Andy Grove, former chairman and CEO of Intel, in a keynote speech called for converting 10 million SUVs and trucks to plug-in hybrids within four years. He challenged tech companies, utilities, and researchers to create a plan, engaging open-source technology, for the next U.S. president’s first day in office.

With beefy batteries recharged by connecting to a power outlet, plug-in hybrid cars can run on electricity alone. Once the battery fizzles, plug-ins draw from the gas tank. By contrast, hybrids available today, such as the Toyota Prius, save energy from braking to a battery, but they still require gasoline to get going.

If plug-in hybrid owners recharge their cars at night, when power from the electrical grid is otherwise untapped, utilities may not necessarily need to rush to build new power plants.

However, efforts are growing to build up a public, plug-and-go infrastructure beyond the garages of homeowners. San Jose is pairing with start-up Coulomb Technologies to test the company’s electric car charging stations, which could be integrated within the street scape, such as on streetlights. Drivers would be able to pull up to a 110-volt station, shown here, and plug in.

eTec, a division of Ecotality, announced Tuesday that it’s working with the Department of Energy to develop two-way, fast-charge systems for plug-in hybrids that would return energy to the grid during peak usage times. The company is teaming with V2Green, which has developed technology to control the flow of electricity from vehicle batteries to the utility grid.

eTec supplies charging equipment for electric baggage towing carts at airports and lift trucks in factories. It developed the Minit-Charger for Chrysler’s electric vehicle efforts in the early 1990s. eTec, which uses 240-volt outlets for fleets, maintains that 110-volt chargers could take too many hours to use to be convenient in locations such as shopping mall parking lots. It’s aiming for a 10-minute charge time for plug-in hybrids.

Hybrid and electric cars may be less harmful to ecosystems than those that guzzle gas, but their silence can pose a danger to pedestrians with limited vision and hearing, as well to children and pets.

Enhanced Vehicle Acoustics is engineering systems to make electrified cars noisier. Speakers on the outside of a car mimic the hums and chugs of vehicles with internal combustion engines. Alternate approaches made by other parties largely focus on beeps, whistles, or animal noises.

The Santa Clara, Calif., start-up sells beta aftermarket kits for the Toyota Prius at $300 or less. It has angel funding and support from the nonprofit National Federation of the Blind and is working with the Department of Energy and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Enhanced Vehicle Acoustics is among 44 finalists in the California Clean Tech Open 2008 “startup in a box” competition

Electric cars have yet to populate U.S. roads and highways, but car and battery makers already are concerned about the possibility of a battle for raw materials – and how the issue could affect the nation’s energy security.

Speaking at the Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose, Calif. Wednesday, an executive at the car-battery maker, Johnson Controls-Saft, said discussions about securing adequate lithium supply for making lithium-ion batteries should start now. The company already has started preliminary conversations about the issue with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., said Michael Andrew, director of government affairs and external communications at the company.

“My personal opinion is we don’t want to trade an oil cartel with a lithium cartel,” Andrew said at a panel discussion about battery technologies.

Most of the lithium on the market comes from the South American countries of Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. China holds about 30 percent of the world’s lithium reserve, Andrew said.

Strong raw-material demand from developing countries such as China and India has pushed up prices and caused headaches for players in many industries. The emergence of green technologies, from solar power to electric cars, could lead to a greater competition for resources.

At the Intersolar conference in San Francisco last week, Abengoa Solar executive Fred Morse said the price for steel had jumped 30 percent since the company announced a plan in February to build a large solar farm in Arizona. “If you don’t think that scares us – it does. The commodity price is a real concern,” he said at a Greentech Media seminar.

At the Plug-In conference on Tuesday, the head of Ford’s hybrid-vehicle program, Nancy Gioia, said the car industry has to figure out how to better compete for materials.

“The discussion must go beyond comparing electricity cost to fuel cost,” Gioia said. “Steel, aluminum and copper are components for cars and batteries, and their prices have been steadily increasing.”

The electric car market isn’t here yet. Auto makers and their components suppliers are working furiously to bring low- to zero-emission cars to the market. All-electric cars won’t be available for the mass market for several years. In the mean time, carmakers such as General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen plan to launch plug-in hybrid electric cars by 2010.

Unlike traditional gasoline-electric hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius, plug-in hybrids can recharge their batteries at standard electrical outlets and can get more than 100 miles per gallon by replacing fuel with electricity.

Some companies, such as A123Systems’ Hymotion, have begun selling kits – including extra batteries and a plug – to convert Prius cars into plug-in hybrids (see Toyota Dealers Sold on Hymotion Plug-In Hybrids).

The Prius uses nickel-metal hydride batteries. But carmakers, including Toyota, are investing in lithium-ion batteries for their future fleets (see Toyota Drives Towards Greener Fleet). Japanese carmakers also recently teamed up to work on setting technical standards for lithium-ion batteries, a move that could give them advantages over their competitors in the United States and Europe (see Japan, U.S. Strive to Set Car Battery Standards).

Lithium-ion batteries are commonly found in laptops and cell phones these days, but their ability to hold a large amount of charge in a compact casing makes them a good option for plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars. Designing them so that they are cheap and safe for the mass car market is a major challenge, however.

Startups are getting into the game. Lithium-ion battery company ActaCell on Wednesday announced it has raised $5.8 million in its first round of funding from Google.org’s RechargeIT program, Applied Ventures, the venture-capital arm of Applied Materials, and Good Energies.

Andrew said lithium supply is adequate for now, but could pose a problem when electric cars of all types become popular, which he expects to be around 2015.

“As good business people, we need to anticipate our needs for the supply in the future,” Andrew said.

Johnson Controls-Saft is a joint venture between Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, Wis., and Saft in France. In January, the joint venture announced the opening of a €15 million ($23.53 million) lithium-ion car battery plant in Nersac, France.

The sad part is that Toyota, as part of the AAM, will once again be on the wrong side of the issue.

The other part that is sad is that once again the American companies will whine and cry they can’t afford to change and will close more plants producing SUVs and trucks to do it. As I reported here earlier in the month, Toyota will switch production at two of its US plants away from large vehicle to hybrids or smaller vehicles. Why can’t the American companies do this?

Maybe the Sierra Club can force an answer from someone.

Sierra Club May Force Automakers to Deepen Cuts in Fuel, Carbon
By Gopal Ratnam

The Sierra Club is on the verge of forcing automakers to raise U.S. vehicle fuel economy 22 percent more than Congress ordered last December.

California and 13 other states are set to impose the first U.S. limits on vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide, linked to global warming. While the Bush administration has put the rules on hold, the two presidential candidates, Democratic Senator Barack Obama and Republican Senator John McCain, say they would clear the states to put them into effect.

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the level set by California would raise average fuel economy to about 43 miles per gallon by 2020, according to the California Air Resources Board, the state’s emissions regulator. Automakers’ costs would jump $13 billion a year starting in 2016, when the rules would take full effect, based on an industry-commissioned analysis.

“If the states win, the country will import significantly less fuel and there will be significantly less greenhouse gas emissions,” says Lee Schipper, emeritus senior associate at the World Resources Institute’s Center for Sustainable Transport. People “will look back and thank the big states for taking the lead in the absence of leadership from Washington.”

