CleanCarTalk » hybrid cars

OPEC Number One Enemy of Hybrid Cars and Electric Cars

Cuong Huynh — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:33:43 +0000

It’s great to talk about all these great things hybrid cars and electric cars can do for us. Being independent from foreign oil, cleaning up the environment, reducing global warming effects, creating more green jobs, etc. Here’s why I think hybrid cars and electric cars may never become mainstream in many lifetimes to come: OPEC is hybrid cars’ and electric cars’ number one enemy. Not technology challenges, not infrastructure challenges, not political challenges.

Yes that OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. I’m talking specifically OPEC’s livelihood. No I don’t care for OPEC’s livelihood, and I’m sure they don’t care much for you and me. But I know OPEC countries do care about keeping us dependent on their oil. OPEC declares on OPEC’s website, “OPEC’s mission is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital to those investing in the petroleum industry.”

Now, you and I understand livelihood. Livelihood is something you can’t mess around with. It is the lifeblood of our existence. It is the source of life. Without livelihood, a means of supporting and sustaining our lives, we are in deep trouble. “Steady income” and “fair return on capital” are OPEC’s livelihood, and they will protect it with all their powers like any business would protect its livelihood.

So how is OPEC keeping hybrid cars and electric cars from replacing fossil fuel cars? Well beside the fact that these cars still depend on petroleum products (think lubricants, plus the cars’ production and transportation,) OPEC can always adjust oil prices to levels that will just make owning a hybrid car and electric car uneconomical. No matter what most of us say in surveys, we’ll always vote with our wallets when it comes to purchasing consumer products.

I’m just playing devil’s advocate here. Or maybe not.

What’s your opinion on this?

OPEC Number One Enemy of Hybrid Cars and Electric Cars is a post from: CleanCarTalk

Battery Pack Balancing – The Key to Maintain Top Hybrid and Electric Car Performance

Cuong Huynh — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:00:24 +0000

As the automobile industry moves toward alternative energy vehicles, near-term solutions include the already popular hybrid cars and the upcoming electric cars. Ironically, the single common performance killer among these new breeds of cars turns out to be their energy storage or battery packs that help them achieve their high mileage. Batteries tend to be unreliable and greatly affect the performance of any hybrid or electric car. Reliability of hybrid or electric cars can be improved with proper battery pack balancing.

Why is Battery Pack Balancing Needed?

Battery pack balancing is the maintenance of each battery cell, which centers on preventing the cells from reaching the minimum and maximum limits with every full charge and discharge cycle. Balancing the battery pack’s SOC, or state of charge, and making sure that the battery stays at an optimal level between full charge and full depletion can help your battery stay in great condition and can considerably lengthen the life of a single battery pack.

The full depletion of a battery pack is not advised since the extreme ends of a battery’s charge can sometimes cause changes to the electrode surfaces of the batteries. This sometimes happen due to SOC deposits that affect the original composition of the batteries. This may then lead to battery problems and possibly cell damage. To keep the battery pack balanced, the recommended operation is in the mid 30% to 50% of the SOC.

The Challenge of Battery Pack Balancing

Battery pack balancing is not a straightforward exercise. One of the most commonly advised practices is to charge each battery cell individually using separate low-voltage chargers instead of charging them together using a high-voltage charger. This will help prevent imbalance, though it could be a bit taxing and time-consuming to have to use multiple chargers. It is also advisable to shuffle the charges from high to low SOC, though this would require complex circuits and may be faced with certain limitations.

Battery pack designers also recommend the use of shunt clamps while charging. By shunting the current from one battery to the next each time a battery pack reaches the necessary clamp voltage, every battery will remain in the same maximum starting voltage. Aside from that, the use of a passive network may also be helpful. A passive network is an affordable and a manageable way of equalizing the voltage, but make sure to avoid deep discharges as this may affect the life span of the battery pack.

Battery Pack Monitoring

In order to ensure that the battery pack is optimally balanced, monitoring the pack closely is critical. Failing batteries should be identified and replaced when necessary. If a failing battery is not determined in a timely manner and left to continue to function within the pack, it can weaken the battery and its pack, and adversely affect the performance of your hybrid or electric car.

Battery pack monitoring is thus a significant function for proper battery pack balancing. Read more on “Design Considerations for Keeping Your Battery Pack in Top Performance: Balancing and Equalization vs. Pack Monitoring.”

Battery Pack Balancing – The Key to Maintain Top Hybrid and Electric Car Performance is a post from: CleanCarTalk

First Automobile Works – Aggressive Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Manufacturer to China’s Market

Cuong Huynh — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:58:33 +0000

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of articles peeking into clean car industries and car manufacturers of China, India, South Korea and Germany. Please send comments and suggestions using our Contact page or by leaving a comment at the end of this article.

China FAW Group Corporation is currently billed as the number one automobile maker in China, and is also one of the oldest in the industry, dating back to 1953. FAW Group, or more commonly know as simply FAW, has a wide-ranging base of products, from passenger cars, mini (utility) vehicles, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks, to commercial trucks, buses and coaches.

