Green Options

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Electric and hybrid electric car manufacturer Aptera has been turning heads since the first announced their space-age looking Typ1 prototype. The sub $30,000 electric version of the Typ1 has a range of 120 miles and is expected to be ready for limited release later this year.

Take a look at the latest video from Aptera, a guided tour of their factory:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Ogy6_KHE4A" width="425" height="355" wmode="transparent" /]

You can also see pictures of the facility here.

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This is something I (and a lot of other people) have been wondering about for a while in regards to plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs, like the Chevy Volt) and pure electric vehicles (EVs, like the Lightning GT and Subaru R1e). PHEVs are not a new thing, and they have been discussed on Gas2.0 before, but there is some interesting news that recently came out of Carnegie Mellon University suggesting that if we don’t make our power generation system less carbon intensive, PHEVs could have little benefit over regular hybrids (HEVs).

More after the jump!

As usual, Google is at the forefront of, well, everything. But this one is a little surprising: their philanthropic branch, Google.org, is putting $10 million into plug-in electric hybrid research and real-world testing. If you’ve been reading Gas 2.0 lately, you already know that’s as much as will be rewarded to the winners of the 2010 Automotive X Prize for revolutionary green car technology.

Last September, Google offered up the $10 million in a formal Request For Proposals (RFP), saying they wanted to invest in any company that would “accelerate the commercialization of alternative transportation that reduces vehicle fossil fuel use and climate emissions.” In other words, getting plug-in hybrids, fully electric vehicles, vehicle-to-grid capabilities, and batteries and other storage technologies on the market.

French analysts have concluded that the wild popularity of gasoline-hybrid electric vehicles in the United States could potentially hinder development of more sustainable and advanced green vehicles:

Hybrid electric vehicles that run on both conventional gasoline and stored electricity can be no more than a stop gap until more sustainable technology is developed, according to researchers in France. They suggest that the adoption of HEVs might even slow development of more sustainable fuel-cell powered electric vehicles.

The researchers go on to argue that the “misinformed craze” for hybrids in the U.S. is creating a situation where every manufacturer must include hybrid technology in their portfolio in order to stay afloat:

My guest today is no stranger to the subject of biofuels. Clayton began experimenting with small-scale biodiesel production at Oregon State University. Of his many projects to produce and use a local fuel source, he was involved in the construction of a biodiesel reactor designed to convert waste cafeteria oil into biodiesel for use in OSU campus vehicles.

Clayton has an Honors B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry from the University of Utah. […]

While plug-in hybrids offer great increases in fuel efficiency, they may come at a surprising cost: water. A recent study from Environmental Science & Technology found that plug-ins require the consumption of 3 times more water, and the withdrawal of 17 times more water, than their gasoline counterparts. As Popular Mechanics pointed out last week:

A 30-mile commute in a gasoline-powered car would require the withdrawal of 18.9 gallons of water… The same commute in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), meanwhile, would take a whopping 318 gallons…

So what accounts for the increase in water usage? PHEV’s don’t require water directly, but the power plants that power them do:

Any power plant that runs steam turbines uses water, whether fired by coal, natural gas, or nuclear energy, says King, a mechanical engineer at the Bureau of Economic Geology at UT. Many plants consume water by running it through cooling towers where it evaporates away. Plants can also tie up water resources via withdrawal, in which plants recycle water that is drawn from a reservoir.

My, how electrical systems for internal combustion engines have changed in the last century. Of course, we all know electricity is a necessity, because it’s an electrical spark that ignites the gasoline that makes the motor run.

The very first automotive electrical system was fired by a magneto, a simple device that requires no battery. Simply stated, the engine spins a magnet inside a coil, which creates electricity. A contact breaker, or switch, controls the release of electricity to the spark plug, creating a spark to ignite the fuel making the piston(s) go up and down accordingly.

As a matter of fact, to this very day, piston-driven motors such as those found in lawnmowers, chainsaws, and snowblowers, to name a few, all have a magneto creating the spark that drives the engine. Magnetos are used on a variety of aircraft. A single-engine plane would have two magnetos, for safety and an extra power boost to save fuel.

Things have changed a lot since I was driving across the country, or occasionally flying to a new destination and renting a car. I knew there’d be a gas station up ahead, and had a pretty good idea what prices would be when I stopped at the pump.

My, how things have changed. There are more fuel choices, and a trip to the MapQuest Gas Prices website will show you what I mean.

Trying to improve your gas mileage? Use biodiesel? Or just want to save a buck?
With all the hoopla around different fuel and vehicle choices these days, it’s easy to be confused. Hybrids? Diesels? Biofuels?
Which one of these choices is actually best for you?

BMW and DaimlerChrysler are teaming up to develop hybrid transmission systems for rear-wheel-drive premium cars.

These transmission systems will be for so-called “mild hybrids,” which boost acceleration and can make engines work more efficiently in stop-and-go traffic, but can’t run on battery power alone and don’t offer the same fuel savings as a full hybrid (like a Toyota Prius, which connects an electric motor and batteries to a standard combustion engine.). The carmakers should have

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