The Truth About Cars » Alternative Energy

EV Mode Creates Crisis Mode For Engine Parts Makers

Paul Niedermeyer — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:21:46 +0000

For manufacturers of engine timing chains, main bearings or any of the hundreds of unique components for engines and transmissions, EVs like the Nissan Leaf pose an enormous threat. Decades of investment in the manufacturing technologies and IP are potentially rendered irrelevant if the switch to battery-powered EVs progresses at the rate that its optimists [...]

Project Better Place Buys 100k Renaults

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:46:20 +0000

Better Place founder Shai Agassi brags that his firm’s purchase of 100,000 Electric Renault Meganes is the first such mega-buy since the Ford Model T. Better Place’s cell phone-inspired battery leasing infrastructure hits Israel and Denmark next year, and Agassi insists that “real customers will be driving real cars” by the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show.

Tazzari Zero: Can an Urban EV Be Sexy?

Martin Schwoerer — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:08:06 +0000

Even frugal cars need to be desirable. Most electric vehicles are anything but. Right now, EVs are slow, ugly, cheap, and not good to drive. In contrast, the Tazzari Zero from Imola, Italy, wants to be a “wanna have”: great to drive, good to sit in and easy on the eyes. Here’s the data: cast-aluminum, [...]

China’s E-Cars: Big Plans, Big Hassle

Bertel Schmitt — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:24:30 +0000

China has become the biggest producer, consumer and exporter of electric vehicles in the world. But China’s people are facing huge problems buying and driving them. According China’s People’s Daily (via Gasgoo), the number of electric bicycles and electric motors has reached about 50 million, which accounts for 90 percent of the world’s total. By 2011, [...]

Riversimple: Leave It To A Piëch . . .

Martin Schwoerer — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:38:34 +0000

Hydrogen-fueled propulsion has been the Next Big Thing since the 1970s. Recently, it has also been assigned to the past, at least by US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who said, “We’re going to be moving away from hydrogen-fuel cells for vehicles.” Thus, hydrogen propulsion seems to be one of those things that are everywhere in [...]

Is CAFE Good for Detroit?

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:27:32 +0000

The Detroit News covers the report by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute (because TRI texts are behind a password lock). Authors Walter McManus and Ron Kleinbaum write, Story after story frames the issue of a struggling industry that will not survive tough fuel economy standards. However, there is substantial evidence that the domestic auto [...]

MINI E Charging Fiasco: 23 Hours for 150 Miles

Edward Niedermeyer — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:22:22 +0000

Let’s be clear: TTAC is not in the business of bashing EVs just for the hell of it; there are good reasons why battery-power is the gas foe’s great white hope. But this story is just too crazy. In BMW’s rush to launch its 450-unit MINI E test lease program, it has failed to secure [...]

Compressed Air Headed For America. Still.

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:51:33 +0000

No, we’re not anticipating more congressional hearings. The AP (Breitbart) reports that inappropriately named Zero Pollution Motors is trying to bring MDI’s compressed-air technology to America. Again. Still. There’s only one problem. “Air compressors are one of the least efficient machines to convert electricity to work,” says Harold Kung, professor of chemical and biological engineering [...]

Obama Cuts Hydrogen Research Funds

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:23:51 +0000

E85 Boondoggle of the Day: Resurrection

Edward Niedermeyer — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:34:28 +0000

President Obama gave the dying ethanol industry a huge shot in the arm Tuesday when he announced that over $780 million of stimulus money will be spent on biofuel “research and commercialization,” guided by an all-new Biofuels Interagency Working Group. Think of a giant, government-funded R&D/marketing department for the ethanol industry, and you’ll have some idea [...]

Fiat’s Gassy Secret

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:15:31 +0000

Ok, it’s not really a secret. But I sure wasn’t aware that the Italian automaker is “the biggest player in the market for natural gas engines,” selling 68k natural gas-powered rides last year and aiming for 120k unit sales this year. Thanks for the heads-up, NY Times! In yet more evidence of Fiat’s politically-savvy strategy, [...]

Ex-Tesla Spinmeister Darryl Siry: China Key To EV Success

Edward Niedermeyer — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:36:12 +0000

A post at the former Tesla PR chief’s personal blog recounts the debate inside Tesla over where to manufacturer the firm’s WhiteStar sedan. Siry describes grappling with the tradeoffs between a reasonable price and skeptical public perceptions of Chinese cars. “The part causing the most conflict,” writes Siry, “was that it was clear in the [...]

