Toyota’s recognition that PHEVs’ time has come

Email from CalCars http://www.calcars.org/

Here’s CalCars’ comment: “We applaud Toyota’s recognition that PHEVs’
time has come. The technology is good enough to get started and the
solution offers a good business case. We hope as this hybrid pioneer
watches large and small competitors start selling PHEVs a year
earlier, it will accelerate its timetable and raise production levels.”

(Shortly after it goes out on email, this posting will also be
viewable at http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html — there you can
add CalCars-News to your RSS feed.)

THE PRIUS’S TIMELINES TO TODAY: It’s taken a long time. Toyota
introduced the Prius as the first-mass-production hybrid in Japan in
1997. It went global in 2001; the second-generation vehicle arrived
in 2004, the third in 2009, and over two million have been sold.
Meanwhile CalCars did the first Prius conversion in 2004, sparking
the growth of an aftermarket industry. Since 2006, a thousand plug-in
Prius conversions showing what was possible helped build awareness
and support for PHEVs, and the company’s public comments evolved from
dismissive to open-minded (see
http://www.calcars.org/carmakers.html#toyotaquotes ).

Toyota showed its first PHEV prototype in 2007. Until this week, the
company had announced plans only for fleet leases of 600
demonstration/test units in Japan, the U.S., and Europe, with
consumer sales only a possibility. Now it will start selling them in
2011, with tens of thousands in showrooms in 2012 at a “affordable”
price tag. Reporters say Toyota has concluded that PHEVs “will become
the market mainstream.”
http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20091208-184656.html

NFORMATION SOURCES: Toyota has a new website with basic explanations
and specifications at http://www.priusphv.com . And see the
illuminating 20-slide presentation by Toyota Chief Engineer Yoshikazu
Tanaka
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/environment/conference09/pdf/phv_overview_en.pdf
. At http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/12/tmc-phv-20091214.html
read Green Car Congress’s summary and postings. Following are our
comments based on announced specifications.

BUSINESS DETAILS: Tanaka’s presentation projects “full-scale
commercialization in two years, on the order of several ten
thousands, with widely affordable pricing.” Toyota EVP Uchiyamada
indicates (below) that the vehicle could sell for under $33,770. With
U.S. Recovery Act tax credits of up to $7,500 for the first 200,000
plug-in vehicle from each manufacturer based on battery capacity; the
PHV’s 5.2 kWh battery pack, from its joint venture Panasonic EV
Energy, makes it eligible for about $2,500.

If prices hold, we’ve been on the right track in saying Toyota might
sell a plug-in Prius for little more than $3,000 over a non-PHEV
model. A 3.4 useful-kWh pack at $1,000/useful-kWh would cost $3,400.
The $1,000 saved by eliminating the NiMH battery could offset a
similar cost for a charger and a beefed-up DC:DC converter. As those
battery prices decline with the credits, PHEVs could approach the
cost of standard hybrids.

Operating costs for a 30km trip compared to gasoline vehicle, based
on Japanese petroleum and electric rates, are 58% better when
charging at peak times and 77% better off-peak.

TECHNICAL DETAILS: Comparing the vehicle with the 2010 Prius on which
it’s based (specs at http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/specs.html ),
its weight (3,284 pounds/1,490 kg) increases by 242 pounds/110 kg.
The engine and motor appear identical, and modified electronics will
allow more power from the electric motor.

The PHV uses over 60% of the its 5.2kWh lithium-ion battery pack’s
capacity to get 23.4 km/14.5 miles all-electric driving at speeds up
to 100 km/62 miles/hour. (For Japanese drivers traveling shorter
distances, the 20 km “sweet spot” covers 53.7% of daily driving and
51.2% of weekend driving.) Recharging is 180 minutes at 110-120
volts, 100 minutes at 220 — offering good opportunities to double
the vehicle’s effective range for those who can charge mid-day at work.

Petroleum and greenhouse gas reductions depend on multiple
assumptions — we can simply say that using the new JC08 driving
cycle yields over 100 MPG of gasoline. See
http://green.autoblog.com/2009/12/15/what-does-the-prius-phev-mileage-really-mean-on-the-jc08-cycle/
for a discussion of the PHV’s fuel efficiency under different
conditions; this discussion leaves out consideration of the
difference between CAFE and sticker numbers.

FEATURES: The vehicle’s new screens’ full integration with the
navigation system and information about the battery will give drivers
feedback about optimizing fuel economy. The car can be cooled in
advance while still plugged in for comfort and fuel efficiency.

 

Local-food activist makes the farm-bike-sailboat connection

by Elly Blue, BikePortland

Jan Lundberg moved to Portland a year ago because it seemed like the best place to pursue his intersecting passions for food security, peak oil, bicycles, and sailing.

