The Idea is a light-use plug-in electric hybrid intended for commercial fleets.
(Credit: Bright Automotive)Start-up Bright Automotive unveiled a light-use vehicle on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that gets 100 mpg for its first 50 miles.
The Idea, as the plug-in hybrid utility vehicle is called, uses battery power almost exclusively for the first 30 miles when starting with a fully charged battery. It then moves to the electric with gas supplement system found on any typical hybrid vehicle.
Because of this 30-mile electric start, Bright Automotive estimates that in a 50-mile drive the Idea consumes half a gallon of gas, getting it roughly the equivalent of 100 mpg. On a total drive of 70 miles, the Idea uses about one gallon of gas, giving the car "a mileage equivalent of 70 mpg."
Bright Automotive openly clarifies that their mileage count includes that 30-mile electric head start. Given the vehicle's target audience, the odd assessment of what would otherwise amount to a 40 mpg plug-in hybrid might be fair.
The Idea uses low-rolling resistance tires and is built from lightweight materials consisting of a high-tech aluminum from Alcoa and advanced composites to contribute to the vehicle's fuel efficiency. It has a one-ton cargo capacity and a passenger seat that can convert into a mobile office.
In other words, the Idea is not a highway car intended for the masses, but a light-use truck for commercial and military utility fleets. Utility trucks don't typically travel long distances and are often returned to a garage where the vehicle could be fully charged.
The Indiana-based company has applied for $450 million in federal loans from the Department of Energy to mass-produce the plug-in vehicle.
The U.S. government itself is not just a potential lender, but also a potential customer. Last January, the Army announced plans to replace up to 28,000 gas-powered vehicles with light-use EVs in the coming years. Global Electric Motorcar, a division of Chrysler, was the first manufacturer to win a contract for the U.S. Army initiative, and would be an obvious competitor for Bright Automotive if it gets up and running.
Granted the federal loan money, Bright Automotive says it could be in production by 2012 and could be mass-producing 50,000 vehicles a year starting in 2013. Including suppliers, the company would create more than 5,000 U.S. jobs, according to CEO John E. Waters.
In addition to the unveiling in Washington, D.C., Waters held a telephone press conference.
While he was asked several times to elaborate, he would not give any hint at how much the Idea costs.
"If I give you a number, consumers will then look at it like a consumer vehicle and that's not the impression we want to give. Our commercial customers will lease them usually on a monthly basis," said Waters.
Waters did hint that Bright Automotive is looking into an adaptation for a highway legal version for consumers.
"We have designed the vehicle platform to be extremely flexible. We are analyzing it for markets that would include a common power train, and a common chassis for both domestic and international markets," he said.
While Bright Automotive's business plan is based on private capital, the requested loan money from the federal government would ramp up production, giving the company a better chance to survive against the automotive legacy companies, according to Waters.
"We are impatient. We know every day we wait is a day less we have the Idea on the roads, cleaning up American skies, and providing people with green transportation as we see the titans of the world advancing in the world of transportation," he said.
While the company may have only started in 2008, it's not exactly an outsider. Its partners, many of whom have said they are also interested in being fleet customers, include Alcoa, Cox Communications, and Frito Lay.
Coulomb Technologies charging stations keep the cord with a plug for an electric car locked behind a door for safety and theft prevention. An RFID reader signals the door to unlock when met with a recognized key fob or smart card.
(Credit: Coulumb Technologies)The city of San Francisco is installing three EV (electric vehicle) charging stations across the street from city hall as part of a two-year pilot project to promote electric vehicle use, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday at a press conference.
The Smartlet Networked Charging Stations supplied by Coulomb Technologies will serve hybrid electric plug-in vehicles from Zipcar, City CarShare, and the city's municipal fleet, according to a statement from the mayor's office.
Because the EVs will be readily available for daily rental, skeptics and enthusiasts alike will have a chance to see what it's like to drive an electric car for a day.
"Electric vehicles are the future of transportation and the Bay Area is the testing ground for the technology," Mayor Newsom said in a statement to the press.
"Now, for the first time, the public can plug-in to the next generation of cars through car sharing organizations and take them for a drive in San Francisco," he said.
As part of the two-year pilot project, the Coulomb Technologies networked car charging system will include a "Fleet Management Portal," which texts drivers to inform them when their car needs charging and when it's fully charged and can be unplugged.
The installation of the three networked charging stations are part of San Francisco's nine-step plan for making electric vehicles popular in the Bay Area.
