November 16, 2008 by Rob.

Oxford University Press has selected the word “hypermile” as this word of the year.  While I’m excited to see so much enthusiasm for saving gas, I’m a little troubled about the popular emergence of the term.

Posted in Hypermiling | 1 Comment »

November 8, 2008 by Rob.

Not easily.  That’s the topic I explore on my TribalGrid blog today.

Even driving an electric car,  I’ve only reduced my gas use by about 50%.  That number would jump to 100% if my range was 100 miles instead of 20.  I think our family would eliminate the backup gas car if my EV had a 100 mile range (and heat, A/C, and power steering).

Posted in ICE Cars, Commentary, Rants, Green Tech | No Comments »

October 30, 2008 by Rob.

Clair from AustinEV posted a link to the interesting gas2.org site.  They’re a automotive alt fuels multi-author blog.   I found their post about UPS’ hydraulic hybrid delivery truck interesting.  It’s important to keep in mind that Toyota is the only workable hybrid and there are some great alternative designs emerging (e.g. Chevy Volt).

If boxey and brown is not your thing, then consider Peugeot’s very hot looking concept diesel hybrid. A friend was asking me about this at a camp out last weekend and I had not heard about this offering. Looks like fuel efficient is starting to get sexy.

Posted in hybrids, ICE Cars, Alternate Fuels, AustinEV | No Comments »

October 14, 2008 by Rob.

It’s time for another Blog Action Day post.  This year’s topic is poverty and I wanted to skip the obvious petroleum-poverty arguments and find another link between electric vehicles and poverty.

As an idealist, I’m taking the high ground that people would life themselves out of poverty if they could work.  And they would work if they could get to work.  I believe that lack of transportation or highly inconvenient transportation is a major contributor to global poverty.

If EVs dominated the world then:

• we’d have effective wide area public transportation because EV range limitations require infrastructure for long trips.
• there would be less suburban sprawl so housing would be convenient, affordable, and dense.
• our air would be cleaner and poor people would have healthier air to breathe
• cities would be quieter
• poor people could buy fuel based on time of use and trade convenience for savings
• cars would be more reliable and easier to maintain

Carbon powered transportation increases poverty because our societies consistently make “cheap & easy” choices that stack the deck against the poor.

Posted in ICE Cars, Commentary, Rants, Blogroll | 2 Comments »

August 19, 2008 by Rob.

SCAM WARNING!  Do not mistake this post for an endorsement - this is a warning to stay away from these kits!

I’ve been wondering if those ICE water conversion kits could actually work.  I have never met ANYONE who installed or got benefit from these kits.  The only people who claim they work also sell them.  BEWARE.

I was pushed over the edge by back-to-back twitter SPAM follows that are clearly just link hounds.  They have “bogus234″ handles with cheerleader pictures and a single twit linking back to their shell web site.   It that does not scream out SCAM then please wire me some money so that my work-from-home Nigerian uncle can liquidate his day trading fortunes and make you a viagra millionaire! It’s a sure thing.

Posted in ICE Cars, Rants | 1 Comment »

August 2, 2008 by Rob.

I’ve commented a few times about hypermiling - driving an ICE do maximize MPG.  I think that many of the techniques are dangerous and do not recommend it.  However, in some cases, the claimed results are impressive.   The only way to separate fact from fiction (besides gambling $10M in VC $) is do actually try it.  At my request, my friend and co-worker, Greg A, wrote up his experiences with and insights about hypermiling.

After trading in my ’99 Toyota Sienna and buying an ’08 Honda Civic (non-hybrid), I was in a mileage giddiness that led me to consider hypermiling.  I had heard a couple of co-workers talk about it, read an article, and listened to a radio interview of an “expert”.  With all this information, I decided to try it.  My Civic gets about 29.5 MPG with my “normal” driving habits.  I’m probably a little aggressive, speed some, and accelerate too quickly.

Note:  MPG readings were from miles and poured in gas.  NOT the Trip MPG that the car uses.  Those things LIE really bad.

The summary is that, for me, it isn’t worth it.   I don’t think hypermiling is bunk, but I also don’t think it is a safe way to save gas mileage unless most of the other people on the road are using it.  Read more specifics below:

(source: Ecomodder - hypermiling tips)

The things I attempted to for the tank of gas were:

1. Accelerate slowly – They mean really slowly.  Even to the point of using your cruise control to limit your acceleration rate.  I didn’t use cruise control, but I did this in the context of item 2.
2. Keep engine RPMs low – This is really a way to measure one.  This one was from the radio “expert”.  Most of the sites don’t talk in these terms.  The net effect is slow acceleration.
3. Drive the speed limit – The civic seems to do 2000 RPMs at 66 MPH on flat ground.  This works for most roads and toll-roads around here, but doesn’t really help in rush-hour traffic.  I did this to see.
4. Turn off engine at red lights – This is also a myth and dangerous.  I did this at one light near my office where I usually end up waiting 3 minutes.
5. Turn off engine and coast – This is really dangerous.  Obviously, saves gas, but ugh. No brakes.   No power steering.  Just not worth it.  I actually tried it a couple of times.  One was near my home on a minor hill at let me take a corner and my drive-way without the engine.  The other was a large hill near my workplace in the middle of the night.  I went about 1.5 miles without my engine on, but was going about 20 MPH when I started again because traffic was passing me. 
6. Turn off A/C – Hey, I live in Texas.  Not likely.
7. Turn sharply at speed – When possible, but not commonly done on my normal commute.
8. Time lights and congestion to avoid stopping – I tried this, but this is a learned skill.  It takes time and knowing your commute.
9. Engine braking – This is an explicit method of achieving item 8.  It is often illegal in many places. 

