The Yamaha EC-f is an electric motorcycle concept designed for ease of use.
(Credit: Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc.)
Just as carmakers develop electric cars, motorcycle manufacturers also see the writing on the wall, showing off a collection of electric bikes at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. The Tokyo Motor Show has always played host to a substantial display of motorcycles, and this year is no different--except that the highlights of the show all have a green angle. Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki all brought concepts to the show that could spell the future of riding, and possibly a new way for future commuters to get to work.
Check out photos of electric scooters and motorcycles at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
When people think hybrid, they think Toyota Prius. This iconic car popularized hybrid powertrains more than any other model. This week, the newest version, the 2010 Toyota Prius, starts to show up at dealers. Although not a radical update, the 2010 Prius gets more power and improved fuel economy over the previous model, a double-win by any measure.
But Honda attempted to usurp the Prius' place as premier hybrid earlier this year by letting loose the 2010 Honda Insight. Although coming in 8 mpg lower in fuel economy than the 2010 Prius, the new Insight undercuts its price by $2,200, leading Honda to advertise the Insight as a hybrid for everyone.
The Prius comes with baggage, and not the kind you put your golf clubs in. Celebrities and environmentalists endorsed the car, leading to backlash, such as a South Park episode claiming the Prius had excessive smug emissions. Although Honda had an earlier car called the Insight, a long break in production lets the 2010 Insight enter the fray with a clean slate.
Of course, there are other excellent hybrids, such as the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Lexus RX 450h, and Nissan Altima Hybrid. But these aren't dedicated hybrids, having gasoline equivalents. None go head-to-head with the Prius as much as the Insight.
Check out the cars and tell us which most embodies the hybrid ideal.
The Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell takes part in the Hydrogen Road Tour.
(Credit: GM)Electric cars have been getting plenty of buzz lately, but the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is still going strong. The California Fuel Cell Partnership, along with Powertech Labs, National Hydrogen Association, and U.S. Fuel Cell Council, will seek to regain the spotlight with a road trip to demonstrate the practicality of these vehicles.
The road tour route runs up the West Coast, from Chula Vista to Vancouver.
(Credit: California Fuel Cell Partnership)Twelve fuel cell cars from seven automakers will drive from Chula Vista, in Southern California, up to Vancouver, Canada, a trip of 1,700 miles. Vancouver was chosen for the destination because it will play host to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, where a fleet of fuel cell buses will provide transportation.
Fuel cell cars that will be making the trip include the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell, Mercedes F-Cell, Honda FCX Clarity, Hyundai Tucson FCEV, Kia Borrego FCEV, Nissan X-Trail, Toyota FCHV-adv Highlander, and Volkswagen HyMotion. The cars, which have ranges of 200 to over 500 miles, will be relying on a mobile refueling station for their hydrogen needs.
The tour starts on May 26 in Chula Vista, and ends on June 3 in Vancouver. Stops have been scheduled along the route so the public can get a chance to see these cars. Check the Hydrogen Road Tour '09 Web site to see if there's an event near you.
A driver fills up a Fuel Cell Vehicle with hydrogen at one of California's few public hydrogen refueling stations. California is expected to get 46 more hydrogen retail stations by 2014.
(Credit: California Fuel Cell Partnership)Paving the way for the so-called Hydrogen Super Highway, California Fuel Cell Partnership released a roadmap that details plans for 46 retail hydrogen fueling stations in six targeted California communities by 2014. Hydrogen is considered to be the holy grail of clean transportation because Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV) emit only water when driven, but a lack of infrastructure is one of the major roadblocks to this advancement.
"By 2017, automotive manufacturers plan to place 50,000 zero-emission fuel cell vehicles in customer hands. FCVs will provide the performance, durability, driving range, and comfort that customers want, and meet the nation's need for a domestic fuel that is better for the environment," said Catherine Dunwoody, CaFCP's executive director in a press release.
For the moment, only six of the state's 26 hydrogen refueling stations are open to the public. Most are privately owned and operated for corporate fleet or testing vehicles. The CaFCP gave details for the cost of building 40 stations by 2012, which is projected to be $181.5 million and is expected to be funded largely by the government to incentivize the industry to begin the transition to hydrogen.
... Read moreGiven the grim financial condition of the auto industry, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week has been, by many accounts, a relatively somber affair.
At the same time, the industry appears to be on the brink of major technological change: many automakers this week announced plans to introduce electric cars of various types in the next two years.
Toyota plans to introduce an all-electric car in 2012, but it said its primary technology will be the gas-electric hybrid, used in the iconic Prius and now some Lexus models.
The newest Toyota Prius. Click on the image to launch a photo gallery comparing the Prius and its relaunched challenger, the Honda Insight.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CBS Interactive)
At the auto show, it introduced the next version of the
Honda, meanwhile, is relaunching its own challenger, the Honda Insight, which is now a five-door sedan that will be available in April.
CNET Car Tech blog writer Wayne Cunningham is at the conference, where he filed this photo gallery of the two cars. Check out CNET's complete coverage of the Detroit auto show.
Honda has begun the first commercial production ever of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered car.
The Japanese auto manufacturer ceremoniously launched production of its first hydrogen-powered vehicles on Sunday in Tochigi, Japan, and announced its first customers.
