HONDA may soon be bringing the hybrid version of its popular Civic to India. Close on the heels of Toyota announcing its intention of bringing its Hybrid Prius into the Indian market, a senior Honda executive said his company would launch the version in a few months.
Original post by george_douglas@nrel.gov (George Douglas)
Filed under: Ethanol, Hydrogen, GM, Suzuki, On Two Wheels
Below the fold are two videos that proves green can be cool. The first video is Jay Leno showing off his ᭉ Corvette at this year’s SEMA. “Green goes with mean was the message at″ SEMA, according to the video’s description (and backed up by Jay saying the car has 600 horse power). The second video is all about Suzuki’s fuel cell concept bike the Crosscage. The electric engine and fuel cell battery’s light weight and compact design means a power output of 155 CCs.
The power and speed every gearhead wants is best accomplished with green, efficient products … and now EVs are starting to look like they should provide that power and speed. The idea that electric cars are just golf carts is officially dead.
[Source: YouTube]
 
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.
Original post by Lascelles Linton
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Americans must reach a broad-based agreement on the environment. Adversarial politics has prevented a strategic consensus from driving our nations environmental vision. As a result, we have become a conflicted, confused, and timid polity when it comes to environmental concerns. Historically, America has been a decisive nation. We must now take the necessary steps to return our country to a position of leadership on the environment. It is not too late to make a difference. Although I was trained for a career in academe, Ive spent my entire adult life immersed in politics. I am convinced, however, the environment is an issue that transcends politics. Americans deserve candor on this subject: why the environment is so important to all of us, and why the time has come to act on what we know. |
Original post by Mark E Smith
Channel Cat.sh, Bass, Hybrid Bluegill, Redear Bream, Coppernose Bluegill, Fathead Minnows, Koi, Black Crappie and Triploid Grass Carp are now available for Pond & Lake Stocking. A permit and 10 days notice required for the purchase of Triploid Grass Carp. • We furnish hauling containers!
Original post by george_douglas@nrel.gov (George Douglas)
Filed under: Diesel
With German cities on the verge of banning older diesel vehicles from central areas at the beginning of the year, many drivers are getting particulate filters installed on their cars. The German government offers subsidies of up to €330 for the installations. In order to qualify for the rebates, the filters must be able to remove at least thirty percent of particulates from the exhaust stream. Drivers of older, more polluting cars also have to pay higher road taxes.
Therein lies the rub. German testing organization TÜV Hessen has been testing aftermarket particulate filters and the results aren’t good. Some of the filters made by Bosal, Tenneco and GAT removed only from zero to ten percent of soot. The filters are now being re-tested, but in the meantime installers are at a stand still. The manufacturers have already pulled some of the disputed units off the market. It’s expected that the market for aftermarket particulate filters in Germany could hit 1.5 million units in the next two years.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req’d]
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.
Original post by Sam Abuelsamid
Nissan plans to infuse hybrid technology into their uplevel product line, Infiniti. The idea is to utilize the…
Original post by admin
In the present scenario, mobile companies are giving much emphasis on consumers needs and demands. Advanced technologies are being incorporated in the new age mobile devices - that’s the reason why hy…
Original post by default@goarticles.com (Mark Bonnett)
Toyota has announced that its current Prius hybrid will be joined by a wagon version of the five-door hatchback…
Original post by admin
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Hybrid
Do your remember the hybrid system that stores braking energy not as electricity but in a rotating flywheel as kinetic energy? Well, the system is going to be mated to a special CVT transmission able to change 6-to-1 ratio within one revolution. That is, in 50 ms, the transmission can go to almost zero to full power.
The Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which is soon going to be tested with a Chevy V8 engine, becomes part of the transmission system of the car and it is light: for ʽ applications, the variator and flywheel each weigh less than 5kg in a system with a total mass that does not exceed 25kg. This is both good for the upcoming Formula 1 hybrid racers and for regular car use, where it has a huge potential to help reduce CO2 emissions and pollutants.
The developers say that the device is twice as efficient as electric hybrids. And it’s got an additional benefit: since the flywheel is vacuum sealed, the system is silent, except for the links to the transmission and bearings, which is something they’re working on.
The flywheel is made from high-strength steel and composite material in which the maximum stresses are less than in the con-rod of a conventional internal combustion engine.
Flybrid, Torotrak and Xtrac promise to keep us updated on the evolution of this system, which you can check by clicking the Read link. Full press release after the jump.
