Gas 2.0

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Norwegian company Th!nk is hoping to kick start the market for electric cars with its upcoming five-seater, the Ox.

Although an Ox is not what I’d call a particularly stylish or intelligent animal, don’t let the name confuse you — the Th!nk Ox could be about the most attractive and functional electric car ever designed. Before the debate starts over that claim, note the all-important “and” between the words attractive and functional.

Due out in 2010/2011, the Ox is about the size of a Toyota Prius. It can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 8.5 seconds, travel between 125 and 155 miles on a single charge, and its lithium-ion batteries can be charged to 80% capacity in less than an hour.

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All these years, I’ve been doing the simple math of dividing the number of gallons used over a given number of miles driven, to determine how my car is doing on gas mileage.

Now come two professors from Duke University who say that may not be the accurate way to determine how efficient your car really is.

A team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have revealed a potential revolution in hydrogen cars, after driving 650 miles on one tank of liquid hydrogen. In a recent test, the scientists set a new world record after they installed a super-insulated hydrogen gas tank in a standard Prius hybrid that was able to keep a full load of the liquid without evaporating for six days.

The tank, weighing in at around 300 pounds, removes a heck of a lot of obstacles to the advancement of hydrogen-powered cars. Current versions, such as the fleet of hydrogen-electric Toyota Prius’s used by various city governments across Southern California, run on compressed hydrogen gas, and have a limited range of around 80 miles between refuels. Even a pretty unambitious three-gallon tank fills the entire trunk of a Prius, yet still only enables a range of approximately 200 miles, not really enough to compete with gasoline-only vehicles. Read the rest of this entry »

As if there isn’t enough bio-diesel controversy over the food for fuel debate now we have a little skirmish arising here in San Francisco. When we walk by any San Francisco restaurant (particularly the ones that have that delish yet oh so bad for you fried cuisine) we can smell where this fuss originated – the fryers. Yes, it’s that oh so wonderful french fry grease that companies like Blue Sky Bio-fuels and Got Grease work with to create biofuel. To us this method makes much more sense to reuse old oil and grease than to the create fuel directly from real food.

In this case the grease skirmish remains between the City of San Francisco and the private sector. Both Got Grease and Blue Sky pick up grease (usually for free) from small restaurants, but now the City jumped into the fryer and collects it as well. The fact that the City collects the oil isn’t a problem but the fact that the City has been using health inspectors to secure oil from the restaurants smells like burnt oil to us. Apparently a letter from the City exists that says something to the effect of “The City has been so busy collecting restaurant oil that we haven’t had time to write up violations.” Should we call this mess “Greasefellas”? Read the rest of this entry »

Mazda’s newest hydrogen rotary engine will take to public roads in Japan for testing this year.  The company says the vehicle is the world’s first hydrogen hybrid car with a dual-fuel system, enabling the use of either hydrogen or gasoline.

The Japanese government has given Mazda Motor Corporation permission to test the Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid minivan on public roads in that country.  The next step will be commercial leasing in Japan during this fiscal year. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Jetta TDI Clean Diesel Sedan

VW announced the pricing of the 2009 Jetta and SportWagen yesterday, along with a new fuel economy certification from the third-party certifier AMCI. It seems that VW wasn’t particularly impressed with the EPA’s 29 mpg city / 40 mpg hwy estimation, and wanted a second opinion.

There has been some general confusion circulating about fuel economy estimates for the new Jetta (which will be available in August) ever since VW’s Director of Powertrain Development announced the car could get up to 60 mpg. Read the rest of this entry »

In order to cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in the delivery of new automobiles, Honda has launched a 400-car fleet of new Auto-Max railcars to carry its products from factory to city.  Currently, Honda transports 82 percent of its Honda and Acura cars by rail, more than another other automaker.

The new, multi-level rail cars hold up to 22 vehicles, both cars and trucks, to reduce unused space.  Honda says conventional rail cars hold only 10 trucks.

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I’m eagerly awaiting the 4-door, family-sized EV sedan rumored to be in the pipeline from the Canadian-based ZENN Motor Company (they already make a great 2-door model that’s even affordable to us non-celebrity types, picture above). I’d like to avoid going to the gas station at all when going to an Energy Fair or Green Festival. While our VW Jetta TDI gets more than 40 mpg, these days the cost for diesel (and biodiesel when I can get it) is quite a bit more than gasoline, and rising faster than gas.

For now, we’re moving around locally in a funky-looking, all-electric CitiCar, made in 1974. Our CitiCar is restored to roughly original condition (except for the wear and tear on the body itself) with the expert help of our neighbor who found two more after we found ours. It’s hard to go anywhere without people cutting me off — not out of rage — but curiosity or with a smile on their face. Sometimes getting a “head turner” doesn’t need to come at a huge price. Read the rest of this entry »

New car industry start-up Mindset, has announced plans to sell a gasoline-electric hybrid next year. The 2+2-seater hybrid, called the Six50, boasts an electric-only range of 100km (62 miles) via a built-in Li-Ion battery. A two-cylinder gasoline motor, which kicks in as a generator as required, boosts the range to 800km (496 miles). Battery charging is further assisted by integrated roof-top solar panels.

The Six50 tag hints at the target weight of 650kg (1430 lbs). However, according to recent reports, the prototype, composed of a plastic body built around an aluminum frame, tips the scales at a still fairly lightweight 800kg. According to Mindset, this means the car can achieve decent levels of performance. The 70kw (95hp) motor should enable speeds of up to 140km/h (75mph) and acceleration from 0-100km/h (0-60mph) in under six seconds.

The company was established by Marat Gunak, former head of design at Volkswagen, with backing from Swiss billionaire Lorenzo Schmid. According to Gunak, most cars are currently “too big, too heavy, too expensive,” a trend that he hopes to help overturn with the Six50.

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Honda has started rolling the first US specification FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell sedans off a production line in Japan to be delivered to a small group of hand-picked high-profile California test customers. Leases to these customers, including Jamie Lee Curtis, are scheduled to begin in July.

The combined sales plan for the US and Japan calls for a few dozen to be leased the first year with about 200 total units leased over the next three years.

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