Mistubishi has designed a sporty, relatively spacious, and well-thought-out winner of an electric car.

Mitsubishi is currently testing the i MiEV in California in collaboration with Southern California Edison. Additionally, according to Mitsubishi executive, David Patterson, the company is in negotiations to partner with Oregon after Nissan announced its new electric car partnership with the state on Wednesday. I guess everybody wants to get in on the Oregon action.

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50% Don’t Think Obama or McCain Can Lower Gas Prices

Nick Chambers — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:12:01 +0000

According to a survey commissioned by Cars.com during July, about 50% of US consumers don’t believe that Obama or McCain has a magic rabbit up their sleeve that will lower prices at the pump any time soon

Turns out, 50% of people in the US are wiser than I thought: there is no quick fix or simple solution.

Another interesting result from the survey: 48% of consumers don’t see McCain or Obama as having a particular advantage when trying to work with the auto industry to bring more fuel efficient or plug-in vehicles to the market in the future.

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Reclaiming The City From The Car

Mark Seall — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:35:39 +0000

The motorcar has undoubtedly been one of mankind’s most useful inventions to date, a fact which is evidenced by our continuing love affair with our four wheeled friends. They represent some of the largest investments we ever make, we spend hours talking about them, we spend small fortunes maintaining them, we cherish them, we love them.

But our affair with the car has blinded us to some of the obvious drawbacks, such as its lack of compatibility with urban life which leaves our cities clogged by semi stationary vehicles with fuming engines and fuming drivers.

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100 MPGe Automotive X Prize Offers $10 Million Purse

Clayton B. Cornell — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:45:37 +0000

Teams from around the world are gearing up for the Automotive X Prize, a competition that will award part of $10 million to the team that builds the cleanest production-ready 100 MPGe (mile per gallon equivalent) vehicle.

This isn’t a race centered on space-age concept cars that will never see a US highway, but aims to jump-start the auto industry with revolutionary, super-efficient vehicles that consumers will actually want to buy. Entries must be ready for production and have a business plan outlining how they’ll be brought to market. They’ll also be judged on safety, cost, and features.

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Rail Travel in Europe – Racing with Trains, Planes & Automobiles (Part III)

Mark Seall — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:47:22 +0000

The conclusion of our planes, trains and automobiles race across Europe. (Read Part II)

With the Green Team finally on their way towards England, the Blue Team about to miss the boat and the Red team fuming in traffic the competition is heating up.

16:40 – Red Team, M3, South of London

After almost an hour of solid traffic we’re moving again, but its slow going. The frustration of hours of endless queuing and shuffling around is now starting to take its toll. The heavy dose of air fresher that was obviously applied to the interior of my hire-car is starting to succumb to the natural odours of its previous occupant, which does nothing for my mood.

17:10 – Blue Team, Port of Calais, France

Sipping afternoon tea in the Club Lounge on P&O Ferries’ Pride of Dover as we set sail for England. I made the ferry with seconds to spare and I’m some way behind the Reds, but it’s not over yet. Time to enjoy the one hour crossing and have a break from driving.

17:34 – Green Team, Channel Tunnel

Making real progress now as the Eurostar enters the channel tunnel. In under an hour we’ll be in London and we’re catching up with the Red Team. Somewhere on the water above us the Blue team are slowly streaming across the channel whilst we speed through the tunnel – that feels good.

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Rail Travel in Europe – Racing with Trains, Planes & Automobiles (Part II)

Mark Seall — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:36:03 +0000

Part II of our planes, trains and automobiles race across Europe. (Read Part I)

With the Red Team grounded in Zürich whilst our eco-racers make their way steadily through France things are looking bleak for air travel.

11.45 - Red Team, Zürich Airport (still)

Finally I am sitting in seat 27B, sandwiched between a large gentleman and a fidgety young boy. To my mounting frustration the captain apologizes for the delay in boarding due to bad weather on the inbound flight from London this morning, and tells us that we won’t be taking off for another 45 minutes due to air traffic congestion – a common problem on this route, which will get worse as passenger numbers increase.

12.00 - Blue Team, Somewhere in Eastern France

The scenery in this part of the country is fantastic with the Autoroute representing a roller coaster, rising and falling through the hills, twisting and turning through meadows and forests with dramatic cliffs in the background. For the driving enthusiast this is a treat.

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Air Car in Showrooms by End of Year

Max Lindberg — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:06:52 +0000

Run your car on compressed air? Drivers in Europe may be doing just that by the end of the year with the air car, according to a report from the BBC…

This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.

