Fwd: [calcars-news] Digest Number 716
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Timothy Hitchcock
May 18, 2011, 1:27:59 PM5/18/11
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From: <calcar...@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wed, May 18, 2011 at 1:13 AM
Subject: [calcars-news] Digest Number 716
To: calcar...@yahoogroups.com
There are 3 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Plug-In Roundup #1: Vehicle News
From: Felix Kramer
2. Plug-In Roundup #2: Media & Marketing News
From: Felix Kramer
3. Plug-In Roundup #3: Policy Issues / ICE Conversions
From: Felix Kramer
Messages
________________________________________________________________________
1. Plug-In Roundup #1: Vehicle News
Posted by: "Felix Kramer" fkr...@calcars.org felixkramery
Date: Tue May 17, 2011 7:33 am ((PDT))
In this first in a series of extended posts this
week, we give you our digest of the more
newsworthy, thought-provoking, and perhaps
overlooked developments of the past month. We've
divided this post, focused on vehicles, into
sections: Chevy Volt/PHEVs from Toyota, Ford, Jaguar, and other vehicle news.
(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.)
WANT TO KNOW WHAT PLUG-INS ARE ARRIVING? Ward's
Auto surveys the plug-in vehicles heading to
market -- just ignore the bewilderingly
sensationalist headline, "'Spectacular Failures'
Await Electric Vehicle Industry."
http://wardsauto.com/ar/failures_electric_vehicle_110330
CHEVY VOLT & RELATED NEWS
VOLT & LEAF "TOP SAFETY PICKS:" Both new cars,
tested for the first time by the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety, join the 80
vehicles with the highest crash ratings
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/04/26/chevy-volt-nissan-leaf-earn-top-safety-picks-in-first-iihs-elec/
VOLT AND LEAF SALES FIGURES: See May and
cumulative numbers at
http://www.plugincars.com/nissan-leaf-sales-overtake-chevy-volt-april-107126.html
. (Critics who cite their still-small volumes as
proof already that they're market failures don't
understand that carmakers are ramping up against
long lists of eager customers.)
IBM'S ROLE IN VOLT DESIGN: IBM VP Meg Selfe tells
the software development story. An intriguing
pointer to future applications: each Volt has its
own unique IP address (online ID number).
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4215735/IBM-tells-story-behind-Chevy-Volt-design.
A longer video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjjASGV36mw&feature=related
CHEVY VOLT'S "MOUNTAIN MODE:" An informative
discussion by Nick Chambers about the
implications of GM's approach to reserving
additional battery power to drive up mountains at
full-speed. Plus diverse comments from the driver
community that's exploring this feature to
optimize electric use and for save some EV miles
for times when they're most handy. It includes
notes from both Felix Kramer and Ron Gremban.
http://www.plugincars.com/chevy-volts-mountain-mode-vastly-underrated-yields-new-driving-strategies-107176.html
.
MICHIGAN BATTERIES AND GREEN JOBS PLUS NEW ENGINE
FOR VOLT: LG Chem, which aims to gain a quarter
of the world's plug-in battery market by 2014, is
hiring 200 people for its Holland, MI plant,
reaching 400 in 2013. And the Volt's
off-the-shelf Austrian GM engine will be replaced
with a (presumably optimized) US-made engine in
mid-2012.
http://gm-volt.com/2011/04/15/lg-chem-opens-ochong-battery-plant-expects-major-market-share/
HIGH-PROFILE VOLT: Michigan Senator Carl Levin is
the first Member of Congress we've heard of to
get a Chevy Volt.
http://www.heritage.com/articles/2011/04/08/dexter_leader/news/doc4d9e05eff306f509719083.txt
PHEVS FROM TOYOTA, FORD, JAGUAR
TOYOTA DENIES HOPEFUL RUMORS: Here's the
chronicle of a new Toyota PR snafu -- but first
some background. On Earth Day, Toyota opened its
website to signups for a PHEV next spring. Though
it's taken a long time, we're delighted to
welcome Toyota to the party -- and we believe the
car, if priced well, could succeed well. Register
at
http://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/prius-plug-in/
. We were gratified when Plug In America's Marc
Geller noted the irony of Toyota calling it "the
prius everyone's been waiting for," and for his
musing on the claim that this is "The first-ever
plug-in Prius."
http://plugsandcars.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-ever-plug-in-prius-really.html
(When the 2004 Prius came out, CalCars saw that
Toyota could build a PHEV. Our conversions
showed what was possible, and helped build public
awareness and support for PHEVs -- in the face of
the years of dismissive comments from Toyota we
chronicled at http://www.calcars.org/carmakers.html .)
The most recent PR mishap echoes what followed
not long after, when media trumpeted reports that
Toyota would shift entirely to hybrids.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/automobiles/14toyota.html
. Toyota issued a denial, explaining its plans to
offer a hybrid VERSION of every car they made.
(Many were disappointed, and we're still waiting
for hybrids in some Toyota models…) Fast forward
to May 2011, when Japan's leading financial
newspaper reported that the entire Prius line
would become PHEVs. Alas, the company said it
wasn't true, as reported by Zach McDonald.
http://www.plugincars.com/toyota-denies-reports-all-priuses-will-be-plug-107158.html
. Then Toyota went beyond a neutral denial to
comments reminiscent of its old put-downs. Sharon
Silke Carty (formerly at AP and USA Today and now
at AOL Autos), reports them saying, The added
benefits are too small to justify the extras. "We
see this market as being a small percentage of
our hybrid market," says John Hanson, a spokesman
for Toyota. "We don't see it as a car for
everybody."
http://autos.aol.com/article/toyota-wont-make-plug-ins-standard-on-prius/
. Jim Motavalli's report at BNET said
"Officially, Toyota said that's bunk -- but it
shouldn't be." He went on to describe how it
would be a smart, forward-looking strategy.
http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-cars/all-priuses-should-be-plug-in-hybrids-by-2014-8212-no-matter-what-toyota-says-now/4171
GOOGLE & FORD TEAM UP FOR "SMART" PHEVS: At its
I/O conference, Google described its project with
Ford to use its "Prediction API (Application
Programming Interface) to enable cars to
understand driving patterns and thereby optimize
the vehicle's performance. In our comment at
http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=25777 , we
explore some possible benefits. (Where will we
see these innovations? We're also still waiting
to hear details of Ford's PHEV production plans.)
