Photo courtesy of efusco at Flickr.com.
Hybrid cars make me drool. The idea of getting 50 miles per gallon instead of 25 is almost enough to make me run out and get one today. But, hybrid cars are expensive and there’s an environmental case to be made for getting the full life out of my current car before I go shopping for a new toy.
It’s tempting to try for the best of both worlds and shop around for a used hybrid car. But, we’re rapidly approaching a milestone in the age of hybrid cars. Battery packs from Priuses made in 2001 were only rated for 100,000 miles (what do you call more than one Prius, anyway? Priusi?). Assuming the previous user drove 12,000-15,000 per year, that means the cars are likely to have 100k or more on the odometer. So, a first generation Prius is likely to come with a geriatric battery.
Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. Used cars have all sorts of maintenance issues, and car buyers pay a discounted price because they know that costly repairs are a possibility. Battery packs break the mold because battery technology is complicated and hybrid battery packs are shockingly expensive. When these battery packs wear out, they can cost several thousand dollars to replace, and require expert technicians to do the work. From the Newsweek article:
Philip Card of Utica, N.Y., says a Toyota dealer wanted to charge him $3,900 to replace the battery on his 2001 Prius, which had 350,000 miles on it when he bought it used on eBay this year for $4,357.
So, here are a few things to bear in mind:
1) A huge aftermarket is developing for hybrid batteries from wrecked hybrids. If your Prius is totaled by hail damage or a fender bender with an SUV, don’t let a savvy scrap dealer take advantage of you by “taking the wreckage off your hands”.
2) The resale price of hybrids is falling in line with the resale price of the non-hybrid versions. Due to uncertainty over the value of hybrid batteries (and the cost of upcoming replacement), there may be some real deals out there if you can find hybrids with cosmetic wear but value under the hood.
So, Caveat Emptor! When shopping for a used hybrid, it might be a good idea to pay for a diagnostic evaluation of the battery pack. And, if you’re one of those Prius, Insight, or other hybrid drivers who I’m jealous of, here are a few rechargeable battery tips that you can use to get the most mileage from your battery pack before it needs replacing. One way to put these battery saving tips into practice is with a trickle charger that keeps the battery above 50% of charge without overheating it.
Photo courtesy of garyhymes at Flickr.com.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Photo courtesy of George Morris at Flickr.com.
I recently rode an Amtrak train from Chicago to Dallas, and every seat was full. Compared to my previous experiences on Amtrak, that was an amazing change. Just 6 months ago, I remember that there were 4 empty seats for every one that was claimed. When I asked my fellow passengers why they chose to ride, the hot topic was the high price of gas. Fuel prices are driving up the price of airplane tickets (just last weekend, fares rose $20!), and 3 major airlines died in the first quarter due to oil shock. Drivers are also becoming aware of every drop of fuel that they use - no one likes to see a $50 or $100 charge at the pump!
The silver lining of this is that we’re starting to see the cost of different modes of travel mirror their real price in terms of pollution. High gas prices are making environmentally friendly transport more and more competitive. In effect, this is a preview of how a carbon tax could change the face of travel.
Train and bus ridership are growing like crazy:
As gas price keep climbing, a growing number of Americans are leaving their cars in the garage and getting on board trains. Commuter train lines around the country are reporting big jumps in first quarter ridership: up 15% in the suburbs of Seattle, 13% in the communities north of Miami, 7% in the region surrounding Minneapolis-St. Paul, and better than 5% in New Jersey.
Subways and bus routes are feeling the boost too. People are leaving their cars at home and hopping on public transport. Unfortunately, since many of these commuter services use petroleum based fuel, their costs are rising too. Increased ridership can offset these increased costs in the short term though. It costs almost as much to run an empty train as it does to run a train with 40 people in it. Additional paying passengers add minimal costs while bringing in much needed revenue. Fuel prices are also rising for train and bus operators though. When commuter services charge the same despite rising prices, this can eliminate any efficiency gains.
If the price of oil stays at these levels, there’s likely to be widespread demand for better public transportation:
Five dollar gasoline may be enough to force some people to give up steady use of their personal cars and seek other solutions. For others, the quitting price may be ten or twenty dollars per gallon and for the very wealthy even $100 a gallon gasoline ($80 or $100 thousand a year) would be an acceptable price to pay for the convenience of the private car.
