Sunday, January 20, 2008

Timeline: Life & Death of the Electric Car

1832-1839
Scottish inventor Robert Anderson invents the first crude electric carriage powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.

1835
American Thomas Davenport is credited with building the first practical electric vehicle which was a small locomotive.

1859
French physicist Gaston Planté invents the rechargeable lead-acid storage battery. In 1881, his countryman Camille Faure will improve the storage battery's ability to supply current and invent the basic lead-acid battery used in automobiles.

1891
William Morrison of Des Moines, Iowa builds the first successful electric automobile in the United States.

Photo of Edison and an electric car. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian.
Thomas Edison and an electric car. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian
1893
A handful of different makes and models of electric cars are exhibited in Chicago.

1897
The first electric taxis hit the streets of New York City early in the year. The Pope Manufacturing Company of Connecticut becomes the first large-scale American electric automobile manufacturer.

1899
Believing that electricity will run autos in the future, Thomas Alva Edison begins his mission to create a long-lasting, powerful battery for commercial automobiles. Though his research yields some improvements to the alkaline battery, he ultimately abandons his quest a decade later.

1900
The electric automobile is in its heyday. Of the 4,192 cars produced in the United States 28 percent are powered by electricity, and electric autos represent about one-third of all cars found on the roads of New York City, Boston, and Chicago.

Photo of a Ford Model T
A Ford Model T
1908
Henry Ford introduces the mass-produced and gasoline-powered Model T, which will have a profound effect on the U.S. automobile market.

1912
Charles Kettering invents the first practical electric automobile starter. Kettering's invention makes gasoline-powered autos more alluring to consumers by eliminating the unwieldy hand crank starter and ultimately helps pave the way for the electric car's demise.

1920
During the 1920s the electric car ceases to be a viable commercial product. The electric car's downfall is attributable to a number of factors, including the desire for longer distance vehicles, their lack of horsepower, and the ready availability of gasoline.

1966
Congress introduces the earliest bills recommending use of electric vehicles as a means of reducing air pollution. A Gallup poll indicates that 33 million Americans are interested in electric vehicles.

1970s
Concerns about the soaring price of oil -- peaking with the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 -- and a growing environmental movement result in renewed interests in electric cars from both consumers and producers.

1972
Victor Wouk, the "Godfather of the Hybrid," builds the first full-powered, full-size hybrid vehicle out of a 1972 Buick Skylark provided by General Motors (G.M.) for the 1970 Federal Clean Car Incentive Program. The Environmental Protection Association later kills the program in 1976.

Vanguard-Sebring's CitiCar
Vanguard-Sebring's CitiCar
1974
Vanguard-Sebring's CitiCar makes its debut at the Electric Vehicle Symposium in Washington, D.C. The CitiCar has a top speed of over 30 mph and a reliable warm-weather range of 40 miles. By 1975 the company is the sixth largest automaker in the U.S. but is dissolved only a few years later.

1975
The U.S. Postal Service purchases 350 electric delivery jeeps from AM General, a division of AMC, to be used in a test program.

1976
Congress passes the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act. The law is intended to spur the development of new technologies including improved batteries, motors, and other hybrid-electric components.

1988
Roger Smith, CEO of G.M. , agrees to fund research efforts to build a practical consumer electric car. G.M. teams up with California's AeroVironment to design what would become the EV1, which one employee called "the world's most efficient production vehicle." Some electric vehicle enthusiasts have speculated that the EV1 was never undertaken as a serious commercial venture by the large automaker.

1990
California passes its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate, which requires two percent of the state's vehicles to have no emissions by 1998 and 10 percent by 2003. The law is repeatedly weakened over the next decade to reduce the number of pure ZEVs it requires.

1997
Toyota unveils the Prius -- the world's first commercially mass-produced and marketed hybrid car -- in Japan. Nearly 18,000 units are sold during the first production year.

1997 - 2000
A few thousand all-electric cars (such as Honda's EV Plus, G.M.'s EV1, Ford's Ranger pickup EV, Nissan's Altra EV, Chevy's S-10 EV, and Toyota's RAV4 EV) are produced by big car manufacturers, but most of them are available for lease only. All of the major automakers' advanced all-electric production programs will be discontinued by the early 2000s.

2002
G.M. and DaimlerChrysler sue the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to repeal the ZEV mandate first passed in 1990. The Bush Administration joins that suit.

Crushed EV1 electric cars
GM EV1 electric car graveyard
2003
G.M. announces that it will not renew leases on its EV1 cars saying it can no longer supply parts to repair the vehicles and that it plans to reclaim the cars by the end of 2004.

