It’s been known for a long time that the emissions from coal are harmful, both to the environment and human health. Yet, because it’s so plentiful, the U.S. still gets the majority of its electricity from coal-fired power. With the world focused on increasing the use of plug-in cars, where we get our future electricity becomes a key question.

Yesterday, a medical report was released, “Coal’s Assault on Human Health,” highlighting the dangers of coal, by the Physicians for Social Responsibility. Other study participants included the American Lung Association and the American Nurses Association.

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Leo Motors, a parts supply company with its roots in Korea, has an outspoken CEO with an interesting eye for the future and a grasp of where we’ve come from. For instance, after speaking with him it became apparent that Dr. Robert Kang has come to the conclusion that most of the electric vehicle technology we see today is based on technology developed for electric toys combining a simple motor, battery and ampere controller.

I don’t know if this is a fully accurate representation of electric car design, but it’s certainly true that electric cars are relatively simple systems.

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) along with the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is looking to fund $2 million dollars in coal research as part of the University Coal Research (UCR) Program. The research projects will be an attempt to improve the “fundamental understanding of the chemical and physical processes that govern coal conservation and utilization, by product utilization, and technological development.”

From an Administration that is attempting to reduce America’s dependence on oil through greenhouse gas emissions reductions, this is one of the—excuse me—stupidest ideas our country has had… at least for today. Look people, coal is NOT clean, even though the coal industry wants you to believe it is. As a matter of fact, Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, a front group for the coal and utility industries, is currently running a ‘clean coal” campaign in excess of $35 million according to a Washington Post article from last year.

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Entrepreneurs have begun to retrofit ordinary combustion vehicles into all-electrics or plug-in hybrids. Here’s why this could be the “big fix” that the auto-industry needs.

Are we stuck with our oil addiction? What if millions of our middle-aged vehicles could be reincarnated as superior versions of their youthful selves, while developing new revenue streams for Detroit? What if that “fix” could start reducing the billion a day we spend on imported oil, while creating tens of thousands of local jobs in communities and cutting greenhouse gases from fossil fuels?

Automakers could do all this—by thinking of vehicles as upgradable high-tech products. For example: A pioneering Chicago startup makes a prototype Ford F-150 pickup with an all-electric range of 30 miles per charge. After that it’s a hybrid, boosting the best-selling truck’s 15 city miles per gallon to 21.

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In a somewhat suspect interview that was posted to the web and then subsequently removed (but not before being turned into a transcript), Dick Weir — the clandestine CEO of the even more secretive EEStor — was caught on tape in a 30 minute interview covering many topics that fervent followers of the company have been curious about for a long time.

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More: Toyota to Launch Overpriced Plug-in Prius in 2012: $48,000 for a Minor Upgrade

Cartoon by Jerry King.

That lifetime is longer than we think. First and second U.S. owners typically keep vehicles seven to ten years. Many large guzzlers—built on durable frames, where it pays to replace rusted bodies—are then sent overseas, where they still produce greenhouse gases.

Why electrify transportation? Compared to combustion engines that waste most of their fuel in heat and friction, over the entire cycle from fuel extraction to use, electric motors are four times more efficient, making electric miles that much cheaper. Since we generate electricity from multiple sources—but almost none from imported oil—we get improved energy security. Electric vehicles are the only ones that get cleaner as they get older—because the power grid is becoming more cleaner. And electric motors have instantaneous torque for fast acceleration.

Why not just wait for the plug-in models OEMs will introduce by 2015? Unproven demand means they won’t make many. Hybrids took ten years to become 1% of all U.S. vehicles and 2% of new sales. So new plug-ins won’t significantly reduce petroleum use and CO2 for 15 years or longer.

Fortunately, we can get those benefits sooner by fixing tens of millions of over 250 million U.S vehicles—and nearly one billion in the world.

Electric Car Retrofits

Here’s how it could look: OEMs, dealers, and partners map out new revenue opportunities. Multiple customer-service pathways extend vehicles’ lives, reducing fuel and use and lifetime total cost of ownership. Electrification is the biggest but not the only fix. Dealers equip recent cars with real-time engine displays—videogames with fuel-saving tips. Some models get improved engine efficiency and aerodynamics. Dealers offer discounted home tire inflators, remote diagnostics, and at-home component swap-outs.

Past customers get validated, warrantied retrofits, installed by dealers or on idled assembly lines. OEMs certify franchises and garages as “qualified vehicle modifiers,” as they do now for customizers of everything from sunroofs to stretch limos.

The result? Hundreds of thousands of green installer jobs and a recharged supply chain for motors, electronics, batteries, and mechanical components. U.S. companies gain global leadership and licensing opportunities. Vehicles originally built anywhere get stickers, “Fixed in the U.S.A.”