Congress voted last year to raise average fuel economy to 35 mpg from the 27.5 mpg in effect since 1985. While that would have the effect of lowering carbon dioxide emissions, the California standard would result in a 40 percent greater reduction, according to the state clean-air board.

40 Billion Gallons

The Environmental Protection Agency barred California from putting its standards into effect for new autos going on sale in the 2009 model year, starting in October. California, 16 other states and three cities are suing to reverse the ruling.

Based on the original timetable that the rules would be phased in starting this year, gasoline use would fall by 40 billion gallons through 2020, estimated Roland Hwang, an analyst at the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council. U.S. drivers consumed 141 billion gallons last year.

Automakers have tried before and failed in court to stop the states from implementing carbon-reduction rules, losing two cases last year. If the new president tells the EPA to approve the California standards, the industry may go to court again.

During a six-year campaign, the Sierra Club and other environmental advocacy groups bypassed Washington and focused on state legislatures. The effort included a pitch on a San Diego airport tarmac to convince a California lawmaker to back a measure to limit emissions of carbon dioxide. It also involved a challenge to the automakers on their home turf in Detroit and a driving tour suggesting that Jesus might disapprove of fuel- wasting automobiles.

Automakers Can’t Afford

California’s plan to cut vehicle carbon emissions is an “experiment” that automakers can’t afford because “they don’t have the flexibility,” says Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co. and seven other companies. Automakers referred requests for comments to McCurdy.

Meeting the states’ standards would increase costs for tooling and new vehicle development by $11 billion to $13 billion annually for the eight largest automakers combined, according to an analysis for the alliance by Tom Austin of Sierra Research Inc. in Sacramento.

Companies included in the study were GM, Ford, Chrysler LLC, Volkswagen AG, Nissan Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co., Honda Motor Co. and Toyota, Austin said. Automakers typically spend $1 billion to build a car factory or design a new vehicle.

The U.S. automakers have announced plans to eliminate 115,000 factory jobs as $4-a-gallon gasoline shrank demand for large trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Detroit-based GM last week outlined a plan to cut annual costs by $10 billion.

Campaign `a Factor’

The environmentalists’ campaign is working, and “it’s a factor” in an industry response that now includes lobbying campaigns to block Florida, Minnesota and four other states from adopting California standards, McCurdy says.

“For something as large and overarching” as cutting emissions blamed for global warming, “it has to be done at a national, if not international level,” McCurdy says.

Under the U.S. Constitution, national policy is made in Washington. Automakers have long had the political clout there, through lobbying and campaign donations, to stall increases in fuel-economy requirements.

California, with 33.5 million cars — the most cars and the most smog — won the right under the 1970 Clean Air Act to set emissions standards tougher than federal rules by obtaining a waiver from the EPA. Once it does so, other states can choose to follow the stricter California rules or comply with federal regulations.

50 Waivers

The state has won 50 waivers in the past three decades. California’s previous standards on vehicle emissions such as carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen and sulfur have been adopted in the U.S. and internationally.

Environmental activists reasoned that if California could be persuaded to seek cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, they could indirectly force reductions in fuel consumption, according to Daniel Becker, at the time a Washington lobbyist for the San Francisco-based Sierra Club. Other states might follow, and the automakers’ sway in Washington would become irrelevant.

The Sierra Club and its allies decided to abandon Washington and press their California strategy soon after George W. Bush became president in 2001. He named the former head of the auto industry’s lobbying group, Andrew Card, as his chief of staff.

Becker, 52, says he and Carl Pope, 63, the group’s executive director, mapped out a plan to encircle the automakers. Becker had fought for almost a decade in Washington to raise mileage standards and failed.

`Fight Fires’

The idea was to “create a strategic problem for the auto industry because they’d be forced to fight fires in various states,” says Russell Long, a San Francisco environmentalist who led lobbying in California.

California targeted vehicles because they account for as much as 40 percent of carbon emissions in the state, says Barry Rabe, a Brookings Institution analyst and professor of environmental policy at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

If California “ignores the vehicle sector, there’s no way it can” reach its goal of cutting greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020, he says.

Environmentalist Long, now 52, founder of the nonprofit Bluewater Network, started work in early 2001 on a bill that would limit vehicle emissions. Since each gallon of gasoline a car burns emits about 19.6 pounds of carbon dioxide, standards requiring lower emissions also force increased mileage.

Redford, Beatty Sign On

By mid-2002, Long had assembled a cast of activists including Hollywood actors Robert Redford and Warren Beatty and database-software entrepreneur Bob Epstein. They built support for a carbon-emissions bill sponsored by Fran Pavley, a high school history teacher turned legislator.

After several failed attempts to pass the measure, on May 15, 2002, “my 50th birthday, I skipped my party to fly to San Diego,” Epstein says. There on the tarmac, “I met this undecided lawmaker and convinced him to vote for” the bill.

The legislator was Democratic Assemblyman Juan Vargas, who reversed his position and cast the pivotal vote in July to pass the proposal, Pavley said. The 41-30 margin was a bare majority in the 80-member Assembly.

If applied nationwide, the California standards would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,283 million metric tons by 2020, according to the California Air Resources Board. The federal law passed last year would lower carbon dioxide output by 912 million metric tons over the same period.

Downtown Detroit

The following month, Becker traveled to the Cobo Conference Center in downtown Detroit, four blocks from GM headquarters, to announce a three-pronged attack. Besides lobbying to change state emissions laws, the group would try to shame automakers for offering low-mileage vehicles while urging them to expand use of technologies such as gas-electric hybrids.

The Sierra Club took to ridiculing gas guzzlers. GM’s launch of the Hummer led to the Web site hummerdinger.com. Becker also began courting religious leaders to attract conservative motorists, often associated with driving sport utility vehicles and pick-up trucks.

That November a coalition of religious groups presented auto executives a letter calling for improved fuel efficiency. In April 2003, the Reverend Jim Ball of the Evangelical Environmental Network in Suwanee, Georgia, and his wife, Kara, embarked on a “What Would Jesus Drive?” tour from Texas to Pennsylvania in the then-newly launched 48 mpg Toyota Prius hybrid.

Expanding the Battleground

Becker and Pope, meanwhile, were expanding the battleground to a dozen new states, with the help of clean-air allies including the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Pennsylvania’s passage of the California standard in 2006 was a turning point because it brought “a hard-hat, blue-collar, steel-tipped boot type of approach to environmental issues,” says Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.

The pro-environment movement had Washington surrounded. Representative John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and a champion of the auto industry since the first mileage law was passed in 1978, acknowledged the new political landscape.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Hannibal is at the gates,” he told chief executives of GM, Ford, Chrysler and Toyota at a March 14, 2007, hearing on gas mileage rules. “The old debate is no longer sufficient,” he said, urging companies to embrace higher mileage standards. They did so in the law Congress voted in December.

Obama, McCain

After that energy measure passed, the EPA told California the state couldn’t set its own limits because the federal standard was sufficient. In April California sued to force the agency to issue a waiver.

“If the courts do not overturn” the EPA ruling, “I will after I am elected president,” Obama said last year. His campaign last week said his position hasn’t changed and he is a co-sponsor of a Senate proposal to reverse the decision.

Congress is considering legislation that would set carbon- emission limits for all industries. Companies exceeding allocations would have to buy credits from those polluting less. Such a cap-and-trade measure would ease the pressure on car companies by making other polluters achieve carbon reductions.

