A new system being developed will add hydrogen to the fuel/air mixture in a conventional gas engine, which can boost your fuel economy by 20 to 30 percent. A hydrogen-boosted gas engine has very little NOx emissions and doesn't cost much to install. The problem is a lack of hydrogen stations to refill your 'tank'.
A new system could solve the problem. It was invented by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and is currently being worked on by ArvinMeritor in cooperation with the German automotive engineering firm IAV. It generates the hydrogen from gasoline, which is then added to the air/fuel mixture.
The energy requirements for the new system are minimal. It requires less energy than a standard bulb at less than 75 watts.
The hydrogen-boost system can be bolted on to an existing system, which means only low costs changes are needed to add this system to existing factory lines. Of course, this system is only a prototype, and many tests are needed before full production is ready. Plans are for full production to begin in 2010.
I saw this story over at autoblog first. The whole article can be read here at auto.consumerguide.com.
Tuesday, 4 April 2006
As part of its campaign for the Ford Escape Hybrid, Ford is replacing Ty Pennington on ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on April 9th with its spokesperson, Kermit the Frog.
Kermit and his team will be making over a house in Texas. The Craft family, of Hondo, Texas, will also receive a brand new Ford Escape Hybrid as part of the makeover of their entire home in seven days.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition destroys and then rebuilds a home for a lucky family in a period of seven days. They pick families, usually of the hard luck kind based on letters sent in. The new home designs tend to be unique, but the building tends to be stressful. With a short time to do it in, the unique designs make it very difficult for the team of volunteers to complete all their jobs.
Kermit and his team will be making over a house in Texas. The Craft family, of Hondo, Texas, will also receive a brand new Ford Escape Hybrid as part of the makeover of their entire home in seven days.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition destroys and then rebuilds a home for a lucky family in a period of seven days. They pick families, usually of the hard luck kind based on letters sent in. The new home designs tend to be unique, but the building tends to be stressful. With a short time to do it in, the unique designs make it very difficult for the team of volunteers to complete all their jobs.
The problem with 'real world driving' reports
Whenever someone writes about driving a hybrid and not getting the mileage they were promised by the EPA, they usually give you a number for their test drive. Unfortunately, that's not enough information to understand what's really going on.
Car and Driver's Patrick Bedard explains it all in this article being reproduced courtesy of Lexus. Mileage will vary based on who's driving, where he's driving, and most importantly, how he's driving that day.
Hybrid drivers routinely get higher mileage than other drivers for two reasons. The first is the technology in their car. The second is just as important, they pay attention to how they drive. There's even a group of hybrid drivers who routinely get better than the EPA estimates. Using techniques labeled hypermiling, some Prius drivers have gotten over 100 mpg.
Sometimes how you drive to your destination is just as important as getting there.
Car and Driver's Patrick Bedard explains it all in this article being reproduced courtesy of Lexus. Mileage will vary based on who's driving, where he's driving, and most importantly, how he's driving that day.
Hybrid drivers routinely get higher mileage than other drivers for two reasons. The first is the technology in their car. The second is just as important, they pay attention to how they drive. There's even a group of hybrid drivers who routinely get better than the EPA estimates. Using techniques labeled hypermiling, some Prius drivers have gotten over 100 mpg.
Sometimes how you drive to your destination is just as important as getting there.
Monday, 3 April 2006
Lexus LS 460 hybrid to be unveiled at the New York Auto Show
According to autoblog, Toyota has announced it will introduce the Lexus LS 460 hybrid, its latest luxury hybrid at the New York Auto Show. Its set to be unveiled on April 12th, between 9:25-9:50 AM (EST).
The Lexus LS 460 V8 hybrid should be as powerful as its counterpart.
Watch the unveiling live at www.lexus.com/autoshow. If you're interested in the Lexus series, I'd head over there now to see some nice introductory videos on each of the Lexus models.
The Lexus LS 460 V8 hybrid should be as powerful as its counterpart.
Watch the unveiling live at www.lexus.com/autoshow. If you're interested in the Lexus series, I'd head over there now to see some nice introductory videos on each of the Lexus models.
Lexus GS Forbes top 10 hottest cars
Forbes placed the new Lexus GS hybrid in its top ten hottest cars of 2006. Despite its relatively low sticker price (half the cars on this list are up over 100K), the hybrid technology wedded to the luxury vehicle makes the new Lexus GS 450h hybrid 'most desirable' for car enthusiasts.
Spring New Car Forecast 2006 - Forbes.com
Spring New Car Forecast 2006 - Forbes.com
On the other hand, fancy technology can drive mass-market profits. Toyota Motor shocked the auto business by proving a company can make money on gas/electric hybrid cars, which are expensive to build; you just need to sell a lot of them. In the slide show, you can see Toyota’s new Lexus GS Hybrid--the first hybrid luxury sedan.
Hybrids cost more in energy than a Hummer?
In a story I first saw at autoblog.com, research recently done by CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore. found that Hummers take less energy per mile than hybrid vehicles? Story over at USNews.
It seems it takes more energy to produce hybrid cars than a gas only car. With its more complicated design and because it has more parts in its engine, the energy needed to create a hybrid is more costly than for simpler cars, such as the Jeep Wrangler. Hybrids also have oversized batteries that adds to disposal costs at the end of its life.
Using hundreds of variables, CNW Marketing reduced the energy equation into a cost per mile for over 300 cars. The average cost to drive was $2.28. All five hybrids analyzed fell below that average.
This doesn't change the cost equation for the consumer. Despite the higher sticker price, you can save money by buying a hybrid over the lifetime of the car.
It seems it takes more energy to produce hybrid cars than a gas only car. With its more complicated design and because it has more parts in its engine, the energy needed to create a hybrid is more costly than for simpler cars, such as the Jeep Wrangler. Hybrids also have oversized batteries that adds to disposal costs at the end of its life.
Using hundreds of variables, CNW Marketing reduced the energy equation into a cost per mile for over 300 cars. The average cost to drive was $2.28. All five hybrids analyzed fell below that average.
This doesn't change the cost equation for the consumer. Despite the higher sticker price, you can save money by buying a hybrid over the lifetime of the car.
Toyota to implement hybrid technology across the board
According to an story in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and picked up by the AP, Toyota is planning on placing hybrid technology across its entire lineup of cars. By doing so, they plan on selling 1 million hybrid vehicles by 2012.
Currently Toyota sells the Prius, the Highlander hybrid and the Lexus RX 400h hybrid. They recently started selling the Lexus GS 450h hybrid (pictures, mileage and other info) in Japan, as well. Toyota currently sells more hybrid vehicles than all other companies combined.
Toyota is hoping to keep production costs down and so keep the retail price between hybrid and gas-only cars under $2550. They are also hoping to sell 2,000 hybrid cars in North America alone this year.
Currently Toyota sells the Prius, the Highlander hybrid and the Lexus RX 400h hybrid. They recently started selling the Lexus GS 450h hybrid (pictures, mileage and other info) in Japan, as well. Toyota currently sells more hybrid vehicles than all other companies combined.
Toyota is hoping to keep production costs down and so keep the retail price between hybrid and gas-only cars under $2550. They are also hoping to sell 2,000 hybrid cars in North America alone this year.
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