Green Tech

WARREN, Mich.--For all the attention on the electric Chevy Volt, General Motors has big expectations for another key car segment: small cars.

The auto giant opened up its design studios and testing grounds to the media on Tuesday to showcase its product pipeline of 25 new models over the coming two years. Having dramatically cut costs, its turnaround now rides on its ability to sell new cars.

Certainly, GM will continue to sell SUVs, trucks, and large sedans--highly profitable product categories that flourished when gasoline was cheaper than now. But GM's designers have sharpened their focus on smaller fuel-efficient cars and crossovers, betting that rising gasoline prices are inevitable.

"The days when we did a great Silverado (pickup truck) and did an adequate small car--over. We can't do that as a company," CEO Fritz Henderson said during a press conference on Tuesday. "If we do (small cars) well, I think we'll reopen ourselves to a market that frankly we haven't done as well as we should."

The Chevy Spark, one of GM's upcoming 'small and cool' cars.

(Credit: General Motors)

The smaller cars--none would qualify as a tiny, two-seater--will help the company meet fleet mileage mandates and help GM better compete on fuel efficiency, company executives and analysts said.

But GM's vice president of global design, Ed Welburn, made clear that the goal isn't just to turn out "econoboxes" that post good mileage ratings.

"Cool and small is the next big thing," said Welburn said. "Small cars have been done before but it was always like, 'I can't afford big so I have this.' I believe small cars can be cool."

Higher gasoline prices
During a tour of GM's design studios on Tuesday, company executives showed the compact cars and smaller crossovers in its pipeline. Later this year, GM will release the Chevrolet Cruze, a four-door compact, and introduce a two-door compact, the Chevy Spark, in 2012.

Although the Chevrolet entry-level brand will tend to have most of its compacts, even its higher-end brands--Buick, GMC, and Cadillac--will introduce or are exploring smaller models.

On Tuesday, Welburn took the wraps off an entry-level Cadillac. Even designers at its GMC brand, known for its giant SUVs and trucks, have created a model of a compact, which roughly resembles a Nissan Cube.

Meanwhile, its Buick lineup will feature a smaller crossover, a new compact sedan, and a plug-in hybrid crossover, which will all be available over the next two years.

GM has been able to get substantially better fuel efficiency on its large vehicles, too, noted Dennis Virag, the president of Automotive Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Chevy Equinox, for example, gets about 32 miles per gallon while most SUVs get about 20 or 22, he said.

"The whole trend in the industry is towards smaller and fuel-efficient vehicles but the consumer still wants the amenities," Virag said.

Henderson said that GM is seeking to meet or exceed the industry benchmark on fuel efficiency not only to meet government mandates but to appeal to consumers who expect gasoline prices to continue going up.

"Our fundamental premise of planning for higher gas prices is the right premise," he said.

Corrected at 9:17 a.m. PDT: The name of the maker of the Cube was incorrect. It is Nissan.

WARREN, Mich.--The gas-electric Chevy Volt will get triple-digit mileage, including an estimated 230 mpg for city driving, General Motors said Tuesday.

The 230 mpg--teased in a stealth advertising campaign on billboards and during baseball games--is based on a draft methodology for electric vehicles developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, GM CEO Fritz Henderson said here.

The struggling auto giant held a media event to offer an update on its product and technology plans as it tries to stimulate sales following a bankruptcy and restructuring that has left it 60 percent owned by the U.S. Treasury Department and 11 percent owned by Canada.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson at company's Tech Center in Warren, Mich.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)

Henderson said that GM is confident that the combined highway and city mileage for the Chevy Volt, due to go on sale in late 2010, will be in the triple digits. Expressed in electrical terms, the performance will be 25 kilowatt-hours for 100 miles.

"Having a car that gets triple-digit fuel economy, we believe, will be a game changer for us," Henderson said.

Other plug-in electric sedans are also expected to have triple-digit fuel efficiency once they come to market. The all-electric Tesla Motors' Roadster, which is available now, advertises triple-digit fuel economy as well.