Along with Mayor Ron Dellums of Oakland, Calif., and Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose, Calif., Newsom pledged last November to make the Bay Area the "EV Capital of the United States."
San Jose became the first city to test Coulomb Technologies' charging stations last June.
Johnathan Goodwin's hybrid auto creation looks nothing like a Prius.
It is a Ford F-450. It is 14,000 pounds of pure mean, green machine, CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan reports.
"I can run hydrogen, biodiesel, diesel fuel, or natural gas," Goodwin said.
Goodwin is a natural-born tinkerer. He started by tearing apart a lawnmower and putting it back together when he was just 6 years old.
Now, every big truck or car this self-taught 7th-grade drop-out from Wichita, Kan., works on gets more powerful, more fuel-efficient, and faster.
He transformed one '64 Impala into an 850-horsepower monster that gets 25 miles to the gallon and goes from zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.
Goodwin and his team in Kansas have modified more than 100 vehicles in the past 10 years. He works on a small scale, and his modifications can cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars per vehicle. And his work is leaving car designers in Detroit jealous.
"I'm not held by the same restraints that they are," he says.
Having your car green-tuned by Goodwin is gaining celebrity status. The 1984 Jeep that Sreenivasan got a road tour of belongs to the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"We've doubled the horsepower. We've tripled the torque and doubled the fuel economy," Goodwin said.
Goodwin's greatest creation to date is the LincVolt.
It's Neil Young's 1959 Lincoln. It weighs 2.5 tons, is 19 feet long, can go 160 mph. And it has zero emissions, because it can go more than 100 miles on just batteries.
"Nobody wants to sacrifice size and style to gain fuel efficiency, and there's no reason to do it," Goodwin said.
Why settle, when you can have big, beautiful, clean and green under one hood?
See also:
• Couric & Co. blog: From Gas Guzzler To Lean, Green Machine
• CNET News: Dreamforce: Neil Young shows off his green machine
Toyota plans to install solar panels on the roof of the next generation of Prius hybrid cars, according to a report in Monday's edition of the Nikkei newspaper.
The panels, which are expected to begin appearing on the high-end version of the gasoline-electric hybrid car as early as next spring, will supply part of the 2 to 5 kilowatts needed to power the air conditioning, MarketWatch cited the Japanese business daily as reporting. Kyocera will reportedly supply the panels.
The move would make Toyota the first major automaker to incorporate a solar-power generation system into a mass-produced car.
Prius was introduced in 1997 and has since sold more than 1 million vehicles worldwide. The car was redesigned in 2003, and a third generation has been widely expected to appear soon.
With gas over $4 per gallon, on average, across the country, there is now a carpet bagger economy on the Toyota Prius.
Many dealers will still sell a new one at MSRP, but you are likely to wait 10 to 12 weeks before seeing a car. Yes, if you act quickly you can buy a used Prius, but this is where the real price gouging occurs. Case in point, a basic 2007 Prius with no options and 29,000 miles will cost you around $27,000. If you bought a brand-new car identical to this in 2007, it would have cost around $24,000, and Kelly Blue Book, the authority on used car prices, says that this car is worth just under $23k today.
Obviously, there is a new supply-and-demand curve in the market. Nothing illegal mind you; this is capitalism at work, but it just doesn't seem right. Gas may go up to $6 per gallon, or oil may go down to $80 per barrel; no one really knows, and there are bulls and bears forecasting both extremes. Since rationality has given way to speculation and panic, my advice to would-be Prius buyers is:
1. Do the math. A nicely equipped 2007 Honda Civic EX with equal mileage carries a suggested retail price of about $18,300. Assuming 30 miles per gallon for the Civic, and 45 miles per gallon for the Prius, it could take around 13 years to recoup the extra money for the Prius at $5 per gallon (assuming 12,000 miles per year of driving). Now I know that there are a lot of assumptions in this formula, but suffice it to say that when you do the math, the Civic seems like a better deal overall--not to mention that the EX has a Sunroof to boot.
2. Wait. Delaying a Prius purchase could have two benefits. First off, buyers get to see whether the price of gas goes up or down. If it does go down as some predict, the Prius premium is likely to disappear faster than a Lakers fan after the NBA finals. The other advantage to waiting is that the highbrow Prius will finally get some competition moving forward. Honda is rumored to have a 2009 hybrid Fit and brand-new five-passenger hybrid--with better gas mileage than today's Prius--waiting in the wings. Rumor also has it that VW, Hyundai, Ford, and others aren't far behind with high-mileage alternatives of their own. Finally, in 2009 or 2010 Toyota will introduce its own next-generation Prius that may offer plug-in capabilities and better gas mileage as well.