In the case of slowly increasing gasoline prices the problem is one of forming a critical mass that will make economic sense for greatly expanded mass transit. Such a critical mass is likely to come for long distance travel first, for as soon as discretionary air travel becomes unaffordable, the demand for better train and bus service will increase rapidly. Long distance automobile travel may fill some of this gap especially for moving multiple passengers or if cars become significantly more efficient, but for the lone traveler, a long distance car trip could become very expensive.
If you’re undecided about taking the train, here are 9 underappreciated benefits of train travel. Compared to travel by air, the benefits of train travel boil down to lower cost, increased comfort, and reduced hassle from security. Air travel still wins on convenience, reliability, and prestige. Long distance buses are also a great option - some studies suggest that intercity buses the most fuel efficient travel available today:
Based on mileage and passengers in 2004, highway buses achieved an average of 148.4 passenger miles per gallon. That’s more than double achieved by intercity trains which achieved 74.1 passenger miles per gallon. Airlines managed 40.9 passenger miles per gallon, while cars came in last at 35.4 mpg.
Photo courtesy of VSPA at Flickr.com.
Popularity: 5% [?]
23 May 08 |
Photo courtesy of danilion at Flickr.com.
There are plenty of things you can do to save gas while driving. Check your tire pressure. Remove antennae balls. Drive slower. But, in the real world, we’ve all got limited attention spans. Changing habits is hard work, and few people are prepared to make drastic changes to every stage of their drive.
So, what really matters? Is it more important to use cruise control or take the flag down from the gun rack? Luckily, Consumer Reports has tackled the issue. Their real-world study has some hard numbers and surprising conclusions.
After reading the list, I realized that no one had prioritized our options. So, here are the 5 biggest changes you can make to save gas, with estimates of fuel saving potential:
1. Get your lead foot off the gas pedal (save 5-10 MPG)
If you’re going over 55 miles per hour, slowing down increases fuel efficiency. On their test car (a Toyota Camry) Consumer Reports found that slowing down from 75 MPH to 65 MPH resulted in a 5 mile per gallon performance increase. Slowing down from 75 MPH to 55 MPH saved 10 miles per gallon!
2. Eliminate drag (save 6 MPG)
Engineers hate drag. Every piece of a car that sticks out (from the rear view mirrors to the radio antennae) reduces fuel efficiency and acceleration. The one thing engineers hate worse than drag is customers who modify the cars that they worked so hard on by adding more drag. That’s what happens whenever we attach a car-top carrier, clip a bike onto the spare wheel, or even tie a ribbon onto the antennae. All of these attachments hurt fuel efficiency more than most people realize. So now’s a good time to streamline your car - those truck balls aren’t fooling anybody, anyway.
3. Combine errands and keep your engine warm (save 4 MPG)
Combining errands saves gas in two ways - not only does it prevent driving over the same route again and again, but combining errands keeps your engine from cooling down. A warm engine is at the right temperature for optimally burning fuel. Parking in the sunlight can help to a limited extent, especially if “cold” is your hometown’s default temperature.
4. Maintain a steady pace (save 2-3 MPG)
Accelerating and decelerating constantly can take a real toll on your gas mileage. Going a steady pace makes inertia work in your favor, boosting gas mileage and also preventing unnecessary wear and tear. One of the easiest ways to set your pace is to use the cruise control. Also, try to accelerate gradually up to speed when entering the highway, and coast down to speed when using an exit.
5. Keep tires properly inflated (save 1.3 MPG)
When tire pressure gets low, the tire starts to sag like a limp balloon. This means that more of the tire comes in contact with the road, which, in turn, increases friction. Tires that are underinflated by 10 PSI rob cars of about 1.3 miles per gallon. If you’re not sure what pressure is the right pressure, check the floor well inside of the drivers door. On most cars, the ideal pressure is printed either there, or in the owner’s manual.
If you tally up the gas savings from all these steps, they total 24 miles per gallon. That can be a bit misleading though - each of the fuel saving calculations was done in isolation. Following all of the advice probably wont take your car’s gas mileage from 20 to 44 miles per gallon, but there aren’t many cars that can get 20 miles per gallon while making glaring mistakes.