Reports and screenshots at
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20061837-48.html
and
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/ford-supplements-analytics-with-google-predictive-api-ev-optimization-on-deck/16239
(In a related development, Toyota has announced
it will partner with Microsoft for its
"cloud-based" next-generation telematics services
and programs connecting vehicles, people, and
buildings.)
http://pressroom.toyota.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2961&view_id=35924
JAGUAR'S HOT PHEV: Jaguar plans to build 250
million-dollar C-X75 PHEV supercars using new
Formula 1 technology. It gets a very respectable
99 grams/km of CO2. Will some viewing the
three-minute video conclude this car is worth
paying ten times the cost of the Fisker Karma for a PHEV sportscar?
Jim Motavalli asked for our comment before we'd
seen the video (which promises "technology
migration"). He reported, There probably wouldn't
be any plug-in hybrids were it not for the
tireless advocacy of Felix Kramer of CalCars.org.
He welcomes the new Jaguar to the family.
"Automakers that choose electric motors to boost
performance are also shifting away from fossil
fuels and helping to reduce costs for
transportation electrification," he said. "So
they get the world's thanks for being
"incidentally green."
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/blogs/jaguars-hot-hybrid-super-performance-with-a-green-gloss
OTHER VEHICLE NEWS
EVS AS POST-TSUNAMI RESCUE VEHICLES: An amazing
and little-noticed story: when local gas pumps
lost electricity, Mitsubishi and Nissan EVs were
still able to travel around Japan's hard-hit
northern regions. (Reminds us of Hurricane Rita
in 2005: with cars fleeing the coast creeping
along in massive traffic jams, the hybrids didn't
run out of gas. Could this be a preview of
plug-in cars' roles at times of future
disruptions? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/automobiles/08JAPAN.html
ELECTRIC CAR FIRE WHODUNIT: When engineers,
hobbyists and companies began converting Priuses,
advocates and automakers worried a fire could set
back the entire industry. There were a few sad
episodes (including Neil Young's high-profile
Linc-Volt), but the cars and the batteries were
exonerated. Recently a fire in Connecticut took
out a Chevy Volt and 15-year-old converted Suzuki
SUV. The investigation continues, but all the
damage to the Volt came from outside, and given
GM's intensive focus on safe design, it looks
like the Volt is off the hook. John Voelker
dissects the media coverage.
http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1058475_electric-car-fire-flaming-garage-shows-media-ignorance
To respond to any future incidents and put
anyhysteria in perspective, here's a bookmark:
the National Fire Protection Association's report
on vehicle fires mostly from liquid fuel tanks
after accidents (including cars, trucks and other
highway vehicles; boats and ships; railroad and
mass-transit vehicles; aircraft; and
agricultural, construction and yard vehicles).
Though the numbers of fires and deaths are
happily half of what they were in the 1980s, in
2009, they still totaled 190,500, with 265
civilian deaths, 1,455 civilian injuries and $1.1
billion in direct property damage.
http://www.nfpa.org/displayContent.asp?categoryID=953&itemID=29658
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkr...@calcars.org
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Messages in this topic (1)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Plug-In Roundup #2: Media & Marketing News
Posted by: "Felix Kramer" fkr...@calcars.org felixkramery
Date: Tue May 17, 2011 1:40 pm ((PDT))
Here's our second extended post, with reports on how plug-ins are
being received in the marketplace, the long-awaited sequel to "Who
Killed The Electric Car," reporters and analysts trying to figure out
how big plug-ins will be how soon, some frustrating examples of
misreporting, and a possible new way to respond.
(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.)
GM'S ROB PETERSON OUTLINES VOLT'S (AND INDUSTRY'S) MARKETING
CHALLENGES: GM-Volt's Jeff Cobb has posted a series summarizing GM
marketing spokesperson Rob Peterson's presentation at the Washington
Electric Drive Transportation Association DC conference in April. He
discussed the transition from "early adopters" to "fast followers."
http://gm-volt.com/2011/04/08/grassroots-growth-volt-dealerships-are-learning-how-to-usher-in-the-age-of-the-ev/.
He talked about the company's transparency policy and about building
strategic relationships with multiple constituencies, such as
utilities, plug-in advocates (including gracious call-outs to
"enthusiasts" Chelsea Sexton, Felix Kramer and GM-Volt.com), and the
broad advanced-tech auto industry:
http://gm-volt.com/2011/04/29/gms-rob-peterson-discusses-the-volt-teams-strategic-relationship-building/.
He focused on getting the word out about customers' experiences:
http://gm-volt.com/2011/05/04/gm%E2%80%99s-rob-peterson-customers-volt-stories-are-key-to-marketing-success/.
And he talked about managing expectations, both among plug-in
advocates and customers, especially as critics and detractors pile
on:
http://gm-volt.com/2011/05/09/gms-rob-peterson-talks-to-industry-peers-about-managing-expectations/
REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR: We can't wait to see the long-awaited
sequel to "Who Killed the Electric Car," which premiered on Earth Day
at NYC's Tribeca Film Festival. CalCars' top two priorities get a
direct boost from two of the film's four stories: for PHEVs, GM's
outspoken Bob Lutz, and for conversions, the flamboyant Greg
"Gadget" Abbott from http://www.leftcoastelectric.com inspires us by
turning almost any classic internal combustion vehicle into an EV.
(We hope the enthusiasm spills over to lower-cost and higher-volume
solutions.) And of course we also root for Carlos Ghosn's Leaf, and
Elon Musk's Teslas. The film is still on the festival circuit, but
you can help get it into a theater near you!
http://www.revengeoftheelectriccar.com
EPRI'S CONSUMER GUIDE: The Electric Power Research Institute has
published "Plugging In: A Consumer's Guide to the Electric Vehicle."