Like to know more about the air car? Here’s their website.

People Powered Energy: Portable Wind Turbine and Power Bank

Elizabeth Redmond — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:18:09 +0000

About three years ago in design school at the University of Michigan, I was making concept sketches of wearable energy-generating devices, such as turbines, for my thesis on people-powered energy systems. Although I focused in on a different, yet quite similar, project, I have been waiting for a personal, handheld wind turbine to come to market. After years of waiting, finally an attractive, multi-functional, and effective one is available.

The HYmini is a personal wind turbine meant to be attached to the handlebars of your bike (when you are actually out riding it), to the roof of your car, or just to be held in your hand on a windy day. It harnesses wind current, charges a battery to ultimately power your 5V devices such as an iPod, MP3 player, digital camera…

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Donlen Corporation and Sierra Club Launch "Cool Fleets"

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:51:00 +0000

Back in June, the Christian Science Monitor ran an article on the greening of car fleets. Partly to develop green cred, and partly to save money on gas, companies ranging from Abbot Pharmaceuticals (which has a big fleet for its salespeople) to Enterprise and Hertz are adding thousands of hybrids and flex fuel cars to their fleets. While they’ve had to literally beg for hybrids because of relatively limited production, automakers like Toyota are stepping it up to meet the demand of these big buyers.

That’s good news for both the environment and the future of green car manufacturing: because they’re buying in bulk, fleet owners and managers can give car makers an extra push towards developing and producing vehicles with higher fuel efficiency and lower emissions. Last week, Illinois-based fleet management company Donlen Corporation released, in partnership with the Sierra Club, its Cool Fleets web tool, which is designed to give fleet managers an extra push towards choosing more climate-friendly vehicles. Noting that fleet professionals need information about environmental impact in context, Donlen CEO Gary Rappeport claims that the Cool Fleets tool organizes this information in a manner that makes the benefits of greener cars obvious:

Fleet managers cannot make effective decisions in a vacuum. Simply looking at isolated carbon data will not provide the complete picture. With this calculator, carbon-conscious decision makers can now reach a conclusion that is well-received by an organization’s environmental and finance teams, just as our existing clients also use this resource. …

…the tool allows vehicle fleet managers to accurately determine and compare global warming and air pollution emissions, as well as fuel and maintenance costs for all types of vehicles. For example, the tool calculates that a hybrid vehicle can cost 22% less to operate, and emits 46% less global warming pollution over a three-year period, than the average mid-size sedan. In addition, the tool provides a financial analysis of carbon output and how it affects the organization’s bottom line.

Fleet managers can compare actual vehicles on a wide range of features, including fuel costs based on the actual price of gas in the user’s region. Just playing with the tool, I could easily see that while an ‘08 Toyota Prius has a higher sticker price than a Chevy Malibu LS (both “large compacts”), the fleet owner would make up that difference in fuel savings… and also emit half of the greehouse gases. A no-brainer… right?

Those of us who are passionate about environmental protection tend to argue in those terms, as they’re meaningful to us. But business people, however green they may be, need the business case, and the Cool Fleets tool looks like it does a nice job of offering just that. Fleet managers can have their green cred without breaking the bank… what better example of a “win-win?”

Categories: cars, fleets, tool, fuelefficiency, emissions, climatechange, globalwarming, sierraclub, donlencorporation

Cities Around the Globe Go Carfree… Well, Almost

Heidi Strebel — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:31:50 +0000

From Budapest to Beijing, and from Bangkok to Buenos Aires, city dwellers across the globe hoped to enjoy an entire day without of the habitual pollution and hassle of automobile traffic.

Towns and cities signed up to participate in the annual car-free day held last Saturday. Since 2000 the World Carfree Network, an international association dedicated to advancing alternatives to automobile dependence, has called for the celebration of cities and public life "free from the noise, the stress and the pollution of cars," on the same day each year, September 22. The association urged individuals and local organizers to make this year’s celebration more than a one-day affair.

Let World Carfree Day be a showcase for just how our cities might look like, feel like, and sound like without cars…365 days a year. As the climate heats up, World Carfree Day is the perfect time to take the heat off the planet, and put it on city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of to the automobile.

The car-free day coincided, as it does every year, with European Mobility Week. Events were organized in over 1000 cities and towns in Europe, and culminated in the car-free day on Saturday. The week is sponsored by the European Commission in partnership with three European-wide organizations that work on urban environmental issues: Eurocities, Energie-Cités and Climate Alliance. Local authorities, leisure clubs, community groups and other spontaneous gatherings of determined individuals, coordinate an array of activities to promote sustainable means of transport.