The EPA model is being developed for cars used in different climates and a mix of electric and gas driving conditions, GM executives said. City mileage will be better for the Volt because the extended-range electric power train runs for 40 miles on battery alone and then uses an internal combustion engine to recharge batteries.

The cost of fueling a Volt will be significantly less than gassing up at the pump, Henderson said. In Detroit, where off-peak electricity rates are 5 cents a kilowatt hours, it will cost about 40 cents to recharge batteries overnight.

On the cost of the car itself, Henderson said that GM has not priced the Volt but that it will be expensive because it is a first-generation product. Unconfirmed estimates are said to be around $40,000.

The car will qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit and GM is working on bringing down the cost of future generations of the Volt, particularly the battery system, he said.

Is the Chevrolet Spark GM's next compact to be made in the U.S.A.?

(Credit: GMC)

General Motors announced today plans to build a small, fuel-efficient car at an idled UAW manufacturing plant in the United States.

The news tempers previously announced plans to import 17,300 small vehicles from China in 2011, which probably didn't go over well with the UAW.

Currently, about 67 percent of GM cars and trucks sold in the U.S. are built in the U.S. By producing another car domestically, GM anticipates that U.S. production levels will increase beyond 70 percent by 2013.

The proposed car was not announced, but an article from Automotive News speculated that the Chevrolet Spark is one of three small cars that General Motors could export from China to the U.S. The Chevrolet Lova and Aveo were also named as import possibilities.

The U.S. automaker already has the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt slated for production next year to help it comply with increased efficiency requirements of a fleetwide fuel economy of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

President Obama announced plans to establish more stringent national auto mileage standards on Tuesday, a move that will accelerate the arrival of energy-efficient technologies such as hybrid cars and diesel engines.

The plan calls for a 5 percent annual increase in car makers' fleet-wide fuel efficiency starting in 2012. The standard, which addresses cars and light trucks, will be 35.5 miles per gallon in 2016, four years sooner than previously planned. (Click for PDF with details.)

The stricter mandate also presses automakers to quickly adopt fuel-savings technologies in an industry reeling from falling car purchases. But auto manufacturers on Tuesday voiced support for the plan and its timeline.

"This new agreement will go a long way toward preserving the widest possible range of consumer choice in new vehicle purchases, (and) allow sufficient lead time for manufacturers to thoroughly engineer and test next-generation technologies before they are launched to the public," said Michael Stanton, the CEO of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers. "And (it) provides a sufficient degree of flexibility to mitigate costs in very capital-intensive new vehicle development."

Obama announced the agreement at the White House with members of his cabinet, the presidents and CEOs of 10 automakers, environmental advocates, and the president of the United Auto Workers. He said a series of "major lawsuits" will be dropped in support of the national standard.

The proposal creates a single fuel economy standard for the U.S. and regulates greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Auto manufacturers had complained they faced three different sets of regulations--the national Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard, California's proposed rules, and potential regulations on emissions from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The speeded-up efficiency rules will add about $600 to the price of producing a vehicle compared to the current law, according to reports. But the higher efficiency will mean that consumers will be able to recoup that cost in about three years, Obama said in his speech.

President Obama announcing an agreement on national gas mileage standards.

(Credit: Screen capture by Martin LaMonica/CNET)

"Yes, it costs money to develop these vehicles, but even as the price to build these cars and trucks goes up, the cost of driving these vehicles will go down, as drivers save money at the pump," he said.

Some changes, such as low rolling-resistance tires, offer relatively cheap ways to bring fuel efficiency to cars while more advanced technologies such as gasoline direct injection and "stop-start," where a car turns off when not moving, are more expensive, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2953 Analytics, and Automotive News (registration required).

Who can adapt?
Meeting these new standards is doable in part because most global automakers are already selling more efficient models in Europe, said Bilal Zuberi, a venture capitalist at General Catalyst Partners.

Ford, for example, already sells more efficient diesel engine cars in Europe with added emissions control equipment. Company Chairman Bill Ford last month said that the company intends to bring its smaller, fuel-efficient models from Europe to the U.S. General Motors has some hybrids in its fleet and it is developing an extended-range electric drivetrain for the Chevy Volt and other cars.