It's free and handy in eight pages. (For more detail, see Plug In
America's 64-pager, CHARGED UP & READY TO ROLL.")
http://my.epri.com/portal/server.pt?Abstract_id=000000000001023161
(Try again if URL doesn't work the first time.)
ANOTHER VOLT+LEAF HOUSEHOLD: Sacramento-area's George Parrott and his
wife started driving the Volt/Leaf combination shortly after Felix
Kramer.. Though journalists got some numbers wrong, the Consumer
Reports story and AP short video were positive.
http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2011/04/a-tale-of-two-evs-california-man-shows-how-chevrolet-volt-nissan-leaf-can-pay-off-1.html
TAKE CARE, CLEANTECH ANALYSTS: A mildly cautionary headline,
"Electric Car Boom Could Deliver a Surge in Grid Power," drew our
attention. But the story immediately escalated to "They're going to
be hell on the grid." Later the author implied we need to invent some
advanced technology to ensure that most charging is off-peak. (How
about a timer and time-of-use pricing?) Steve Lough of the Seattle
Electric Auto Association, Brian Wynne of the Electric Drive
Transportation Association, and we and others brought the issue back
to reality. Then Reuters picked up the story, but unfortunately
without our responses. Spawning a true whac-a-mole, the alarm
proliferated to over 8,000 sites.
http://gigaom.com/cleantech/electric-car-boom-could-deliver-a-surge-in-grid-power/
WHAT SURVEYS ABOUT PUBLIC INTEREST IN PLUG-INS TELL US: We're a big
fan of Jim Motavalli (and he often quotes us). Jim has been around
the block many times: he wrote "Forward Drive: The Race to Build
'Clean' Cars for the Future" back in 2000, when he was editor of E:
The Environmental Magazine. Now he writes for the NY Times, BNET,
Mother Nature Network, The Daily Green, PlugInCars.com, and others.
He'll have a new book, tentatively called "High Voltage: The Fast
Track to Plug In the Auto Industry," out in November. His recent
inquiry into why gas prices are the only commodity whose cost is
posted everywhere is memorable. He has great interviews about its
psychological impact.
http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-cars/why-do-gas-stations-post-their-outrageous-prices-because-well-they-always-have/4153
Now, in "Sure, Americans Want Electric Cars--But Only If They're
Magical," Jim wades through vastly different public survey responses.
He concludes that most Americans are confused about electric cars. In
an exchange worth reading, plug-in advocates Paul Scott and Mike Kane
differ with Jim effectively and eloquently. The exchanges are well
worth reading. We agree that tens of millions of car buyers "get" the
lifetime savings of plug-in cars and their global benefits. Yet even
stipulating that survey questions and results are misleading, and
that most buyers are motivated by emotion and not by payback, we also
agree with Motavalli's fundamental points: Uninformed potential
buyers want plug-ins with an up-front price cheaper than their
gas-guzzlers. In other words, they want to eat their cake and have it
too (the right version of that adage). This isn't surprising in a
nation where so many worship "truthiness," paying more attention to
wishes and myths than to science and facts.
http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-cars/sure-americans-want-electric-cars-8212-but-only-if-they-8217re-magical/4077
CHALLENGING J.D. POWER'S VIEWS:
http://www.autoobserver.com/2011/04/consumer-group-lambasts-jd-power-conclusions.html
The Consumer Federation of America has jumped on J.D. Power's
conclusion in its 2011 U.S. Green Automotive Study
http://www.jdpower.com/news/pressRelease.aspx?ID=2011039 that
consumer interest and sales of new plug-in vehicles will be low for
the next five years. Without even challenging the company's
methodology in surveying 4,000 potential buyers as well as gathering
info from other sources, the 300-group coalition says it draws
entirely different conclusions from the numbers.
http://www.autoobserver.com/2011/04/consumer-group-lambasts-jd-power-conclusions.html
. (Alas, neither CFA nor JDP, however, connected the dots to show no
matter what happens with new cars ales, plug-ins won't be a
meaningful percentage of ALL cars within even 15 years unless we also
convert millions of existing vehicles.)
ON WHETHER WE'LL GET A MILLION PLUG-INS BY 2015: The US Department of
Energy's latest projections say 1.2 million
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/04/15/doe-plug-in-vehicle-sales-to-total-1-2-million-in-u-s-by-2015/.
And another take, from John Voelker (IEEE and Green Car Reports):
http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/advanced-cars/one-million-plugin-cars-by-2015
MISSING INGREDIENT FOR PLUG-IN MARKET INFORMATION: Building on ideas
we've proposed in the past, we have a concept for a new company that
would analyze and deliver market intelligence and new ideas from
current and future plug-in drivers. A side benefit would be better
ways to combat misinformation. If you are (or know) an entrepreneur
with time and resources to work on this, look back at the earlier
(non-profit) concept http://www.calcars.org/calcars-news/1116.html
and send us a serious email with the subject line "Drivers-To-Drivers."
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkr...@calcars.org
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Messages in this topic (1)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Plug-In Roundup #3: Policy Issues / ICE Conversions
Posted by: "Felix Kramer" fkr...@calcars.org felixkramery
Date: Tue May 17, 2011 1:48 pm ((PDT))
In our third extended post, we cover issues about government funding,
benefits, tax policy, and materials shortages, and then we switch
gears to bring you the latest developments about prospects for
companies working to convert internal combustion engine vehicles
(ICEs) to PHEVs and EVs.
(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.)
POLICY
GERMANY AND CHINA COMMIT TO BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR PLUG-IN CARS.
