Green Options

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Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs) have taken some undeserved heat lately, with the recent hullabaloo over their potential to drain U.S. water supplies. But as some readers pointed out, it all depends when you charge them.

This week’s report from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which evaluated the impact of a substantial increase in PHEV ownership, found that nighttime charging of PHEV’s would not increase electricity demand over baseline levels. In other words, no (or very few) new power plants would need to be constructed if plug-in owners only charged their vehicles at night.

Not everyone is waiting until 2010 to get their first plug-in hybrid. As I reported previously, Hybrids Plus out of Boulder, CO, is offering conversions for the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape hybrids, turning them into 100 MPG+ superstars.

I’ve collected a little more background on Prius hybrid hacks, and a few more resources. Check out this video, which should give you a good feeling for what getting 100 MPG would be like:

Electric-car company ZAP announced it will offer $24,000 plug-in conversions for the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape Hybrids, making them plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs).

It’s sort of like doubling your fuel efficiency for the cost of a new car…

Source: Gas 2.0

55 MPG isn’t good enough for you? Then try adding a plug to your hybrid.

The electric-car company ZAP, in conjunction with Hybrids Plus, has announced it will offer plug-in hybrid conversions for the Toyota Prius and the Ford Escape Hybrid:

Hybrid vehicles retrofitted with systems from Hybrids Plus of Boulder, Colorado can achieve a significantly greater fuel economy. In tests these systems increased hybrid fuel economy up to 120 miles per gallon in the city and up to 90 mpg on the highway. The cost for the conversion ranges from $24,000 to $36,000 depending on the vehicle and size of battery pack.

Sally and I bought a car the other day. Yup, that’s it on the left — a mid-sized, four-wheel drive SUV — what every guy who writes for an environmental website should own. As much as we make of buying “green” and polluting less with our vehicles, we’re sometimes left with few options.

What I learned from this transaction, is that the process of buying a used car is changing with the infusion of hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV) into the marketplace. Let me explain.

Oh, the building in the background? I have a link at the end of the article.

As you know, we’re older. (Well, I’m much older, Sally’s just older.) We have limited income and some physical considerations, so we had to settle for something less than I would like from the standpoint of our carbon footprint. Purchasing a used HEV was out of the question, as much as I would like to have one, but I’ll cover that later.

I did all the “guy” things, you know, kick the tires, check the engine, look at fluid levels and general physical condition. Sally did her part. She looked it over inside and out, got in the passenger seat for the test ride and exclaimed, “I like it, let’s buy it,” and we did.

Later, I got to thinking, what used car will you buy in the next few years? This will undoubtedly be my last car purchase, and it was done in the traditional manner with all the traditional considerations as outlined above. You, on the other hand, may have to think about more than the tires, drive train, engine, brakes and the like.

Farmers are planting corn and soybeans like crazy, turning food crops into ethanol and biodiesel. Scientists are squeezing oil out of algae while others are trying to coax hydrogen into a fuel that is easy to produce and safe to use. Still other developers are touting the battery-operated electric car, and one company is building a car that runs on compressed air.

Which system will survive? Or will we have a mixture of E85’s, biodiesel, electric, air and hydrogen fueled vehicles cramming our highways and straining the fuel delivery system infrastructure? Eventually, according to the age-old theory that the fittest shall survive, one method of moving us from point “A” to point “B” will emerge, and some folks are betting on the plug-in hybrid.

All batteries contain heavy metals, which are useful for providing power for our portable devices, but aren’t so great for the environment. When your batteries run out of juice, or just won’t keep their charge anymore, be sure to dispose of them properly.

Many small electronics, like cell phones, iPods, computers and digital cameras use rechargeable batteries. These are often nickel-cadmium, metal-hydride or lithium-ion batteries. Then there are single-use alkaline batteries used for

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Today was a big day for GM’s concept Chevrolet Volt. First, they announced an official partnership with A123Systems for the creation of the Volt’s batteries, then they told Reuters they had a firm production schedule that includes a 2010 sale date. If they stick to it, it will be the first plug-in electric hybrid from any major manufacturer. GM vice chairman of Global Product Development Bob Lutz announced that GM and A123Systems

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Nice looking truck, isn’t it? And it runs well too, without an engine, radiator, or those other amenities, although there is a five-speed manual transmission. You’re looking at a Florida man’s lifelong dream: his first electric vehicle.

62-year-old Kenneth Watkins is an electrical engineer in Orlando, Florida. Ken said he’d wanted to build an electric-powered vehicle for years, but raising a family came first and now that everyone’s grown, he has

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Johnson Controls-Saft CEO Mary Ann Wright explains the critical success factors for automotive lithium-ion batteries

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 received, the company's claim that it must develop an automotive

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A GM battery engineer at work in one of the R&D Center's battery labsI just returned from a whirlwind trip to Detroit to attend a really interesting (and pretty unique) event: General Motors brought bloggers and journalists to their Research and Development Center outside of Detroit yesterday not to make a big announcement, or roll out a new vehicle, but to

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