FAW also makes components and parts such as wheel rims, truck axles, engine parts and pumps. In recent years, FAW also entered several joint ventures with Toyota and other manufacturers in other countries such as Russia. In fact, its joint venture with Toyota became the reason for the existence of the Toyota Prius. Toyota also produced the Vios and Corolla models through a partnership with FAW’s Tianjin unit. Aside from that, FAW also worked with Volkswagen AG and came up with a high-tech production facility that produces large numbers of cars every year. The company has now grown to become the China FAW Group Corporation from its humble beginnings as a truck maker, and from 1953 up to the present, it has remained at the forefront of China’s car industry. Until now, it maintains its truck market but has expanded and is offering high-quality cars to other markets as well.

Another market that First Automobile Works is currently tapping is the clean car market. The industry has yet to grow, but First Automobile Works is working hard to achieve its goals in the clean car segment. Aside from its continuous efforts in improving sales and production of its current market offerings, the company is also paying attention to the production and development of hybrid cars.

FAW and Toyota Collaboration

One of the most popular and significant advancements in the clean car industry is the Toyota Prius, a heavily marketed hybrid car produced by Toyota in collaboration with FAW. Produced a few years back, the Prius was released in China after Toyota and FAW entered a 50-50 partnership venture. The Prius is a 1.5L vehicle and consumes 40.5% less fuel than the 1.6L gasoline vehicle Toyota Corolla. Recently Toyota announced that its latest generation Toyota Prius will start selling in China in 2010. Despite the Prius’ relatively high price tag (up to 280,000 yuan or US$41,000,) Toyota has reason to be optimistic with expected consumer incentives by China’s central government to spur sales of clean cars including electric and hybrids. Source: gasgoo.com.

China’s automobile industry is very ripe for the introduction of hybrid cars. With the Chinese government wholly supportive and with the subsidies being offered to taxi fleets as well as tax benefits offered to consumers who patronize clean cars, car manufacturers such as FAW and Toyota recognize that there is no better time to introduce hybrid cars to the Chinese market than now. These efforts to further the development of clean cars aim to reduce pollution and relieve oil shortage problems being experienced not just in China but all over the world. Nonetheless, the Toyota and FAW partnership is also planning to release about 400,000 compact, medium, and high-end buses and sedans by the year 2010 to the Chinese market.

More hybrid cars are being planned for release under FAW brand. In fact, the entire FAW Group is expected to release around 1,600 hybrid cars before the year 2012 ends. During the same timeframe, the company is hoping to produce 800 hybrid buses. Most of the hybrid cars are planned to have hybrid engine technologies sourced from Japan’s top car makers. Its hybrid vehicle products produced together with Toyota are expected to hit the global market since Toyota aims to distribute said products globally. These upcoming clean cars will be produced at a special hybrid car facility. FAW has also shown its determination to see the said project through to the end by increasing its investments. There is surely a lot to wait for from FAW.

CA6100SH8 Hybrid Coach

Since the early 1990s, many global bus chassis manufacturers followed FAW’s lead by making large investments toward the research and development of commercially viable hybrid-powered bus platform. With a strong code of environmental responsibility, FAW gave priority status to the development of new cutting edge hybrid bus chassis in early 2002 that could both lower vehicle emissions and increase fuel economy.

Envisioning the potential of FAW’s new technology, the project received full support from China’s central government, who has taken an aggressive stance within the current 5 year national development plan to reduce both emissions and fuel consumption nationwide. Through the joint efforts of FAW Group’s R & D Center and FAW Bus & Coach Company, two prototype hybrid-powered buses were completed by the Wuxi division of FAW Bus & Coach on Dec. 10, 2005.

The factory is now set to begin mass production of the new hybrid CA6100SH8 municipal transit bus, designed for today’s increasingly popular BRT systems (bus rapid transit) and traditional inner city mass transit. This revolutionary new model with 10 proprietary patents delivers a fuel economy increase of 38% and an emissions reduction of 30%, compared to traditional buses. With a Euro 3 emissions rating, the new 80kW parallel hybrid drive system is scheduled for Euro 4 certification by late 2006.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, twenty of these CA6100SH8 hybrid bus, called hybrid “City Bus,” successfully completed field trials on real passenger routes within the Olympic sector. The “City Bus” hybrid buses employed Enova Systems’ pre-transmission hybrid drive systems, and “exceeded all expectations” according to Liu Minghue, the Executive Director of Engineering for the FAW hybrid-electric transit bus trial.

Jiefang CA6120URH hybrid bus

This month Enova confirmed that it has delivered the first seventy (70) pre-transmission hybrid drive systems to First Auto Works. FAW has ordered an additional one hundred-fifty (150) hybrid drive systems for delivery in 2009. The Enova drive system will be integrated and branded in FAW buses under the name of Jiefang CA6120URH hybrid. The Jiefang 12 meter (40 foot) low floor hybrid bus can carry 103 passengers and travel at a maximum speed of 85 kilometers an hour (km/h) or 53 miles per hour (mph.) The bus meets Euro III emission standards. It will consume only 30 liters of fuel every 100 kilometers (equivalent to 7.84 miles per gallon) and discharge 20 percent less emissions.

