Hydraulic Biodiesel Hybrid To Debut At Denver Auto Show

The three-door vehicle is powered by a 240-hp biodiesel hydraulic drive train and also features cameras in place of side view mirrors to increase efficiency and decrease drag. The LH4 has no conventional transmission, which makes the car lighter and more fuel-efficient. The company also says that the vehicle recaptures 100 percent of the energy lost when braking.

Lightning Hybrids is working on the development of a three-wheeled vehicle that uses the same drive train, and will create a retrofit kit that makes the drivetrain available to other vehicles. Once in production, the vehicle will sell for between $39,000 and $59,000. The cars and retrofit kits are expected to be available in mid-2010.

Photo Credit: Lightning Hybrids

CMU Says Volt Won't Be A Consumer Hit

Despite GM's protestations about the desirability of the car's 40-mile all-electric range, the cost to manufacture and replace the Li-ion battery pack will doom the car's commercial success, and relegate it to a collector curiosity. According to the report, smaller cars with smaller battery packs will provide better consumer value than the Volt will. Hybrids with an all-electric range of ten miles or less or improvements to current hybrid design will more likely provide the consumer with the right mix of fuel efficiency, acquisition and operational costs, and charging times.

Jeremy Michalek wrote a professor of engineering at CMU the study, which will be published in a future issue of Energy Policy. The research team constructed computer models of PHEVs that account for the impact of various battery sizes on fuel economy, greenhouse gas emissions and charging cycles.

The study found that for moderate travel, which the group defined as those trips between 20 and 100 miles, PHEVs produced fewer greenhouse gas emissions, but fell short on cost-effectiveness. The models indicated that hybrid electric vehicles were more cost efficient with the study's controls. PHEVs became more attractive from a cost perspective only when the price of fuel was high, the price of batteries was low, the cost of electricity generation was reduced or other costs, like carbon taxes, were added to the model.

Carbon taxes are not currently applied as such, however the automakers do face fines if the combined average fuel economy of their fleet does not meet federal standards. Regulations do not govern the tailpipe emissions of any model in particular, so models with lower fuel efficiency and higher carbon emissions can be offset by sales of higher fuel economy models from the same manufacturer.

Recently, several states won the right to regulate tailpipe emissions, a reversal of a long-standing policy that preserved federal control of vehicle emissions. The change in policy means that states can enact tougher emissions standards than those imposed by the federal government. Even with increased restrictions on emissions, and changes to other study variables, the author concludes that the most effective PHEVs will be small urban vehicles whose drivers have access to regular charging facilities.

Source: Carnegie Mellon University PDF link

Photo Credit: MR38

NTEA Show Features Hybrid Work Trucks

In addition to providing fuel economy on the road, the hybrid system can also power booms, aerial buckets and tools for up to 90 minutes without needing power from the engine. The system significantly reduces carbon emissions and noise associated with the trucks. Navistar is sponsoring the City of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Kraft Foods also announced that it had taken delivery of an International DuraStar Refrigerated Hybrid delivery truck this week. The truck is the first of its kind, and Kraft will use it to deliver frozen foods to retail outlets. According to Mike Cole, Kraft's North American Director of Transportation, the truck is part of the company's efforts to reduce carbon emissions and fuel consumption. The new vehicle is expected to produce a fuel savings of as much as 30 percent over a conventionally powered delivery truck.

Honda has also added a Class 8 hybrid delivery vehicle to its fleet. The truck, which is built for Honda by Peterbilt, will be used to deliver parts to dealerships in Tennessee and Georgia. The company will evaluate the truck's performance in comparison to a conventional vehicle that drives the same routes. The test period for the truck is expected to last about a year.

The truck features a parallel hybrid system developed by Eaton Corp. The hybrid system powers the truck's climate control systems and electrical accessories, and incorporates stop-start technology to provide electrical power when the vehicle is idling.

Photo Credit: Image Courtesy of Navistar

New Hybrid Technology May Cut Fuel Consumption In Half

Artemis Intelligent Power has converted a BMW 530 sedan to demonstrate the system. The computer-controlled hydraulic transmission system outperforms other hydraulic hybrid designs. Under test conditions in Europe, the modified BMW 530 used 52.7 percent less fuel than a regular gasoline-powered BMW530i. The system was also tested in the US under more aggressive test circumstances. In addition to a significant reduction in gasoline consumption, the modified prototype reduces carbon emissions by 30 percent.

In the US, the system achieved a reduction in fuel consumption of one-third, which compares favorably to the Toyota Prius and other highly fuel-efficent hybrids. The engineers at Artemis Intelligent Power are confident that the technology will be widely adopted in the next decade because it is cheaper to produce than current hybrid electric drive trains, and could eliminate the "hybrid premium" that currently prevents more drivers from adopting the technology. The company has already licensed the technology to commercial partners, including Bosch-Rexroth.