Germany wants a million by 2020; China sees five million by then. See
stories at
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/05/11/germany-ready-to-spend-billions-of-euros-to-support-plug-in-ve/
and
http://www.detnews.com/article/20110509/AUTO01/105090354/1148/Asian-power-embraces-advanced-tech-vehicles
TOO EARLY TO PUT ROAD TAXES ON PLUG-IN CARS: Ignoring every existing
subsidy to ICE vehicles and failing to recognize we have a bigger
problem in fixing our infrastructure, legislators in Washington State
and elsewhere want taxes that will discourage nascent plug-ins. Op-ed
by plug-in advocates Steve Marshall and Dan Davids:
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110213/OPINION04/702139995/-1/OPINION
. News report:
http://news.opb.org/article/big-carmaker-opposes-road-tax-electric-cars/.
GM's position:
http://www.thefutureiselectric.com/2011/04/washington-legislature-pushing-for-tax-on-evs-incentive-on-gasoline/
LITHIUM & RARE EARTH METALS: Materials scarcity is a growing concern.
"Lithium: The Lightweight Champion" says there's plenty of that
mineral. The video comes from the TREM Center (Technology and Rare
Earth Minerals), part of the Institute for the Analysis of Global
Security, which earlier spun off Set America Free and in 2006 helped
CalCars bring PHEVs to Congress. We consider ourselves knowledgeable
about this topic; still, we learned a lot in eight minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TREMCenter#p/a/u/1/ZyJW3Zp6_qw And read
about a new electric motor from Remy (you may know the company as
Remy Delco) that uses no rare earth metals.
http://gm-volt.com/2011/05/02/remy-ev-motor-reduces-dependence-on-foreign-rare-earth-supplies/
BEST STRATEGY FOR ETHANOL: A comprehensive study in Science Magazine
shows that burning biomass in power plants to power plug-ins yields
80% more distance per unit of crop land (and half the CO2) than using
it as an engine fuel.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/advanced-cars/burning-biomass-to-charge-electric-vehicles-beats-fueling-cars-with-ethanol
NEW STUDY ON PLUG-IN VEHICLES AND GRID BALANCING: "Bucks for
balancing: can plug-in vehicles of the future extract cash--and
carbon--from the power grid?" Report discusses vehicle-to-grid, its
forerunner, vehicle-to-building, and related topics in this major
analysis by Ricardo and British-based international electrical
distributor National Grid.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/05/balancing-20110510.html
HYBRIDS, SERVICE JOBS & RESALE VALUES: Closer to home, San
Francisco's Luscious Garage tells the story of the company's expanded
night shift to service hundreds of hybrid taxis in San Francisco
http://lusciousgarage.com/blog/hybrid_taxi_repair/. Not that
non-taxi-hybrids need all that much service: in the wake of rising
gas prices and the post-Tsunami production interruption, both new and
used Priuses are now commanding a premium, which bodes well for
future plug-in car resale values:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/05/toyotas-prius-selling-above-sticker-price-at-some-dealers/1
.
FUEL CELL CARS RECEDE FURTHER: NPR reports frustration among
remaining hydrogen advocates as the market (and the US government)
respond to the reality that "battery cars are getting cheaper
faster."
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/19/135518929/automakers-try-to-sell-government-on-fuel-cell-cars
CONVERSIONS
CALSTART'S E-TRUCK TASK FORCE: The highly-regarded Calstart expands
its focus on medium-and-heavy duty truck electrification. We hope it
will increase its attention to retrofit strategies.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/04/ettf-20110429.html
ALTE'S NEW FLYER: In CalCars-News on April 7, we described ALTe's
partnership with industry leader Manheim to convert pickup trucks.
Shortly thereafter, the company brought its F-150 pickup to
Sacramento, where it introduced the opportunities of gas-guzzler
conversions. ALTe reports that "Nine state elected officials,
including Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom and Senate Pres. Pro Tempore
Darrell Steinberg dropped by. More than a dozen Department officials,
including Cal EPA Acting Secretary Linda Adams, dozens of
environmental lobbyists, EV entrepreneurs, legislative Chiefs of
Staff, and potential fleet customers" also showed up. The next day,
ALTe brought its show to Silicon Valley. See a team photo at
http://www.calcars.org/photos-groups.html and download ALTe's
brochure (including financial projections for fleet owners) at
http://www.calcars.org/altellc-brochure-april2011.pdf or from the
link at http://www.calcars.org/ice-conversions.html#ae
QUANTUM'S FORD F-150 PHEV: Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies has
jumped into the emerging gas-guzzler conversions world with a design
to convert the popular pickup truck to a 35-mile range plug-in
hybrid. The conversion is focused on fleet customers. Quantum is a
long-time systems integrator; the Irvine, CA company built PHEV
versions of the Ford Escape SUV in 2007.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/05/10/quantum-details-its-35-mile-electric-range-plug-in-hybrid-ford-f/
AMP DELIVERS FIRST CONVERTED SUV TO ICELAND COMPANY: AMP Electric
Vehicles of Ohio delivered an electric Mercedes-Benz ML 350 to
Northern Lights Energy, and says it's the first of 1,000 vehicles to
be converted, including Chevy Equinoxes and others, that could result
from a new contract.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/05/11/amp-delivers-first-all-electric-mercedes-benz-ml-350-to-nle/
MOTIV EXPLORES TRUCK/BUS RETROFITS: This Bay Area startup focused on
vehicle energy management has a $1.3M state grant to turn a luxury
Bauer shuttle bus into a 100-mile EV. Motiv plans to follow up with a
12-vehicle test fleet.
http://gigaom.com/cleantech/for-a-better-electric-truck-mix-match-battery-packs
US AGENCY MAKING CONVERSIONS EASIER: The Environmental Protection
Agency has updated its rules to encourage converting vehicles to
cleaner fuels. The new regulations that take vehicle age into account
are mostly driven by the strong forces promoting conversions from
gasoline to natural gas. (There's still no equivalent campaign for
large vehicle electrification retrofits.) Story and press release at
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/04/05/epa-streamlines-alt-fuel-conversions-with-amended-regulations/.