“As president, John McCain will act quickly to enact a federal cap-and-trade program, which would get states out of the business of regulating carbon emissions,” spokesman Taylor Griffin said this week in an e-mail. “In the interim, he supports California’s request for a waiver from the EPA.”

`Vast Morass’

Dingell, 82, says his goal is to “avoid creating a vast morass of different and conflicting state and federal regulations.”

A decision by the next president to let California and other states set vehicle emissions standards, if backed by the courts, would be the fastest way to cut greenhouse gases from autos because state-laws are already in place, the Brookings Institution’s Rabe says.

Becker, who left the Sierra Club last September to start the nonprofit Safe Climate Campaign, said he continues to lobby for higher mileage standards because “the biggest step you could take to curb global warming is to make a car go further on a gallon of gas.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Gopal Ratnam in Washington at gratnam1@bloomberg.net

Here is another story on what gas pricing is doing to the car market…

PAIN AT THE PUMP: Buyers’ Fuel Cost Concerns Are Evident On Car Lots
By TARA KAPROWY
CNHI News Service

LONDON—Pain at the pump is increasingly driving consumers to car dealerships, where they’re choosing smaller, more fuel-efficient cars over gas-ravenous trucks and SUVs.

In May, for the first time since 1992, a sedan was the top-selling vehicle in the country, with the Honda Civic ousting Ford’s long-standing top seed, the F-series pickup.

It’s a turn in tide expected to continue. Kentucky dealerships have seen a big jump in the sales of fuel-efficient and hybrid cars as gas prices continue to rise. Especially in demand are hybrid cars, which run on a combination of gas and electric power.

People are putting their names on waiting lists to get their hands on one, regardless of the color or the vehicle’s features. The Toyota Prius is particularly popular.

“Even brochures are on back order,” said Wes Daulton, a sales representative at Toyota of Somerset. “Every time you have a price hike you have people stopping.”

“We’re getting calls on (the Prius) constantly,” said Robert Daniel, a sales and leasing consultant at Gambrel Toyota in Corbin. “Some people are desperate, they really are. We’re getting e-mails from all over the eastern United States.”

The much discussed Smart car, a tiny two-seater that has been Europe’s answer for good gas mileage, is another hot pick.

The cars, which get 45 miles to the gallon, are sold at Sam Swope Auto Group in Louisville, the only franchise in Kentucky to sell the cars.

Already, the word is out.

“There’s a waiting list on those,” said Norman Walker, vice president for marketing at Swope.

But as small car sales are up, the SUV and truck markets are suffering.

“If you have a big truck or SUV on your lot, it’s hard to get rid of them,” Daulton said. He pointed to one used 2007 Chevrolet Silverado sitting on the lot.

“The book price is $37,000,” he said. “We’re selling it for $31,000.”

Bobby Kidd, of Kidd’s Auto Store in London, has seen similar slashes.

“They have slowed down considerably,” he said. “On the flip side of that, it’s a very good time to buy them.”

Those drops have not been noted across the board, however.

“The only trucks that have really been hurt have been the diesels because diesel is more expensive than gas,” said Sherman Clark, new car manager for Tincher-Williams in London. “The folks who buy SUVs are still buying those.”

Indeed, car sales representatives agree there is still a market for SUVs and trucks — especially for those who tow boats or RVs, or have large families.

“I had a woman with a Suburban come in,” Walker said. “She has seven kids. But the number of miles she drives per day is low. They’re going to drive to Florida this summer in the Suburban. But that’s cheaper than flying. And it’s cheaper than having to take two cars.”

Shawn McGreevy, a sales representative at Jeff Wyler Honda in Florence, agreed.

“There’s still a market for the SUV,” he said. “It’s a good time to buy them.”

Dealers expect SUVs, and larger cars in general, to survive because manufacturers are making them more fuel efficient. Many of them already are, Walker said.

“It’s kind of been an unwritten story, but you have full-size Buicks and Pontiac vehicles like the G5, G6 and The Vibe that are getting 30-plus miles to the gallon,” he said.

While cars get more fuel efficient, drivers are getting more fuel conscious.

“(Gas prices) are getting people to reflect on how they drive, what they drive and where they drive,” Walker said. “It’s part of the decision-making process now.”

Customers are not above being piqued at the pump, however.

“They’re pretty frustrated about it,” Kidd said. “It’s just the gas prices in general. I guess they feel the government hasn’t done enough. It’s basically another car payment to drive your car.”

Tara Kaprowy writes for The Sentinel-Echo in London. She can be reached by e-mail at tkaprowy@sentinel-echo.com.

Google.org is investing $2.75 million into electric-vehicle maker Aptera and battery start-up ActaCell. The announcement, which follows Google’s request for proposals from companies with electric car technologies, came Tuesday during the Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose, Calif.

Aptera of Carlsbad, Calif., makes street-legal three-wheelers with a unique, aerodynamic design. The company aims to sell its Typ-1 model for less than $30,000 by the end of year. It’s marketing a pure electric as well as a gas electric plug-in hybrid achieving more than 200 miles per gallon. The vehicles are supposed to accelerate to 60 miles per hour within 10 seconds, drive 120 miles on a full charge, and recharge from a 110-volt outlet.

ActaCell of Austin, Tex., aims to develop long-lasting lithium-ion batteries. On Wednesday it announced $5.8 million in series A financing led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and including Google.org, Applied Ventures, and Good Energies. The company has not yet publicly disclosed details about its technology.

To help speed up the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric cars, the search giant’s philanthropy launched the RechargeIt initiative in June 2007.

Google’s Mountain View, Calif., campus offers plug-in hybrid Toyota Priuses for employees making short, work-related trips. The hybrids achieve 90 miles per gallon and were converted with kits from A123 Systems’ Hymotion.

The fuel gauge on her Chrysler convertible aimed dead left, so Betty Jean Edwards lifted the gold cross from her neck and tugged another ring off her 65-year-old hand.

She slid them under the thick tinted window inside Marge and Jerry’s Loan Co. in Oakland, gathered the $20 bill and folded her pink receipt in with the stack that lines her wallet. Then she headed past the jewelry display, the shaggy gorilla and the Ouija board and out the door, off to fetch a third of a tank.
“It takes $47 to fill it up,” said Edwards, of San Leandro. “I’ve had a lot of jewelry over the years and now I got to bring it out. Nothing else I can do.”

Amid the brewing cloud of recession and bitterly high gas prices, Edwards is far from alone. The bustle at pawnshops, jewelry and coin buyers suggests many East Bay residents are foraging deep into drawers and attics for keepsakes, family heirlooms, even gold teeth, to hock or pawn for a short-term loan to stretch the miles or make rent.

“They’re selling everything they got for gas,” said Michael Wright of gold dealer Fort Knox of Alameda.
“We’re getting this broad range of people recognizing that the broken chain in their drawer has value,” said Jennifer Grossi of Pleasant Hill Coin and Jewelry Exchange. “We’re busier than we’ve ever been,” added T.J. Grossi, her husband.

The refrain echoes across the East Bay, where pawnbrokers and gold dealers say business has risen 20 percent to 30 percent lately. Coin and jewelry dealers say the economy and higher gold prices have people mining their jewelry boxes or reaching for their gold custom teeth — their grills — for meltdown cash.