The four-door sedan, called the FCX Clarity, runs on electricity from a fuel cell battery that is powered by hydrogen fuel. Steam is the car's only byproduct. The car can get a combined (city and highway driving) fuel efficiency of about 72 miles per kg of H2 which, according to Honda's own estimates, is the equivalent of getting about 74 mpg on a gas-powered car. The car can be driven for about 280 miles before needing to be refueled.
Honda CEO Takeo Fukui drives some of the first people who will lease the Honda's FCX Clarity hydrogen car: actress Laura Harris (front passenger), Southland Industries CFO Jon Spallino (behind her), and film producer Ron Yerxa.
(Credit: Honda Motor)While many automakers and researchers have prototypes and pilot projects using hydrogen fuel to power fuel cells on electric hybrids, or as a direct fuel source for vehicles with converted engines, there are no hydrogen-powered cars yet available for lease or purchase to the average consumer.
Honda claims it is the first company to have a hydrogen car certified for regular commercial use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"This is an important day in the history of fuel cell vehicle technology and a monumental step closer to the day when fuel cell cars will be part of the mainstream," John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda, said in a statement.
The car was first introduced as a concept vehicle in 2005 at the Tokyo Motor Show.
Starting in July, Honda plans to offer the hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity through a lease program at three dealerships in California: Power Honda Costa Mesa, Honda of Santa Monica, and Scott Robinson Honda in Torrance. Honda also plans to make the cars available in Japan. The cars will be leased on a three-year basis for about $600 per month, according to Honda.
Among the first owners will be actor/author Jamie-Lee Curtis and her husband, filmmaker Christopher Guest of This is Spinal Tap fame.
Of course, hydrogen cars are not going to be widely driven anytime soon. Honda estimates it will lease only about 200 FCX Clarity vehicles over the next three years. In order to qualify for the lease program, would-be owners will have to meet a set of criteria that includes living within range of a hydrogen filling station, according to Honda. As part of the lease, Honda will provide any necessary service or maintenance on the vehicle.
The biggest obstacle in mass market appeal of hydrogen-powered vehicles vs. gas-electric hybrids is where owners could fill up their cars. While the U.S. Department of Energy has been a proponent of hydrogen fuel as an alternative energy for cars, there are currently few hydrogen-fuel filling stations the U.S.
There is also an ongoing debate as to whether hydrogen, a fuel that requires large amounts of electricity to be produced, is truly energy efficient when its entire food chain is taken into consideration.
Each year, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) puts out its list of the 12 "greenest cars," taking into account tailpipe emissions, gas mileage, and curb weight. Here is our photo gallery of this year's greenest 12.
Click here for photos of the ACEEE's 12 greenest cars of 2008.
A hybrid-only car based on the CR-Z concept will come out in 2009.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Honda announced it will unveil a new global hybrid car at the 2008 Paris Auto Show, which will launch in 2009 along with another hybrid based on the CR-Z concept. Both cars will be produced as hybrid models without a gas-only counterpart, similar to Toyota's Prius. These hybrids are part of Honda's strategy to sell 400,000 hybrids per year by 2011. The new global hybrid will launch in Europe first, then come to North America. Both hybrids will use updated versions of Honda's integrated motor assist (IMA) mild hybrid system, currently used in the Honda Civic Hybrid. This system provides a little boost to the car under acceleration and stops the engine in traffic, but doesn't drive the car under electric power. The new global hybrid is designed from the ground up as a hybrid, so should present more efficiencies than the Civic Hybrid. The CR-Z concept, already shown at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Show, will be a sporty coupe designed for the hybrid powertrain.
Honda has been a little erratic with its hybrid strategy, originally offering the hybrid-only Insight, then hybrid versions of the Civic and Accord. Among that lineup, only the Civic Hybrid survives.
(Source: leftlane news)
The batteries in hybrid cars now get recharged slightly whenever the driver taps the brakes. If research at Honda pans out, heat from the engines could do the same thing.
The Japanese auto giant has released a paper detailing how a Rankine cycle co-generation unit could help recharge the battery in a hybrid and thereby increase gas mileage, according to Green Car Congress. Honda put the Rankine unit in a test car (a Honda Stream) and found that the unit generated more electricity than regenerative braking. However, the unit isn't very efficient so more work will be required before Honda can put one of these in cars.
Waste heat, according to some, is one of the untapped sources of power in the world. Some have proposed harnessing the waste heat from nuclear plants to run water purification systems or produce hydrogen.
The tough part is that it's not easy. Paul Marcoux, vice president of green engineering at Cisco Systems, was recently asked if computer companies could harvest heat from processors and hard drives and turn that into power. Probably not, he said. The temperature generally doesn't get hot enough.
In a Rankine unit, a water pump keeps water under high pressure. Heat from the gas engine in a hybrid is then captured, compressed, and used to make steam out of the water. The steam then turns a generator to make electricity, which charges the battery that runs the electric motor.
Hybrids have two motors: one gas, one electric. In conventional hybrids, the electric motor powers the car around town while the gas motor does more of the work on the freeway. General Motors and Tesla Motors are building cars in which the gas motor doesn't drive the car at all, but runs a generator which charges the battery for the electric motor. Conceivably, a Rankine system could be used in either but would probably work better in a conventional hybrid because the gas engine is larger.
Right now, Honda's Rankine unit is only about 13 percent efficient.
Honda is also trying to bring efficient, cleaner, high-mileage diesels to the United States.
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