I did have one rule: If I was annoying other drivers, I would not continue the technique.  The slow acceleration meant that I would be slower than most traffic goers, but wouldn’t get me honked at or continuously passed.

I didn’t try pulsing (going 10-15 mph over and coasting to 20 mph and repeat).  This seemed to really break rule 1.

The result was about a 5% savings, 31 MPG.  Nothing to laugh at, but I expected more.  After all, I had read about some remarkable success.  After the attempt, I researched some more (Wikipedia) and more (Wisebread) and others.   Some interesting things I found out.

• How old and type of your car matters.  Automatics are easier to play some of these games as well as older cars have better non-powered equipment.  More recent cars can actually be damaged by running with the engine off.
• New cars are really smart.  Go figure the car industry needs to save MPG somehow.  My car knows when it is coasting and doesn’t have to inject fuel into the engine.  In fact, putting the car in neutral wastes more gas than coasting (the fuel injector has to put gas in to keep the engine turning).
• You have to really work to do hypermiling safely.  Primarily by timing lights and congestion.  The hard part is getting used to take your foot off the gas to slow do approaching a light (and upsetting many people around you who expect you to race up to the light and stop).

Posted in Hypermiling, ICE Cars | 1 Comment »

July 29, 2008 by Rob.

John De Armond (Neon John) on the EVDL posted an interesting response to someone’s claim that EV’s are reaching a “tipping point.”  Even though I did it, I agree that it does not make economic sense to convert a car to get a 20 range.  I never expect to break even on my costs - my payback is ego and education.

Here is what he said:

I’ve been answering slightly more queries about my hotrod scooter of late. The usual questions.  How much?  How far?  How fast?  Many times we’ll talk about electric cars but when we start to discuss costs, the interest wanes. Most folks, I think, are smart enough to realize that they won’t live long enough for an EV conversion to pay for itself in fuel savings.

We’re in that “nether land” right now.  People with commutes that current reasonably priced EVs can handle don’t use enough fuel to justify the cost. People who DO drive long distances can’t be served by pure EVs. Yet.

Meanwhile, the price of petroleum will drop to something reasonable again, probably by the end of this coming winter.  Fuel Subsidies Overseas Take a Toll on U.S.” from the NYT explains one of the many reasons why.  That is, when 3rd world governments run out of money they’re spending to subsidize the price of fuel.

The BP energy report mentioned in the article is here.

Posted in EVDL, ICE Cars, Commentary | 1 Comment »

July 23, 2008 by Rob.

The National EV Auto Association’s CurrentEVents for July 2008 (not online yet) is bursting with news about potential EVs from major and minor auto manufacturers.  Here are a sample of the headlines (sorry, no time for links):

• Toyota Dealers not waiting on Toyota for Plug-ins - they are signing up with Hymotion to do conversions
• GM talks to buy Battery Maker Cobasys
• Miles moving ahead with Full Function EV (editor’s note: reportedly using EESTOR caps)
• Th!nk to Produce, Sell Small Electric Cars in US
• Volvo’s Recharge - a series hybrid like the Volt, but with wheel motors
• Gumpert Apollo Geneva (hybrid supercar below)
• Caterpillar creates a AC electric hybrid tractor drive
• VW & SAnyo form a partnership for Li batteries
• Tesla test drive report
• Myers Motors launches Li option (editor’s note: the single person NMG)
• Mitsubishi to provide EVs to Japanese Post Office
• Mitsubishi may introduce plug-in hybrid

(source Carblog)

Posted in ICE Cars, Electric Vehicles, EV News, EV Tech | No Comments »

July 23, 2008 by Rob.

This was reposted from IHT by the Crude Awakening group.

In reversal, Ford veers from SUV’s  (Bill Vlasic, July 22, 2008)

DEARBORN, Michigan: Ford Motor, which devoted itself for nearly 20 years to putting millions of Americans into big pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles, is about to drastically alter its focus to building more small cars.

The struggling automaker, reacting to what it sees as a rapid and permanent shift in consumer tastes brought on by high gas prices, plans to unveil its new direction on Thursday, when it will report quarterly earnings.

Among the changes, Ford is expected to announce that it will convert three of its North American assembly plants from trucks to cars, according to people familiar with the plans.

Posted in ICE Cars, EV News | 1 Comment »

July 20, 2008 by Rob.

The Plugs and Cars blog posted this “funny” video so I wanted to pass it along.

[embedded object removed…follow the link]

Posted in ICE Cars, Blogroll | 2 Comments »