Hyundai Will Bring Avante Hybrid To Market In Mid-2009
March 31, 2008
Hyundai plans to begin mass production of a hybrid passenger car that uses the Avante badge. The hybrid Avante will be available to consumers by mid-2009. The Korean automaker also plans to introduce a mid-size hybrid Sonata model in 2010 and a fuel-cell model by 2012. Hyundai currently offers a single hybrid model, the Verna/Accent, which is available only to government agencies as part of a pilot program. Kia, is also planning gas-electric versions of the Borrego SUV and the Optima sedan. Those models will hit the showrooms in 2010.
In a bid to reduce vehicle emissions, the Avante hybrid will run on liquefied petroleum gas and will incorporate an electric motor. LPG is about one-half the cost of gasoline and the hybrid Avante is expected to consume about 30 percent of the fuel used by the conventional gasoline-powered Avante.
The availability of LPG was a factor in the company’s decision to release the LPG hybrid prior to issuing a gasoline-electric vehicle. The company expects to produce up to 20,0000 LPG hybrid units by 2010 and has established an aggressive production target of 300,000 units by 2015. The company also wants to be the first manufacturer to establish an LPG hybrid in its home market to take advantage of government subsidies and to establish a leadership position in the sale of hybrid vehicles.
Hyundai plans to price the Avante below the Toyota Prius in hopes of attracting more buyers. The company’s planned fuel-cell vehicle will also be priced lower than competing models. The company will commercialize the j-Blue crossover concept it developed at its technical center in Chiba, Japan and debuted at the Frankfort Auto Show earlier this year.
By the time the j-Blue reaches the market, it will be competing with Mercedes-Benz’ hydrogen fuel cell vehicle which will hit the market in 2010, and the Honda FCX Clarity, which is expected in dealerships later this year.
Passenger Cars Aren’t The Only Hybrids Around
March 28, 2008
Caterpillar has introduced the D7E, a 30-ton diesel-electric earthmover with a differential steering system. The D7E has no mechanical transmission, and uses variable-speed motors to provide a continuously variable transmission. The D7E does rely on hydraulics, supplemented by the vehicle’s regenerative braking capabilities to move its implements.
As an added bonus, the vehicle also runs its accessories, including the air conditioning and water pump, off of generated and captured energy.
The electric drivetrain for the vehicle reduces the number of moving parts by 60 percent over a conventionally powered tractor. The D7E is designed for heavy grading and earth moving, and with its 235-HP engine, achieves a fuel efficiency increase of about 20 percent per gallon of fuel over its non-electric 240-HP counterpart, the D7. The electric D7E can also move about 25 percent more material per gallon of fuel than the D7. As an added benefit, the D7E features cab improvements that increase driver visibility and steering performance.
The mid-sized tractor is in the sweet spot for hybrid electric earthmoving and grading equipment. Jobs that require larger and smaller vehicles are best tackled with traditional diesel-powered vehicles.
Hybrid Sports Cars Are Revving Up
March 27, 2008
With Tesla Motor Car’s announcement last week that it has commenced production of an all-electric sports car, interest is rising in high-performance vehicles that use alternative power. Tesla’s Roadster, which was first introduced in late 2006, was given a passing grade on its Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and the company hopes to push about 1,200 units per year out of its factory when it achieves full production capacity sometime in early 2009. The Roadster can reach 60 MPH in less than four seconds, hit a top speed of 125 MPH and travel 220 miles on a single charge. Recharging the vehicle’s Li-ion battery pack takes about 3.5 hours. The initial 2008 production run will sport a temporary single-speed transmission, is already sold out, and the company is currently taking orders for 2009 delivery of its $100,000 babies. The initial production vehicles will be upgraded to a two-speed permanent transmission once the design and implementation for it have been perfected.
The Lightning Car Corp has also developed an all-electric Lightning GT. The vehicle’s power train can generate an estimated 700 HP and offers performance specs similar to the Tesla Roadster. The company says that the car can travel 250 miles on a charge and can hit 60 MPH in less than four seconds. The Lightning GT has body panels made of Kevlar composites and carbon fiber, 20-inch aluminum wheels and independent front and rear suspensions. Lightning is taking deposits on the production of the vehicle, but unlike the Roadster, each all-electric GT will run about $300,000.
Peugeot is also planning to race a hybrid diesel electric engine in the 2009 24-hour Le Mans. The company will place the test engine in an existing 908 and may enter the vehicle into a 1,000 km race in Shanghai, China in November 2008. The company has not indicated the expected performance from the hybrid engine, but indicated that more information would be available following the press launch of the 2008 Le Mans in June.
Large Corporations Getting In On Hybrid Research and Testing
March 26, 2008
Large corporations like Exxon Mobile and Coca Cola are participating in hybrid vehicle research that may lead to longer battery life and better evaluations of vehicle performance.
Exxon Mobile is extending product development for a battery technology it initially created for mobile phones, to a variation that could be used in hybrid vehicle batteries. The specific component is a separator film used in Li-ion battery technologies. Separator films are used to prevent chemicals inside the battery from coming into contact and creating an uncontrolled reaction. Membrane failures have been implicated in cascade failures inside Li-ion batteries that can lead to explosions and fires.