A California perspective on NG conversions :
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-autos-natural-gas-20110505,0,407082.story
And an update from the Wall Street Journal about the constituencies
and pitfalls for converting large trucks to natural gas (story
doesn't mention fracking or CO2): http://on.wsj.com/m4LFzw
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkr...@calcars.org
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Messages in this topic (1)
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From: <calcar...@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wed, May 18, 2011 at 1:13 AM
Subject: [calcars-news] Digest Number 716
To: calcar...@yahoogroups.com
There are 3 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Plug-In Roundup #1: Vehicle News
From: Felix Kramer
2. Plug-In Roundup #2: Media & Marketing News
From: Felix Kramer
3. Plug-In Roundup #3: Policy Issues / ICE Conversions
From: Felix Kramer
Messages
________________________________________________________________________
1. Plug-In Roundup #1: Vehicle News
Posted by: "Felix Kramer" fkr...@calcars.org felixkramery
Date: Tue May 17, 2011 7:33 am ((PDT))
In this first in a series of extended posts this
week, we give you our digest of the more
newsworthy, thought-provoking, and perhaps
overlooked developments of the past month. We've
divided this post, focused on vehicles, into
sections: Chevy Volt/PHEVs from Toyota, Ford, Jaguar, and other vehicle news.
(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.)
WANT TO KNOW WHAT PLUG-INS ARE ARRIVING? Ward's
Auto surveys the plug-in vehicles heading to
market -- just ignore the bewilderingly
sensationalist headline, "'Spectacular Failures'
Await Electric Vehicle Industry."
http://wardsauto.com/ar/failures_electric_vehicle_110330
CHEVY VOLT & RELATED NEWS
VOLT & LEAF "TOP SAFETY PICKS:" Both new cars,
tested for the first time by the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety, join the 80
vehicles with the highest crash ratings
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/04/26/chevy-volt-nissan-leaf-earn-top-safety-picks-in-first-iihs-elec/
VOLT AND LEAF SALES FIGURES: See May and
cumulative numbers at
http://www.plugincars.com/nissan-leaf-sales-overtake-chevy-volt-april-107126.html
. (Critics who cite their still-small volumes as
proof already that they're market failures don't
understand that carmakers are ramping up against
long lists of eager customers.)
IBM'S ROLE IN VOLT DESIGN: IBM VP Meg Selfe tells
the software development story. An intriguing
pointer to future applications: each Volt has its
own unique IP address (online ID number).
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4215735/IBM-tells-story-behind-Chevy-Volt-design.
A longer video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjjASGV36mw&feature=related
CHEVY VOLT'S "MOUNTAIN MODE:" An informative
discussion by Nick Chambers about the
implications of GM's approach to reserving
additional battery power to drive up mountains at
full-speed. Plus diverse comments from the driver
community that's exploring this feature to
optimize electric use and for save some EV miles
for times when they're most handy. It includes
notes from both Felix Kramer and Ron Gremban.
http://www.plugincars.com/chevy-volts-mountain-mode-vastly-underrated-yields-new-driving-strategies-107176.html
.
MICHIGAN BATTERIES AND GREEN JOBS PLUS NEW ENGINE
FOR VOLT: LG Chem, which aims to gain a quarter
of the world's plug-in battery market by 2014, is
hiring 200 people for its Holland, MI plant,
reaching 400 in 2013. And the Volt's
off-the-shelf Austrian GM engine will be replaced
with a (presumably optimized) US-made engine in
mid-2012.
http://gm-volt.com/2011/04/15/lg-chem-opens-ochong-battery-plant-expects-major-market-share/
HIGH-PROFILE VOLT: Michigan Senator Carl Levin is
the first Member of Congress we've heard of to
get a Chevy Volt.
http://www.heritage.com/articles/2011/04/08/dexter_leader/news/doc4d9e05eff306f509719083.txt
PHEVS FROM TOYOTA, FORD, JAGUAR
TOYOTA DENIES HOPEFUL RUMORS: Here's the
chronicle of a new Toyota PR snafu -- but first
some background. On Earth Day, Toyota opened its
website to signups for a PHEV next spring. Though
it's taken a long time, we're delighted to
welcome Toyota to the party -- and we believe the
car, if priced well, could succeed well. Register
at
http://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/prius-plug-in/
. We were gratified when Plug In America's Marc
Geller noted the irony of Toyota calling it "the
prius everyone's been waiting for," and for his
musing on the claim that this is "The first-ever
plug-in Prius."
http://plugsandcars.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-ever-plug-in-prius-really.html
(When the 2004 Prius came out, CalCars saw that
Toyota could build a PHEV. Our conversions
showed what was possible, and helped build public
awareness and support for PHEVs -- in the face of
the years of dismissive comments from Toyota we
chronicled at http://www.calcars.org/carmakers.html .)
The most recent PR mishap echoes what followed
not long after, when media trumpeted reports that
Toyota would shift entirely to hybrids.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/automobiles/14toyota.html
. Toyota issued a denial, explaining its plans to
offer a hybrid VERSION of every car they made.
(Many were disappointed, and we're still waiting
for hybrids in some Toyota models…) Fast forward
to May 2011, when Japan's leading financial
newspaper reported that the entire Prius line
would become PHEVs. Alas, the company said it
wasn't true, as reported by Zach McDonald.
http://www.plugincars.com/toyota-denies-reports-all-priuses-will-be-plug-107158.html
. Then Toyota went beyond a neutral denial to
comments reminiscent of its old put-downs. Sharon
Silke Carty (formerly at AP and USA Today and now
at AOL Autos), reports them saying, The added
benefits are too small to justify the extras. "We
see this market as being a small percentage of
our hybrid market," says John Hanson, a spokesman
for Toyota. "We don't see it as a car for
everybody."
http://autos.aol.com/article/toyota-wont-make-plug-ins-standard-on-prius/
. Jim Motavalli's report at BNET said
"Officially, Toyota said that's bunk -- but it
shouldn't be." He went on to describe how it
would be a smart, forward-looking strategy.
http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-cars/all-priuses-should-be-plug-in-hybrids-by-2014-8212-no-matter-what-toyota-says-now/4171
GOOGLE & FORD TEAM UP FOR "SMART" PHEVS: At its
I/O conference, Google described its project with
Ford to use its "Prediction API (Application
Programming Interface) to enable cars to
understand driving patterns and thereby optimize
the vehicle's performance. In our comment at
http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=25777 , we
explore some possible benefits. (Where will we
see these innovations? We're also still waiting
to hear details of Ford's PHEV production plans.)
