Hybrid News

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Toyota

Toyota President, Katsuaki Watanabe this week announced that the start of fleet testing for plug-in capable Priuses had been moved up by a year. At this year’s Detroit Auto Show, Watanabe announced that several hundred Priuses with the ability to be plugged in would be delivered to government and commercial fleets in 2010 for field testing. That schedule has been adjusted so that the PHEVs would now be introduced in early 2009 with several hundred on the road by the end of the year. Over on the Toyota Open Road Blog, communications VP Irv Miller makes it clear though that no timetable has been set for retail sales of these cars and that it won’t happen until Toyota is well and truly confident that the lithium ion batteries are safe, reliable and affordable. He also calls out a Palo Alto, CA Toyota dealer for beginning to take deposits on the cars. While applauding the dealership’s initiative he stresses that no one knows when a PHEV Prius will actually be available to the public, including Toyota’s dealer network.

[Source: Toyota]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Toyota

Speaking at this week’s Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, MI, Toyota advanced powertrain program manager Justin Ward reiterated the company’s plans to offer hybrid drive systems in every one of its model lines by the end of the next decade. Toyota already has more vehicles with hybrid systems than anyone else, but will need next-generation systems to support larger vehicles like the Tundra pickup, assuming it is still building full-size trucks in 2020. On the subject of fuel cell systems, Ward described the progress the company has made on efficiency (and hence range) as well as performance and durability. However, cost and durability issues still have a way to go and there is the whole issue of hydrogen production and distribution.

On the topic of plug-in vehicles, Ward showed a healthy dose of skepticism. According to Ward, in spite of studies showing that 70 percent of commutes are less than 40 miles per day, having plug-ins with a range of only 40 miles would only cover about 35 percent of total miles traveled. The energy required to charge plug-in vehicles also poses problems. Plug-in proponents point to most vehicles being plugged in at night and taking advantage of off-peak generation and lower costs. Ward told his audience that a study of night time generation indicates that the vast majority of it comes from coal fired power plants. Until carbon sequestration becomes mainstream at power plants the use of coal generated electricity, regardless of time of day won’t have as much impact on CO₂ as plug-in advocates would like.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req’d]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Toyota, USA

Plug-In Supply has just released its new $4995 kit which converts your 2004-2008 Prius into a Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle (PHEV). Because the system is based on the Cal Cars reference design and uses lead-acid batteries as opposed to the more expensive lithium or nickel-based batteries, this new kit is cheaper than many other PHEV conversion options. According to Plug-In Supply, the kit will allow your Prius to operate in electric-only mode for up to fifteen miles and at speeds of up to fifty-two miles per hour. Getting 15 miles out of a lead acid pack will be a real stretch given that Toyota is only getting eight with a NiMH pack in its prototype PHEV Priuses. Getting a Prius up to 52 mph on batteries will also take a long time with the size of the electric motor used and all of this will absolutely, possitively void any warranty you may have left. The lead-acid batteries which help make this new kit relatively affordable aren’t likely to last the life of the vehicle. Therefore, the pack has been designed to be upgradeable to lithium batteries in the future. Due to the 360-pound weight of the included battery pack, heavy-duty springs have also been made available for the rear of the Prius.

While it still may not make sound economic sense, this kit proves that the costs associated with creating PHEVs is going down. Those living in California, though, might be hard-pressed to purchase a kit such as this if CARB passes its new regulations, as kits using lead-acid batteries may find it rather difficult to meet some of the proposed requirements.

[Source: Plug-In Supply]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GM, Saturn

A row of Saturn Vue PHEVs in Milford’s building 16 garage

GM may have been late to the party when it came to hybrids, but they are now throwing resources at a bunch of different parallel paths that including electric drive. There are already cars and CUVs with mild hybrid systems and full-size SUVs with Two-Mode hybrid systems. Later this fall pickup trucks and Saturn Vues will also get the Two-Mode system. Then there is of course the E-Flex Chevy Volt. Sometime around the end of 2009 GM’s first plug-hybrid should debut also in the shape of the Vue. At the Plug-In 2008 conference Larry Nitz, the Executive Director of the hybrid powertrain engineering at GM provided an updated on the Vue PHEV program. After initiating development with nickel metal hydride batteries, the team based in Building 16 at the Milford proving ground now has 11 plug-in Vues running with lithium ion batteries. If the PHEV Vue makes it by the end of next year it will likely be the first commercially available plug-in hybrid from a major carmaker. The Vue is expected to have about 10 miles of electric driving range on a full charge.