“I had a couple last week, they sold me estate jewelry so they could put a down payment on a (Toyota) Prius,” said Nick Tsakoyias of Clayton Jewelry and Loan. “I have people who sell their scrap (gold) just to buy gas. They need diapers, they need food. I feel bad for them.”

Tsakoyias called it cyclical. When the economy flags, the pawn business rallies. But something is different this time, said Bob Goldstone of Danville, a board member with the Collateral Loan & Secondhand Dealers Association, the industry group for pawnbrokers in California.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. This is above and beyond,” said Goldstone, retired from an Oakland pawnshop after a 48-year career. “These brokers are loaning money out continuously all day long.”

Goldstone said pawnbrokers have turned around a seedy image, and more people feel comfortable buying, selling or loaning with them. Another reason: The nation’s mass of “unbanked” or “underbanked” people, including immigrants, with no bank accounts or little access to affordable credit. The U.S. Treasury Department estimates that about 10 million households lack a bank or credit union account. As many as 50 million other people have an account but use other financial service providers, like check cashers, at often much higher costs.

“Where else can you get money instantly?” said Goldstone. “How many people don’t have bank accounts? Where else can you go?”

About 13,000 pawnshops pepper the nation. Most are independent, but earnings have surged 39 percent to 56 percent higher than last year for the second quarter at the nation’s three publicly traded pawn companies, Cash America International, EZCORP and First Cash Financial Services, the companies reported.

Tsakoyias and others spoke of the public service they provide, in some cases offering a last resort for those with rotten credit. They also cite the risks they take in buying what could turn out to be stolen items that police retrieve. In California, pawnshops face stiff regulation. With each transaction they demand a driver’s license and fingerprint, file a form with local police and must keep the items for four months and 10 days. State law caps the interest rate on loans at rates that, adding fees, can add up to about 4 percent per month for the four months.

According to the National Pawnbrokers Association, the average pawn loan runs $75, and about 80 percent of customers repay the loan and reclaim their items. But often these days, pawnbrokers say, borrowers are paying only the interest and rolling over the loan.

“They’re a little short for rent,” said owner Jerry Gevertz of Marge and Jerry’s, on a corner of MacArthur Boulevard in East Oakland. “Someone came in today facing eviction.”

The interest can get pricey. Interest on a $70 loan for four months at Marge and Jerry’s, for instance, runs $15.

Betty Jean Edwards said she didn’t mind getting just $20 for her cross and ring. That just means it’ll cost less to get them back, she said.

“I was on ‘E,’ ” she said. “You don’t have no other choice. You have to take that.”
Reach John Simerman at 925-943-8072 or jsimerman@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Business Pulse: Hybrids get a high-five
Memphis Business Journal

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Buying a hybrid car is a “definite possibility” for the vast majority of Memphis Business Journal readers who took part in this week’s online Business Pulse poll.

Asked if they would ever buy a hybrid, 75 percent, or 169 of the 225 readers who participated in this week’s poll, said yes.

Only 11 percent of those responding, or 24 readers, said they never would.

An equal number of readers — 16, or 7 percent — said they would buy a hybrid only if it were a luxury brand or said they already owned one.

The relevance of buying hybrids, which use a combination of gasoline and electricity, has increased with the continuation of high gas prices and the recent news that Toyota Motor Corp. has decided to build its Prius hybrid and not the Highlander SUV at its new plant near Tupelo.

The majority of comments provided for the poll were in support of more fuel efficient vehicles.

“It’s a definite possibility but only when the alternative fuel is readily available everywhere and priced fairly,” said one reader.

“The questions don’t address the very high amortization cost of purchasing a hybrid,” said another reader. “Until they get the price down and more in line with a three-year payback, I will not even consider purchasing one.”

Beyond those concerns, many said hybrids were a good start.

“The hybrid’s time has finally arrived,” said a reader. “I believe it will be short lived by the next generation of cars which are either all electric or hydrogen powered. The gasoline engines days are numbered.”

Some readers touted other fuel efficient vehicles such as the Geo Metro, VW Golf diesel and hybrid Honda Insight as other good choices.

The city will add a hybrid vehicle to its motor fleet to see how it stacks up against gasoline-powered cars, officials announced Tuesday.

At Martinsville City Council’s regular meeting Tuesday night, City Manager Clarence Monday said a $28,000 hybrid sport utility vehicle has been ordered for use as a utility locator.

An SUV was chosen because the vehicle needs to have space to carry all the necessary equipment, he added.

“We do have a responsibility to conserve fuel and help the environment as well,” Monday said of the purchase. “However, we want to make sure this is cost-effective before we order a whole fleet of them.”
Monday did a cost-benefit analysis of gasoline versus hybrid vehicles and found that, based on current figures, hybrids offer $200 in savings over the life of the vehicle. In five years, a hybrid would need a battery replacement costing $8,000, he said.

Whoa! Hold on there.

So they figured the hybrid would save them $200 over the life of the vehicle? And they bought it anyway? Well, cheers to them for being so environmentally conscious though I would question their math. Of course the article doesn’t bother to tell us which hybrid SUV this is but that $200 figure is extremely low. And $8k to replace the battery after five years? That’s one terribly engineered and built product if the batteries only last five years and then cost $8k to replace.

Sounds to me like either someone is just nuts or someone is reporting some figures that don’t make much sense.

However, by ordering a hybrid, city officials hope to see how the costs compare in real life.
This move is one of several city initiatives to conserve fuel and money, Monday said. Other measures include installing energy-efficient light fixtures and keeping lights in the municipal building at half-capacity during peak times of day.

Staff members are also investigating alternative energy sources, he added.

“Our electric department is curious about the amount of wind in the city” and how much energy could be generated by wind turbines, Monday said.

Data will be collected from a weather station on the municipal building roof over six months to a year.
Staff also will investigate the cost of solar power per kilowatt hour to see if this could be a realistic option, he said.

When city employees drive, “We continue to ask people to watch the idling of their vehicles, consolidate errands and carpool whenever possible,” Monday said. “Our departments have been very frugal with that.”

DRIVER FLEES SCENE OF ONE WRECK, CAUSES ANOTHER IN SLO
Judge, license plate left in driver’s wake
Perpetrator crashes into a retired judge, leaves plate at the scene; police later arrest suspect Mateo Morales
By Sally Connell

TRIBUNE PHOTO BY DAVID MIDDLECAMP
A Toyota Prius landed on top of a Mazda Protégé after a hit-and-run driver allegedly ran a stop sign and caused the rollover.

A San Luis Obispo man was arrested after a double hit-and-run in San Luis Obispo on Monday afternoon that involved the suspect allegedly speeding away from one crash near Garden and Pismo streets only to cause and then flee from a second one at Garden and Buchon streets.

In the second wreck, a Toyota Prius was hit with such force that it flipped over and landed on top of another car.

“I was driving along, and this car appeared out of nowhere and flipped me over,” said retired San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Donald Umhofer, who was driving the Prius. He received minor injuries. His wife, a passenger, was unharmed.

Mateo Morales, 20, was arrested after an investigation. He was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail on suspicion of felony driving under the influence and hit and run.