"GM is fully committed to this new approach," said CEO Fritz Henderson in a statement. "GM and the auto industry benefit by having more consistency and certainty to guide our product plans."

Financially strapped Chrysler, on the other hand, has emphasized its larger cars and Jeep platform, which will make it harder to meet new standards, although a proposed tie-up with Fiat would add small, fuel-efficient cars to its fleet, Zuberi said.

"This (policy) would mean a much faster, and hopefully not too painful, adoption of hybrids," said Zuberi. "Almost every car will have a mild type of hybrid and there will be greater penetration."

He added that the demand for fuel-efficient technologies also creates opportunities for partnerships and potentially acquisitions of electric-car component suppliers and start-ups, such as Fisker Automotive, Bright Automotive, and Tesla Motors, which announced an electric powertrain licensing deal with Daimler on Tuesday.

"With this action and President Obama's pledge to put 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015, we are off to a good start," said Sherry Boschert, co-founder of advocacy group Plug In America.

The policy will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil in the next five years, the equivalent of taking 58 million cars off the road for a year, according to the White House.

"This agreement is the breakthrough the nation needs to cut carbon emissions and help consumers deal with volatile gas prices," said Jim Kliesch, a senior engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists' Clean Vehicle Program, in a statement. "Automakers have the technology they need to meet and beat these standards while saving consumers billions."

A new campaign to improve automotive fuel efficiency worldwide by 50 percent by the year 2050 was announced at the Geneva Motor Show on Wednesday.

The Global Fuel Economy Initiative and its "50 by 50" campaign has the backing of leaders of four major international organizations: David Ward, director general of the FIA Foundation; Nobuo Tanaka, the executive director of the International Energy Agency; Jack Short, the secretary general of the International Transportation Forum; and Achim Steiner, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Car companies, the "50 by 50" report (PDF) says, must develop car fleets that collectively on average get double the gas mileage they get today, and people must buy them, in order to effectively reduce automotive CO2 emissions and oil consumption.

While the group praised all-electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles it noted that such advanced technology is not immediately necessary, nor a guarantee of carbon dioxide reductions until countries have cleaner electricity production.

"We have to find ways to reconcile legitimate aspirations for mobility, an ambitious reduction in CO2 from cars worldwide, and global economic recovery. There are opportunities to combine support for the industry with measures to achieve governments' environmental and energy policy goals," said a joint statement signed by the leaders of the four organizations.

The Global Fuel Economy Initiative report said a combination of simple steps when collectively applied could have a large impact.

On the technology side it recommended two main things:

• Develop more hybrids overall, offer more car models in a hybrid version, and when possible offer a plug-in hybrid version.
• Implement and improve less glamorous but achievable incremental technology for gas and diesel engine cars like weight reduction, better aerodynamics, and improved efficiency in the internal combustion engine.

But technology alone will not get the world to the goal unless it's propelled by political action, according to the report. On the political side, the initiative recommended the following:

• Present clear data on fuel economy statistics for cars as well as their effect on the global climate, and require automakers to be more transparent on a car model's real-life fuel efficiency.
• Lobby shareholders with significant stakes in automotive companies on the benefits of selling cars with fuel economy improvements.
• Convince governments to offer better incentives for companies to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles.
• Launch campaigns in different countries throughout the world to arm individuals with information on fuel efficiency and their options for car buying.

Taking those steps will save over 6 billion barrels of oil per year by 2050, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cars by about 50 percent, according to the report.

"Cutting global average automotive fuel consumption (L/100 km) by 50 percent (i.e. doubling MPG) would reduce emissions of CO2 by over 1 gigatonne (Gt) a year by 2025 and over 2 gigatonnes (Gt) by 2050, and result in savings in annual oil import bills alone worth over USD 300 billion in 2025 and 600 billion in 2050 (based on an oil price of USD 100/bbl)," said the report.

The initiative acknowledges that its goal is ambitious. The report points out that the amount of cars in the world is expected to triple by 2050. It attributes this expected growth to the surge of car ownership in developing nations.