2005
On February 16, electric vehicle enthusiasts begin a "Don't Crush" vigil to stop G.M. from demolishing 78 impounded EV1s in Burbank, California. The vigil ends twenty-eight days later when G.M. removes the cars from the facility. In the film "Who Killed the Electric Car" G.M. spokesman Dave Barthmuss states that the EV1s are to be recycled, not just crushed.

2006
A few pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids are in limited production and new ones are on the horizon. Experts differ on how soon rising oil prices, peak oil forecasts, changing fortunes at car companies, and public demand for cars that run without gasoline will resurrect the mass market for electric car in the twenty-first century. The success of the gasoline hybrid Toyota Prius is a promising sign.
www.pbs.org

What's up with Environmental Terms?

Glossary of Environmental Terms
S3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle): As waste material countermeasures, the 3Rs require reductions in the volume of waste through product resource conservation, longer life of products and reduced generation of by-products in production processes (Reduce); reuse of components (Reuse); and recycling of components (Recycle).


ASR (Automobile Shredder Residue): After disposal of fuel, oil and other liquids by end-of-life vehicle dismantlers, the engines, transmission, tires, batteries and other parts are separated, and the remaining bodies and other parts are dispatched to a shredding facility. They are turned into shredder residue after steel and nonferrous metal particles are separated out for recycling. Recycling technology for this residue is now under development.

AT-PZEV: Advanced technology PZEV – meets PZEV requirements and has additional zero-emission characteristics, like operation by natural gas or by hybrid car's batteries.


End-of-life vehicles: Vehicles that are no longer used for transportation, traditionally disposed of by dismantling, destroying, burning or landfill.


Environmental impact: That which, as a result of human activity, affects the environment and is a cause of interference in environmental conservation.

Greenhouse gases: These are gases (CO2 , methane, CFC alternatives and others) that absorb the heat (infrared rays) released by the sun-warmed surface of the earth and cause global warming. Greenhouse gases absorb heat and warm the air, but as their density increases, more heat is absorbed, and the air temperature rises, resulting in global warming.



LEV: Low-emission vehicle. The basic standard for 2004 vehicles in California. (It is stricter than Tier 2, the federal standard for 45 states and the District of Columbia.)


PZEV: Partial zero-emission vehicle – Meets SULEV tailpipe standards, has zero evaporative emissions and a 15-year or 150,000-mile warranty on the PZEV equipment.


Recycling-based society: As an alternative to the existing high-consumption, high-waste society, this is an economic society that aims at the simultaneous achievement of environmental consideration and the pursuit of economic rationally through the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste material, restricting as much as possible the use of new resources and minimizing the volume of emissions.


SULEV: Super-ultra-low-emission vehicle – 90 percent cleaner than the average 2003 automobile.


ULEV: Ultra-low-emission vehicle – 50 percent cleaner than the average new 2003 automobile.


Zero emissions: This aims at building a recycling-based society in which the recycling of waste from industrial and other activities and the prevention of waste generation results in a society with no waste. “Zero emissions” has a variety of meanings, but for Subaru it means activities that result in a zero level of waste material to be disposed of in landfills.

ZEV: Zero-emission vehicle – has no tailpipe emissions and is 98 percent cleaner than the average 2003 car. Includes battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell cars.

What Happened to the Electric Car

The Subaru R1E
Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), has announced that the R1e electric vehicle will begin silently rolling off dealer lots come 2009, which is a year ahead of schedule. With lithium-ion batteries developed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the R1e will have a 50-mile range and a 62-MPH top speed. While the 'range isn't too impressive -- although plenty for typical urban commuting, and it will certainly increase -- the car can be 80-percent recharged in just 8 minutes.

The Japanese Eliica
The Keio Advanced Zero-Emmision Vehicle (KAS) has surfaced with a second-generation model named the Eliica, which stands for electric lithium-ion car. Developed by a team at Keio University headed by Professor Hiroshi Shimizu, the Eliica has four axles with eight wheels. No reason for the extra set of axles is given, though perhaps they're needed when the vehicle is traveling at its top speed of 230 mph, which actually was reached one day last year at the Nardo in Italy. The Eliica takes 10 hours to charge and will travel 125 miles on a charge. It can accelerate to 62 mph in 4.1 seconds, after which we imaging you'd need to recharge it again. The team's goal is beat the top speed of the Bugatti Veyron and produce 200 units of the Eliica for people like George Clooney and that ex-Baywatch babe who still drives an EV1.

The GM Volt
The Concept Chevy Volt. It’s unlike any previous EV (electric vehicle), thanks to its innovative rechargeable electric drive system and range-extending power source. It can be configured to run on electricity, gasoline, E85 or biodiesel. So you have at least a couple of options for the most efficient drive — all made possible by GM’s innovative E-Flex Propulsion System.

The Brazilian OBVIO
Progress is steadily being made to bring the Brazilian-based OBVIO! mini cars to the U.S. through ZAP. The California-based automobile distributor that brought us the SMART fortwo before DaimlerChrysler itself has already prepurchased 50,000 units.

