Sensible Hybrid and GM -- not an oxymoron

GM's CHEVY Volt

IS being shown at the detroit auto show, and is promised to be a production car. The availability has not been worked out, due to the need to select the supplier for it's lithium ion batteries.

The Volt looks like a very pragmatic compromise. Depending on your commute length, the Volt is either a Electric Vehicle or a Hybrid Vehicle.

The Volt is expected to have a range of about 40 miles running on batteries. As the batteries start to get low, a 71 HP turbo charged engine automatically starts and recharges the batteries. Driving range on a tank of gas is 640 Miles. I commute roughly 60 miles round trip which would yield a 150 MPG equivalent fuel efficiency. Maybe a sunny spot and an electric solar panel could trickle charge the car during the day to improve that further.

But for most people their daily driving would be covered by the 40 mile range of the batteries and they would only see gas stations on trips.

The base vehicle is all electric, there is no mechanical connection between the engine and the drive train.

Another plus is that engine works on any combination of ethanol and gasoline, keeping future fuel options open.

I didn't expect to ever say this, but my next car may be a GM Hybrid... If they get it to market.

Tags: Alternative Energy, Auto

Electric Powered Dragsters

Electric powered vehicles are starting to make a dent in the lower and mid tiers of racing.

This article mentions a motorcycle powered by lithium ion batteries with a 0-60 time of 1 second.

The technology is feasible now, so here's hoping that by the time I need my next car in a few years, there will be a true plug in Electric or dual fuel that supports plug-in electric car available.

Tags: Alternative Energy, Auto

Google Does Philanthropy Right

Google's latest philanthropic efforts are impressive to my eyes.

Google is attempting taking actual direct, steps to attempt to jump start plug-in hybrid cars, and is applying some of the creative genius that they company is famous for, not just throwing money at existing charities.

First, Google installed Solar Panels on the roofs of all of it's campus buildings. The panels will generate roughly 1/3rd of Google's total power needs. This is a normal sort of step and although commendable, it's pretty pedestrian for a company trying to either look or be green.

Google.org's (the philanthropic arm of Google) latest program is aimed at promoting plug-in Hybrid cars. Plug-in hybrids differ from normal hybrid's in that they can charge the batteries directly from a wall socket power source instead of charging only from the gas half of the hybrid engine. While a normal hybrid can get very good mileage, it still requires gasoline for every mile that it is driven.

A plug-in hybrid can satisfy all normal driving without burning any gasoline. The gas part of the engine is only needed for extended trips.

Normal Hybrids are more aimed at allowing car companies to meet federal miles per gallon regulations than they are at solving the global energy problems. Don't get me wrong, hybrids are practical and make a very positive contribution to the broader energy problems.

Plug-in Hybrids are a much more direct attack on the energy problem. They not only increase the average miles per gallon, but they can eliminate the gallons completely from the equation for normal driving patterns.

And Google's additional twist is that the plug in hybrid cars can act as batteries for the electrical power network, allowing excess electrical energy to be stored and reused rather than discarded. The power network currently does not have an effective mechanism to store power for peak needs so it has to over generate.

Millons of Plug In Hybrid cars could store energy in their batteries during off peak times, and feed some of that energy back into the power grid at peak times.

I don't have any clue if enough energy could be stored in cars to really effect power distribution. But, I give Google kudos for attacking the energy problem with a combination of pragmatism and innovation.

Corporate philanthropy for our leading Corporate innovators should be about more than throwing money at existing charity organizations. They should employ some of their most valuable assets (their creativity) not just their money.

Tags: Alternative Energy, Auto

Really Cool All Electric Roadster from Tesla Motors

I read about this car in PC Magazine's digitial subscription and then went to their site. This is definitely one cool car: all electric-. 0-60 in 4 seconds. 250 Miles per charge, 1 penny per mile of operating costs...

Tags: automobile, electric

Interesting article on current Bio Diesel cars

These cars are not available in America, but they are a far cry from the common image of the smelly, hard to start diesel cars of the 1970's.

One key piece of info in the articles is that bio-diesel production costs are based on Soybean crops, whereas rapeseed and mustard seed are 3X as efficient. Starting a real bio-diesel farming economy in the US would be a worthwhile place for the government to move some of those mis-placed farm subsidies. I for one would much rather have the bulk of my energy costs going to farmers rather than where they are going now.

Tags: biodiesel, automobile