[Source: GM Fastlane Blog]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, GM, Toyota, AutoblogGreen Exclusive

What kind of miles per gallon will you see on the EPA stickers of plug-in hybrids as they come out in the next few years? The miles per gallons for plug-in hybrids will be rated lower than traditional hybrids! Why? Unlike traditional hybrids, to get the added miles per gallon from a plug-in hybrid, you have to do something: plug it in. If you don’t, the un-used part of the battery is just dead weight and that means lower miles per gallon.

Plug-in hybrids will probably leave part of the battery flat waiting for you to charge it. The car’s software could fully charge the battery using regenerative braking but why would a driver go through the effort of plugging in the car if the battery meter was always topped off? A solution to this problem is an “I will not plug you in” button that tells the car to fully charge the battery and don’t wait for the driver to plug it in.

I don’t think the major automakers will go for a software solution however. I think the first plug-in hybrids will just be better hybrids and get better mileage than traditional hybrids only because they have larger batteries. This will be regrettable because it means plug-in hybrids will hobble the development of traditional hybrids. Plug-in hybrids will only be the panacea we hope for if the auto makers, EPA and drivers get it right.

We want to know what you think. If you were the EPA, what would you put on the sticker for a plug-in hybrid? Would you put the highest possible mileage, the lowest or an average based on plug-in hybrid use studies? If you were the car maker, how would you weigh the options? Would you make every hybrid you made a plug-in or market it as a high end option? As a consumer, what’s the minimum miles per gallons increase would convince you to take the time to plug in a car?

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Lascelles Linton

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Chrysler, Legislation and Policy, Green Daily

Bloomberg editors selected as the lede of a story yesterday about former Chrysler head Lee Iacocca the comment that Cerberus is doing the right thing with Chrysler, the AutoblogGreen audience might be more interested in something buried down at the bottom of the article. Iacocca made comments on PHEVs vs. hydrogen that are, for us, more interesting, no? Iacocca clearly took a stand on the future powertrain debate, saying that, “Plug-in hybrids: that’s the wave of the future, not hydrogen.” Unfortunately, the Bloomberg article doesn’t go into any sort of detail about why Iacocca said this, but I think it’s safe to say that he was persuaded by author Sherry Boschert’s present last year.

Iacocca also stated his belief that the U.S. needs a universal health care system because that would give the domestic carmakers and other companies a boost. Iacocca has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson, who supports such a system.

[Source: Bloomberg / Alan Ohnsman and Peter Cook]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Legislation and Policy

As the California Air Resources Board meets today to vote on revisions to the ZEV Mandate, the voices calling on CARB to not kill the electric car all over again are rising. Jim Woolsey, Tesla’s Ze’ev Drori, the Sierra Club and many more are telling CARB to keep the EV alive. Another voice, perhaps unexpected, has now joined the chorus: George Shultz, who was Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of State.

Schultz has written a letter (PDF) to California Governor Schwarzenegger asking that the governator intervene and call on state air regulators to promote plug-in cars instead of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This seems unlikely to me, considering Schwarzenegger’s love of hydrogen cars and his Hydrogen Highway effort. Schultz said hydrogen cars are not a “near-term technology” and added that other states look to California’s leadership in the alternative fueled vehicle scene. We’ll have more on the CARB vote later today and there are more details after the jump.