These passions will be coming to fruition later this month when the oil analyst’s brainchild, the Sail Transport Network, will launch into its first major, ongoing local venture. Lundberg is finalizing plans to deliver malted grain from Vancouver, Washington to a brewery further down the Columbia River by a combination of cargo bike and sailboat.

The next phase in the project will be to use the same bike-boat combination to deliver the finished product — bottles and kegs of beer — to Portland markets. (Lundberg asked that we not name the brewery until the plan is finalized.)

Part of the farm-bike-boat delivery team at last year’s Village Building Convergence on the dock at OMSI.

Lundberg intends this partnership to be the seed of a radical change in the way we transport — and think about — food.

“Just taking care of a brewery and being able to distribute some beer is not really food security,” he told us over the phone. “But what you can do is add on to this existing system with more farms, more bike carts, more sailboats, and more CSA subscribers — and that’s the way it grows.”……………

Full story at http://www.energybulletin.net/node/50938

 

Dutch cabinet okays tax based on miles driven by motorists

16 Nov 2009: Dutch Cabinet Okays Tax
Based on Miles Driven by Motorists

In an effort to reduce automobile usage and greenhouse gas emissions, the Dutch cabinet has approved a driving tax that would charge motorists seven cents a mile. The plan, which must still be approved by parliament, would use GPS systems installed in each car to keep track of mileage and automatically bill drivers. The mileage charges would be higher at rush hour, for large cars, and for commercial vehicles. Dutch officials said the driving tax, which would replace existing road taxes and duties on new car purchases, is designed to cut traffic by 15 percent and reduce emissions from transport by 10 percent. Other European nations are considering similar driving taxes, and a driving tax experiment was recently tried in Oregon in the United States. The chances of a tax comparable to the Dutch tax being levied in the U.S. are slim, however, as that would more than triple the $260 a year that the average U.S. driver now pays in state and federal gasoline taxes.

http://e360.yale.edu/content/digest.msp?id=2147&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+(Yale+Environment+360)&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

 

Bus and train firms combine to reduce the resource intensity of mobility

Bus and train firms combine in Pendle, UK transport revolution

Published Date: 31 March 2009

A REVOLUTIONARY public transport ticket scheme has been launched in Pendle today.

Bus operator Transdev and Northern Rail have combined to introduce the Pendle Connect, which will allow people to travel to Accrington, Blackburn or Preston with a single transferrable ticket bought from the bus driver.

Another new service, the East Lancashire Day Ranger, allows travel on trains between Colne and Preston and the lines from Blackburn to Clitheroe and Bolton for just £10, including the bus link to railway stations.

Transdev’s Commercial Director David Wilson said: “There are so many attractive tourist destinations within our own area it seems a waste to travel further afield when there’s so much on our own doorstep.

“We’ve worked with Northern Rail to develop a really attractive package that allows people to use any train and any of our buses over a large area of East Lancashire for just £10.

“Having a good day out without the worry of parking and cost of petrol has never been easier. If we can encourage more people to explore our area the more our local business and attractions will benefit and people can have a really good day out too!”

Matt Beeton, Area Director, Northern Rail said: “Day Rangers are proving increasingly popular with passengers looking to make the most of a day out in the north of England.

“Our partnership with Transdev and the East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership offers greater travel opportunities across East Lancashire at a real value for money price.”

Richard Watts, from the East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership, said “We fully support the East Lancashire Day Ranger and Pendle Connect bus and rail tickets. It is hoped that by providing a combined ticket many more people will be tempted to try the bus and train again and take days out in East Lancashire.

“These tickets have only been possible with the full support of Transdev and Northern Rail and with funding from the Community Rail Development Fund.”

full story at http://www.pendletoday.co.uk/nelsonnews/Bus-and-train-firms-combine.5125080.jp

see also http://www.pendle.net/

 

V2G: Vehicle to Grid Power

AC Propulsion Provides Power for 500 New Electric Vehicles

San Dimas, CA – Nov. 19, 2008 – AC Propulsion supplies the electric propulsion and battery technology for the MINI E electric vehicle introduced today at the LA Auto Show by BMW Group. AC Propulsion has delivered more than 500 drive systems to the BMW Group factory in Munich for MINI E production.

“Working with BMW Group on the MINI E project has been a great opportunity,” said AC Propulsion CEO Tom Gage, “The schedule was tight and required a lot of discipline and coordination. We really pushed our manufacturing operation to meet the production schedule. I drove one of the cars in Munich and our drive system delivers the power, I couldn’t stop smiling. We’ve had cars with our drive systems on the road since 1992, and some have well over 100,000 miles on them, so we’ve seen our systems handle the rigors of daily use. This is a big step for electric vehicles.”

Download a high resolution version of this photo here.