The incidents happened about 5 p. m. After hitting one vehicle while headed south on Garden, a speeding Honda Accord, allegedly driven by Morales, continued on Garden to Buchon.

Umhofer’s Prius, traveling west on Buchon, was hit, flipped over and landed atop the hood of a Mazda Protégé being driven east on Buchon.

The hit-and-run driver’s license plate was reportedly left behind at the scene of one of the crashes, giving a clue to the driver’s identity.

Umhofer, who still serves on temporary assignments for the California Judicial Commission, is serving temporarily as a sitting judge in Grover Beach.

The side airbags on his Prius deployed during the crash. Umhofer said he was very sad to see the damage to his 2005 Prius.

There were no injuries to the drivers or passengers of the other two vehicles, according to police.

He added that Mini’s fuel efficiency is 37 miles to the gallon, which he noted is as good as many hybrids, and fuel efficiency is one of the reasons buyers pick the brand. (Toyota’s hybrid Prius is one of the models most cross-shopped by Mini buyers.)

Well, if I was getting 37 MPG in my Prius I would be banging head into the wall. That said, I continue to be very interested in this…

In late fall, Mini will take the wraps off a fourth model, a low-riding crossover, and by this time next year, expects to have a Mini electric car available, Mr. McDowell said.

An electric Mini would be a perfect for me. Living in the heart of a city, a small, maneuverable car is a huge asset.

Frostburg State adds hybrids to vehicle fleet
Jennifer Raley
Cumberland Times-News

FROSTBURG — In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, Frostburg State University has begun to replace its vehicle fleet with hybrids.

“This is part of our campus-wide sustainability initiative,” said President Jonathan Gibralter.

So far, FSU has five new Honda Civic Hybrids that average between 43 to 45 miles per gallon. The new hybrids replaced Ford Tauruses and Chevrolet Malibus that average between 24 and 30 miles per gallon.

In addition to being environmentally friendly, a hybrid, which combines a combustion engine and an electric motor, is economically advantageous, considering today’s high gas prices.

Even Gibralter’s Jeep Grand Cherokee, which is also considered a fleet vehicle, was replaced with a Toyota Highlander Hybrid that averages 27 miles per gallon in the city and 25 miles per gallon highway.

“With the Cherokee, I couldn’t drive to Baltimore and back on a tank of gas,” said Gibralter, who travels frequently for meetings, such as the University System of Maryland Board of Regents meetings in Adelphi. Gibralter put approximately 44,000 miles on his Jeep from August 2006 to the beginning of this month.

Being able to travel to a meeting or conference without having to stop for gas is an added perk because fleet vehicles can be filled at the campus gas pump, which is tax-exempt, explained Gibralter.

Gibralter wants to continue to replace FSU vehicles with hybrids in coming years; however, some vehicles such as dump trucks and other utility-type vehicles are not available with hybrid engines.

Between July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, FSU fleet vehicles used 46,607 gallons of gas and the diesel fleet consumed 7,534 gallons, according to Ray Blank, FSU director of facilities.

For information about FSU’s Learning Green, Living Green sustainability initiative, log on to www.frostburg.edu/lglg.

Contact Jennifer Raley at jraley@times-news.com.

Reaction to AFS Trinity’s 150 mpg Extreme Hybrid Indicates Reported Death of SUVs ‘Greatly Exaggerated’

Uh, not really. And until you actually produce the vehicle you claim can you can produce the SUV continues to be merely a token of conspicuous consumption.

The “greenest” cars on the market don’t just burn less fuel, they also produce less pollution and emit fewer greenhouse gases.

But who’s got time to spreadsheet all the competing mileage/emissions/greenhouse claims for the 300-odd nameplates for sale in Canada?

Smelling a market niche, J.D. Power and Associates has done the comparisons for you. The marketing information firm is now in its third year of ranking vehicles according to an Automotive Environmental Index.

Of the 30 most environmentally friendly vehicles, Toyota has contributed seven to the list, General Motors six, Hyundai four, Ford three, Honda, MINI, Smart and Nissan two each, and Chrysler none.
Eight of the vehicles are hybrids: Ford Escape Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Lexus RX 400h, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid and Toyota Prius.
The other 22 are not hybrids, and therefore mostly cheaper than the above list: Chevrolet aveo, Chevrolet Aveo5, Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford focus, Honda Civic, Honda Fit, Hyundai accent, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Rio, Kia Spectra, Mini Cooper, MINI Cooper S, Nissan sentra, Nissan Versa, Pontiac G5, Pontiac Vibe, Saturn Astra, Smart Fortwo Convertible, Smart Fortwo Coupe, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix and Toyota Yaris.

Americans might not have noticed this, but the second group almost mirrors the list of bestselling cars in Canada, where 42.5 per cent of vehicle purchases this year have been compact and subcompact cars, Chrysler Canada said this week.

ACCEPTANCE OF HYBRIDS UP, BUT ETHANOL TAKES DIP

Along with the above list, J.D. Power also produces something it calls its Alternative Powertrain Study, in which it tries to gauge public views on non-traditional propulsion systems such as hybrids and diesels and E-85 ethanol.

This year’s study found that acceptance of hybrids has jumped sharply in the United States as people become more comfortable with the concept and see more of them on the streets.
Of 4,000 people polled last month, 62 per cent said they are willing to consider purchasing a hybrid-electric vehicle, up from 50 per cent last year.

But willingness to buy E-85 ethanol-powered vehicles is starting to drop slightly, mainly due to the widespread impression that ethanol production is helping to drive up the cost of food. (In fact, only one per cent of corn is consumed by humans as cereal, as Patrick Bedard points out in his column in Car & Driver magazine this month.)

In 2007, about 47 per cent of those polled said they would consider buying a flexible-fuel vehicle than runs on E-85.

This year only 43 per cent said they were willing.

Diesel is also falling out of favour, which should mean alarm bells for the all the manufacturers bringing diesels to market this year and next: only 16 per cent of consumers said diesels are on their list this year, down from 23 per cent a year ago.

The sharp rise in diesel prices over the past year is the reason, J.D. Power believes.

MAGNESIUM ADVANTAGES INCLUDE STRENGTH, NO RUST

University of Windsor physicist Mordechay Schlesinger has been chosen to help General Motors find a way to use magnesium to reduce vehicle weight.

A professor emeritus, Schlesinger has been given $360,000 in grants and in-kind contributions by GM and the Ontario Centres of Excellence to research magnesium coatings.

Magnesium is very strong, exceptionally light and it doesn’t rust. But it’s also reactive, which means it misbehaves when it comes into contact with other metals.

Schlesinger’s team will try to find a way to calm the metal down with zinc or aluminum coatings so it can used for automotive components.

GM, along with Ford and some other major automakers, is on a company-wide mission to reduce vehicle weight to boost fuel economy.

Schlesinger, who was already a General Motors Research Fellow, says he expects his work with a team of graduate students will take several years.

cvanderdoelen@thestar.canwest.com
Vanderblogger at windsorstar.com

WASHINGTON — General Motors Corp. and a consortium of more than 30 electric utilities will announce today a partnership to speed the commercialization of plug-in vehicles.