Maintaining membrane integrity in the Li-ion’ battery’s high temperature environment is critical to battery safety. Exxon Mobile’s membrane can withstand internal temperatures up to 374°. Exxon Mobile is working with the new Electrovaya Maya 300, which is expected to hit the market later in 2008. According to the Wall Street Journal, Exxon Mobile will build a new plant to produce the membrane. The plant, which is expected to cost $300 million, will be located in South Korea, but research work on the film will continue in Japan and the United States. Exxon Mobile is hoping to supply the major automakers with the film within the next ten years.
On the other end of the research setting, Coca Cola Consolidated is working with Duke Energy to test plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The companies will convert some of their fleet vehicles to PHEVs using aftermarket kits. Coca Cola Consolidated currently operates one of the largest hybrid fleets in the country and will convert three of its current Toyota Prius cars to PHEVs. The technology has the promise to allow vehicles to travel more than one hundred miles on a single gallon of gas. The savings in fuel costs for large fleets is obvious and the companies are hoping to spur commercial production of PHEVs.
Photo courtesy of Exxon Mobile
Fuel Cell Vehicles Around The Corner, MB Does Cold Weather Testing
March 25, 2008
According to the major Japanese automakers, the adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is still more than five years away. At a symposium on FCVs held earlier in March, representatives from Honda, Nissan and Toyota agreed that FVCs won’t be widely available until 2015. The automakers cite primary concerns over the vehicles’ durability, production costs and the infrastructure support for the delivery of hydrogen.
The cost of FCVs is still prohibitively high and would need to be reduced by 90 percent of its current costs to enter mass production. Once in mass production, the automakers believe that additional efficiencies could reduce the cost of FCVs by another 90 percent, making the technology commercially viable.
Aside from these issues, FCV’s also face the lack of hydrogen production, storage and delivery infrastructure. Currently, there are promising technologies that could lead to on-board hydrogen production and storage, but they are years away from being commercially viable.
The durability of the vehicle’s hydrogen fuel cell power plant raise safety concerns as well. According to the manufacturers, new materials must be developed and tested that will reduce corrosion within the vehicle’s hydrogen power train. Additionally, membrane technology that resists being dissolved in the potential cycle must be perfected.
Another challenge that faces FCVs: the ability to monitor the fuel-cell reactions. Currently the industry proposes using regulated technologies like X-rays to detect irregularities in hydrogen reactions. If the measurement techniques are approved, FCVs could be in large-scale production by 2015 and FCVs could have a life expectancy of as much as 10 years.
These concerns aren’t stopping Mercedes-Benz from conducting cold-weather testing on its FCV, expected to hit the consumer market in 2010. In its tests, MB has discovered few problems with cold starts, but found that fuel-cell vehicles require recalibrated ESP systems. Although it doesn’t see a very bright immediate future for FCVs, Honda will introduce the FCX Clarity FCV later in 2008.
Photo Credit: Pierre Benker
Most Consumers Won’t Pay For Green Vehicle Technologies
March 24, 2008
A new study by JD Power and Associates shows that only 11 percent of US consumers are “very willing” to pay more for environmentally friendly vehicle technologies. A study of nearly 45,000 new car buyers found that those buyers most likely to pay a premium for green vehicles were female and were concentrated in the western United States. The lowest concentration of female green-technology fans was found in the Midwest. The report said that only one in ten of women in this demographic actually purchased a green vehicle.
John Osborne, research director at JD Powers and Associates, points out that most consumers think of hybrid vehicles as being the only environmentally responsible alternative, but consumers can do their part to help the environment simply by purchasing vehicles that consume less fuel and release less CO2 into the atmosphere.
The study indicates that green-vehicle supporters are more likely to purchase a compact car than the average car-buying population and that they are more likely to have driven a compact car in the past. The study author suggests that people who buy green vehicles are already programmed to look for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, and green vehicle technology is a natural extension to that.
Currently, hybrid vehicles comprise less than 2.5 percent of the overall vehicle market, but this number is expected to change dramatically as more manufacturers introduce hybrid and alternative vehicles to the marketplace, and the price of gasoline continues to rise.
The study examined hybrid-car buyers and found that overall, they are more highly educated, have a higher average household income and are about four years older than the average new car buyer. Hybrid vehicle buyers also tend to advocate more positively for their hybrid vehicles than non-hybrid car buyers do, and are comfortable reading publications like The New Yorker, Sunset and Wired, and tend to watch CNN and CNN Headline News.
BMW May Bring Hybrid-Electric To US Market
March 21, 2008
BMW is reportedly considering a hybrid-electric for the US market in response to recently tightened CAFE regulations. Under the terms of the new regulations, BMW will be reclassified as a “large vehicle manufacturer” in 2012, meaning that it will be required to offer at least one zero CO2-emission vehicle in its product line. To meet this requirement, BMW is considering an all-electric mini-car or a hybrid that meets the emission standard. The news is somewhat surprising, since BMW has been developing a hydrogen-powered vehicle that would meet the CAFE standard for carbon emissions.
