May 13, 2008 by Rob.

Nissan played a gutsy card today (story on NPR) with an announcement to have a viable (if ugly) EV on the market by 2010, about 5 years ahead of other majors. I’m glad to hear the news, but am more surprised by their CEO’s motive:

According the the NPR story: Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn says. “The number of people buying cars around the world is increasing, while the need to reduce emissions is becoming more urgent. There is a perceived conflict between the demand for more cars and the demand for a cleaner planet — 10, 20 or 30 percent lower emissions cannot be the only answer. The goal should be 100 percent lower emissions.”

This supports one of my favorite themes: while the US lives high on the hog and is looking for incremental efficiency, the real markets for products is the developing world. Competition for energy will be ferocious in those markets while in the US we can “create” energy by just conserving what we waste (see MIT article on our enormous carbon footprint).

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May 4, 2008 by Rob.

It appears that Aptera is poised to start selling their unique EV / Hybrid.  Of all the EV companies out there, I like that Aptera took a completely fresh approach.  It’s hard for people to compare the to a traditional car, but that also makes it harder for people to accept as a legitimate alternative.  While the Tesla (also a 2 seater) commands a lot of car-geek testosterone, the Aptera will command more green-geek superiority.  BTW - they are 1/2 the price of a Tesla.

I hope that they can avoid Tesla painfully slow road to production and get the the first ones on the road quickly.

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March 23, 2008 by Rob.

If been an H2 doubter for a while and my son’s 2007 science fair project showing a fuel cell’s power curve only confirmed that they are not efficient enough (sub 30%) to justify use in cars.  The auto makers seem to be lining up behind batteries (again).  Here’s more commentary for you:

Posted “GM, Toyota Dismiss Fuel Cells for Mass Use” on 3/7 by the Energy Blog:

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that executives from General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., at the Geneva Auto Show Tuesday, “expressed doubts about the viability of hydrogen fuel cells for mass-market production in the near term and suggested their companies are now betting that electric cars will prove to be a better way to reduce fuel consumption and cut tailpipe emissions on a large scale.”

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March 23, 2008 by Rob.

A friend sent me a link to VW’s 70 MPG (yes, 70) diesel hybrid. He was excited that it does not have the “signature ugly” look that high MPG cars seem to always adopt. I was excited too, but sad that we’ll have to wait two years for them to enter the US market.

I’m always pleased to find that there is serious interest in US consumers for high MPG cars. In this case, this new VW was the main talk at our school bus stop the other day (no, I did not bring it up). Everyone seemed to have read/heard about it lately. If a car like this pops up on radar of a diverse group of professionals then I would argue that it has broad market appeal.

Posted in EV News | 1 Comment »

February 12, 2008 by Rob.

My friend and avid reader has been sending me link bait knowing that I can’t resist posting.  I hate to disappoint him…

I’ve been down on the Prius for quite a while, so it’s reassuring to see another blog confirm my opinions.  Chuck Squatriglia for Wired’s blog calls hybrids a “misinformed craze.“  His argument is that they are a short term solution that is too complex to be sustainable.  Like many current environmental clean-up initiatives (e.g.: ethanol), they are designed to make us feel better now without being sustainable long term.

I wonder if he would find models like the, now heavily advertised, Chevy Volt are a simpler and more viable option. 

At the same time Crave’s blog found a California entrepreneur is fully bought into the Prius solution.  OurPower.org is turbo charging green vanity play by selling plug-in Prius  conversion directly to Valley CEOs.  Their idea is that executives will try to out green each other like environmentally conscious lemmings.  Unfortunately, there is no obvious visual difference between a regular Prius and a plug-in version.  Maybe they should will dangle extension cords off the rear bumper in addition to lots of green butterfly stickers.

Posted in EV News | 2 Comments »

January 13, 2008 by Rob.

Apparently there’s some reorganization and bad feelings over at Tesla Motors.  They are behind on their ship dates and dumping the plans for their family sedan aka “the white star.”  It looks like making a commercially practical EV (or even an impractical one) is not so east after all.  At least I only had to spend $10k to learn that lesson.

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January 7, 2008 by Rob.

From the Doug W on the EVDL:

According to the US Mint, it’s now a criminal offense to melt down nickels.

“Nickels” (the US five-cent coins) are only 25% nickel.  They’re also 75% copper.  According to coinflation.com and usmint.gov a nickel contains more than 6 cents worth of metal (2.5 cents copper & 3.5 cents nickel).

Hmmm….we’re starting to see jumps in value for raw materials like metals, water, and oil.

So, if crude oil keeps going up and then the raw materials of my bank cards may be worth more than my credit limit!

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December 21, 2007 by Rob.

Analysis of the “landmark” energy bill has been going round and I have not read enough to bring new insights; however, I can’t resist a sarcastic list of why this lame piece of legislation makes me sad:

• Improved CAFE standards for 2020? There’s no need to rush, we need the time to get all the way up to H9 (Hummer 9)!
• Biofuel incentives?  Food into energy is a tasty way to drive up both core components to inflation!  Ethical considerations about feeding our Hummers instead of the starving?  More U.N. humbug!  Let them eat coal.
• No alternative energy tax credits & research funds? Nah, we can just pump the CO2 under the same ground where our politicians have stuck their heads.
• Tax breaks for big oil? Finally some tax relief where it’s really needed!
• Energy efficiency? Mercury filled CFLs for everyone since they are less toxic than lead paint!
• CO2? Condi on Oprah too? Maybe she can run as GOP’s VP.

I’m trying to be funny - tears of the clown.

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December 19, 2007 by Rob.

A friend sent me a link to this MSN blog entry about confusingly miss-named Hybrid Technology.  They are a North Carolina EV conversion company using Smart Cars as the gilder.  According to the post, the re-assembled EV costs twice ($35k)  the ICE version.

I agree that it’s HUGELY SEXY to drive an EV and the Smart is exotic looking enough to capture vanity buyers; however, I’m not convinced that it’s a good investment to convert one of the most fuel efficient ICEs.  This would purely be a vanity buy.

You’d have my attention if they can do it at a cost that competes (or beats) with Smart’s ICE version.

Posted in Electric Vehicles, EV News, EV Tech | 1 Comment »

November 9, 2007 by Rob.

There is a rising tide of EV announcements from major auto manufacturers.   Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV is due to be hatched in 2009.  Not quite what American consumers are used to buying, but I’ve seen Smart cars on the road in Austin lately.  I think the red is sporty!

Posted in EV News | 1 Comment »