The joint project of GM and the Electric Power Research Institute, which represents more than 30 electric utilities with operations in 37 states and three Canadian provinces, will work to resolve some of the thorny issues that must be worked out before plug-in vehicles begin hitting showrooms in late 2010.
Those issues include ensuring that infrastructure is in place for safe and convenient vehicle charging, raising public awareness of plug-in electric vehicles, and working with government leaders to ease the transition from petroleum to electricity as a fuel source, GM and the institute said in a statement.

The announcement of the partnership was to be made today in San Jose, Calif., at Plug-in 2008, a three-day conference. The institute includes DTE Energy in Michigan.

GM said the project, which it called the largest and most comprehensive between an automaker and the electric utility industry, will pave the way “for customers to realize the benefits of plug-in electric vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt and Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid.”

Arshad Mansoor, a vice president with the institute, said the “collaboration is critical in the development of standards that will lead to the widespread use of electricity as a transportation fuel.”
GM is making a hefty wager on two vehicles that will run on electrical power — its Volt, an extended-range electric vehicle with a 40-mile range, and a Vue plug-in hybrid, an SUV with a battery-power range of about 10 miles. The automaker said it hopes to bring them to market by late 2010.

Recharging to be addressed

But before GM can bring tens of thousands of the vehicles to market, the automaker and power industry must figure out how people will recharge their cars, both at home and in public.

“If we’re going to prepare the market, providing accessible, reliable, convenient low-cost electricity for plug-in customers, and start educating the public about it, we’ve got to start now,” said GM’s vice president of global program management, Jon Lauckner, in an interview Monday. “To make the Volt and the plug-in Vue succeed, that is going to take some work.”

One big advantage to electric power is cost. Lauckner said the estimated cost per mile with electric power is 1 cent per mile in off-peak periods and 2 cents at peak periods, versus about 14 cents per mile at gasoline prices of more than $4 a gallon.

“It’s simple economics,” Lauckner said.
6 groups to tackle issues

GM engineers and other company officials have formed six groups to work through the technical and other issues, Lauckner said. One group is focused on codes and uniform standards for recharging, as well as getting the nation’s electrical grid prepared for the plug-in onslaught.

The plug-in hybrid, which allows consumers to use electric power for distances of 10 miles to 40 miles, has won near-universal support from environmentalists, politicians and automakers — though many think it will take longer than late 2010 to have reliable enough batteries to mass market them.
Google, which co-sponsored another conference on plug-ins in Washington last month, has taken a major interest in the technology, and has converted four Toyota Prius hybrid-electric vehicles at its Mountain View, Calif., campus to plug-ins. The cars are averaging more than 65 miles per gallon and are charged by a solar-charging station.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have lavished praise on GM for its Volt project and plug-in hybrids in general. Each supports tax breaks for the purchase of plug-in vehicles, which will be more expensive for years to come because of the expensive, larger batteries required.
Big 3 receive federal grants

GM and the Electric Power Research Institute last month received a $10 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy to create a plug-in demonstration program using the Saturn Vue. Working with the power institute, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and Michigan Economic Development Corp., GM won the money for a project to enhance lithium-ion battery packs, charging systems, powertrain development and vehicle integration.

Other automakers also have launched electric hybrid partnerships, including Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. Last month Ford, said it had named Johnson Controls as the battery supplier to a test fleet of 20 plug-in hybrids it will put on the roads in California and New York by year’s end. Those two companies also won a $10 million Energy Department grant.

Chrysler plans to build 80 plug-in vehicles during three years, working with General Electric as part of a separate $10 million government-financed research project.

You can reach David Shepardson at (202) 662-8735 or dshepardson@detnews.com

Future is nearly now for plug-in hybrids
By Matt Nauman
Mercury News

Checking out plug-in hybrids

When hundreds of experts gather in San Jose this week for the country’s first and biggest plug-in hybrid conference, the tone of the gathering will reveal a dramatic change.

Automakers, utility representatives and policy-makers will be talking when, not if, at Plug-in 2008.
Asked whether plug-in hybrids, also known as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, are inevitable as production vehicles, Mark Duvall of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto answered with cautious optimism that sounded more optimistic than guarded.

“I would never say 100 percent until I can kick the tires myself, but I’m as optimistic as I’ve even been in 15 or so years with this subject,” Duvall said.

Like traditional hybrids, a plug-in hybrid has both batteries and a gasoline engine, and can operate on either or both. Unlike traditional hybrids, plug-ins have larger battery packs and a plug that allows for household charging, meaning they can travel much farther on electricity. And while a hybrid such as the Prius can only go a few miles at low speeds solely on electricity, plug-in advocates envision vehicles with 20 to 40 miles of battery-only transportation range.

Duvall is one of the speakers at Plug-in 2008, which runs today through Thursday at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, and is organized by a host of supporters, including the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Pacific Gas & Electric and EPRI. The event isn’t open to the public but does include a public session Tuesday night.

Representatives from General Motors, Toyota and Ford will be on hand. So will officials from PG&E and Southern California Edison; battery-makers; government researchers; and plug-in advocates.

And former Intel Chief Executive and Chairman Andy Grove, who writes and speaks publicly about his fondness for plug-ins, which he calls dual-fuel cars, will give the keynote address Tuesday.

It’s an important topic in Silicon Valley, one of the largest markets for the Toyota Prius, the best-selling hybrid and a poster child for those embracing green living.

“We’re a very receptive market for new technologies that can make a substantial difference regarding climate change,” said Laura Stuchinsky, who also will speak at the conference. Until recently, she headed up the Silicon Valley Leadership Group push to promote production of plug-in hybrids. She’s now the sustainability officer for the city of San Jose’s transportation department.

At this point, the consensus is that GM and Toyota will be offering plug-in hybrids by late 2010 or early 2011. Other automakers are expected to follow.

Media reports suggest that GM will unveil a production version of its Chevrolet Volt, which it describes as a range-extended electric car, as soon as September. The Detroit automaker says the Volt will have a small gasoline engine to extend the range of the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery pack. It also says it can be charged via a 110-volt plug.

Meanwhile, Toyota is currently testing plug-in versions of the Prius in France, Japan and the United States. About a half-dozen of the cars are being evaluated at Toyota’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance as well as by researchers at the University of California campuses in Berkeley and Irvine, said Jaycie Chitwood, senior strategic planner for Toyota’s advanced technology vehicle group.

Those who have driven the car have had positive reactions, Chitwood said, although they question why the vehicle can only travel seven miles on electricity. The car’s next-generation battery will improve on that, she said.

“It’s very smooth, seamless,” Chitwood said. “You feel like you’re driving a Prius plus.”
But with the increasing hype about the potential of plug-ins, Toyota feels the need to reign in expectations a bit, she said. “We want to make sure people understand what plug-ins are, and what they aren’t,” she said. “We still believe that hybrids will be our core technology going forward.”
If Felix Kramer has anything to do with it, plug-ins will be a way of life. Kramer founded the California Car Initiative, better known for its Web URL, CalCars.org, to promote plug-in hybrids. Based in Palo Alto, Kramer drives a converted Prius emblazoned with “100+ MPG” on its sides. The movement toward the vehicles has reached “a consolidation moment,” Kramer said.

From 2010 to 2012, he expects to see an increasing number of plug-in hybrids from big car companies on the road. “The carmakers are in a race,” Kramer said.

“All the important constituents agree this is a good idea, and they’re trying to figure out how to make it happen on a large scale and rapidly.”