[Source: Flybrid]
Xtrac and Flybrid to reveal technical details of flywheel ‘kinetic energy recovery system’ at global conference
* Motorsport experts to discuss mechanical alternative to hybrid electric vehicle technology for future road cars
* Fast-acting flywheel system offers up to twice the efficiency, half the mass and more rapid transfer of energy compared with current battery systems
Martin Halley, chief engineer with transmission technology specialist Xtrac and Jon Hilton, managing partner of Flybrid Systems, a new company taking a fresh look at hybrid vehicle technology, will describe the technical innovations behind their groundbreaking mechanical flywheel ‘kinetic energy recovery system’ (KERS) - which also incorporates advanced traction drive technology from Torotrak - at a forthcoming high-level motorsport industry conference.
“The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) regulatory body, which governs motorsport, has recognised that motor racing provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate new technologies which could be relevant to the automotive mainstream,” said Halley, whose presentation will provide an overview of new F1 regulations and the technology and materials required to develop the sophisticated transmission system required for a mechanical based KERS system.
“The new rules being drawn up for ʽ will stimulate the development of new and exciting technologies, within a competitive environment, which may otherwise not have occurred. This means rapid product development is required right here and right now,” commented Hilton, whose technical paper will discuss the recovery and storage of braking energy in a mechanical-based flywheel system.
Flybrid has already secured one unnamed F1 team as a customer and is confident others will follow given the benefits of a fast-acting flywheel system, which offers up to twice the efficiency, half the mass and more rapid transfer of energy compared with hybrid battery electrical systems. The company is also well on its way to bench testing a flywheel KERS system adapted for road car applications using a Chevrolet V8 engine.
Flybrid’s brake regenerative system uses advanced gearbox technology provided by transmission specialists Torotrak and Xtrac. The system employs a small and sophisticated ancillary gearbox manufactured by Xtrac incorporating a continuously variable transmission (CVT) design licensed from Torotrak. Torotrak’s patented traction drive technology is being developed for motorsport applications by Xtrac under an exclusive licensing agreement. Xtrac can sub-license the CVT ‘variator’ technology to Flybrid and other motorsport teams who may wish to design and build their own flywheel.
The role played by Flybrid, Torotrak and Xtrac in designing a mechanical KERS solution for F1 could be instrumental in developing this pioneering vehicle technology for more fuel efficient road cars without resorting to the expense and complexity of battery systems. Compared with hybrid electric vehicles, which use batteries for energy storage, a mechanical KERS system utilises flywheel technology as a highly efficient alternative to recover and store a moving vehicle’s kinetic energy.
The combination of gearbox-variator and flywheel would form part of the driveline assembly. The kinetic energy is stored during a braking manoeuvre and is then released back into the driveline as the vehicle accelerates. Flybrid, Torotrak and Xtrac claim that compared to the alternative of battery systems, a mechanical KERS system can provide a more compact, lighter and environmentally-friendly solution.
Torotrak’s patented technology is a vital element in a mechanical system as it provides a continuously variable connection between the flywheel and the vehicle driveline. Xtrac’s exclusive licence and development of the system for motorsport applications allows it to design, manufacture, assemble and distribute complete variator systems and discrete components to F1 and other motorsport customers.
For F1 applications, the variator and flywheel each weigh less than 5kg in a system with a total mass not exceeding 25kg. This relatively low mass is a major advantage both for race and road cars. The high level of mechanical efficiency combined with the variator’s ability to change ratio very rapidly helps to optimise flywheel performance. The transmission system selects the appropriate ratio depending on the torque demand and can change its 6-to-1 ratio within one revolution.
“Performance calculations show we can go from zero to full power in 50ms,” says Hilton. “This is faster than the driver can apply the brake pedal.”
Flybrid, Torotrak and Xtrac all see the potential for wider application beyond motorsport - initially on high-performance road cars - both as an aid to performance and as a means of developing vehicles with reduced fuel consumption and CO2 levels. Applied to road cars the system supports the current motor industry trend for smaller powertrains; a lightweight kinetic energy recovery system providing a means of boosting acceleration and overall performance and economy independently of the vehicle’s internal combustion engine.
An ancillary flywheel is particularly suited to stop-start driving situations when real-world fuel economy is often at its worst. In these conditions, the variator can assist the launch of a vehicle which has slowed down or come to a standstill. In heavily congested traffic, where a car is frequently stopped and restarted, the system can help alleviate the heavy fuel consumption and emissions of greenhouse gasses normally associated with these conditions. However, unlike hybrid electric vehicles, a mechanical KERS system continues to provide the benefits of kinetic energy recovery throughout the speed range, and its benefits are maintained on the open road.