The scary truth is that gas prices are rising, and there’s not much we can do to affect the price at the gas station. Don’t worry though - our European neighbors are happy to tell us that fuel prices in America are still relatively cheap. The only realistic way that we can cut down on gas related costs is to change our driving habits and use less fuel. Remember when gas only cost less than $3 a gallon? You can get there again, even if the pump is charging $4. Boosting fuel efficiency from 20 mpg to 30 mpg can cut your fuel bill by a third! Start with the easy, effective steps and incorporate these 5 tips into your daily commute.
Photo courtesy of twizzler at Flickr.com.
Popularity: 12% [?]
The Wall Street Journal reports that Honda is moving forward with a new generation of hybrid cars that will hopefully have just a small price premium over regular cars. This would allow them to pay for themselves through gasoline savings much more quickly.
Honda’s goal is to sell 500,000 hybrids a year sometime after 2010. Still, that would fall short of Toyota’s target of selling one million hybrids annually sometime early in the next decade.
Honda says it will increase sales by introducing a lineup of hybrid vehicles, including a sport hybrid based on the CR-Z, a redesigned Civic Hybrid and a hybrid version of the fuel-efficient Fit subcompact. The key element of its new green strategy is to make hybrid vehicles more affordable.
“It is important to move hybrid vehicles from the current image-oriented stage to the new stage of full-scale penetration” of the market, Mr. Fukui said.
Mr. Fukui said that the new vehicle, which has yet to be named, will be affordable and that weight reduction, more compact components and new technologies will help increase fuel efficiency.
At present, hybrids cost significantly more than gas-engine vehicles. The Toyota Camry hybrid, for instance, costs $6,730 more than the gas-engine model, while Honda’s Civic hybrid is about $4,000 more than the gas model.
Honda’s first new vehicle will be sold only as a hybrid, as is the Toyota Prius. Honda expects to sell about 200,000 of these vehicles annually, half of those in the U.S. market. The car is based on the design of the FCX Clarity, the fuel-cell vehicle.
I am excited to see a direct competitor to the Prius. I can’t wait to see what Honda comes up with.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that Nissan plans to introduce a number of electric cars in the United States by 2010.
Nissan, an alliance partner of Renault SA of France, will launch electric vehicles in the U.S. and Japan in 2010, and globally by 2012, Mr. Ghosn said at a Nissan event in Portugal. He said he expects the market for electric vehicles to grow strongly due to high oil prices, a new awareness of environmental issues and breakthroughs in battery technology.
Eventually, Nissan “will have a whole lineup of electric cars,” he said. “The electric car is not a niche product for us.”
Mr. Ghosn said battery-technology advances have given the electric car sufficient range to make it a viable mode of transport for the shorter journeys often made by commuters in big cities. Globally about 10 million vehicles are being used in this way, he said.
High oil prices and the willingness of governments to give tax incentives for so-called zero-emission vehicles can change the economics of owning an electric car and make it “cheaper than gasoline,” Mr. Ghosn said.
Nissan and Renault are in talks with “companies, governments and cities,” to see what kind of incentives can make the introduction of zero-emission vehicles more attractive, he said.
Mr. Ghosn expects new areas of business will open as electric vehicles become more widespread, including making the batteries and providing access to batteries and electricity. Moving beyond merely making cars could see “a change of the business model” in the auto industry.
I have my wallet out and I am ready to purchase an electric car that costs $50K or less, has a range of at least 60 miles, similar safety features as a regular car, and a top speed of at least 70 mph. Here in Dallas where I live, electric cars would make a big difference with air quality issues alone, and I’d love to see cleaner air here.
Let’s hope we’ll see a real electric car that people can actually purchase in the next year or two! (Yes, Tesla and Phoenix Motorcars, the “can actually purchase” jibe is aimed squarely at you. Won’t it be embarrassing if Nissan beats you to market?)
Popularity: 12% [?]
Photo courtesy of Berni Beudel at Flickr.com.
Whether they’re transporting a package across the world or just across town, shipping companies use a lot of fuel. As more consumers become carbon conscious, these companies are facing customers with new priorities.
Recently, uShip announced a new program to offset carbon emissions. In partnership with TerraPass, the shipping company is offering a new option to highlight green transport options. Now, whenever you ship items, you can choose a company that offsets the emissions of its planes, trains, trucks, and boats with “…domestic wind farms, “cow-power” projects, and energy efficiency projects.”