The first model year will be comprised of the 828 and 012 models with flex-fuel engines that can run on 100-percent ethanol, 100-percent gasoline or a combination of both. The Tritec 1.6L four-cylinder motor is mated to a CVT and will reportedly produce 115 horsepower and 149 ft-lbs. of torque while delivering 29.4 mpg city and 40.69 mpg highway running on ethanol. Fuel economy should improve by 10 percent using gasoline, according to OBVIO!. The target price for U.S. consumption of the 828 is $14,000 and the 012E $28,000.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Green Gasoline

The Detroit auto show is where automakers showcase their latest Big Ideas, and this year's show features some of the most advanced green technology to date.



But you won't see many hydrogen, electric or hybrid concept vehicles unveiled. Rather, you'll find green tech in the gasoline and diesel engines that will power most of our cars in the next decade.



"The internal combustion engine is not going away for a very long time," said Casey Selecman, an industry analyst at CSM Worldwide. Cars will become much cleaner and more fuel-efficient, he said, but "it's going to be an evolutionary change, not a revolutionary one."



It's a chaotic time for the industry as it moves toward a greener future without surrendering its past. Despite a worldwide push for vehicles that run on alternative fuels, the industry has invested too much in the combustion engine to abandon it. That's why the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Jan. 19-27 will see the unveiling of the 620-horsepower Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 and Kia's latest sport utility vehicle alongside the Saturn Vue Green two-mode hybrid and Toyota's A-BAT hybrid pickup concept.



Concept cars will provide glimpses of where automakers are headed. General Motors is touting hydrogen with the Cadillac Provoq. Chrysler's bringing the Dodge ZEO electric sports car. BMW will bring along the X6 Active Hybrid concept.



But the greenest stars may be the gasoline-burning Ford Explorer America and Audi R8 diesel concept vehicles. Both feature what several industry experts called the engines of the future, and they highlight the trend toward turbochargers, variable valve timing, direct fuel injection and clean diesel. Automakers see such technology as the fastest way to significantly improve fuel efficiency and emissions.



"None of this sounds green, but it's the dominant green technology we'll see alongside hybrids for the next 10 years," said Eric Noble, president of Car Lab, an auto industry consultancy.



The new Explorer, expected to see production in 2010, looks like just another SUV, but it redefines the genre. It is smaller and lighter than earlier Explorers, a trend automakers are adopting as consumers shun SUVs in favor of car-like "crossover utility vehicles," or CUVs.



But the biggest change is under the hood, where Ford installed its new EcoBoost four-cylinder turbocharged direct-injection engine. (Production versions will have an optional EcoBoost V6.) Ford says the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine produces 30 percent more power and up to 20 percent better fuel economy than the 4.0-liter V6 it will replace.



Ford plans to build 500,000 EcoBoost four- and six-cylinder engines a year within five years, and Noble says most of its competitors have a similar level of commitment. The 9-4x CUV that Saab will unveil in Detroit uses a similar engine with flex-fuel capacity.



"All the manufacturers are validating this technology, because you really do improve efficiency with turbos," he said. "They're not talking about it, because it's not sexy."



The Detroit auto show also will see the first rounds fired in the coming clean-diesel revolution. The BMW X5 xDrive35d and Mercedes-Benz GLK Freeside concept are among the diesels appearing in Detroit. But the one that will get the most attention will almost certainly be the 500-horsepower V-12 Audi R8 diesel.



Audi wants to build on the success of its R10 TDI LeMans racecar to start pushing diesel in a big way. The company plans to produce a diesel R8 if the car is well received in Detroit.



Ron Cogan, editor of Green Car Journal and GreenCar.com, said high-performance diesels like the R8, BMW 335d and Mitsubishi RA concept would go a long way toward dispelling the perception of diesels as loud, dirty and slow.



The diesel revolution of the 1970s "left a lasting impression that diesel is not good technology," he said. "They don't associate it with cars that will get your blood pumping. As we see high-performance diesels coming out in sports cars, in luxury sedans and affordable cars that do everything you need while being clean and getting 30 percent better fuel economy, they will catch on."



Critics will point to the debuts of vehicles like the Corvette ZR1 (one pundit called it "an old-school exercise in automotive pornography"), Ford's new F150 pickup or Hyundai's 350-horsepower V8 Genesis sedan and say the industry's talk of going green is just that -- talk.



Automotive trend watchers said that although things move slowly in an industry where it can take several years for an idea to reach the assembly line, change is coming, and soon.



"This is not PR," said Aaron Bragman, an analyst with Global Insight. "These are actual programs. They're throwing a lot of money at this. They know they have to meet these regulations. Times are changing. People want to see something different, and we're starting to see those cars rolling out."