HOV Lanes

Last week, I traveled to Irvine California for a job interview. During my trip, I was extremely upset about the HOV lanes.... they were empty. I was upset for two reasons. One, there were very very few cars using the HOV lanes and second, the remaining 4 to 5 lanes were traveling at a snails pace. Traffic was bumper to bumper and would have moved must faster if the HOV lanes were being used by more cars.

While I'd love to see people traveling 2-3 in each vehicle... or even more. It wasn't happening that day. I asked a friend about this and he said its always like that. UGH. Very upsetting and frustrating.

We need more people using the HOV lanes. I 100% agree with that. However, if people are not using them... we need to use them for everyone else.... since they are using much more fuel just sitting there in traffic while the HOV lanes are empty. Opening up the HOV lanes to others, when not being used by HOV commuters, would save a significant amount of energy.

The State of California has given a small number of hybrid cars and trucks the ability to use the HOV lanes, they need to expand that and allow all hybrids and electric cars to use it. In addition, it would be great if they also allowed other energy efficient vehicles access. They could even charge for its use and then use that money to expand access to energy efficient cars and trucks.

While this was California, I'm confident that this situation is happening across American, where HOV lanes exist. I applaud the concept, however, if its not working as intended, it needs to change. The objective is laudable, the program just needs to be modified to better promote energy conservation and reduced our reliance on fossil fuels.

Solar Electric Cars

I live in California, where there are many sunny days every year. During the summer, when the sun is out, many drivers seek out the shade. But what if cars had solar panels... sitting in the sun, while your at work... or shopping... means your cars batteries were getting charged. Or on those hour long drives, your battery was getting charged as you sit on the highway in traffic. This would also be possible in many parts of the US and world.

We are not too far from being at a point where this might be possible. Today we have reliable hybrid technology, gasoline-electric... all we need to do is add the solar to the equation. Solar panels to the top of the car... connected to the battery... providing a constant charge. For a time until battery technology improves, we would keep the gasoline component for reliability.

I haven't read much about any car makers exploring the use of solar. I hope they are... solar is clean and unlimited.

Plug-In Hybrids...

The article below is somewhat of a no brainer...more hybrids will cut greenhouse gases. The good news is the popular press is covering this... especially foxnews.com . The more people are comfortable with this and come to expect that we are all moving in this direction... the faster we can get there. Of course, the study suggest a date of 2050 for significant number of hybrid cars on the road... we need to move faster than that, that is over 43 years from now.

Study: Plug-In Hybrids Could Sharply Cut Greenhouse Gases

Friday, July 20, 2007

WASHINGTON — If motorists used rechargeable "plug-in" hybrid-electric vehicles in large numbers, the U.S. could see a significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century, says a study released Thursday.

Researchers estimated that with a market share of about 60 percent or more plug-ins, the vehicles could help reduce approximately 450 million metric tons in greenhouse gas emissions a year by 2050.

The reductions would be the equivalent of removing 82 million passenger cars, or about one-third of the cars currently on the road.

• Click here to visit FOXBusiness.com's Energy Center.

The study was conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit research group, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

It was based on an analysis of data from the federal Energy Information Agency and EPRI.

(Story continues below)

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"Plug-in hybrids are a major solution to the climate change crisis that we're facing and the electric utility industry is indeed capable of taking over a large section of the fueling transportation sector without adding significant new capacity," said John Duncan, deputy general manager of Texas-based Austin Energy.

Researchers said a significant increase in plug-ins would lead to only a minor increase in demand for electricity.

An increase of 7 percent to 8 percent of electric use would reduce nearly 4 million barrels of oil per day by 2050, said Mark Duvall, program manager with the Electric Power Research Institute and one of the study's authors.

The study estimated that with a more limited use of plug-ins, or about 20 percent of the market, the vehicles could remove approximately 180 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year by 2050.

A separate study by the organizations found that plug-in vehicles also could lead to small improvements in the nation's air quality. Most regions of the country would see improvements in ambient air quality and the reduction of pollutants, they found.

Plug-in hybrids are being developed by several automakers, including General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F), DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX) and Toyota Motor Corp. (TM)

The vehicles typically feature batteries that power an electric motor with an internal combustion engine used when the batteries run low.

Owners plug the batteries into a standard wall outlet to recharge it, typically at night. The study assumed that three-quarters of the charging would take place at night during the off-peak hours of the electric grid.