Photo Credit: Artemis Intelligent Power

Kia Will Introduce Hybrids, Stop-Start in Geneva

The ISG (Idle Stop&Go) automatically switches the vehicle's gasoline-engine off when the vehicle is idling. The ISG will offer a choice of a 1.4L or 1.6L engine, in three different body styles, including a hatchback, a sport wagon and a three-door sedan. Billed as a family vehicle, the emphasis of the ISG will be on passenger comfort and fuel economy. According to the company, the stop-start technology will improve fuel economy by 15% over similar vehicles without the same technology.

Kia will also display its prototype hybrid fleet. The vehicles will be produced for testing in the European market. The basic hybrid powertrain includes a 1.6L gasoline engine combined with a 15kW electric motor, a continuously variable transmission and Kia's ISG system. According to the company, the hybrid prototypes can go from 0-60 in a stately 11.8 seconds and achieves nearly 50 mpg. In addition, the CO2 emissions for the prototypes are measured at 109g/km, a reduction of 25% from the company's conventional 1.6L gasoline engine.

Photo Credit: Kia Motors

Aptera Close To Starting Production On EV

The Aptera 2e is a three-wheeled creature that seats just two passengers, and according to the company, will get more than 100 mpg and the company says the hybrid version, the Aptera 2h - available sometime in 2010 - will average more than 300 mpg. The company, whose assembly plant is in Vista, CA, will start cranking out vehicles with a very distinct profile in the fourth quarter of 2009. The vehicles will range in price from $25,000 to $40,000.

The company says that it has taken reservations for more than 4,000 vehicles to date and expects the Aptera to appeal mostly to tech-savvy men who are looking for a second or third vehicle. Initially, the company expects to produce about 10,000 vehicles per year and has plans to step up production to 100,000 units in the next two years.

Aptera is being fronted by Idealab, Esenjay Petroleum and Google.org, but its three-wheel design excludes it from eligibility for interest loans from the federal government for fuel-efficient cars. No matter, the company says; it has plenty of cash to fulfill its Q4 production. Aptera is still taking reservations for vehicles. To reserve an Aptera, visit the company Web site. You'll need to put down a $500 refundable deposit and be prepared to wait.

Now for the bad news: you can't buy an Aptera 2e unless you live in California. The company is working to get sales restrictions in other states lifted but has no timetable for expanded sales.

Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy of Aptera

Pneumatic Hybrid Eliminates Need For Batteries, Motors

While the designs still have major drawbacks – compressed air has a relatively low energy density, and the pneumatic engines are not very efficient – the new design uses automated controls to improve the overall fuel economy of the engine. With the new hybrid design, regenerative braking doesn't play as large a role in recapturing wasted energy, though it is still incorporated into the system. The design does use pneumatics to improve the efficiency of the gasoline engine.

The design calls for a very small gasoline engine – 750-ml – which is used to provide power to the vehicle at cruising speed. Compressed air used for acceleration in a process called supercharging. Supercharging burns more fuel than normal during the acceleration phase and according to the designer, is free from the lag drivers typically experience with a turbocharger. The system also features a stop-start mechanism that cuts the gasoline engine when the vehicle is idling.

Guzzella will show his design at the Society For Automotive Engineer's Congress in April 2009. Most of his efficiency figures come from computer modeling, and he will continue to tweak the model to achieve greater efficiencies. He has built a basic, functional prototype of the system as well. One of the major advantages of Guzzella's design is that it does not require major modifications to a conventional gasoline-powered drive train. While it's not precisely a drop-in substitution, the design does lend itself easily to conversion.

Source: Technology Review
Photo Credit: Lucas Pettinati, via Flickr

Hybrid Sales Aren't Keeping Automakers Afloat

Average gas prices in January remained below $2 in most parts of the US, reducing consumer drive for hybrid vehicles even farther. Automakers are now increasing buyer incentives to purchase hybrid vehicles, something not seen as late as last summer, when dealer inventories of hybrid vehicles were non-existent. Currently, consumers are seeing average incentives on hybrid vehicles of about $1,000, while average incentives on conventional vehicles are declining. So far, that approach hasn't worked very well. Most manufacturers reported even sharper-than-overall declines in sales of hybrid vehicles during the month of January.

Most of the major automakers have reported steep production cuts and have idled factories in an effort to soak up excess inventory of new vehicles. In addition, the automakers are partnering with banks and credit unions to extend low-interest financing on new car purchases.

One element of the stimulus plan may help. The Senate briefly considered adding a provision that would offer vouchers to car buyers who trade in any vehicle older than 10 years for a newer car that achieves at least 25 mpg, and would have to get at least 5 miles more per gallon than the trade-in. The provision was subject to income limitations of $75,000 and excluded households that owned more than two vehicles. The proposal, originally offered by Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, was pulled amid concerns of the mushrooming bailout bill, now said to exceed $900 billion.

Another proposal still under consideration offers vouchers of up to $4,500 for owners who trade in less fuel-efficient vehicles for ones that achieve substantially better fuel economy. That proposal has come under fire by the UAW, which says that the proposal promotes the sale of foreign vehicles.

Photo Credit: Tracy Apps, via Flickr