Each year there is an overarching theme for Mobility Week. "Streets for People" was the theme for this the sixth edition of the week, calling for "local authorities to reallocate some road space to non-motorized traffic," and drawing attention to the pressing need to improve air quality on the local level. Many cities closed their main streets to automobile traffic, arranged mass bicycle outings and held street parties. Some town authorities took the opportunity to showcase permanent measures taken in recent years to increase the road space dedicated to sustainable mobility.

Reports on Mobility Week and World Carfree Day are still coming out.

One dispatch already released came from China. Officials had announced that Beijing would hold its first car-free day last Saturday. James Reynolds, reporting from Beijing on Saturday for the BBC, said, "the ruling communist party has encouraged people to leave their cars at home to improve the air for next year’s Olympic Games, but no one has taken any notice." The main thoroughfares of the Chinese capital looked, by and large, the way they do on normal car days, Reynolds said. Private cars were blocked from using some back streets but apparently, "nobody uses them much anyway… People here are not willing to give up their cars in exchange for better air." Overall, Reynolds concluded, "no car day appears to have had absolutely no impact whatsoever."

Image: World Carfree Network

BBC Beijing No Car Day

European Mobility Week

Eurocities

Energie Cités

Climate Alliance

Future Fuels for Automobiles

Philip Proefrock — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:51:03 +0000

Switchgrass: Image Credit: USDA

I'm not that much of an automobile enthusiast. Despite my proximity to the Motor City, I don't pay constant attention to the latest twitches in the auto industry. I take the bus to work, and drive a car only occasionally, usually for errands or to shuttle the kids someplace. But I attended the GM ChallengeX event on behalf of EcoGeek.org and Green Options, and I learned a number of things about where automotive technology is trying to go, and came away excited about new things coming along in the automotive industry.

In addition to the work being done in the ChallengeX competition, GM itself is forging ahead in a number of areas with plans for a wide range of fuel options. Dr. Gary Smyth, one of the GM engineers I had the opportunity to meet over dinner, spoke at length about the fuel mix for automobiles in the future. With increasing demand for vehicles, the issue is not whether, say, switchgrass ethanol or bio-diesel is going to be the magic bullet that addresses the future demand for fuel. Rather, it is going to be a mix of a number of different fuels, all of which are being widely used, that is going to be necessary to keep up with demand, both domestically and internationally. "Displacing petroleum" was the phrase that I heard a number of times throughout the day. GM has evidently seen the writing on the wall and is taking steps to address it.

The configuration of some of GM's cars coming out in the next few years is such that the fuel source does not have to drive the development of the vehicle. With the proposed Chevy Volt, for example, the vehicle is driven by its electric motors and its batteries. Whatever internal combustion engine or fuel cell or something else is under the hood is just to run an electrical generator. The vehicle can get its fuel from whatever source the consumers prefer, and in some cases, as with the current Flex-Fuel vehicles in GM's fleet, it may be possible to use more than one kind of fuel.

GM has set itself on course to use lithium-ion batteries for its forthcoming electric vehicles such as the Chevy Volt. One of the issues with lithium-ion batteries is that they can overheat. There have already been multiple incidents and recalls of laptop computer batteries due to fire hazards from these batteries. The increased energy density means that they are able to provide more useful charge with less weight. But that same energy density also means that the batteries can be more prone to damage from overheating.

One thing that was suggested was for the Volt (and other cars with these batteries) is to have a small solar panel on the car that would provide enough power to operate a circulating fan that could help keep the battery array cooler. This is just one of the many issues that needs to be dealt with and overcome in order to bring the Volt to market. And it is small details such as this that will be the success or failure of the Volt.

I'm much more of an automotive enthusiast than I was a couple of months ago. And I will probably be paying a bit more attention to some of the things going on in the auto industry.

For some other perspectives on the meetings that GM personnel had with several bloggers at the event, see these articles, as well:

Autoblog Green
Podtech.net
GM-volt.com (and also here)
Groovy Green

Google Flips The Switch On Largest Corporate Solar Installation In U.S.

Michael dEstries — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:18:00 +0000

Search for "Largest corporate solar installation in the U.S." and you'll see Google pop up in the results. As of yesterday, the search engine giant became a lot less dependent on the grid by flipping the switch on nearly 9,212 solar panels. The output of more than 1.6 megawatts will serve up enough energy to power almost 1/3 of the campus. For some perspective, that's enough energy to power more than 1,000 homes!