The MINI E uses a specially-developed version of AC Propulsion’s proprietary tzero™ technology to provide high performance, high efficiency, and fast charging. AC Propulsion’s air-cooled copper-rotor induction motor produces maximum torque from zero to 5,000 rpm and spins all the way up to 13,000 rpm. The IGBT inverter drives the motor to produce peak power of 150 kW. Even with this high power rating, the AC Propulsion drive system operates with high efficiency in normal driving. Powerful regenerative braking adds to the efficiency and driving appeal. When the car decelerates, the kinetic energy of motion is converted back to electrical energy in the battery………………….

………………………………………..The charger can discharge the battery as well as charge it. In effect, the charger can serve as a regulated power source with many possible applications including, battery pack self-diagnosis, back-up power, car-to-car charging, and, perhaps most importantly in the future, providing ancillary services to the power grid. Engineers have a term for this – vehicle-to-grid or V2G – and it promises to make smart grids of the future more efficient in providing electric power for cars as well as buildings.

V2G does not discharge the battery, so the car is always available for driving. But with each vehicle sourcing or sinking small amounts of power while plugged in, a fleet of V2G-capable vehicles can buffer natural variations in supply and demand on the grid, and even allow for higher utilization of solar and wind power.

AC Propulsion is working with V2G research and development programs throughout the US to supply V2G-capable vehicles, evaluate V2G functionality, and develop the communications and control systems that will necessary to enable electric vehicles to support the power grid.

Full details at http://www.acpropulsion.com/company/press-releases.php

see also

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle-to-grid

http://www.udel.edu/V2G/

http://www.move.rmi.org/move-news/the-smart-garage–v2g—-guiding-the-next-big-energy-solution.html

 

Spanish cities to get electric car infrastructure

 

Spain’s Seville, Madrid, Barcelona To Get Electric Car Infrastructure This Year

Simple electric charging post, this on in London, via Alan Trotter @ flickr.

The pretty southern Spanish town of Seville has been chosen along with the capital Madrid and the northern hub Barcelona to implement the Movele pilot electric car infrastructure project proposed by the Spanish Ministry of Industry. The cities’ energy authority will this year begin putting in place the recharging stations for an eventual fleet of 500 cars expected to be purchased partially by private owners and partially by the state (subsidized in both cases up to by 30% state funds). What’s incredible (in the sense of being a bit hard to believe) is that the infrastructure of 75 charging stations in Sevilla alone is expected to be completed this year. Que será, será indeed! ……………………..

Full story at http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/seville-to-get-electric-infrastructure-this-year.php

 

‘Let Them Fail’, the resource intensity of mobility, and society

 The article below brings out the reality we now face, that we have to look at our problems and future holistically.

We have to think about solutions at a ’systems level’ and base our decisions on our fundamental need in a resource constained environment.

Which is, that we have to continually reduce the ‘resource intensity of society’, and in the case of the industries that provide ‘mobility’, how we mangae change to continually reduce the ‘resource intensity of that mobility’.

dd

 Let Them Fail

…………………Take Chrysler, for example. Since the breakup of its transatlantic marriage to Daimler, the company has lacked both the infrastructure and the ability to design new cars for today’s market. Addressing that fatal flaw will ultimately cost many more billions in taxpayer assistance than what the company requested.

Why on earth should taxpayers be responsible for stringing Chrysler along just so that it can eventually partner up with Fiat (in yet another dubious transatlantic marriage) to produce American-made copycat versions of fuel efficient cars that Europe and Asia have been churning out successfully for decades? Who benefits from that arrangement?

If Congress refuses to give them another bailout, G.M. and Chrysler will almost surely shut down nearly all of their plants and lay off tens of thousands of workers. When that happens, the taxpayer resources that would have gone to propping up these two “zombie companies” should instead be used to transition their profusion of industrial capacity from the business of producing unwanted cars to producing desperately needed solar panels, wind turbines, biomass generators and advanced batteries. ………………

Beyond the obvious imperative to jump-start these industries in order to forestall the worst effects of climate change, there’s a substantial amount of unmet demand for these products in the marketplace. Here in California, the electric utilities are likely to fall well short of their state-mandated renewable portfolio standards next year, not for lack of trying but for simple lack of supply resources…………..

by

Jim Stack, who is a resource planner at the City of Palo Alto’s municipal electric utility, where he works on renewable energy procurement in an effort to meet the City’s self-imposed RPS mandate of 30% by 2012 and 33% by 2015. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and a Master’s in public policy, both from U.C. Berkeley.

Full article at

 http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/03/let-them-fail?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-March18-2009

 

Freebates and the resource intensity of mobility

 This article from the RMI in 2004 is prescient and its tenets are now being applied successfully in Germany.

