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As a man thinks, so he is. Some people are never. Recent Posts
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CarSpace Alternate RouteTurn off the nav system, crumple up that MapQuest printout, and let's find out where the next random turn may take us! Jan 16, 2008 - Northern Exposure
I have a healthy skepticism about the rush to be greener than the next guy. Not that I want fuel to be wasted but a lot of the time the primary motivation of the manufacturers seems to be image building. I'm not a big fan of style over substance, hence my doubts. The problem is that if you question hybrid vehicles, ethanol, or any other "green" concept, you get labeled as wanting the planet to be destroyed. There's a lot of money being spent in this push to ge green at all cost, and not an awful lot of benefit coming from it. And trying to force consumers to buy more efficient vehicles through legislation is something that the markets should be allowed to handle. A commentary from Canada titled, "Enviro-nonsense at Detroit auto show" sums it up nicely... Many North Americans still want muscle and believe they should have the right to own it. Having said that, however, motorists are also responding to high gasoline prices, which will inevitably feed through to what is being designed for, and coming off, production lines. The problem is that the policy environment is thoroughly polluted by a moralizing environmental lobby that promises little environmental benefit but lots of economic harm. Read the entire commentary at financialpost.com
Jan 14, 2008 - 2010: The Target
Now Toyota has their eye on the same target. Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe said Sunday night his company will move forward aggressively with its hybrid program, promising to deliver a fleet of plug-in hybrids to commercial customers by 2010 and announcing plans to unveil two new hybrid-only vehicles at next year's North American International Auto Show. I'm just wondering how all these plug-in hybrids are going to fly in California where the power grid is stressed to the point where they are considering legislation to allow power companies to control thermostats in homes to prevent rolling blackouts when everyone turns on their air conditioner. Plug in hybrids are an attractive idea, and the thought that they'll be charged up at night when demand is low is the selling point. But that load of all those cars is something that's not on the grid now. Without some kind of additional capacity from building more power plants, or developing nuclear power generation further, I'm not sure the plug-in hybrid revolution is going to take place anytime soon. Kind of puts the environmentalists in a tough spot doesn't it? Read the full story on Toyota's announcement at the Detroit Free Press
Dec 4, 2007 - Charge It
Ener1, Inc., an alternative energy company, has become the first to successfully integrate a lithium-ion battery into an operating hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), an important milestone for the electric vehicle industry. The lithium-ion battery pack will be shown in a Toyota Prius and will make approximately twice the energy available for the car's use compared with the existing nickel metal hydride battery and is expected to substantially increase performance. Battery technology and performance is the big hurdle to overcome if electric vehicles are ever going to be a practical reality. Lithium-ion batteries sound like a step in the right direction, although my gut is telling me that some future advance is still waiting out there to be stumbled upon. So while EV enthusiasts may want to trumpet this as the big breakthrough, remember that this is just a step in the process. Research years and years Read more at CNNMoney.com
Sep 17, 2007 - Green Power
"..fleets of hybrid cars, recharged at night when demand is lower, can relieve the grid and help avert serious blackouts" "Plug-in hybrids will use larger battery packs and recharge from a household outlet for 10 to 30 miles of electric-only driving. When modified, they can return electricity to the grid from their batteries." Are these going to be magical plug-in hybrids and battery packs? Currently we don't have a significant fleet of vehicles being recharged by plugging in at home. How does creating that fleet "relieve the grid", even at night? If you plug another appliance into the grid that has never been plugged into the grid before, that would add to the load wouldn't it? And does anyone really think that there's going to be enough excess capacity in hybrid batteries to return electricity to the grid in any amount that's going to matter? This reminds me of a friend who bought a Chevy Astro van and was pointing out how that small sloped "hood" on the front of the van made it more aerodynamic and would increase his mileage. That might have been true from a pure physics standpoint, but it would take looking at the gas saved across the entire fleet of Astros to measure the benefit, and even then it's a drop in the bucket. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a naysayer when it comes to hybrids, just a skeptic about what seem to be overly optimistic projections of benefits. Especially when those projections seem to ignore some realities. Wonder of the age!
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