Supply and demand are constant market conditions, but shortages come and go. Is a used Prius really worth a $3,000 to $4,000 premium? The answer to this question can be summed in two sagacious words: caveat emptor!
Presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain on Monday proposed a $300 million prize to develop a car battery that will "leapfrog" today's plug-in hybrids.
In an energy policy speech at Fresno State University in California, McCain also called for an overhaul to existing policies that favor domestic ethanol production--one of the biggest differences he has with his expected opponent, Senator Barack Obama.
Senator and presidential hopeful John McCain
(Credit: McCain's Senate site)McCain said that, if elected, his administration would issue a Clean Car Challenge that would give give a $5,000 tax credit to people who purchase "zero-emissions cars."
There would be a sliding scale so that vehicles, regardless of type, with lower carbon dioxide emissions will have larger tax credits.
His $300 million car battery prize is meant to spur creativity among automakers to make energy-efficient products.
"This is one dollar for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.--a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency--and should deliver a power source at 30 percent of the current costs," he said.
Diverging ethanol plans
In the same speech, McCain repeated his opposition to policies that encourage corn-ethanol and said the U.S. should eliminate a tariff on ethanol from Brazil because it hinders free trade.
He said he would provide incentives to automakers to manufacture flex-fuel vehicles that can run on ethanol or gasoline. He said Brazil, which gets about half of its auto fuel from sugar cane ethanol, has shown that a country can change its fuel mix in just a few years.
"Instead of playing favorites, our government should level the playing field for all alcohol fuels that break the monopoly of gasoline, lowering both gasoline prices and carbon emissions. And this can be done with a simple federal standard to hasten the conversion of all new vehicles in America to flex-fuel technology--allowing drivers to use alcohol fuels instead of gas in their cars," he said.
By contrast, Senator Obama is in favor of continued supportive ethanol policies.
The New York Times on Monday detailed the Illinois senator's close ties to ethanol, including maintaining Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader who now serves on the boards of three ethanol companies, as an adviser.
Domestically producing ethanol "ultimately helps our national security, because right now we're sending billions of dollars to some of the most hostile nations on earth," the Times quoted Obama saying during a campaign stop last August.
I already own a hybrid (a Ford Escape) but am toying with the idea of going for the gusto by trading in the old Ford for a gas-sipping Honda Civic or Toyota Prius hybrid. When I bought my Ford, Uncle Sam sweetened the deal by giving me a tax credit of around $2,000, so my expectation was a similar financial incentive if I went for a more economical model. Not so fast! In its infinite wisdom, the federal government created one of the dumber set of guidelines you could ever imagine.
Once a manufacturer (for instance, Ford, Honda, Toyota, etc.) exceeds sales of 60,000 hybrid vehicles, the IRS phases out tax credits over the course of a year. Since Toyota is killing it with the Prius, it passed the 60,000 mark years ago.
So here's the net effect. If you decide to buy a Prius, decrease the United States' dependence on foreign oil, help improve national security, and do your part to reduce carbon emissions, you get nothing in return because the federal government came up with some lame-brain quota system based on manufacturers and brands of cars. Ridiculous!
I know I'm out on a limb, but I firmly believe that with gas at over $4 per gallon in many areas, the federal government should be reducing the speed limit, pushing states to eliminate tolls, and absolutely persuading taxpayers to buy cars with higher mpg. Given the energy goals we hear everyday from the presidential candidates, the cap on hybrid tax credits is just plain stupid.
Sanyo and Volkswagen announced an agreement on Wednesday to make lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles, turning up the competition in the field for energy-efficient cars.
Sanyo intends to open a factory to make the batteries in 2010 and Volkswagen plans to introduce a car with them the same year, according to a Bloomberg report. The first car to get the batteries will be an Audi AG, Reuters reported.
The pact also calls for the two companies to make software to electronically control the batteries.
Sanyo already provides nickel metal hydride batteries for Ford and Honda.
Lithium-ion batteries are growing in favor with carmakers. The Tesla Roadster uses lithium-ion batteries, as will the Chevy Volt when it is released in two years.
The Sanyo factory will have the capacity to supply batteries to power between 1.7 million and 1.8 million hybrid vehicles a year, the company told Bloomberg.
A hybrid electric vehicle runs on a battery and a conventional gasoline engine. The batteries are charged by the engine and regenerated power from braking.