We need to create a system of Freebates, based on the difference in the CO2 emissions of the vehicle scrapped and the replacement vehicle and its remaining useful life.

There has been time for manufacturers of highly polluting vehicles to recognise that theirs has not been a viable business model for many years and so can only expect minimal government support.

dd

September 19, 2004 – Vol.9 No.26

NO OIL SOLUTION.

The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has published a plan for the U.S to rid itself of oil. Winning the Oil Endgame: Innovation for Profits, Jobs and Security is good, and it’s free (for a download copy.)

Oil Endgame, funded by the Pentagon, is a roadmap that the U.S. could follow that would save more oil by 2015 than it now gets from the Persian Gulf. Further, by 2025, the U.S. would use less oil than in 1970, by 2040 import no oil and by 2050 eliminate oil from the nation’s energy menu.

Endgame authors envision a mostly market-driven effort, with only some government assistance and law-making to get the program rolling. Once underway, profits and business opportunities, should keep the momentum………………………… 

……………How the Government could help start the process:

— Create revenue neutral incentives; freebates that would encourage the purchase of highly efficient vehicles. Combine a fee for the ownership of an inefficient vehicle with a rebate for the purchase of a super-efficient one.

— Create a scrap-and-replace program for low income people to bring money saving transportation to the poorest. New transportation opportunities would allow access to job opportunities now not accessible.

— Create loan guarantees for the auto industries that allow them to switch over to new fabrication techniques for high-tech composite materials.

— Let the Pentagon add its expertise in developing the new technologies. The Pentagon, as the largest single purchaser of fossil fuels in the world (all those aircraft, ships and wheeled vehicles), stands to benefit greatly from energy efficiency and independence.

For this market-based, profit-based approach to energy freedom to work it needs leadership not just money. The vehicle industry would need to be convinced that this has to be done. Consumers need to be convinced that they will not lose any of the safety or utility or choice of vehicles they now have if they convert to more efficient vehicles. But the first step will be to convince politicians of the importance of this issue – energy freedom, energy independence – for the future of the nation.

The 329-page report, executive summary and technical backup papers can be downloaded at http://www.oilendgame.org/ . A paperback version can also be purchased at the site.

From http://www.green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2004/20040196.html

See also

http://move.rmi.org/

http://www.triplepundit.com/

 

What Makes the New Prius Go?

 

By Bill Moore

EV World gets preview of the technology in the third generation Toyota Prius

Open Access Article Originally Published: March 02, 2009

Toyota estimates that 90% of current Prius owners will eventually trade-up to the next generation version of the world’s most popular hybrid. What they will be acquiring is the fruit of a massive engineering and styling exercise that has occupied four and a half years time and the best efforts of 2000 engineers, led by Chief Engineer Akihiko Otsuka.

Over dinner at the Bardessono hotel and spa in Yountville, California, Otsukasan explained to me that when he was appointed chief engineer, his mandate was to improve the performance of the new Prius by 75 percent, a demanding goal considering the high standards the generation two model set when it first appeared in 2003. …………………….

Full story at http://evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1652

 

A ‘better place’ to reduce reduce the resource intensity of mobility?

 

Progect Better Place

U.S.-Listed Companies Lead Israel’s Plug-in Charge

By Sam Hopkins
Thursday, February 26th, 2009

We may not be able to buy Project Better Place stock…

But a slew of publicly traded companies are playing an integral role in the world’s most ambitious electric vehicle plan.

In fact, corporate campuses and employee homes at 19 of Israel’s top companies will become testing grounds for advanced EV infrastructure.

And from these Middle Eastern hubs, multinational companies can spread and adapt their EV strategies around the world.

For instance, charging stations will be installed at the headquarters of Teva Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TEVA), the world’s top generic drug maker.

What’s key here is that Teva also has offices in Mexico, Singapore, Brazil, Kenya, and dozens of other countries. And in all of those places, Teva’s corporate strategy could mean spreading Better Place’s EV infrastructure.

In 2009, Project Better Place is being propagated through the business world with the same sort of seeding strategy that Better Place CEO Shai Agassi first took to governments from Israel to Australia to Hawaii.

Among the other U.S.-listed partners for Better Place in Israel are Partner Communications (NASDAQ:PTNR), Orbotech Ltd. (NASDAQ:ORBK) and the local divisions of Nike and employment services giant Manpower (NYSE:MAN).

 

At Barack Obama’s first press conference after the election, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm stood right next to the President-elect.

But Granholm didn’t sit with Big 3 company heads as they pleaded unimpressively for auto industry bailout money before Congress this month. She took a trip to the Middle East instead, to meet with software wiz and electric car visionary Shai Agassi.

full article at http://www.greenchipstocks.com/articles/project-better-place/355

see also http://www.betterplace.com/