According to a report on busesline.com, the municipal government of Dalian has ordered 150 of the Jiefang hybrid buses. Fifty of them will be running in the city during the Summer Davos event, which is the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2009, conducted by the World Economic Forum from 10-12 September, 2009. In October, another 100 Jiefang hybrid power buses will go into use in Changchun city, capital of northeast China’s Jilin province.

Groundbreaking For New Hyrbid Bus Plant in Dalian

To keep up with China’s central government’s goal of 500,000 electric and hybrid vehicles over the next hew years, FAW Group Corporation held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new-energy bus plant at Dalian Economic & Technological Development Zone on June 5. Attendees to the ceremony included officials from Dalian city, President Xu Jianyi of FAW Group and Vice President Qin Huanming of FAW Group.

Construction of the new production base of the new-energy vehicle is one of the important parts of FAW Group’s development plan. The new plant is scheduled finishing construction in July 2010. The plant’s annual production capacity is planned to reach 3,000 units including 1,500 hybrid buses before the year of 2013.

Visit FAW website, Enovasystems.com

First Automobile Works – Aggressive Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Manufacturer to China’s Market is a post from: CleanCarTalk

History of the Electric Car

Cuong Huynh — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:03:28 +0000

Amidst all this excitement about bailout money, new clean diesel, hybrid and electric cars announcements, joint ventures and collaborations, and battery development progress, I though we’d take a brief look at the history of the electric car. We may learn something from it.

An electric car is a vehicle that uses electric motors for propulsion. It needs electricity to operate instead of an internal combustion engine, or ICE, that runs on fossil fuel such as diesel or gasoline. Despite its long history, electric cars never took off in popularity. Fossil fuels have always been cheap enough so there was no reason to look at alternatives. While the electric car (or its concept) has always been a part of the transportation landscape all along, recent momentum for more efficient energy use and better environmental impact has allow the electric car to quickly become prominent as the search for alternative fuel vehicles plays a more dominant role in the car industry.

Electricity that powers an electric car comes mainly from onboard sources such as a rechargeable energy storage system or battery packs. The energy storage system

can be charged externally by plugging the vehicle into a power source when not in operation, or
it can be charged while the car is in operation via a small engine.

The former is thus called the electric car, or plug-in electric car (among other variations,) and the latter is what we know today as the gasoline-hybrid, diesel-hybrid, or fuel-cell hybrid depending on the fuel source of the ICE. Collectively they are just called hybrid cars or hybrids for convenience.

Electric Cars – the Early Years

Electric cars have been around since the 1830s, dating back to a time even before diesel and gasoline engines were created. Although the exact year is not known, records show that the first electric carriage was created between 1832 and 1839 by Robert Anderson, a Scottish businessman. In 1835, the first electric car was created by Professor Sibrandus Stratingh from the Netherlands. When the 1840s rolled along, two significant contributors, Thomas Davenport and Robert Davidson, invented more advanced electric vehicles using non-rechargeable electric cells.

It took quite some time for this development to be followed. It was only in 1865 that Frenchman Gaston Plante came up with a better storage technology for electric energy. The technology that Plante pioneered made a significant contribution to the flourishing of electric cars. By 1867, a two-wheel cycle created by Franz Kravogl from Austria that used this specific technology was displayed at a Paris World Exhibition showcase. This technology was later on refined by another Frenchman, Camille Faure, several years later in 1881.

In the same year, Gustave Trouve, a French inventor, also revealed a three-wheeled car that ran on electricity at the International Exhibition of Electricity in Paris. Thanks to the support of France and Great Britain, widespread development of electric cars became possible. It was only later on, around 1891, that the Americans paid attention to the electric cars following the creation of an electric wagon that can hold six people by William Morrison and A. L. Ryker.

The Growth of Electric Cars

During their heyday, electric cars performed rather well in terms of speed, distance, and overall performance. In fact, in 1899, Camille Jenatzy was able to go up to 62 miles per hour (mph) or 100 km/h in an electric car called Jamais Contente, which can even go as fast as 66 mph (105.88 km/h) at maximum speed. Due to the great potential of electric cars in the market, the vehicles increased in number steadily through the early 1900s. By 1897, electric taxis were roaming the New York City streets.

Even with the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles in the picture, the electric cars progressed continuously. For a time, the electric cars sold more than the gas-based cars. The electric cars were warmly embraced by the upper class market and mostly in urban areas where light city driving is the norm. The easy to use nature of these vehicles also made them highly ideal for women drivers. However, due to the various limitations of the early electric cars, especially the limited speed, the electric cars could not prove its usefulness as driver demands continued.

Overall, the automotive industry was very much alive, and soon there came steam- and gasoline-powered vehicles in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Electric cars were found to be greatly advantageous over the other types of vehicles in the market because they produced no vibration, no noise, and no smell. They were also easy to use and to maintain unlike gas-powered cars that required gear shifting and steam cars that required longer start-up time and had less range. But since the electric cars were mostly sold to the upper classes, some of the vehicles featured luxurious and ornate carriages and very extravagant materials. All the way until the 1920s, the electric cars enjoyed great popularity.