LAS VEGAS--One of the big complaints from consumers who buy General Motors cars that run on E85 ethanol is the lack of places to fill up.
General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner
(Credit: General Motors)GM CEO Rick Wagoner, in a meeting with reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas this week, says he has received hundreds of e-mails from customers who have bought such cars and are frustrated they can't find ethanol stations.
When GM started selling its flex-fuel cars, there were about 600 stations that sold ethanol in the U.S. Now there are about 1,400 stations.
But there are 170,000 filling stations in the country. The U.S. probably needs around 15,000 to 20,000 ethanol stations, he added.
To this end, GM has been working with big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Target to put ethanol pumps in.
"It has been remarkably difficult" to get pumps installed, he said. "We've been doing more work than I thought we would need to."
Corn ethanol also won't cut it for the long haul, if ethanol demand grows significantly. "To get beyond a certain level, it is going to have to go beyond grain-based in the U.S.," he said. The alternative could well be cellulosic ethanol.
Wagoner is making a rare appearance at CES to promote car electronics as well as GM's more fuel-efficient car. He'll be giving a keynote in less than an hour. During the speech, he will discuss a new prototype, the Cadillac Provoq, which comes with a solar panel on the roof to power the car's electronics, a hydrogen fuel cell, and a lithium-ion battery.
Speaking of lithium-ion batteries, Wagoner says reports that GM has delayed the Chevy Volt, a gas-electric car, are incorrect. The company still aims to come out with the car around 2010.
"Going for 2010 is a stretch, and it still is a stretch," he said, but the test results are coming up reasonably well.
The challenge largely lies in improving the batteries so that these cars will have a range consumers will find acceptable. The Volt is supposed to get around 300 miles before running out of gas and electricity. (The Volt drives on electricity and the gas engine recharges it while driving.)
GM, he added, continues to look at all-electric cars, but that's a tougher challenge and may come, at least from GM, only after electric-assist vehicles like the Volt are out. Automakers may also begin to push the "city car" concept. These cars only go about 120 miles on a charge, but are made for city driving.
The chief problem with the EV1, GM's canceled electric car from a few years back, was the range.
"If you want to drive around and not worry about it (running out of power), that hasn't worked yet," he said.
The EV1, however, didn't completely die. The nickel-metal-hybrid battery from the EV1 will be used in a Chevy Malibu hybrid.
And on the hybrid note, automakers will likely come out with a variety of hybrid drives, depending on the size of the car and its expected power.
"If hybrids take off, you will see a proliferation of different types of hybrid systems," he said.
Cars will continue to run on fossil fuels for a while, he added, but alternatives seem unavoidable. Emerging nations like China are buying more cars, which means greater fuel consumption, and environmental awareness is far higher.
"My sense is that there is a fundamental change," he stated.
View complete CES 2008 coverage from CNET.
The face behind the wheel of a hybrid car is most likely to belong to an upwardly mobile, physically active person with tech savvy, according to a report by Scarborough Research (PDF).
Forty-two percent of those polled earn six figures or more each year. The group is more than 20 percent likely than average to be at least 50 years old. Nearly a third hold a postgraduate degree, with the rate of college graduation more than doubling the U.S. average.
Only 14 percent of hybrid owners identify as Republican, while 38 percent are Democrats, and 34 percent call themselves independent, according to the report.
These hybrid drivers are more than twice as likely than average consumers to go skiing, hiking, or practice yoga, and they are 66 percent more likely to ride a bicycle. They also consume more organic food, yogurt, and decaffeinated coffee.
The group surveyed also demonstrates above-average tech savvy. Within the last month, 78 percent used e-mail, while nearly a third either used text messaging on a phone or took photos on a mobile device. More than a third reported using a digital-video recorder, satellite TV, or a video game system.
Scarborough went on to detail hybrid car owners' typical online activities, which it says outpace the national average. They include accessing news, Web auctions such as those on eBay, blogs, financial information, videos, movie listings, sports, and travel reservation sites. Hybrid owners are also more than twice as likely as other consumers to use a broadcast or cable TV Web site, the report said.
Toyota Motor makes the most popular hybrid vehicles, followed by Honda Motor. Top markets for hybrids include Las Vegas, San Francisco, Tuscon, Ariz., and Washington, D.C., where the cars are found in at least 2 percent of households.
The survey included responses from 110,000 adults. Scarborough consumer and media research is backed by Nielsen and Arbitron services.