Reports and screenshots at
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20061837-48.html
and
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/ford-supplements-analytics-with-google-predictive-api-ev-optimization-on-deck/16239
(In a related development, Toyota has announced
it will partner with Microsoft for its
"cloud-based" next-generation telematics services
and programs connecting vehicles, people, and
buildings.)
http://pressroom.toyota.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2961&view_id=35924
JAGUAR'S HOT PHEV: Jaguar plans to build 250
million-dollar C-X75 PHEV supercars using new
Formula 1 technology. It gets a very respectable
99 grams/km of CO2. Will some viewing the
three-minute video conclude this car is worth
paying ten times the cost of the Fisker Karma for a PHEV sportscar?
Jim Motavalli asked for our comment before we'd
seen the video (which promises "technology
migration"). He reported, There probably wouldn't
be any plug-in hybrids were it not for the
tireless advocacy of Felix Kramer of CalCars.org.
He welcomes the new Jaguar to the family.
"Automakers that choose electric motors to boost
performance are also shifting away from fossil
fuels and helping to reduce costs for
transportation electrification," he said. "So
they get the world's thanks for being
"incidentally green."
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/blogs/jaguars-hot-hybrid-super-performance-with-a-green-gloss
OTHER VEHICLE NEWS
EVS AS POST-TSUNAMI RESCUE VEHICLES: An amazing
and little-noticed story: when local gas pumps
lost electricity, Mitsubishi and Nissan EVs were
still able to travel around Japan's hard-hit
northern regions. (Reminds us of Hurricane Rita
in 2005: with cars fleeing the coast creeping
along in massive traffic jams, the hybrids didn't
run out of gas. Could this be a preview of
plug-in cars' roles at times of future
disruptions? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/automobiles/08JAPAN.html
ELECTRIC CAR FIRE WHODUNIT: When engineers,
hobbyists and companies began converting Priuses,
advocates and automakers worried a fire could set
back the entire industry. There were a few sad
episodes (including Neil Young's high-profile
Linc-Volt), but the cars and the batteries were
exonerated. Recently a fire in Connecticut took
out a Chevy Volt and 15-year-old converted Suzuki
SUV. The investigation continues, but all the
damage to the Volt came from outside, and given
GM's intensive focus on safe design, it looks
like the Volt is off the hook. John Voelker
dissects the media coverage.
http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1058475_electric-car-fire-flaming-garage-shows-media-ignorance
To respond to any future incidents and put
anyhysteria in perspective, here's a bookmark:
the National Fire Protection Association's report
on vehicle fires mostly from liquid fuel tanks
after accidents (including cars, trucks and other
highway vehicles; boats and ships; railroad and
mass-transit vehicles; aircraft; and
agricultural, construction and yard vehicles).
Though the numbers of fires and deaths are
happily half of what they were in the 1980s, in
2009, they still totaled 190,500, with 265
civilian deaths, 1,455 civilian injuries and $1.1
billion in direct property damage.
http://www.nfpa.org/displayContent.asp?categoryID=953&itemID=29658
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkr...@calcars.org
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Messages in this topic (1)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Plug-In Roundup #2: Media & Marketing News
Posted by: "Felix Kramer" fkr...@calcars.org felixkramery
Date: Tue May 17, 2011 1:40 pm ((PDT))
Here's our second extended post, with reports on how plug-ins are
being received in the marketplace, the long-awaited sequel to "Who
Killed The Electric Car," reporters and analysts trying to figure out
how big plug-ins will be how soon, some frustrating examples of
misreporting, and a possible new way to respond.
(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.)
GM'S ROB PETERSON OUTLINES VOLT'S (AND INDUSTRY'S) MARKETING
CHALLENGES: GM-Volt's Jeff Cobb has posted a series summarizing GM
marketing spokesperson Rob Peterson's presentation at the Washington
Electric Drive Transportation Association DC conference in April. He
discussed the transition from "early adopters" to "fast followers."
http://gm-volt.com/2011/04/08/grassroots-growth-volt-dealerships-are-learning-how-to-usher-in-the-age-of-the-ev/.
He talked about the company's transparency policy and about building
strategic relationships with multiple constituencies, such as
utilities, plug-in advocates (including gracious call-outs to
"enthusiasts" Chelsea Sexton, Felix Kramer and GM-Volt.com), and the
broad advanced-tech auto industry:
http://gm-volt.com/2011/04/29/gms-rob-peterson-discusses-the-volt-teams-strategic-relationship-building/.
He focused on getting the word out about customers' experiences:
http://gm-volt.com/2011/05/04/gm%E2%80%99s-rob-peterson-customers-volt-stories-are-key-to-marketing-success/.
And he talked about managing expectations, both among plug-in
advocates and customers, especially as critics and detractors pile
on:
http://gm-volt.com/2011/05/09/gms-rob-peterson-talks-to-industry-peers-about-managing-expectations/
REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR: We can't wait to see the long-awaited
sequel to "Who Killed the Electric Car," which premiered on Earth Day
at NYC's Tribeca Film Festival. CalCars' top two priorities get a
direct boost from two of the film's four stories: for PHEVs, GM's
outspoken Bob Lutz, and for conversions, the flamboyant Greg
"Gadget" Abbott from http://www.leftcoastelectric.com inspires us by
turning almost any classic internal combustion vehicle into an EV.
(We hope the enthusiasm spills over to lower-cost and higher-volume
solutions.) And of course we also root for Carlos Ghosn's Leaf, and
Elon Musk's Teslas. The film is still on the festival circuit, but
you can help get it into a theater near you!
http://www.revengeoftheelectriccar.com
EPRI'S CONSUMER GUIDE: The Electric Power Research Institute has
published "Plugging In: A Consumer's Guide to the Electric Vehicle."