Early 20th Century Decline of Electric Cars

The electric cars soon met their downfall, brought about by several factors. As more roads were developed, long distance travel became widespread, and the electric cars, which had limited range, could not match up to the needs of the new age. At around the same time, the Texas crude oil was discovered, and gasoline prices significantly fell, making gas-powered vehicles easily within reach of regular consumers. The gas-powered vehicles also received several various improvements (including the invention of the electric starter for automobile by Charles Kettering in 1912) that made them almost as easy to use as the electric cars. Gone were the days of hand-cranking the engine just to be able to drive somewhere.

Soon enough, the demand for ICE, or internal combustion engine, vehicles rose at such a rate that car companies started mass-producing the vehicles to answer to this growing demand. Led by Henry Ford, consumers welcomed several ICE vehicles into the market, and these vehicles were just more affordable and practical than the electric cars.

Despite its fate, the electric cars did not fade into oblivion. They were still used in special cases where the range is expectedly limited. However, when the 1930s came, the electric cars have all but disappeared and cease to be a viable commercial product.

Modern Revival of Electric Cars

It wasn’t until 1966 that U.S. Congress introduced a bill recommending electric cars as solutions to reduce air pollution What followed were a period of hits and misses that included various congressional laws and mandates, car industry attempts at making electric cars viable for consumers, and fleet operators trying out several electric car options in test programs. None proved successful enough as electric cars struggled against yet-ready electric drive technologies, fossil-fuel conglomerates including fuel producers and unwilling car manufacturers, and the general political environment that did not see strong values in electric cars.

In the early 1990s, California passed its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate that required two percent of the state’s vehicles to have no emissions by 1998 and 10 percent by 2003. But the law did not hold its mandate and became weaker over the years with lower and lower number of ZEVs it required.

During this time frame, a few thousand electric cars were made available from various manufacturers. There were the Chrysler TEVan, the GM EV1, the GM S10 EV, the Honda EV Plus hatchback car, the Ford Ranger EV, the Toyota Rav4 EV, and the Nissan Altra EV. The Toyota Prius sold nearly 18,000 units during its first production year in 1997. Despite this, the car makers did not strongly market the electric cars. The mandate was eventually revoked, faced by the protests of major oil companies, and most electric cars released were recalled and destroyed except for some Toyota Rav4 EV models that still circulated in the used market.

This brings us to the present day.

The Prius is now in its third generation after 12 years on the market; undeniably a great achievement! The Prius now has a true and serious competitor in the Honda Insight 2010. Other hybrid, electric and clean diesel cars by both new and existing carmakers have been announced to hit the market in the next several years. We may now have the perfect environmental, financial, political and technical conditions to truly foster an explosive growth of electric cars.

Sources:

PBS.org “NOW”: Timeline: Life & Death of the Electric Car
Wikipedia “Electric car“
About.com: Inventors “The History of Electric Vehicles“

History of the Electric Car is a post from: CleanCarTalk

Driving Behind a Hybrid – Soaring Blood Pressure or Good For Your Health?

Cuong Huynh — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:03:21 +0000

Ever find yourself driving behind a hybrid car?

With larger number of hybrids sharing the public roads, hybrid cars are becoming common sights everyday. So here’s the question: if you’re “caught” driving behind a hybrid, do you find your blood pressure soaring, or do you feel this is actually good for your health?

Now before everyone jumps on me for being mean or arrogant, let me explain. By design hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and the Honda Insight Hybrid get higher mileage due in large part to the electric motor drive and regenerative braking, or regen.

Regen is the capability of the electric motor and battery systems to recapture the forward momentum of the car during deceleration and convert the energy back into electricity that can be stored in the battery packs. Depending on specific car design, regen can occur as soon as you let off the accelerator pedal (simulating engine braking,) when you “ride” the brake pedal lightly (regen only with no friction brake,) and when you push harder on the brake to activate both friction and regen. Typically, regen is not active below certain low speed range, like around 7 mph.

By definition, then, when you’re coasting, you’re recharging your battery packs. It’s also a known technique among hybrid drivers that while coasting, either on flat road or downhill, lightly riding the brakes to activate just regen and not friction braking will give you more energy capture. Drivers can do this safely and only use friction brake to finally come to a complete stop.

So regen is an important part of the overall hybrid system performance. In fact slowly coming to a stop without hard braking has always been an age-old advice for conventional car drivers. We just choose to occasionally forget efficient driving techniques, that’s all. Hybrid car or not.

I guess driving behind a hybrid car, or driving like driving a hybrid car, is actually good for your health, and a lot of other people’s health too. Now if I can just deal with those hybrids driving faster than the speed limit on the highway, just because they can still get great mileage at high speeds with their more efficient engines.

For those interested, here’s some hard core hybrid drivers discussing regenerative braking on the GREENhybrid.com Forum on the Toyota Prius versus the Honda Civic Hybrid.