Not content, however, to simply let a few thousand solar panels represent their green values, Google also unveiled a new parking garage specifically designed for plug-in-electric vehicles and hybrid cars. Employees can now charge while at work and hit the road freshly juiced afterwards. "Wait a minute," you say. "There aren't any commercial plug-in cars available yet!" And you're right. So, to address this issue, Google is also taking hybrid vehicles and converting them to plug-ins so that they can cruise along on only electricity for longer periods of time and at greater speeds. According to the article, they've so far converted four Toyota Prius and two Ford Escapes. Almost 100 such conversions are planned for employees to use as a car-share program while at work. Who are these guys?

Hold on, there's more. Monday also marked the launch of Google's new philanthropic division, RechargeIT. The group has earmarked $10 million for investments in companies and projects that support alternative transportation that reduces the use of fossil fuels and emissions. You can also visit the site to see how the plug-in cars that Google has converted are performing.

To say this is encouraging would be a bit of an understatement. Would the rest of the corporate U.S. please pay attention? The future of business sustainability lies in example at Google HQ. We applaud their efforts and hope such green initiative become contagious nationwide.

Hit the jump for more.

Will GM Revive the Electric Car? Part 2

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:04:00 +0000

As I noted last week, General Motors new Chevy Volt concept vehicle has received quite a bit of fanfare around the green blogosphere; as we also saw from some of the comments that post [at Green Options] received, the company’s claim that it must develop an automotive lithium-ion battery to move the Volt to production has met with its share of skepticism. The media event I attended last Monday was aimed, in part, at skeptics — the company wanted to make its case for choosing this particular path, including the reasons for developing new battery technology instead of taking advantage of current nickel metal hydride batteries common to most hybrid vehicles.

While our breakfast meeting with Larry Burns was small and relatively casual, GM had a thorough formal presentation planned for the larger group of reporters and writers that gathered later in the morning. Joining Beth Lowery, GM’s VP of Energy and Environment, were Denise Gray, Director of Hybrid Energy Storage Systems for GM, and Joe LoGrasso, the Engineering Group Manager in that same division. Also present were representatives of the companies GM has contracted with in developing li-ion batteries for its “E-Flex” concept: Mary Ann Wright, CEO of Johnson Controls-Saft, Ed Bednarcik, VP and General Manager of A123Systems, and Scott Lindholm, VP of Systems Engineering for Cobasys. The presentations by all of these executives came together around two common themes: 1) the li-ion automotive battery is necessary for the E-Flex concept; 2) the combination of talent and experience GM had brought together can make it happen.

LoGrasso and Wright tackled the main question on everyone’s mind: why lithium-ion when nickel metal hydride is a battery technology that, according to LoGrasso, is “nearing maturity in cost and performance.” According to LoGrasso, GM had decided upon the following needs for a battery for the Volt:

Energy: 40+ miles all-electric in city driving
Recharge: While driving and with plug-in
Power: EV driving full vehicle performance
Life: 10 years/150k miles life

The advantages of li-ion batteries include:

Superior specific discharge power & energy
• ~40% less mass than NiMH
• ~20% less volume than NiMH
Excellent cycle life
Long term cost potential
Relatively low self-discharge
Easier to control (determine SOC & power available)

To put this in terms that apply to most people’s driving, a NiMH battery in the space alloted for a battery in the Volt would provide a 25-30 mile range in electric-only mode, and not provide the power most consumers want — according to engineers that addressed this for me later by email, “The 0-60 would be unacceptable. The owner would also have issues with being able to drive up hills.” An li-ion battery, on the other hand, could provide a 40-mile electric-only range with the power most car owners expect. Wright also noted that lithium-ion batteries provide more power with less space and weight, which translates into cost savings. Challenges still exist, of course, including cold temperature performance (mentioned here), as well as life span, robustness & abuse tolerance, the more sophisticated electronics needed to maintain li-ion cells, and the initial costs of the batteries and battery packs before production can be ramped up to a scale that will bring prices down.

The questions asked by readers at Green Options also came up during the Q&A period — why not go with the technology currently available and upgrade as necessary? The company stuck to its story — li-ion is necessary to create a plug-in hybrid that meets the power and energy expectations of most consumers.

So, is it? GM and its partners made a complex case for this technology — we’d love to hear why you think they’re right or wrong.

For other takes on this presentation, visit Autoblog Green, Evolution Shift, and EcoWorld.

Cross posted at Green Options.

Categories: gm, automobile, car, chevyvolt, battery, detroit