It's free and handy in eight pages. (For more detail, see Plug In
America's 64-pager, CHARGED UP & READY TO ROLL.")
http://my.epri.com/portal/server.pt?Abstract_id=000000000001023161
(Try again if URL doesn't work the first time.)
ANOTHER VOLT+LEAF HOUSEHOLD: Sacramento-area's George Parrott and his
wife started driving the Volt/Leaf combination shortly after Felix
Kramer.. Though journalists got some numbers wrong, the Consumer
Reports story and AP short video were positive.
http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2011/04/a-tale-of-two-evs-california-man-shows-how-chevrolet-volt-nissan-leaf-can-pay-off-1.html
TAKE CARE, CLEANTECH ANALYSTS: A mildly cautionary headline,
"Electric Car Boom Could Deliver a Surge in Grid Power," drew our
attention. But the story immediately escalated to "They're going to
be hell on the grid." Later the author implied we need to invent some
advanced technology to ensure that most charging is off-peak. (How
about a timer and time-of-use pricing?) Steve Lough of the Seattle
Electric Auto Association, Brian Wynne of the Electric Drive
Transportation Association, and we and others brought the issue back
to reality. Then Reuters picked up the story, but unfortunately
without our responses. Spawning a true whac-a-mole, the alarm
proliferated to over 8,000 sites.
http://gigaom.com/cleantech/electric-car-boom-could-deliver-a-surge-in-grid-power/
WHAT SURVEYS ABOUT PUBLIC INTEREST IN PLUG-INS TELL US: We're a big
fan of Jim Motavalli (and he often quotes us). Jim has been around
the block many times: he wrote "Forward Drive: The Race to Build
'Clean' Cars for the Future" back in 2000, when he was editor of E:
The Environmental Magazine. Now he writes for the NY Times, BNET,
Mother Nature Network, The Daily Green, PlugInCars.com, and others.
He'll have a new book, tentatively called "High Voltage: The Fast
Track to Plug In the Auto Industry," out in November. His recent
inquiry into why gas prices are the only commodity whose cost is
posted everywhere is memorable. He has great interviews about its
psychological impact.
http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-cars/why-do-gas-stations-post-their-outrageous-prices-because-well-they-always-have/4153
Now, in "Sure, Americans Want Electric Cars--But Only If They're
Magical," Jim wades through vastly different public survey responses.
He concludes that most Americans are confused about electric cars. In
an exchange worth reading, plug-in advocates Paul Scott and Mike Kane
differ with Jim effectively and eloquently. The exchanges are well
worth reading. We agree that tens of millions of car buyers "get" the
lifetime savings of plug-in cars and their global benefits. Yet even
stipulating that survey questions and results are misleading, and
that most buyers are motivated by emotion and not by payback, we also
agree with Motavalli's fundamental points: Uninformed potential
buyers want plug-ins with an up-front price cheaper than their
gas-guzzlers. In other words, they want to eat their cake and have it
too (the right version of that adage). This isn't surprising in a
nation where so many worship "truthiness," paying more attention to
wishes and myths than to science and facts.
http://www.bnet.com/blog/electric-cars/sure-americans-want-electric-cars-8212-but-only-if-they-8217re-magical/4077
CHALLENGING J.D. POWER'S VIEWS:
http://www.autoobserver.com/2011/04/consumer-group-lambasts-jd-power-conclusions.html
The Consumer Federation of America has jumped on J.D. Power's
conclusion in its 2011 U.S. Green Automotive Study
http://www.jdpower.com/news/pressRelease.aspx?ID=2011039 that
consumer interest and sales of new plug-in vehicles will be low for
the next five years. Without even challenging the company's
methodology in surveying 4,000 potential buyers as well as gathering
info from other sources, the 300-group coalition says it draws
entirely different conclusions from the numbers.
http://www.autoobserver.com/2011/04/consumer-group-lambasts-jd-power-conclusions.html
. (Alas, neither CFA nor JDP, however, connected the dots to show no
matter what happens with new cars ales, plug-ins won't be a
meaningful percentage of ALL cars within even 15 years unless we also
convert millions of existing vehicles.)
ON WHETHER WE'LL GET A MILLION PLUG-INS BY 2015: The US Department of
Energy's latest projections say 1.2 million
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/04/15/doe-plug-in-vehicle-sales-to-total-1-2-million-in-u-s-by-2015/.
And another take, from John Voelker (IEEE and Green Car Reports):
http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/advanced-cars/one-million-plugin-cars-by-2015
MISSING INGREDIENT FOR PLUG-IN MARKET INFORMATION: Building on ideas
we've proposed in the past, we have a concept for a new company that
would analyze and deliver market intelligence and new ideas from
current and future plug-in drivers. A side benefit would be better
ways to combat misinformation. If you are (or know) an entrepreneur
with time and resources to work on this, look back at the earlier
(non-profit) concept http://www.calcars.org/calcars-news/1116.html
and send us a serious email with the subject line "Drivers-To-Drivers."
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkr...@calcars.org
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Messages in this topic (1)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Plug-In Roundup #3: Policy Issues / ICE Conversions
Posted by: "Felix Kramer" fkr...@calcars.org felixkramery
Date: Tue May 17, 2011 1:48 pm ((PDT))
In our third extended post, we cover issues about government funding,
benefits, tax policy, and materials shortages, and then we switch
gears to bring you the latest developments about prospects for
companies working to convert internal combustion engine vehicles
(ICEs) to PHEVs and EVs.
(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.)
POLICY
GERMANY AND CHINA COMMIT TO BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR PLUG-IN CARS.
Germany wants a million by 2020; China sees five million by then. See
stories at
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/05/11/germany-ready-to-spend-billions-of-euros-to-support-plug-in-ve/
and
http://www.detnews.com/article/20110509/AUTO01/105090354/1148/Asian-power-embraces-advanced-tech-vehicles
TOO EARLY TO PUT ROAD TAXES ON PLUG-IN CARS: Ignoring every existing
subsidy to ICE vehicles and failing to recognize we have a bigger
problem in fixing our infrastructure, legislators in Washington State
and elsewhere want taxes that will discourage nascent plug-ins. Op-ed
by plug-in advocates Steve Marshall and Dan Davids:
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110213/OPINION04/702139995/-1/OPINION
. News report:
http://news.opb.org/article/big-carmaker-opposes-road-tax-electric-cars/.