Driving Behind a Hybrid – Soaring Blood Pressure or Good For Your Health? is a post from: CleanCarTalk

Cars Made in India: A Survey of Indian Clean Car Industry

Cuong Huynh — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:03:55 +0000

India is becoming one of the most significant contributors to the car manufacturing industry. India’s name in the car industry has been practically synonymous with amazing breakthroughs especially in terms of car sizes and prices. Though not a giant in the global car market, India carmakers sure find ways to rock the market with their unusual offers. One of these is the iconic Tata Nano, which is currently one of the world’s cheapest cars, as well as the hybrid vehicle Scorpio from Mahindra and Mahindra and the electric car Reva G-Wiz. The Indian car manufacturers may not be churning out cars by the minute, but the cars they do come out with seem to command attention, because they are very affordable.

India is finding itself in a similar situation as China, where a huge population of consumers (approaching 1.2 billion people as of mid 2009) is increasing its consumption, and economic growth begins to add more demands for energy use. India has taken serious steps to begin mass production of clean cars such as hybrid cars and electric cars in the near future. In recent years, the concerns regarding global warming have propelled the Indian automotive industry to go in search of eco-friendly alternatives to help reduce pollution.

Hybrid cars including those made in India are expected to hit the Indian highways very soon. Hybrid cars will run on the combined power of electricity and an engine of various conventional fuels. Many world leading car industry pioneers already turned to the development of hybrid cars, and India certainly followed suit.

Indian Automobile Manufacturing Leaders

The development seen by India in the clean car industry is progressing thanks to pioneering Indian car manufacturing leader Mahindra and Mahindra on the native front and Honda Siel Cars India, Limited (HSCI) on the foreign import front. Honda Siel Cars India is the joint venture between the Indian company Siel Limited, a Siddharth Shriram Group company, and the Japanese car giant, Honda. The partnership has already introduced the gasoline-electric Honda Civic Hybrid to become the first hybrid car in India. Even though this is an imported model, it is setting the stage for more public knowledge and acceptance, and eventual manufacturing of India’s own hybrids.

Other global car manufacturing leaders such as Ford as well as Japanese giant Toyota, however, are also observing the Indian car market for its response to hybrid cars, testing the potentials of the market. Toyota is a recognized leader when it comes to clean cars with the famous Toyota Prius. The release of import hybrids like the Prius in India was only delayed due to the lack of governmental benefits the hybrid car manufacturers will receive. The case is the same with Ford, which sees the potential of hybrid cars in the Indian market but seems to be waiting for the perfect opportunity. In any case, these cleaner cars are seen as premium cars, and the majority of Indians won’t be able to afford them any time soon.

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited

Mahindra Hybrid Scorpio side view.
Photo courtesy www.motortrend.com.

Mahindra and Mahindra has come a long way and has already planned to introduce the Hybrid Scorpio, a diesel-electric hybrid version of their Scorpio SUV. It has also set up a center outside of Mumbai especially dedicated to advanced clean car discoveries such as diesel-hybrids. This, in itself, is a sign that the Indian car makers are dabbling in hybrid car technologies and concepts. However, as expected, the hybrid models will be sold at higher prices than the regular models, though they are designed to be more affordable in terms of usage.

The Hybrid Scorpio is quite promising, and is now held as the gauge as to how far India has come in the clean car market. The diesel-electric hybrid comes with four functions, a start-stop, an electric launch, a torque augmentation, and regenerative braking. It has a 2.2L 4-cylinder common rail diesel engine (CRDe) that provides 115 hp and 198 foot-pounds when it comes to torque. This is complemented by a 288-volt NiMH battery. The Scorpio’s powertrain even required the assistance of powertrain experts Robert Bosch, AVL, and FEV.

Hybrid Scorpios were also planned for a release to United States buyers by the year 2010. It does not take a car expert to tell you that this is one of the greatest challenge in the clean car industry since the U.S. has the highest emission standards in the world. For this reason, the plans for the United States release seem to be undergoing reconsideration.

The Indian Hybrid Car Market Challenge

Car manufacturers are also not launching full releases of their hybrid cars because of the high prices they need to charge for them. Indian hybrids are still priced quite high because they are not heavily supplied. Car manufacturers think that the clean car industry needs more time to grow, and with sufficient growth, the prices will be brought down. However, it seems that the Indian government is not pushing the clean car campaign far enough. Excise and custom taxes are also getting in the way of the hybrid cars finding their full growth in India.

This is in stark contrast to the full support that the government in China provides to its clean car industry, which includes tax benefits and subsidies to public transport fleets when clean cars are used. Infrastructure necessary for the maintenance and usage of clean cars such as clean fuels and electric charging stations are also part of the plan in China. It seems that the Indian consumers and carmakers alike can use a little push from the Indian government. Only then will India’s clean car industry be ready to welcome the hybrids with welcoming arms.

To be fair, affordability and infrastructure issues are still huge challenges for many Indian consumers. The recently available Tata Motors’ Tata Nano at between US$ 2,000 to US$ 2,500 price points will help bringing more indian citizens into car ownership. So the indian auto consumer base is still being established. Cleaner cars including the hybrid models will come eventually.