Contact Matt Nauman at mnauman@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5701.

A. Calculations are cold, unfeeling things, and subjective to many outside factors: Is your daughter’s school on the way to your work, or would you turn around and drive right back home? Would you take the neighbors’ kid along as well? What model is the bus, and would it be full to capacity? Would it retrace its route to a garage between the morning pickups and afternoon dropoffs, or wait near the school?

But let’s do some rough estimating. If there are 180 school days in the year, you’re driving 5.5 miles 4 times a day (twice in the morning, twice in the afternoon), for 180 days each year. That’s 3,960 miles total. According to Carbon Fund, a non-profit online carbon calculator, driving 4,000 miles in your Toyota Prius will produce about 0.65 tons of CO2.

Now let’s talk about the bus scenario. Matthew Solomon, Mobile Source Analyst for non-profit Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), estimates that the average school bus (carrying 72 students and getting about 7 miles to the gallon) would emit 0.089 tons CO2, per passenger, over the course of 4000 miles. So no matter how you slice it, the bus is far and away your greenest option. Plus, putting your daughter on the bus at an early age will teach her to support public transportation—especially if you take the time to explain your logic to her.

- Tobin Hack

Coulomb Technologies Announces New Smart Charging Infrastructure for Plug-in Vehicles

Smart Charging Stations, Payment Subscriptions and Utility Grid Management Target New Market of Plug-In Vehicles

Plug-In 2008 Conference & Exposition
CAMPBELL, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Coulomb Technologies today announced a smart charging infrastructure for plug-in vehicles. Coulomb has developed a complete solution targeting plug-in vehicles including Extended Range Electric Vehicles, Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles, and Battery Electric Vehicles. Coulomb’s ChargePoint™ Network includes public charging stations, a consumer subscription plan and utility grid management technology for electric utility companies to smooth electrical demands on the grid. The infrastructure solution will be showcased with the Saturn Vue Plug-in Hybrid at the Plug-In 2008 Conference & Exposition July 22-24 in San Jose, Calif. in booth 302.

According to General Motors vice president of global program management, Jon Lauckner, “GM is committed to the success of the plug-in vehicles, including Extended Range Electric Vehicles like the future Chevy Volt, and together with infrastructure solutions like that of Coulomb Technologies, we are all moving closer to the commercialization of plug-in vehicles. Intelligent infrastructure technology like Coulomb’s is needed for the rapid adoption of plug-in vehicles and to help address the needs and concerns of drivers, utilities, governments, and parking space owners.”

Coulomb’s ChargePoint Network integrates three unique components into a seamless, scalable, reliable, cost-effective solution. At the edge of the ChargePoint Network are Smartlet™ Charging Stations that are individually controlled through the wireless Smartlet Communications Network and the ChargePoint Network Operating System. Coulomb’s core technology includes the elements required to build and enable a smart charging infrastructure for plug-in vehicles.

1. Smartlet Charging Stations: Perform bi-directional energy metering and control, user authentication, and 802.15.4 wireless local area network technology, which enables a subscription model through communication with a data center.

2. Smartlet Communications Network: Provides a high reliability meshed network using 802.15.4 technology and GSM/GRPS technology to communicate with the Network Operating System for user authentication, access control, energy flow control and energy metering.

3. ChargePoint Network Operating System (NOS): Manages the Smartlet Charging Stations through the Smartlet Communications Network. The ChargePoint Network also provides web portals for subscribers, hosts and utilities. Functions include user authentication, access control, energy flow control, location management, utility company policy administration, user portal, host property portal, utility portal and GPS system interface.

“Major automakers have announced delivery of plug-in vehicles to the U.S. marketplace by 2010. But with 54 million garages for the 247 million registered passenger vehicles in the U.S. today, most consumers do not have a way to charge a plug-in vehicle,” said Richard Lowenthal CEO of Coulomb Technologies. “We have developed a scalable, smart charging infrastructure that provides municipalities and parking lot owners a recurring income stream through public charging stations that are easy to install and maintain. Our complete technology solution also provides electric utility companies a means to control the load that plug-in vehicles put on the grid and a means to compute and implement taxes on electricity as a transportation fuel.”

Coulomb Technologies has two inter-related businesses: a product sales business and a service business. Smartlet Charging Stations are sold to municipalities and parking lot owners as capital equipment in a business-to-business model. Charging access is sold to drivers of plug-in vehicles as a subscription service in a business-to-consumer model. Both the Smartlet Charging Stations and ChargePoint Network Operating System will be available in Q4 2008.

“Through an innovative partnership with Coulomb Technologies, San Jose is demonstrating environmental leadership and fostering the growth of our clean tech businesses,” said Mayor Chuck Reed. “Our goal is to be the first city in the United States to demonstrate and offer opportunities for residents to charge electric vehicles from streetlights and other infrastructure. Doing so will help the City meet its Green Vision goals.”

Japanese auto and battery makers join hands for common standards for next generation auto batteries news

Adording to the Nikkei business daily rival Japanses automoakers Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor Co will work with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and other Japanese companies to set up common standards for lithium-ion batteries being developed to power next-generation cars.

Earlier in May Toyota, which leads the industry with its gas-electric hybrid Prius and Matsushita had announced a joint venture, Panasonic EV Energy Co, to set up two plants to make batteries for environment-friendly gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

Their venture aims to increase production of nickel-metal hydride batteries while aiming to start mass production of next-generation lithium-ion batteries.

Apart from Toyota’s alliance with Matsushita, other auto makers in alliance to develop lithium-ion batteries include Nissan with NEC Corp group and Mitsubishi Motors with G S Yuasa Corp.

Lithium-ion batteries, commonly used in laptop computers and mobile phones, are seen as a key component to improving the performance of pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid cars as they are said to produce more power and are smaller than nickel-metal hydride batteries, which are now used the Prius.

Toyota says the lithium-ion batteries may be used in plug-in hybrids, which can be recharged from a home electrical outlet.

The report credits the initiaitive for setting up a common global standard for lithium-ion batteries to an affiliate organisation of the Japanese ministry of economy, trade and industry, that brings together nine automonbile firms, six battery makers and utility Tokyo Electric Power Co to draft the standards that include testing and charging methods, vehicle safety and other areas.

The group aims to push for its specifications to be adopted by the International Organisation for Standardisation as the global standard for lithium-ion batteries.

A common standard would help battery makers cut development costs and enable Japanese automakers gain an edge over their US and European rivals who are in a race to introduce zero emission hybrids as consumer preference steadily shifts to greener vehicles against a backdrop of rising fuel prices.

Traditional muffler systems may someday become obsolete with the development of active noise-canceling technologies, according to Eberspaecher, a leading supplier of automotive heating and exhaust systems based in Esslingen, Germany.

After years of intense development, Eberspaecher’s ActiveSilence® noise-canceling technology may soon find its way into dealership showrooms, according to Martin Romzek, Eberspaecher vice president – Development.

Eberspaecher’s ActiveSilence system is based on a principle used in headphones worn by some airline passengers to cancel out irritating noise. The auto supplier inserts a speaker into a vehicle’s exhaust system to create counter waves to sound waves from the engine. The waves cancel each other out, while at the same time generating a more pleasant overall sound from the engine and exhaust system.

The company has worked on several ActiveSilence demonstration projects both internally and with various automakers, Romzek reports.