This is a great development! But, until all shippers start reporting their emissions, voluntary carbon offsets are only a drop in the bucket. The container shipping industry accounts for about 4.5% of all CO2 emissions - and that figure doesn’t include air cargo emissions. Cargo ships and oversize delivery vans are gas hogs, and often have very poor emission controls.
By giving consumers a way to offset carbon emissions, uShip offers a way to judge the efficiency of our service providers. Imagine if the carbon cost of all the companies we shop with was included in the price tag. That way, the greenest companies would have a competitive advantage over their dirty competition!
Photo courtesy of fboosman at Flickr.com.
Popularity: 10% [?]
For those of you not familiar with the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex (or if you live in Dallas it’s Dallas/Fort Worth…but what do they know), the area is like one big city managed by a couple of big city governments and an absurd number of smaller ones. It’s why the Dallas Cowboys haven’t actually been in Dallas since 1971 and yet nobody really seems to notice.
The city of Rockwall, Texas resides somewhere to the east of Dallas proper. Apparently, it is in an area that on my outdated map was labeled “Here there be monsters.” (I don’t travel much.) Rockwall is the county seat of Rockwall County. Rockwall is the smallest county in Texas, but also the one of the fastest growing counties in the whole United States. More importantly for this blog post, it is the home of Rockwall Toyota.
So, why would someone like me brave Dallas traffic to travel to a car dealership in a town I had never been to when I’m not in currently looking to buy a car? Well, this particular Toyota dealership holds a special place in the history of going green. This is the first Leed Gold Certified auto dealership on the planet, and after reading about it in the press room at Toyota I had to see for myself.
By nature I’m a bit skeptical about green businesses; even with certification it’s easy for a company to do the bare minimum to say they tried and then go about their business same as always. But never have I seen a business the extremes that Steve and Barbara Jackson have gone to with this dealership. This isn’t a marketing ploy with them, but a serious commitment.
It’s hard to know where to start but let me tell you right off the bat you haven’t lived until you walked into a men’s room with a digital camera and start taking pictures of the high tech waterless urinals. People just didn’t know how to react, but I couldn’t pass this up. As Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was fond of saying “God is in the details.” I hope it’s not sacrilegious to apply that to a men’s room. The cabinets, like the cabinets in the lobby, are made of recycled agricultural waste. The lights turn on and off automatically when you enter the room (a feature also common to all rooms in the facility) and the electronically controlled water saving water faucets are solar powered. Even the tile accents are made from recycled glass bottles.
The lobby is even more amazing. No VOC paints are used so there is no new car showroom smell. Furniture, cabinetry, wallpaper, even the floor mats are made from recycled and sustainable products. The lighting in the showroom senses when the room is lit by sunlight flowing in through the massive windows and automatically dims the lights to save power. They even have ceiling fans powered by solar panels on the roof. Skylights and windows provide natural lighting even in the climate controlled service areas. The bay doors into the service area open and close within 8 seconds to save energy.
The service bays and the parts department are connected by computer so that when a mechanic needs a part there are no forms or invoices to be filled out; In fact as much of the dealership communication that can be conducted paperless is.
Outside, the landscaping consists entirely of native plants. By using native plants, the amount of water, fertilizer, and pest control products used are greatly reduced. Four cisterns that are each bigger than my house collect water from the roof and from the condenser units for the air conditioning. These cisterns provide water for the landscaping and the car wash.
Green building techniques and materials were used throughout construction of the complex. The outside walls are made from recycled aluminum cans, and all waste materials from construction were recycled.
Environmentally friendly as commonly understood refers to nature and the outdoors. And I guess on a lot of levels, that’s the most important. I once worked for a defense contractor that employed some 10,000 people. Almost all of those employees were locked away 8 hours a day behind concrete walls with no windows, for national security reasons. The atmosphere was toxic, and I don’t just mean the WWII era asbestos in the building, but the burned out fluorescent baked state of mind that was a recognizable feature with anyone who had worked there more than a few months.
The commitment to the environment of Toyota of Rockwall extends not only to outside world, but also to their customers and employees. Air quality is carefully maintained throughout the facility with no VOC paint and concrete sealant, and airlock style entryways. Copiers and printers are sequestered away behind closed doors so that the toners and chemicals won’t contaminate the ecosystem of the building. Nearly every room is lit by sunlight during the day, and windows are made low enough that employees are able to see the outside from their desks.