A number of obstacles persist for plug-ins. Automakers and battery companies have been working to improve the durability of the batteries, improve the vehicle's range and assess the impact that wide use of the vehicles would have on the nation's electric grid.

Conventional hybrid gas-electric vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius, comprise only about 2 percent of the vehicle market.

General Motors, which is developing the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in electric car with a range of 40 miles on the battery and more than 600 miles with a gas engine, has said it hopes its plug-ins can reach showrooms by 2010.

Tony Posawatz, GM's vehicle line director, said the automaker expected to begin testing advanced batteries from suppliers in coming months that could be used in the Volt.

The study was funded by a broad number of interests, including investor-owned utilities, public power agencies, state and federal agencies, public interest groups and foundations, said Steven Specker, EPRI's president and chief executive officer.

GM Finally Gets in the Electric Car Business.....

The article below indicates that GM has a plug-in vehicle on track for production on 2010. While they are far behind Toyota in the area of alternative and renewable cars and trucks, this is very good news.

My only complaint is that it is going to take another 3 years to get to the point that the vehicle is in production. We can do better. As an American company, if they mustered additional resources behind the effort, if they sought more assistance from academia and government...we need to be full steam ahead...we can't afford to wait another 3 years.

GM to begin testing Volt electric car by spring

Product chief Bob Lutz says the plug-in vehicle is on track for production in 2010.

August 9 2007: 1:49 PM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Reuters) -- General Motors Corp. will begin road testing its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid in the spring of next year and remains on track to produce the rechargeable car by late 2010, a senior executive said Thursday.

As the race to bring a mass-market, rechargeable electric vehicle to the market heats up, GM's global product chief Bob Lutz said he expects to have next-generation lithium-ion battery packs ready for the vehicles by October this year.

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"We should have the battery packs by October," he said, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference. "We'll have some on the road for testing next spring, and we should have the Volt in production by the end of 2010."

GM (up $0.22 to $35.04, Charts, Fortune 500) is the only automaker to have provided a timeline on the production of a plug-in hybrid vehicle, even though other companies, such as Ford Motor Co. (down $0.38 to $8.49, Charts, Fortune 500) and Toyota Motor Corp. (down $3.33 to $119.89, Charts) are working on similar technology.

Automakers have said lithium-ion battery technology remains the biggest challenge in producing a plug-in vehicle as they try to lower the cost of the batteries and increase their power and storage capacity.

Toyota to road test plug-in hybrid

The current generation of lithium-ion batteries, used in devices such as laptop computers and electronic devices, also has a tendency to overheat.

The Volt would be outfitted with new lithium-ion battery packs, which hold a charge longer than the nickel metal hydride batteries now used widely in automobiles.

"The cost of the battery would likely be high even at the time of production," Lutz said, adding that GM is exploring options that would allow consumers to lease the battery when buying the vehicle in order to bring down the sticker price.

Unlike earlier gasoline-electric hybrids, which run on a parallel system twinning battery power and a combustion engine, plug-in cars are designed to allow short trips powered entirely by the electric motor, using a battery that can be charged through an electric socket at home.

GM is designing the highly-anticipated Volt to run 40 miles on battery power alone, reducing or even eliminating the need for drivers to fuel up an on-board gasoline-powered engine provided as a backup power source.

Lutz said GM is requiring a 10-year life for the battery, and said the No. 1 U.S. automaker would look to price the vehicle like a "traditional mid-market car."

GM is racing rival Toyota to offer the first mass-market electric vehicle. Toyota last month unveiled a "plug-in" car based on its popular Prius hybrid model, saying it would test the fuel-saving vehicle on public roads - a first for the industry.

Tesla all-electric Roadster to hit road by year end

But Toyota said the car, called the Toyota Plug-in HV, is not fit for commercialization because it uses low-energy nickel-metal hydride batteries instead of lithium-ion batteries, believed to be a better fit for rechargeable plug-in cars.

Environmental advocates have been pressing automakers to roll out plug-in vehicles that could be recharged at standard electric outlets as a way to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions.

In June, GM announced contracts with two companies - a subsidiary of South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. called Compact Power Inc. and Germany's Continental AG to work on parallel battery development programs for the Volt.

On Thursday, GM announced another contract with A123 Systems, which has been working with Continental on battery technology.

GM said both Compact Power and A123 could end up providing the batteries for the Volt, or only one of them might meet the automaker's requirements.

USA Today Hybrid Article

Check out this article in USA Today and my comments. Read Article.