India and Hydrogen Vehicles

On the other hand, the Indian government seems to be paying more attention to hydrogen vehicles. In fact, the government has structured a plan including millions of vehicles that are all hydrogen-powered to be released by 2020. As of now, no hydrogen-powered cars have been fully introduced into the Indian market, but plans are underway. This move is quite surprising, though, since taking the full leap to hydrogen-powered cars without using hybrid cars as stepping stone seem more challenging than allowing hybrid cars the freedom to thrive in India. However, India has long held its position at the cutting edge of hydrogen energy technologies, which may be the reason why the hydrogen-powered cars are preferred over the hybrids.

Hydrogen will certain allow India to head off the expected worsening environmental issues. It’s a very aggressive plan and we’ll see how it plays out in the net few years.

India and Electric Cars

Aside from the hydrogen-powered cars, another alternative is the electric car. One of India’s best car makers now focus on the development of electric cars. Reva, an Indian carmaker, incorporated the Reva Electric Car Company back in 1994. It was set up as a joint venture with Maini Group of Bangalore and AEV LLC of California. Some years back, Reva created an eco-friendly battery electric vehicle called Reva or Reva G-Wiz that also offers good cost-efficiency aside from fuel-efficiency.

The REVAi, a light two-door sedan with lead-acid batteries, is quite small, with maximum speeds of 50 mph (80 km/h.) A newer model, the REVA L-ion, has lithium-ion batteries and a roof solar panel. It has a curb weight of just 1,250 lbs (565 kg,) charging time of 6 hours, and a nominal range of 75 miles (120 km.) It is known as one of the start up development toward the growth of the electric car industry. The original REVA (called REVA G-Wiz in the UK) does not offer much space, so it is not ideal for families. It also does not offer impressive mileage, but works quite well in light city driving.

The REVA car itself is a breakthrough. It is one of the most affordable cars to buy and to use, and even the United Kingdom’s PowerShift has recognized that it is the most energy-efficient vehicle in the industry. It has also passed extensive tests and high national standards successfully. The Reva G-Wiz is still out in the market and has been for some years now. It has not managed to wound its way to the United States, but has won acclaims from all over the UK, as well as from Germany, Switzerland, Nepal, Austria, Cyprus, Italy, Malta, Spain, Ireland, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Norway, among some others. The car has not yet received a thumbs up to enter the United States market and may never will.

Indian Car Ownership and Future Outlook

So far, the development of clean cars with hybrid and electric drive trains in India are quite limited to just some of the country’s car manufacturers. It is clear that in India, automobile ownership is still a struggling matter for many consumers. With only 0.7 to 0.8 % of Indian population owning a car, India has a long way to go, and the market for cleaner but more expensive cars are not currently sustainable.

India has a good technology and manufacturing base, which means that the country’s carmakers will continue to push their capabilities to manufacture their own clean cars. For now, India’s top priorities seem to evolve around affordability and environmentally-friendly considerations, that of putting affordable cars into the citizens’ hands, and planning for explosive growth in the future.

Cars Made in India: A Survey of Indian Clean Car Industry is a post from: CleanCarTalk

Hybrid Cars Too Quiet? Japan May Require Adding Noise

Cuong Huynh — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:41:54 +0000

Hybrid cars are inherently quiet at low speed, when many can operate on silent electric motors. For some automobile users including the vision-impaired, these soundless vehicles humming along cities streets may be a hazard.

Many people, not just those with vision impairment, depend on hearing sounds when they walk. With quieter cars, walking in the city is becoming a different experience. And safety is one of those concerns.

Japan’s transport ministry is considering requiring car manufacturers to add noise-making devices to hybrids and other silent vehicles. The ministry has launched a panel of scholars, vision-impaired groups, consumers, automakers and law enforcement to look into the matter, hopefully coming up with a solution to this potential problem, as more hybrids are getting on the roads.

One of the requirements will be that the sound or sounds should induce a response of caution. We certainly don’t want more noise pollution in the city, and several issues will have to be worked out. They have to decide on the kind of sound hybrid cars should have, and if manufacturers can choose their own sounds, maybe even a different sound for different car models. In general people want less sound where they live and work, so it will be interesting to see where this is going.

The U.S. Congress is also looking into the matter. Here’s a clip from AP asking the question “Are Hybrids Cars Too Quiet?”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcAm2OAgB6c

Hybrid Cars Too Quiet? Japan May Require Adding Noise is a post from: CleanCarTalk

Hybrid HOV Lane Stickers Valued Up to $1,500 But Only For Another 18 Months

Cuong Huynh — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:51:00 +0000

Hybrid drivers who jumped on the California Clean Air Vehicle sticker bandwagon have enjoyed at least one side benefit that was not intended by the program originally. The 8-dollar little sticker appears to provide increased value of the car to its owner either when reselling the car or in the replaced value in the case of total loss. The premium price of these decals have been estimated at between $1,000 and $1,500, but maybe not for too much longer.