AT&T To Spend $565m To Update Its Fleet

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:44:34 +0000

Do we want to place bets on how soon Chrysler will shift its sales strategy back towards fleet sales? Unfortunately for Americas struggling automakers, $565M in low-profit sales probably isn’t enough to make much of a difference to anyone’s bottom line. Especially considering that the expenditure is set to take place over the next ten [...]

Making EVs Work The American Way

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:02:01 +0000

Nissan is determined to sell electric cars in the US beginning in 2012, but the problem of building a charging infrastructure continues to bedevil product planners. Charging stations must be plentiful, convenient, and most importantly EV owners must be willing to wait there at least half an hour to complete a fast-charge of their EV’s [...]

Europe Preparing Duties On US Biofuel

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:54:46 +0000

The New York Times reports that the European Union is drafting trade duties on imported American biofuels to protect its own $10b biofuel industry. Even though both the US and the EU subsidize biofuels, European producers complain that American producers benefit from production subsidies in the US and retail subsidies in Europe. The EU has [...]

VW and Opel: Just Say Yes to CNG

Martin Schwoerer — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:58:14 +0000

Efforts of folks like Willie Nelson notwithstanding, the alt-fuel scene used to be pretty uncool. Just picture guys who spend their evenings filtering used grease they get for free from french-fry factories, or travelling salesmen who’ll drive a detour of 20 miles to fill up with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). But the supply of pretty [...]

iWouldn’t

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:48:57 +0000

OK, so I linked to this in the post below, but it really deserves its own post. After all, few things define the times quite as poignantly as Chrysler’s peculiar brand of insanity. See, the problem with the psychology of recession is that it causes inordinate self-doubt among panicked executives and their long-suffering staffs. Which, [...]

Toyota Allegedly Developing Solar Car: A Case Of Too Much Sake?

Bertel Schmitt — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:07:08 +0000

It would be everybody’s dream come true: A car running on nothing else than sunshine. Well, not everybody’s dream maybe. In Saudi Arabia, they have a lot of sunshine, but it doesn’t fit in tankers. “Toyota Motor Corp. is secretly developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy in an effort to [...]

Hydrogen Industry Wants $1.17b Of Your Money (With More To Come)

Edward Niedermeyer — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:16:36 +0000

Oregon’s Races Towards EV Future

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:53:28 +0000

Oregon’s governor Ted Kulongoski is currently getting some flack in our comments section over his pay-per-mile road tax scheme. But this is not the only green-oriented plan Kulongoski is floating, having already confirmed that Nissan will provide EVs for the state fleet in 2010. Another controversial transportation proposal of Kulongoski’s is to replace the $1,500 [...]

Wild-Ass Rumor Of The Day: Mazda RX-9 Partially Hydrogenated?

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:02:07 +0000

Auto Motor und Sport hears that Mazda will debut a gas/hydrogen powertrain on its 2012 rotary-sportster, the RX-9. This got the German lads so excited they comissioned Mark Stehrenberg to sketch up this rendering of a potential next-gen RX. Keep in mind that all Stehrenberg had to go on was the Taiki showcar and news [...]

What The NSFW Is Wrong With This Country?

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:44:05 +0000

Is your faith in your country a little shaken by recent political and economic events? Man have you come to the wrong place. We’ve found a pair of stories today which seem to jointly encapsulate every negative stereotype and overly-broad criticism of America. And by God, they aren’t jokes either. First up, we have the [...]

America’s Assault On Battery Production Targets Taxpayers

John Horner — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:17:23 +0000

Fourteen US companies have ganged up on the taxpayer to demand $1 billion so they can get back into the battery game. Today’s Wall Street Journal tells the story of this “latest pitch from corporate America to inject federal dollars into a project”. Alliance participants point to the 1987 creation of Sematech as an example [...]

E85 Boondoggle Of The Day: Bioethanol Hits Rock Bottom

Edward Niedermeyer — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:05:57 +0000

A new study of alternative energy strategies by Stanford professor Mark Jacobsen [via Green Car Congress] ranks corn-based and biomass ethanol as among the worst alternatives to fossil fuels. According to the study, “the Tier 4 combinations (cellulosic- and corn-E85) were ranked lowest overall and with respect to climate, air pollution, land use, wildlife damage, [...]

First Official Honda Insight Image

Justin Berkowitz — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:23:27 +0000

This is the first official shot of Honda’s upcoming Prius-fighter. And if anyone can take on the Prius (which despite being down 50% in November compared to November 2007, still sold 8600 units), it’s Honda with this car. I say that because (1) Honda has genuine hybrid building experience with the Insight, and (2) unlike [...]