“This is a major plus point for a mechanically-based kinetic energy recovery system,” says Halley, “in which the variator can also handle energy flows a lot faster than an electric vehicle.”
“On a directly comparable basis, a flywheel system offers up to twice the efficiency of a kinetic energy recovery system that stores its energy in a battery,” adds Hilton. “The overall in-out efficiency of a mechanical drivetrain feeding energy into a flywheel and back out to the vehicle again via an ancillary transmission system is approximately 65-70 per cent compared with 35-45 per cent for a hybrid battery-electric system. Fundamentally, this is because a purely mechanical system doesn’t have to convert the kinetic energy into electrical and chemical energy as with a battery system.”
“What this means is that with a flywheel each time the brakes are applied at least 65 per cent of the energy is available to re-accelerate the vehicle,” explains Hilton, “whereas the best that can be achieved with existing battery technology is 45 per cent.”
Flybrid has filed various technical patents to tackle the key engineering issues of safety and noise. The flywheel is made from high-strength steel and composite material and has been designed with a high factor of safety in which the maximum stresses are significantly less than in the con-rod of a conventional internal combustion engine.
“The flywheel also runs in a vacuum which is a natural barrier to noise,” says Hilton. “For optimum refinement in a road car the engineering effort would be focussed on the transmission system and bearings - which provides the only noise path - it’s exactly the same test and development process in other words as for a normal powertrain.”
Halley and Hilton will join other influential figures from the automotive and motorsport industries attending the Global Motorsports Congress being held in Cologne on 5-6 November 2007 - where the hot topic of conversation is expected to be the future eco-friendliness of motorsport and the ‘green revolution’ in ʽ envisaged by FIA president Max Mosley. This leading global industry event takes place the same week and in the same location as the Professional MotorSport World Expo, where Xtrac will be exhibiting a wide range of transmission systems alongside other leading motorsport manufacturers.
Later this year Chris Brockbank business development manager Torotrak will present a paper describing the sophisticated variator traction drive technology, which is a key part of the mechanical KERS system, at the CTi Transmission Symposium on 4/5 Dec 2007 in Berlin.
Adrian Moore, technical director, Xtrac, will similarly present a technical paper describing the technology behind the KERS system at the World Motorsport Symposium, which takes place on 29/30 November at Oxford Brooks University’s brand new engineering centre. He joins other senior engineers who will be bringing their particular expertise to bear on subjects that are of special relevance to the growing demand that motorsport technologies should be of more relevance to the road car of tomorrow.
Moore will also discuss the mechanical KERS system with mainstream automotive engineers and technical experts attending the Global Powertrain Congress being held in Vaals in the Netherlands in June 2008.
 
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.
Original post by Xavier Navarro
The African Union (AU)/UN hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID), which is set to replace the AU’s African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) has inaugurated its operational base in the town of El Fasher.
Original post by george_douglas@nrel.gov (George Douglas)
Source: IRIN The African Union (AU)/UN hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID), which is set to replace the AU’s African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) has inaugurated its operational base in the town of El Fasher.
Original post by george_douglas@nrel.gov (George Douglas)
Two Mode Hybrid Transmission Rolls Off GM Assembly Line
http://www.calstart.org/dailynewsnotes/daily_nns_detail.php?id=9218
Breakthrough International Carbon Action Partnership Launches
http://www.calstart.org/dailynewsnotes/daily_nns_detail.php?id=9216
Toyota to Build Hybrid Station Wagon, Five Door Sedan
http://www.calstart.org/dailynewsnotes/daily_nns_detail.php?id=9219
China rationing diesel amid shortages
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/…ap4278032.html
Heres the text from the articles:
Today’s News
2007-10-30 ::: Electric Car Start-up Gets $200 Million
Silicon Valley, CA, October 29, 2007 - Shai Agassi, former chief at SAP software, recently secured $200 million to launch Better Place, a start-up that aims to reinvent the electric automobile industry, reports Business Week. So-called "Smart Grid" technology is at the center of the plan to sell or lease electric cars that use company owned recharging stations to "refuel" their vehicles using software also developed by the company. The cars on the drawing board use existing technology and will have a range of 100 miles before recharge. In a video on the company’s web site, Agassi acknowledges the missteps of other electric car ventures, and uses a telecommunications analogy to differentiate his plans from the failures of the past. "What most companies in the past have not realized is you don’t start building the handset and start hoping somebody will build the network. You start by building the network and then the handsets can actually become practical," Agassi said. He claims that by focusing on the infrastructure at the onset, "we don’t need to wait for the magical 400 mile battery." Watch the video "The Case for the Electric Car" here.