Press Release:

Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz Urges Gov. Schwarzenegger To Save the Electric Car

Shultz’s 11th-Hour Plea, One Day Before Key Car Vote, Calls for More Plug In Electric Hybrids Instead of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars

SACRAMENTO - On the eve of a vote that could kill the electric car all over again, former Secretary of State George P. Shultz has asked California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to “intervene” by urging state air regulators to require significant production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles instead of favoring the hydrogen fuel cell technology that Shultz termed “an R&D project.”

To read George Shultz’ letter go to PlugInAmerica.org.

Shultz, who served under President Ronald Reagan, made the plea in an 11th-hour letter to Schwarzenegger delivered Wednesday as Plug In America voiced similar concerns during a press conference (video available here www.pluginamerica.org) in Sacramento. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is slated to vote on Thursday (3/27) on a revision to its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Program that prioritizes hydrogen fuel cell production over battery electric vehicles.

“With due respect to the long-term prospects of hydrogen, it is not a near-term technology,” wrote Shultz, who sent a copy of his letter to CARB chairwoman Mary Nichols. “We must implement alternatives that are viable today instead of putting so much emphasis on an R&D project.”

“The rest of the country is looking to California for leadership on this issue by making a variety of vehicles available to consumers,” wrote Shultz, adding his conviction that electric vehicle technology can free the nation of its reliance on foreign oil. “Choice in the market means a more secure America.”

Plug In America board members and supporters, including former Central Intelligence Agency chief R. James Woolsey, have discussed the CARB proposal with Shultz. The clean-car advocacy organization delivered a letter of its own to the Governor last week, urging him to ask CARB to require tens of thousands of fully electric vehicles instead of one-tenth of that, as the board’s staff proposal does now.

Another former Reagan Administration official, Deputy Under Secretary of Education Dr. Peter R. Greer, sent yet another plea to Gov. Schwarzenegger last week. Voicing his concerns about climate change as well as national security, he “all but begged” the Governor to “direct CARB to put electric vehicles back on the road again by adopting the changes to the ZEV Program proposed by Plug In America.”

Individual citizens from all 50 U.S. states and 20 other countries have sent similar messages to Schwarzenegger and CARB over the past two weeks.

A large crowd, including more than a dozen drivers with their fully electric vehicles, cheered during Plug In America’s press conference, which was covered by national and state media. Woolsey, among the event’s speakers, also addressed the need for America’s independence from foreign oil. Both he and Plug In America executive director Chelsea Sexton will testify in support of electric vehicles on Thursday(3/27) before the CARB vote.

[Source: Plug In America]

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in

A Wall Street Journal story today highlights the promise and potential problems with plug-in cars. More accurately, it highlights the problems and shoves most of the promise to the bottom. As automakers ready plug-in hybrids and electric cars for market, the sensational headline poses a clash of the titans: “Utilities, Plug-In Cars: Near Collision?”

As gasoline reaches $4 a gallon, the benefit to consumers of transportation energy at about $1 per gallon (equivalent) is undeniable. And if one reads down to near the end of the story, one finds the studies that show the tremendous upside in terms of carbon emission and petroleum reduction. As the article makes clear, as long as most plug-in cars charge up at night, the American electrical grid can already carry the load of more plug-in cars than are likely to be produced for a decade or more. Of course, night time charging is also more convenient; most cars are parked at night and used during the day. Still, the utilities are already exploring ways to ensure cars utilize the low-cost, excess capacity existing while consumers sleep, including incentive pricing, time of use metering, and smart meters.

And the environmental benefits reported are extraordinary. If enough plug-ins were on the roads, we could see oil consumption cut by 6.2 million barrels a day and U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions cut “by 450 million metric tons annually, equivalent to scrapping 82 million cars.” Where the grid is comparatively clean, as in California, switching to electricity is a no-brainer. More surprising, the story reports, “Carbon-dioxide emissions would probably fall even if coal-fired plants made the electricity, some studies have found, because they burn coal more efficiently than automobiles burn gasoline.” Of course as the electric grid becomes cleaner and more renewable thanks to state and federal mandates, the cars charging actually get cleaner, too.

[Source: Wall St. Journal]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Original post by Marc Geller