June 24, 2008 by Rob.

Update: according the the Austin-American Statesman, the Honda Fit holds the top 2 spots in a $ per MPG ranking.

Posted in ICE Cars, Green Tech | No Comments »

June 24, 2008 by Rob.

Ah…I’ve ordered my 2009 Fit.  Just a few more months before I can sell my 20 MPG Volvo of a nice Fit.  Any buyers?

Posted in ICE Cars, Storyline | 2 Comments »

June 20, 2008 by Rob.

NPR did an interesting report about bad MPG analysis based on research from a Duke Professor (my alma mater) . The crux of the report is that small MPG improvements (e.g. +5 MPG) at the bottom have a much bigger impact on actual fuel used ($$$) than the same improvement at the top. So replacing a 30 MPG car with a 35 MPG car is a much smaller real consumption difference than replacing a 15 MPG one for 20 MPG.

This is not surprising. If fact, it’s painfully obvious if you present the data as a percentage (33% vs 17%) but we’ve gotten so used to looking at the just the MPG #s.

(sourc: http://www.dotnetcharting.com/)
So, take everything back to $ for your estimations and you’ll be fine. That same analysis may point you away from a hybrid into a small ICE. But now we’re assuming that you can make a logic based decision about buying a car. Most of the research out there says that car buying is a emotional decision for most of us.

Posted in Commentary | 5 Comments »

June 13, 2008 by Rob.

I try to keep a eye out for news about Austin-based super-capacitor hopeful, EEStor.  A post surfaced claiming that they’ve got working prototypes.  I’m reluctant to credit reports about ZENN using EEStor super-caps in any real capacity; however, it’s interesting to see the remarkable level of enthusiam that the claims can generate.  Based on the comments from the post, EEStor will have a bigger impact than sliced bread.

Posted in Alternate Fuels, Commentary, Electric Vehicles, EV Tech | 3 Comments »

June 12, 2008 by Rob.

My literate friend sent over a comparison between a Jeep and Prius from Clean Green Cars showing they are equal in actual fuel use. It’s hardly scientific, but the accusation of upward skew for the Prius’ on-board fuel estimates is highly believable.

Posted in Commentary | No Comments »

June 11, 2008 by Rob.

This concept Euro-EV trike was posted on the AustinEV list. Specs include 90 miles per charge and >60 MPH speeds, but the price starts at $40k. That’s a lot of green for an micro car when ICE Smart ForTwos are just $12k.

It reminds me of the Myers NMG trike, but has seating for 2.

One interesting question raised on the EVDL it about having hub motors for drive. Conventional wisdom is that all cars will eventually be hub motors, but the physics of unsprung weight will have to be addressed first.

Posted in Electric Vehicles, AustinEV | 3 Comments »

June 9, 2008 by Rob.

I’ve been resisting feeling the pull to comment more and more about non-EV topics on this blog.  To be true to this blog’s content and (imagined) readership, I’ve decided to start TribalGrid, a new blog, focused on broader social energy and sustainability topics.

I’m re-coining the term “social energy” to describe technology and attitudes that help people see energy as a limited community resource.  I believe that solving problems in our near-term future will require a deep change in public thinking about how we consume energy.

The blog has been in stealth mode since Earth Day so there are already some fresh rants for your enjoyment.

Posted in Commentary, Alternate Fuels, Rants, Blogroll, Storyline, EV Tech | No Comments »

June 9, 2008 by Rob.

A friend sent over a link about a car that runs on air so I thought I’d throw up the link and provide some color commentary.  The link is from a PBS “future car” series that must have run out of money - each hour segment rehashed the same 20 minutes of interviews interleaved with 90’s era futuristic dissolves.

The compressed air car story broke last year and generates a lot of wild speculation on the EV forums, but is usually considered implausible.  I like the concept, but have to agree with the doubters that the physics required to make it work won’t scale for mass production.  I have not heard much since Tata Motor’s claims of last year.  Like most alternative fuel stories, the primary fuel is green hype.

Here are the doubts raised:

• Compressing gas is inefficient in terms of recoverable energy stored vs. energy input
• Compressing gas stores lots of energy (yeah!) that can dissipate explosively (oops) under many circumstances
• Transferring gas between pressures also transfers lot of heat (thanks Boyle) that must be dealt with
• The safe containers are either heavy or expensive

As a kid, I was very excited about the air car concept.  Although, I was also thinking steam powered cars could be made to work.  As is usually the case, research is the spoiler of many an nerdy adolescent’s entrepreneurial fantasy.

Posted in Alternate Fuels | 2 Comments »

June 9, 2008 by Rob.

Ah, June in Texas - scorching grass and scintillating asphalt mingle with the wheeze of ozone soaked joggers.  What a wonderful time to drive a car without AC.  You all should try it so you can truly appreciate the roadside environment of our fair city.

The RAVolt is letting me know that she’s hot too:

1. The heat is making her batteries thirsty.  Watering today required a full turkey baster squirt of distilled H20 for each cell.  Normal is about 1/2 baster.
2. Even though I only charge during the cool of the night, my charger tripping at “high temperature.” It greets me in the morning with that lovely a beep-beeeep song.  I wish it was smart enough to watch the probe and try again later.
3. My Curtis controller gets hot and decides it can only run at the lower PWM frequency.  That means that I loose 30% of my max power output after 5 minutes at highway speed during day.  Good for the batteries, but slow for my fellow travelers.  As a consolation they could hear that lovely Curtis whine (about 30khz) if they’d just roll down their windows.

Owning a EV in the summer is like being in an opera!  At least I’m not singing the gas pump blues.

Posted in Daily Use | No Comments »

June 6, 2008 by Rob.

I was reading Toyota’s shamelessly self-promoting blog and decided to check out the Drive Smarter Challenge.  It’s got some simple tips that you’ve probably seen a zillion times (tire pressure, drive friendly, combine trips) and an estimate of $ saved by following the tips.  I’m not sure how they computed the savings - they did not ask my average miles driven or price of gas.  I guess it’s all based on my car’s EPA MPG.

Tip: here are some things that you can do that create REAL SAVINGs:

1. car pool (cuts your fuel use in 1/2 or better)
2. don’t buy a new car just to save gas (driving an old car is more sustainable)
3. telecommute 1 day a week (that’s a 20% reduction)
4. avoid rush hour (idle engines burn gas)
5. slow down on the highway (yes, Jimmy Carter was right about 55 MPH)
6. drive, don’t fly.  (air travel uses more gas per mile)

Posted in Commentary, Daily Use | 1 Comment »