In a newsletter published by Audatex, a Solera company specializing in providing tools, information and knowledge to the automobile insurance industry, Brian Grainger poses the question “Do HOV Stickers Impact Vehicle Values?” According to Mr. Grainger, both real and perceived vehicle values have resulted from limited availability of the decals. Californians seem to say that they are willing to pay a premium for a pre-owned car with the sticker so that they can shave 2 hours everyday from their commuting time. Here’s what Mr. Grainger wrote:

We specifically analyzed data for the 2005 and 2006 Honda Civic hybrids and their gasoline equivalents, which were released during the years in which the California Clean Air Vehicle decal was offered. For each model year and vehicle type, we trended the average actual cash values (ACVs) across multiple states. In each state, with the exception of California, the ACVs trend similarly for the hybrids and their gasoline counterparts. However, in California, the ACVs for the Honda Civic hybrids averaged 7 percent higher than in the other states, while the ACVs for the gasoline counterparts trended similarly with the other states. This translates into a $1,203 premium for the 2005 model Honda Civic hybrid and a $1,509 for the 2006 model.

Wow! This means insurance companies have a couple of dilemma on their hands. One, do they insured cars with stickers at a higher value, especially when you consider that beginning in 2009, an owner can get a replacement sticker if his/her car has been declared a total loss after an accident? And two, what happens when the decals will no longer benefit drivers at the end of 2010, when the clean air ticker program ends? Do they readjust to account for this fact?

I think soon enough, people will get smart on the fact that the stickers are expiring and will refuse to pay more than what similar hybrid cars without a sticker will command. Additionally, newer hybrids like the Honda Insight and the just announced Honda Fit hybrid are becoming available. This will help further bring hybrid prices down to earth.

Read more on “Clean Air Stickers – High Occupancy Vehicle Lane Usage” from the CA DMV.

Here’s another take on the same topic from John Voelcker, Editor-in-Chief of GreenCarReports.com.

Hybrid HOV Lane Stickers Valued Up to $1,500 But Only For Another 18 Months is a post from: CleanCarTalk

Chang’an Motors – First Chinese Hybrid Car Manufacturer Continues Momentum

Cuong Huynh — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:37:10 +0000

Chang’an Motors (also called ChangAn or Chana Auto) is part of the Chang’an Automobile Group, a car industry giant based in Chongqing, China. The name Chang’an, ChangAn and Chana are used interchangeably, with Chana being used mostly for the western markets. According the Chang’an, the company sales figures have been running at top speed in 2009, reaching 306,500 vehicles sold in the first 3 months or 40% increase over same period the previous year. Of the 2 logos at right, the red logo is used on commercial cars (mainly minivans and full-size vans), while the blue emblem is for passenger cars. Chang’an is now the fourth of the Big Five car manufacturers in China.

Chang’an maintains 3 divisions. The Chang’an Ford division, or Chana Ford, produces mainly the Ford Fiesta beginning in 2003, and the Ford Mondeo in 2004. The company also builds the Ford Focus as well. The Chang’an Suzuki division, or Chana Suzuki, manufactures the Alto, Cultus and Lingyang economy cars together with spare parts. Finally, the Chang’an engine division produces engines based mostly on Suzuki gasoline engine technologies, for many Chang’an vehicle products.

Below: Chang’an (Chana) Benni Mini Car, a Runaway Success. Photo courtesy http://www.globalchana.com

Below: Chang’an (Chana) CM8, Another Popular Model. Photo courtesy http://www.globalchana.com

While there have been hybrid cars on Chinese roads over the pass years, the affordability factor (or the lack of it) has provided Chang’an Motors and other Chinese manufacturers a huge opportunity to develop China’s own clean car industry. And this is exactly what they are doing. Below are two hybrid cars produced by Chang’an that have received much anticipation.

Jie Xun HEV: China’s First Independently Developed Hybrid

First introduced in 2007, the Jie Xun HEV is classified the company as an MPV, a multipurpose vehicle. MPVs are very popular in China, much like the minivans in the United States, because they offer both private and business owners the space and quality needed to go about their daily lives. The Jie Xun is expected to cut fuel consumption by 20% compared to conventional models, and sells in the Chinese market for about 104,800-149,800 RMB (US$ 15,326-21,907.)

Chang’an also donated 20 of the vehicles to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, when they were used mainly as taxis for both athletes and the public. According to Infineon, the German company that supplied HybridPACK1 power module for the Jie Xun, these mild hybrid cars operate on an integrated starter generator that recaptures energy during braking (regenerative braking or regen) while provides supplementary power during acceleration or passing at speeds. The Jie Xun HEV has a maximum speed of about 160 km/h (99 mph,) and can achieve a fuel efficiency of 9 l/100 km (26.1 mpg.)