2007-10-30 ::: Two Mode Hybrid Transmission Rolls Off GM Assembly Line
White Marsh, MD, October 30, 2007 - Today marked the launch of General Motor’s first two mode hybrid powertrain at an assembly plant near Baltimore, reports Automotive News. Automotive News says that ‘GM’s Two Mode hybrids can go as fast as 32 miles per hour using just electricity. At higher speeds, they use either all gasoline power or a combination of gasoline and electric propulsion.’ The company expects to use the two mode technology in other upcoming models including the Cadillac Escalade and the Dodge Durango. Fuel economy for both the Tahoe and Yukon is expected to be 21 mpg city and 22 mpg highway. The Two Mode hybrid transmission r esulted from part of a partnership between GM, BMW and the former DaimlerChrysler. Customers should be able to buy the SUVs in 2008. Pricing for the Yukon and Tahoe will be announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.
2007-10-30 ::: Breakthrough International Carbon Action Partnership Launches
Lisbon, Portugal, October 29, 2007 - A coalition of world governments launched International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) today, a cap-and-trade treaty to fight global warming, without the United States federal government on board, according to the Daily Grist. In the United States, some governors, including Jon Corzine (D-NY) of New Jersey and Eliot Spitzer (D-NY), signed on to the agreement, but representatives from the US federal government were not included in the negotiations. According to a release from ICAP, solutions proffered by the new group include: monitoring, reporting and verifying emissions and working to determine reliable sources appropriate for inclusion in a globally linked program; creating a clear price incentive to innovate, develop and use clean technologies encouraging private investors to chose low-carbon projects and technologies, generating the flow of money needed to support a shift to a low-carbon future and providing flexible compliance mechanisms that ensure reliable reductions at the fastest pace and lowest cost. New Jersey Governor, Eliot Spitzer, said, "Global warming is the most significant environmental problem of our generation, and by establishing an international partnership, we are taking the vital steps to address this growing concern. In the absence of federal leadership, New York is implementing a greenhouse gas emissions trading program that will ac hieve a 16 percent reduction in power plant emissions by 2019…". Watch ICAP’s webcast launch event here. To see a list of members, click here.
2007-10-30 ::: Toyota to Build Hybrid Station Wagon, Five Door Sedan
Tokyo, Japan, October 29, 2007 - Toyota Motor Co. wants to build a hybrid station wagon and a five-door sedan for its next generation of Priuses, reports Automotive News Europe. This announcement on the heels of a decision to "unify the design" of the Prius models in order to overcome the brand confusion for the company’s other products such as the hybrid Camry, according to Automotive News. In ad dition to adding a wagon and a five-door sedan to its line-up, future versions of the current Prius will be bigger. Toyota Europe’s Thierry Dombreval said he expects that Prius sales in Europe will be 37,000 to 38,000 units this year. "We are on track to sell 100,000 hybrid models in Europe in 2010," Dombreval said. Overall, Prius sales are up 44 percent this year over last according to JATO Dynamics, which tracks and disseminates automotive intelligence.
Original post by Qslugs
NAIROBI, 31 October 2007 (IRIN) - The African Union (AU)/UN hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID), which is set to replace the AU’s African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) has inaugurated its operational base in the town of El Fasher.
Original post by george_douglas@nrel.gov (George Douglas)
Filed under: Biodiesel, Emerging Technologies, Hydrogen, Green Daily
Craig Venter, famous for running a parallel, commercial version of the Human Genome Project, was on the Colbert Report last night promoting his book A Life Decoded: My Genome, My Life. In the interview, Craig said we have digitized biology, including the human genome and can make DNA that may make lifeforms to provide new ways of making energy. You can code genes that make hydrogen from sun light or different types of gasolines and octanes right from sugar said Craig.
Colbert asked if this takes off, will it make him so rich he would make Bill Gates look like Warren Buffett? Craig said there has to be a commercial solution to break our dependence on oil but we need a 1,000 different solutions. Your future home may have a biological fuel cell vat that produces your gas from your food waste said Craig. The biggest issues of three big issues (the others are energy and food) is the lack of fresh water according to Craig. Anyone else find it shocking such a good interview was done by a fake, comedy news show?
[Source: Comedy Central]
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.
Original post by Lascelles Linton
WHITE MARSH, Md. - General Motors Corp. started production Monday of its two-mode gas-electric hybrid transmission systems that will debut in the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid sport utility vehicles.
Original post by george_douglas@nrel.gov (George Douglas)
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