GM's position:
http://www.thefutureiselectric.com/2011/04/washington-legislature-pushing-for-tax-on-evs-incentive-on-gasoline/
LITHIUM & RARE EARTH METALS: Materials scarcity is a growing concern.
"Lithium: The Lightweight Champion" says there's plenty of that
mineral. The video comes from the TREM Center (Technology and Rare
Earth Minerals), part of the Institute for the Analysis of Global
Security, which earlier spun off Set America Free and in 2006 helped
CalCars bring PHEVs to Congress. We consider ourselves knowledgeable
about this topic; still, we learned a lot in eight minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TREMCenter#p/a/u/1/ZyJW3Zp6_qw And read
about a new electric motor from Remy (you may know the company as
Remy Delco) that uses no rare earth metals.
http://gm-volt.com/2011/05/02/remy-ev-motor-reduces-dependence-on-foreign-rare-earth-supplies/
BEST STRATEGY FOR ETHANOL: A comprehensive study in Science Magazine
shows that burning biomass in power plants to power plug-ins yields
80% more distance per unit of crop land (and half the CO2) than using
it as an engine fuel.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/advanced-cars/burning-biomass-to-charge-electric-vehicles-beats-fueling-cars-with-ethanol
NEW STUDY ON PLUG-IN VEHICLES AND GRID BALANCING: "Bucks for
balancing: can plug-in vehicles of the future extract cash--and
carbon--from the power grid?" Report discusses vehicle-to-grid, its
forerunner, vehicle-to-building, and related topics in this major
analysis by Ricardo and British-based international electrical
distributor National Grid.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/05/balancing-20110510.html
HYBRIDS, SERVICE JOBS & RESALE VALUES: Closer to home, San
Francisco's Luscious Garage tells the story of the company's expanded
night shift to service hundreds of hybrid taxis in San Francisco
http://lusciousgarage.com/blog/hybrid_taxi_repair/. Not that
non-taxi-hybrids need all that much service: in the wake of rising
gas prices and the post-Tsunami production interruption, both new and
used Priuses are now commanding a premium, which bodes well for
future plug-in car resale values:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/05/toyotas-prius-selling-above-sticker-price-at-some-dealers/1
.
FUEL CELL CARS RECEDE FURTHER: NPR reports frustration among
remaining hydrogen advocates as the market (and the US government)
respond to the reality that "battery cars are getting cheaper
faster."
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/19/135518929/automakers-try-to-sell-government-on-fuel-cell-cars
CONVERSIONS
CALSTART'S E-TRUCK TASK FORCE: The highly-regarded Calstart expands
its focus on medium-and-heavy duty truck electrification. We hope it
will increase its attention to retrofit strategies.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/04/ettf-20110429.html
ALTE'S NEW FLYER: In CalCars-News on April 7, we described ALTe's
partnership with industry leader Manheim to convert pickup trucks.
Shortly thereafter, the company brought its F-150 pickup to
Sacramento, where it introduced the opportunities of gas-guzzler
conversions. ALTe reports that "Nine state elected officials,
including Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom and Senate Pres. Pro Tempore
Darrell Steinberg dropped by. More than a dozen Department officials,
including Cal EPA Acting Secretary Linda Adams, dozens of
environmental lobbyists, EV entrepreneurs, legislative Chiefs of
Staff, and potential fleet customers" also showed up. The next day,
ALTe brought its show to Silicon Valley. See a team photo at
http://www.calcars.org/photos-groups.html and download ALTe's
brochure (including financial projections for fleet owners) at
http://www.calcars.org/altellc-brochure-april2011.pdf or from the
link at http://www.calcars.org/ice-conversions.html#ae
QUANTUM'S FORD F-150 PHEV: Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies has
jumped into the emerging gas-guzzler conversions world with a design
to convert the popular pickup truck to a 35-mile range plug-in
hybrid. The conversion is focused on fleet customers. Quantum is a
long-time systems integrator; the Irvine, CA company built PHEV
versions of the Ford Escape SUV in 2007.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/05/10/quantum-details-its-35-mile-electric-range-plug-in-hybrid-ford-f/
AMP DELIVERS FIRST CONVERTED SUV TO ICELAND COMPANY: AMP Electric
Vehicles of Ohio delivered an electric Mercedes-Benz ML 350 to
Northern Lights Energy, and says it's the first of 1,000 vehicles to
be converted, including Chevy Equinoxes and others, that could result
from a new contract.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/05/11/amp-delivers-first-all-electric-mercedes-benz-ml-350-to-nle/
MOTIV EXPLORES TRUCK/BUS RETROFITS: This Bay Area startup focused on
vehicle energy management has a $1.3M state grant to turn a luxury
Bauer shuttle bus into a 100-mile EV. Motiv plans to follow up with a
12-vehicle test fleet.
http://gigaom.com/cleantech/for-a-better-electric-truck-mix-match-battery-packs
US AGENCY MAKING CONVERSIONS EASIER: The Environmental Protection
Agency has updated its rules to encourage converting vehicles to
cleaner fuels. The new regulations that take vehicle age into account
are mostly driven by the strong forces promoting conversions from
gasoline to natural gas. (There's still no equivalent campaign for
large vehicle electrification retrofits.) Story and press release at
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/04/05/epa-streamlines-alt-fuel-conversions-with-amended-regulations/.
A California perspective on NG conversions :
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-autos-natural-gas-20110505,0,407082.story
And an update from the Wall Street Journal about the constituencies
and pitfalls for converting large trucks to natural gas (story
doesn't mention fracking or CO2): http://on.wsj.com/m4LFzw
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkr...@calcars.org
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
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