Reportedly, BMW is considering a technology switch because the required infrastructure for supporting hydrogen-powered vehicles is still undeveloped, and is not expected to be available by the 2012 regulatory deadline. Additionally, BMW is considering a joint venture with another manufacturer to produce the vehicle. Such a collaboration would give each manufacturer a vehicle that meets the emission regulations, while still allowing them to concentrate on other technologies for future vehicle production. The company will make a decision about the joint venture later this year.
Rumors of a BMW mini-car and an all-electric vehicle have been swirling. Several other manufacturers have been working on mini-cars, including Nissan, Mitsubishi and Audi. Audi is working on a production version of the AI Metroproject concept it debuted at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Show
Lotus Tri-Fuel Concept Makes An Appearance At Geneva Show
March 20, 2008
Sports car manufacturer Lotus showed its latest tri-fuel concept at the Geneva auto show. The Lotus Exige Tri-Fuel 270E can run on gasoline, ethanol or methanol. The company has been researching the production of carbon-neutral synthetic methanol. The system extracts CO2 from the atmosphere and combines it with hydrogen to power the vehicle.
The use of synthetic alcohol fuels would allow the continued use of internal combustion engines. Liquid methanol could be stored, transported and sold similarly to gasoline or diesel fuel, and would require only minor design modifications to fuel lines, the fuel injection system, the fuel tank, control software and additional sensors for existing vehicles. It would also work well in turbocharging and supercharging vehicle designs. The concept vehicle also generates hydrogen through the electrolysis of water.
Another advantage of this approach is that the extraction of CO2 from the atmosphere is already understood. The idea would face the production challenges of creating large quantities of methanol. Initially, the company suggests, the synthetic fuel could be created by locating a nuclear or hydroelectric plant near a conventional one and combining CO2 from the atmosphere or from the biomass with hydrogen from the power plant. Ultimately, production would shift from biomass sources to atmospheric sources for the CO2
According to the company, the technology could be ready for production use in the next four to five years. Lotus is conducting its synthetic alcohol-based fuel research at its facility in Norfolk, UK and is also pursuing electric and hybrid-electric technologies, such as its recently announced low-CO2 emission three-cylinder engine.
USDOE Licenses Li-ion Battery Technology
March 19, 2008
The US Department of Energy has reached agreement with the Toda Kogyo corporation to mass produce novel cathodes for Li-ion batteries. The cathodes will be used to create safer batteries for laptops, cell phones, and hybrid-electric vehicles. The research on the new cathode materials was conducted at the Argonne National Laboratory and will improve the safety and lifespan of Li-ion batteries over conventional cobalt cathodes.
The new cathodes are a composite of lithium and manganese mixed-metal oxides. In addition to providing better overall life and safety, the cathodes offer a longer mean time between charge cycles. The lithium-metal oxide composite is inherently more stable than cobalt-based cathodes. The composite is inactive, which means that it reduces side-reactions that occur in the presence of oxygen and reduce the cathode’s lifespan and raise safety issues. The new composite cathodes allow the cells to be recharged at a higher voltage and improve the battery’s energy storage capacity.
The research was intended to improve the safety and operational performance of vehicle batteries and is the latest in a number of cathode, anode and electrolyte improvements to emerge from Argonne. To meet the production demands for the new technology, Toda will use existing plants in Japan, as well as a newly acquired plant in Detroit. Toda will also use production capacity at an existing facility in Sarnia, Ontario to produce raw materials needed for battery production. Toda’s current production capacity for the materials exceeds 4,000 metric tons.
Photo Credit: Argonne National Laboratory
More Manufacturers Are Turning To Electric Vehicles
March 18, 2008
Nissan and Mitsubishi have both announced plans to release an all-electric vehicle to the US market by 2010. Nissan will debut its all-electric concept at the 2008 New York Auto Show. The company plans to introduce an all-electric fleet vehicle to the US and Japanese markets by 2010, and intends to have a modified consumer version ready by 2012. Nissan has been experimenting with Li-ion batteries for its Cube vehicle, but the company has not indicated whether it plans to use the Cube as the basis for its electric vehicle program. The company has not released any significant details of its all-electric vehicle, except to say that it expects the product to operate at a top speed of 75 MPH and offer a range of about 100 miles between charges.
Mitsubishi Motors also recently announced that it plans to bring an electric vehicle to market by 2010. The company hopes to be the first major manufacturer to market with an all-electric vehicle, competing with GM and Toyota for that distinction. In a statement, the company indicated that its strategy would be to manufacture cars that are less expensive and friendlier to the environment. As part of the strategy, the company will focus on mini-cars, small cars and efficient, mid-sized SUVs. Mitsubishi will also place a special focus on emerging markets in Russia, Brazil, the Middle East, China and India.
Nissan and Mitsubishi plan to collaborate on the creation of a mini-car. Neither company has said that they will collaborate on an electric vehicle, although their release targets for market-ready electric vehicles are identical. That collaboration could also include working on light commercial vehicles.