How do we get there? By jump-starting a conversion industry, eventually paired with automakers. OEMs help commercialize safe, reliable conversions by blessing small companies’ retrofit solutions even if they’re inherently not optimized.

Washington has set a goal of a million new plug-ins by 2015. As the largest fleet owner, it could offset high costs for initial prototypes. Federal procurement could spark retrofits to military and civilian pickups, shuttle vans and buses. Innovation-friendly regulations could pave the way to rapid approval of conversion designs.

“Cash for Clunkers” could expand to incentivize converting vehicles, helping companies get started. Washington put a toe in the water with a 10% tax credit for plug-in conversions, up to $4,000. With gas over $3, a conversion industry could take off if, like the Chevy Volt, the first 200,000 of each model like the Chevy Silverado could get a $7,500 credit.

This could lead to financing by automotive “energy service companies,” which, like those working with building owners, could offer fleet owners one-day conversions at no up-front cost, with the installer collecting credits and sharing in fuel savings over time.

None of this depends on new technologies or infrastructure. Silicon Valley can show Detroit how continuous improvements and upgrades can accelerate the transition from foreign oil to domestic electricity. Visionary entrepreneurs can pluck the low-hanging fruit. We can finally align the interests of buyers, sellers, and get everyone rooting for great cars from a profitable industry.

Serial entrepreneur Felix Kramer is the founder of Calcars.org, a Palo Alto, CA-based nonprofit promoting plug-in hybrids. (He is also an advisor to several aftermarket retrofit companies.) For more see “Conversions to electrify World’s 900+ Million Cars.” All images courtesy of calcars.org.

Editor’s Note: This is a 4-part series covering my trip to Michigan to test-drive the Chevy Volt. See also: 1. LiveBlogging from the opening of GM’s New Battery Lab, 2. Chevy Volt Test Drive: How GM’s Electric Car Works 3. Tour of GM’s New Battery Lab. Disclaimer: GM flew me out for this event.

“Remarkably Unremarkable” has been the phrase of choice when describing how the Chevy Volt prototype drives.

And that’s really a compliment, since the car was engineered for consumers who won’t accept compromise, even for a an electric car.

I got a chance to drive the Chevy Volt prototype on June 8th, and although the test model was still housed under a Chevrolet Cruze skin, it gave me a good feeling for what the final version will be like.

Chevy Volt Test Drive

The interior of the Cruze doesn’t do the car justice, at least in terms of space and aesthetics. The center divider seemed poorly fitted for the Volt’s T-shaped battery pack that runs the length of the car (which also precludes a 5th seat in the prototype and final versions). Frank Weber, who accompanied me on the the 45-minute drive, said that everything about the interior would change for production.

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SAN FRANCISCO - Yesterday, Gas 2.0 (gas2.org) launched ElectricCarRace.org, a site challenging cities across the nation to be first to develop city-wide electric vehicle infrastructure. A two-minute video featuring the Mayors of Portland and San Francisco kicked off the competition, along with posts written by Mayor Newsom, Portland General Electric, and the CEO of Coulomb Technologies Richard Lowenthal.

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Editor’s Note: This is a 4-part series covering my trip to Michigan to test-drive the Chevy Volt. See post 1. LiveBlogging from the opening of GM’s New Battery Lab, and 2. Chevy Volt Test Drive: How GM’s Electric Car Works. Disclaimer: GM flew me out for this event. This post is in no way affiliated with the GM ads that appear at the margins.

The real reason we were in Warren, MI wasn’t to test-drive the Volt, but to be on hand for the grand opening of GM’s new battery testing facility. The $25 million Global Battery Systems lab is now the largest battery testing facility in the United States, and is four times larger than the company’s old lab.

GM made a strategic decision to keep battery development in-house, because it will likely be a key competitive advantage in the race to commercialize electric vehicles. The lab already employs 1,000 engineers who work on advanced battery systems like the one found the the Chevy Volt.

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The United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced yesterday that over the next three years it is ploughing $11 million into research projects to develop advanced batteries for electric cars.  The projects are also in line to benefit from a whopping $19 million in further support from the private sector.

A total of seven cutting-edge projects will focus on improving battery material performance and developing the manufacturing processes to produce them.  The ultimate aim is to reduce the cost of batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), one of the main financial barriers to more widespread uptake.

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Is 120 miles-per-gallon too much to ask from an American car company? Ford doesn’t think so.

With the addition of the Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) to its development line, Ford Motor Company is showing that it can dance with the best of them.

The Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid uses high voltage lithium-ion batteries, which can be charged using common household currents (120v). Fully charging the battery takes six to eight hours. For the first 30 miles following a full charge, the Ford Escape PHEV can drive on the batteries alone, before switching to operate as a fuel efficient, standard Ford Escape Hybrid. The transition is automatic and unnoticeable.

It was the Ford Escape PHEV that was delivered to Hydro-Québec, Canada’s largest electricity generator, on June 9th. Ford Motor Company and Hydro-Québec announced that Hydro-Québec has joined a North America-wide demonstration and research program on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

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When talking about the technologies that will lead us into a new transportation paradigm, I feel like I’m driving down a winding road full of potholes and missing the shoulders. What technology is best? Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles (PHEVs)? Flex-Fuel Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles? Plug-In Electric Vehicles (PEVs) or maybe cars that run on compressed natural gas or hydrogen fuel cells?  I’m not a waging person so I won’t place my bets but I am willing to “collect the money” from those who want to gamble on the winner.

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Motorbike manufacturer Piaggio has announced that the Piaggio MP3 Hybrid will be launched in America during the first quarter of 2010, making it the first affordable plug-in hybrid vehicle of any kind available in the US.

The news was revealed by Piaggio Group USA President and CEO Paolo Timoni, who also told reporters that the MP3 trike will be capable of achieving a hyper-efficient 141 mpg, all for a price as low as $8 or $9,000 (video).

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Apparently one EESU weighs 281 pounds, has a volume of 2.63 cubic feet, can be fully charged in 3-6 minutes, is completely unaffected by temperature, will not explode or catch fire in an accident, and provides 52 kWh of electricity (nearly the same amount of energy the Tesla Roadster battery can hold, which reportedly takes the Roadster about 240 miles).

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The exploratory discussions are being conducted at top levels and among firms like PG&E who see plug in hybrid and all electric vehicles as a solution to uneven grid loads. Utilities have invested a great deal of research using the vehicle to grid (V2G) capabilities of plugged in electric vehicles to stabilize the grid.

The idea being considered would involve joining together to put in a substantial order to put weight behind development of Plug In Hybrids (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). The idea is that large fleet orders would provide the certain market car makers need to make the initial move away from fossil fueled vehicles.

With their buying power (they could order 50,000 electric vehicles for their fleets) utilities could provide a solid beginning to switching Detroit to entirely new vehicle markets.

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So, finally we complete the trifecta. Chrysler says they need $7 billion in loans to stay afloat through 2009 and have pointed to the example of their ENVI design unit in leading the turnaround with the introduction of many new Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV), City Electric Vehicles (CEV), Range-extended Electric Vehicles (ReEV), and full-function battery electric vehicles (BEV) by 2012.

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Unlike Ford, which in their tail wagging earlier today made a huge shift to focusing on electric car development, GM chose to focus their restructuring plan on the fact that they have a large number of fuel efficient vehicles (defined as 30+ mpg on the highway) already on the road. Plus, they say that by 2012 more than half of their cars will be flex-fuel capable.

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Ford Motor Company has unveiled radical new plans to start producing electric vehicles from 2010 onwards. The company will deliver an all-electric van for commercial fleet use in 2010, an all-electric sedan in 2011 and a ‘family’ of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and EVs by 2012.

Ford also said in a submission to Congress that full details of its ‘accelerated vehicle electrification plan’ will be announced at next month’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

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By Jonathan G. Dorn

With the dramatic increase in oil prices earlier this year translating into higher prices at the gas pump in the United States, concerns over U.S. dependence on foreign oil are once again part of the national discussion on energy security. Combined with the growing understanding that carbon emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels are driving global climate change, the debate is now focused on how to restructure the U.S. transport system to solve these two problems.

While the idea of running U.S. vehicles on natural gas has lately received a great deal of attention, powering our cars with green electricity is a more sensible option on all fronts—national security, efficiency, climate stabilization, and economics.

Having a fleet of natural gas–powered vehicles (NGVs) would simply replace U.S. dependence on foreign oil with a dependence on natural gas, another fossil fuel. The United States has scarcely 3 percent of the world’s proved natural gas reserves, yet even without the increased demand that would result from a fleet of natural gas cars, the country already consumes nearly a quarter of the world’s natural gas. At current rates of consumption, U.S. proved reserves would only meet national demand for another nine years.

U.S. natural gas production has remained relatively constant over the last two decades and is unlikely to increase over the long run, despite growing consumption. Consequently, any rise in demand is likely to be met by increasing imports. Since the late 1980s, U.S. net imports of natural gas—primarily from Canada—have tripled. The U.S. Department of Energy projects that by 2016 the majority of U.S. natural gas imports will come from outside North America.

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