Nissan Motor Company on Monday announced a new system that calculates the most fuel efficient rate of acceleration and pushes the gas pedal back against the driver's lead foot, according to the Associated Press. This new system, dubbed "ECO Pedal," will be available next year and, according to Nissan, can help drivers improve fuel efficiency by 5 to 10 percent, according to AP story.

If you're thinking what we're thinking, that the ECO Pedal has potential to compromise safety in the name of fuel efficiency, you'll be glad to know that Nissan is giving the system an off switch, according to the AP story.

The team from Mater Dei High School poses with its two gas-sipping entries in the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas. The grand prize winner (left) logged 2,843.4 miles per gallon.

(Credit: PRNewsFoto/Shell)

Correction, 2:50 PM PDT: Due to incorrect information provided by the company, this post misstated the name of one of the fuels used in the Eco-marathon. The entry from Schurr High School ran off liquified petroleum gas (LPG).

The team from Mater Dei High School might be only months (or less) removed from driver's ed, but it pulled off a nifty feat of driving over the weekend. One of its entries in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas won the grand prize for motoring to a record 2,843.4 miles per gallon.

Its other entry proved none too shabby as well, logging 2,383.8 mpg for a strong third-place finish. The second-place vehicle (2,752.3 mpg) was from last year's victor, California State Polytechnic.

All three broke last year's record, set by Cal Poly, of 1,902.7 mpg. The grand prize purse is $10,000.

Mater Dei has been entering the Shell-sponsored event, which took place at the California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., for about five years. How did the Evansville, Ind., team come up with its winning airfoil-meets-teardrop design and beat out its largely collegiate competitors? "It comes from trial and error, seeing what works and what doesn't," an unidentified student and team member told a local newscaster Friday.

Those top three vehicles, like most in the competition (25 out of 33 total), used internal combustion engines. The goal for all entrants was to travel as far as possible using as little fuel as possible. Vehicles--sans driver--couldn't weigh more than 160 kilograms (352 pounds), while drivers had to weigh at least 50 kilograms.

The Pulsar vehicle from Purdue University was the top solar finisher; it got credited with a fuel economy rating of 2,861.8 mpg.

(Credit: Courtesy of Purdue University's Eco-marathon team)

The lone diesel entry, from The College of the Redwoods in Eureka, Calif., achieved 304.5 mpg. The one vehicle to use liquified petroleum gas (LPG), from Schurr High School of Montebello, Calif., hit 163.5 mpg.

Of the four vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells, the top finisher was Penn State's HFV Team, 1,668.3 mpg. The best of the two solar-powered entries came from Purdue University, whose Pulsar vehicle reached the equivalent of 2,861.8 mpg. (Solar vehicles weren't eligible for the grand prize.)

On the Fontana racetrack, the challenges included winds that gusted up to 50 miles per hour. Even before the race, though, the team from Universite Laval in Quebec faced its own last-minute challenges--it had to wait two days for its vehicle to clear customs, then had to race through the setup and inspection on the last day of competition. Still, the Laval team finished fifth (1,810.8 mpg), behind another Canadian team, the University of British Columbia (1,864.9).

Rounding out the top 10 in the internal combustion field were Cedarville University (1,151.1 and 1,056.3 mpg for its two Supermileage entries), Grand Rapids Technical High School (754.8 mpg), Colorado School of Mines (679.4 mpg), and Lamar University (572.8 mpg).

The new face of Mercedes-Benz

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Mercedes-Benz is apparently planning to use next week's Geneva auto show to unveil two new fuel-efficient versions of the C-Class sedan in the first example of a new line of "eco variants" of its main model lineup. According to Just Auto, Mercedes is planning to roll the strategy out to 20 other models over the course of the next year. BMW is also expected to launch a green concept car at the Geneva show. Both luxury German automakers are likely to be among the hardest hit by new European Commission legislation for stricter emissions and fuel efficiency standards, and consequently have been making efforts to find more efficient versions of their performance-focused lineups. At last year's Frankfurt auto show, Mercedes showed off a number of diesel-electric hybrid concept cars that are scheduled for production in 2010 as well as its Diesotto engine, which uses turbo charging, direct injection, and diesel-like compression to maximize power and fuel economy.

Via Just Auto