Chang’an (Chana) Jie Xun HEV Interior.
Photo courtesy http://news.cheshi.com

Chang’an (Chana) Jie Xun HEV for Beijing Olympic Games. Photo courtesy http://news.cheshi.com

Zhi-xiang Hybrid Sedan: Another Step to Affordable Hybrids For the Mass

The new Zhi-xiang mild hybrid sedan features a 1.5L gasoline engine to keep its nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries charged, and a permanent magnet brushless synchronous AC motor rated at 13 kW. This hybrid sedan can get about 6.6 l/100 km (35.6 mpg.) With aggressive marketing in full force for the Zhi-xiang, the company has appropriately branded both sides and the back of the vehicle with an attractive green hybrid badge. The Zie Xiang 79800-115800 RMB (US$ 11,670-16,935)

China, which ranks second in the world in carbon emission levels, may soon surpass the U.S. as the most polluted country. With the Chinese government placing emphasis on the development and production of clean cars, Chang’an is clearly gearing up its hybrid offerings. Hybrid cars can help lower fuel emissions and reduce pollution to relieve the global warming concerns, and Chang’an along with other Chinese carmakers are determined to make a difference.

Chang’an (Chana) Zhi-xiang mild hybrid sedan.
Photo courtesy http://news.cheshi.com

Chang’an (Chana) Zhi-xiang hybrid badge.
Photo courtesy http://news.cheshi.com

According to the company’s English language website globalchana.com,

…CHANA has producing capacity of one (1) million automobiles and one (1) million engines. By year 2010, CHANA will have a producing capacity of two (2) million automobiles. CHANA Automobile brand value has reached 20 billion RMB [editor's note: about US$ 2.9B] which is one of the most valuable independent automobile brand in Chinese automobile industry…

As reported by a Reuters article on May 14, 2009, the Chongqing government has already ordered 10 Jie Xun from Chang’an and has set a target for the city’s public services to increase hybrid vehicle operation to 1,000 units in 3 years. Additional government rebates of 43,000 RMB (US$ 6,300) to buyers of electric, hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles will continue to keep the momentum of both clean car suppliers and buyer adoption going strong.

Get ready. These cars may arrive on U.S. soil before you know it.

Chang’an Motors – First Chinese Hybrid Car Manufacturer Continues Momentum is a post from: CleanCarTalk

The Greening of the Corporations – Saving Money or Saving the Environment

Cuong Huynh — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:53:27 +0000

Here’s one way to help kick-start the revolution to hybrid, electric and other fuel efficient cars. It’s business travel, or more specifically, business car rental policies. Here’s what I mean.

With all the hooplas about saving or improving the environment, we hear about corporations “going green” everyday. This is true for both those companies providing environmentally friendly products and services, and those that do not. For large fleets like the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, etc., they are already looking at ways to improve their efficiencies and reduce fleet emissions. But for each and every organization doing business every single day, business travel and business car rental policies need to get with the time too.

Business-related car rentals, which is closely tied to business travel, is big business. Hertz, National, Avis, Enterprise and a host of other car rental companies operate hundreds of thousands of cars in their fleets. Guess what, all these rental cars share the public roads and contribute to the emissions problems just like any other cars. While the rental car companies are adding more hybrids and fuel-efficient cars to their fleets, just like the consumers are converting to more hybrids, the issue is still about the chicken and the egg problem. Which should come first? Companies to provide hybrid/electric cars, or consumers to demand for them. By supporting hybrid rentals for business travels, companies can do their part to speed up this conversion process.

New corporate hybrid car rental policies can do the following:

Directly support their corporate policies in “going green.” Many companies are already going green, from simple things like using less papers, encouraging employee carpooling, implementing recycling programs and teaching employees ways to save electricity, to complex things like converting operations to run on solar power, or putting into action various processes and equipment to operate more efficiently, utilize renewable power, and invest in carbon offset projects. A new corporate hybrid car rental policy just fits right in.
Directly communicate to car rental companies (and car manufacturers) that there is a demand for hybrid, electric and fuel efficient cars. Fleets buy their cars in large numbers at a time, which is a perfect way to say to car makers that, yes, make more of these and we’ll buy them. Maybe the stimulus package should also set aside a good chunk for this sort of program. Compare to individual tax breaks that the stimulus plan provides, I think this program will make much bigger impact much sooner.
Directly educate consumers (employees are consumers too) that hybrid, electric and fuel efficient cars is the way to go. The consumers’ dollars drive the economy, and for a car industry trying to pick itself up while promoting a new technology at the same time, this is “killing two birds with one stone.” Consumers will have a chance to “test drive” these new cars on an extended period of time as they go about their business or personal trips, which surely beats going into a dealer for a 5-minute test drive. I don’t know about you, but to me, an educated consumer is a good buyer.

But the corporate bean counters will say this is too expensive? Well it’s true that hybrid car rental rates today are higher than conventional car rates, sometimes more than double for a daily rental during the business week. This means corporate travel expenses will go up. But to this I say: work it into the travel budget, just like any other “going green” initiatives, and it will work out fine. If a company advocates going green in its business operations, then this is the an important element of that corporate program.

So what do you think: should businesses advocate and implement a corporate hybrid car rental policy? Share your views with a comment below.

The Greening of the Corporations – Saving Money or Saving the Environment is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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