“In addition to remarkable acoustic flexibility and performance, our systems have demonstrated significant reductions in exhaust-system back pressure compared to traditional systems,” he says. “Since the typical acoustic principles of restriction or reflection within the exhaust flow are unnecessary, we’re able to eliminate power loss typically associated with ‘quiet’ exhaust systems.

“Efficiency improvements due to limited backpressure can be used to boost horsepower and/or improve fuel economy. In one demonstration project using our ActiveSilence in a standard sedan, we saw a four percent improvement in both engine power and fuel economy.”

The Eberspaecher executive notes that while demonstration programs have shown remarkable improvements in system performance and in some cases weight savings, it is the continued development of control systems as well as improvements in durability performance that currently has captured the attention of automakers.

Eberspaecher, for example, has developed speakers that can survive temperatures upwards of 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Its systems operate in one of the most hostile car environments where they are exposed to extreme heat and vibration.

Since the temperatures in an exhaust system can approach 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, the speaker is thermally isolated in an auxiliary pod. Yet, it can still project noise-canceling sound waves into the exhaust stream.

Romzek notes that in North America, the Eberspaecher ActiveSilence system offers automakers engine performance benefits as well as potential weight savings which will help automakers meet new federal fuel-economy targets set by Congress in 2007.

In Europe, automakers are looking at the technology as an enhancement feature. They may use it to program their vehicles’ sound characteristics. ActiveSilence also would benefit hybrid electric vehicles, which have complex powerplants.

“In a hybrid, where the conventional engine is being turned on and off, the unusual sounds can be disconcerting to motorists,” Romzek said. “Eberspaecher’s ActiveSilence can generate a consistent sound from the vehicle.

“Conventional mufflers will be around for many years, but active noise-canceling technologies soon will emerge on niche vehicles, providing designers with greater packaging flexibility.”

One thing is for certain - this is not your father’s automobile.

But Pat Powell, owner of Powell Motorsports in Logan, seems to think it could be. Powell soon will be selling Tri-Fun pickups, manufactured by Tri-Fun Inc.

The four-seat, quarter-ton vehicle has a General Motors drive train. It’s hyper fuel-efficient and is roughly the size of a Toyota pickup.

The Tri-Fun is just one of several sub-sub-compact vehicles that have hit markets in the past few years. And with the rising cost of gas, their presence is growing.

The vehicle can travel as fast as 70 mph and gets about 50 mpg, Powell said.

“The working man needs a vehicle that he can afford so that he doesn’t have to be a slave to the oil companies,” Powell said.

Although the Tri-Fun is as fuel efficient as the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid, which both average 45 mpg, the vehicles cost roughly $15,000 less than either the Prius or Civic.

A Tri-Fun vehicle retails for $10,000, which is significantly less than the Prius’ $24,000 asking price at River Valley Motors, in Lancaster.

But for all the positive qualities, some experts are raising red flags about the safety of micro-vehicles such as the Tri-Fun.

One concern is vehicle classification: Many of the micro-size electric and gas powered cars - the Tri-Fun included - are exempt from safety standards that apply to conventional automobiles such as the Prius.

“(Our) concern is that they are so lightweight. These vehicles are no match for a regular small, car on the road, let alone some of the trucks or SUVs that are on the road (in the event of a collision),” said Russ Rader, a spokesman the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

However, expert warnings have had little effect on consumer interest, said Powell. He said the little cars have generated quite a buzz.

Powell, the only Tr-Fun dealer in Southeastern Ohio, said he’s been getting calls from all around the region. He’s already sold five vehicles - and the first shipment hasn’t even arrived. As he sees it, the vehicle is ideal for contractors who need to haul tools to a job site or for a delivery businesses.

“They will be plenty safe,” he said.

The relaxed safety standards governing the micro-size cars stems from the fact that most small vehicles aren’t actually “cars” in the eyes of the law - they’re considered motorcycles. Therefore, to legally operate one, a driver must have a motorcycle operator’s license.

“There’s some major safety concerns with those vehicles,” Rader said. “They don’t have to meet federal safety standards that cars do. Often they’re sold as a motorcycle-class vehicle that aren’t governed like cars.”

Tri-Fun President Tighe Estes said safety experts are missing the point.

“We build an enclosed motorcycle, and it is enclosed for one reason - to keep the wind and the rain off you,” Estes said. “People ask me, ‘Can I take this on the highway?’ I say, ‘Would you hop on a two-wheel Harley and go down the highway?’ If the answer is yes, then sure.

“It’s as safe, if not safer, than any motorcycle on the road. But it’s not designed to be as safe as a car,” he said.

Estes compared the Tri-Fun to parking enforcement vehicles used by many city governments.

The vehicles’ classification as a motorcycle presents layers of red tape for owners, too, because there’s a hitch with registering the vehicle.

Because the vehicles are newcomers to car markets, which historically favor large vehicles, it is often difficult to obtain proper registration for micro-cars.

Three-wheel motorcycles with passenger car-style seating - such as the Tri-Fun - cannot be registered until September in Ohio, said Lindsay Komlanc, a spokesperson for Ohio Department of Public Safety.

The vehicle’s status as a newcomer to the automobile market means there is little or no crash data to back up claims about their safety, said Komlanc.

“The law hasn’t kept up with technology,” Komlanc said. “Currently, there shouldn’t be any registered in the state” so we are “a little early in the process to have crash statistics or fatality numbers.”

But the lack of safety data isn’t convincing critics the cars are roadworthy.

Rader said the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety hopes increased safety standards would be demanded for motorcycle-class vehicles in the near future.

“With the concern over gas prices more of these small or lightweight vehicles are going to be sold and we may have to consider testing of these vehicles to show how vulnerable people would be in crashes,” he said.

Still, despite the niche market presence lightweight vehicles are developing, there is no evidence they will replace or challenge the role of conventional cars and trucks any time soon.

Standing outside Speedway gas station on Memorial Drive in Lancaster, Shelton Curtis Sr. said he was skeptical about the Tri-Fun.

Curtis was filling up his Ford F-150 pickup. He said fuel expenses for his scrap-hauling job run about $80 a day. But the price of gas alone couldn’t get Curtis into a Tri-Fun for his daily drive to Columbus.

When asked if he would consider driving a Tri-Fun, Curtis responded, “No.”

After seeing a photo of the vehicle, Curtis said the Tri-Fun “just didn’t look safe.”

“It only has three wheels? Why not just get a motorcycle? You’re going to have to get a motorcycle license to drive the thing anyway,” he said.

There’s no doubt that in any collision between something like the tri-fun and “regular” car much less a truck, it’s highly likely the people in the tri-fun won’t fare well. But that’s today. I seriously believe that our cars, all of them, are going to get smaller very quickly. As they do and as we recognize the utility of something like the tri-fun, then the relative safety of the tri-fun will go up. Cars need to be smaller.

The only thing about this vehicle is pollution. While it gets great MPG (reportedly) I have to wonder what the emissions are.

After parking his Prius next to an identical twin (something that happens a lot more now than it did three years ago) he decided to customize his Prius in the following manner.

I’m guessing Mark doesn’t have any trouble figuring which of which the Prii in the lot is his anymore.

If you want to see Mark’s work, you can. Just click here to visit his website and see some of his cool sculpture.