Development Costs Won’t Stop Daimler Diesel-Electric Hybrid
April 22, 2008
According to Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, the company will market an advanced diesel hybrid, regardless of the development costs. Daimler joins a growing number of companies willing to take the pledge. Zetsche points out that legislation will soon require higher fuel economy standards that can only be met by the development of hybrid technologies. In contrast, other automakers insist that hybrid technologies will be brought to market only at the rate at which consumers are willing to pay for them.
Adding to the debate was Margo Oge’s statements at the 2008 SAE World Congress in Detroit last week. Oge, who is the director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality department, said that she believes that automakers may be need to offer 75-mpg vehicles by the 2030’s, in order to achieve the 2050 greenhouse emissions reductions goals of 50%-80%.
In practice, however, the State of California recently blinked for the second time in five years on its zero-emission vehicle standards, reducing the number of ZEVs required to be on the road, increasing the number of acceptable non-ZEV technologies and lengthening the time in which automakers have to comply with the state’s mandate. Additionally, states with ZEV standards patterned after California’s are expected to lower their ZEV requirements accordingly.
Meanwhile, demand for oil is expected to increase from its current levels of 85 million barrels per day to 120 million barrels per day by 2030, largely due to increased demand for vehicles in China an India. According to GM, the size of the world’s auto fleet could also increase to more than one billion in the same time.
Some experts expect biofuels to take up the slack, but recent interest in the formulations has not produced a clear-cut solution. Corn, a popular biofuel component, is a staple in the diet of many. Rising demand for corn for biofuel production has reduced the amount of corn available for food. Mexico has seen the price of corn jump more than 400 percent in the past year, which has spurred protests from people who cannot afford to pay the increased cost of flour, tortillas and other corn-based products.
Biofuel technology may also be lacking. Congressional mandates also call for an increase in the use of biofuels, and all gasoline sold in the US by 2013 must be a 10% ethanol formulation. Congress has also ordered the production of cellulosic ethanol, a technology that’s still under development, and may not be ready for widespread use in time to comply with the legislation.
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