Bike racks and showers are provided for the employees to encourage them to ride to work; not something you would expect from a car company. Employees are taught and encouraged to recycle and all the break rooms are provided with clearly marked recycle bins. Employees who carpool or drive hybrids to work are given special close in parking to encourage energy efficiency.
As I said, I’m not in the market for a car. As much as I wanted to drive one of the new hybrids off the lot, my beat up old Mercedes diesel (that I fill up with biodiesel) will have to hang in there a while longer until prize patrol shows up. But if you are in the market for a new car and you live within driving distance of Toyota of Rockwall it’s time to put environmental money where your mouth is. Toyota of Rockwall already has.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Photo courtesy of jolengs at Flickr.com.
American car manufacturers love pickups and SUVs. These high end vehicles have been lavished with elaborate advertising, intensive research, and promotional test driving campaigns because of high profit margins. As a result of this infatuation, gas guzzlers account for an unhealthy percentage of sales from the Big Three.
Profits at Detroit’s Big Three will shrink by $7 billion to $11 billion. Reductions in vehicle sales, especially SUVs, will lead to an industry-wide decline in pretax profits of $11.2 billion to $17.6 billion. Detroit’s Big Three will absorb $7 billion to $11 billion in total reductions because of their dependence on SUV and pickup sales.
Detroit’s Big Three will absorb nearly 75 percent of the decline in total sales volume. Without deeper discounts, sales volumes in the North American car and light truck market will shrink between 9 and 14 percent, or 1.9 to 3.0 million vehicles, because of the overall effect of higher oil prices on the economy. Detroit’s Big Three automakers absorb nearly 75 percent of the sales decreases.
The chickens are coming home to roost. For years, American car manufacturers have lobbied for freedom to produce cars that are less and less fuel efficient. While protesting legislation to raise the CAFE standards, Senator Bennett summed up the position nicely:
…the manufacturer deals directly with the customer in producing the kinds of automobiles people want to buy. And if people say: I really don’t want to buy that automobile, if CAFE standards disappear, the manufacturer can say: OK, if you don’t want to buy it, we won’t produce it. Whereas, now there is pressure; we have to produce it in order to meet the CAFE average, whether people want to buy it or not.
Unfortunately for American autoworkers, car manufacturers were slow to recognize that consumer tastes are shifting. With oil headed over $120 a barrel, sales of most American made cars have fallen sharply, but, believe it or not, economy cars are selling pretty well. Even “economy” cars that would barely meet foreign standards are selling well in the US:
Focus sales are up 23 percent through March compared with the first quarter of last year. The redesigned car is taking 7.6 percent of the U.S. small car market.
Photo courtesy of Ochileer at Flickr.com.
Anyone out there in the market for a new car?
What kind of car are you considering, and why? Leave us a comment!
Popularity: 11% [?]
Just when you think the electric car stories can’t get more exciting than Wired magazine’s story about Zap, the company that constantly announces and never seems to make anything, the NY Times writes about a lawsuit filed by Tesla against Fisker.
The Tesla lawsuit contends that Mr. Fisker and his chief operating officer, Bernhard Koehler, doing business under the name Fisker Coachbuild, fraudulently agreed to take on Tesla’s $875,000 design contract to gain access to confidential design information and trade secrets, then announced a competing vehicle. Last fall Mr. Fisker founded Fisker Automotive, which is backed by the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
The quarrel sheds a light on the insular world of the Valley’s investors in environmentally friendly technologies. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, whose Google search engine was originally backed by Kleiner Perkins, were both early Tesla investors.
Both the planned Tesla sedan and Mr. Fisker’s recently announced Karma are meant to be hybrid cars using a small gas engine to power a generator that charges a battery, which in turn powers an electric motor. The design, known as a serial hybrid, is thought to greatly extend the range and efficiency of hybrid vehicles.
The Tesla lawsuit states that before doing the design work for Tesla, Mr. Fisker had no experience with hybrid technology. It says that he did substandard work for Tesla, essentially sabotaging it, and then used the revenue from the design contract to develop his company’s car.
Popularity: 9% [?]
School Buses are nearly a perfect fit for biodiesel. They travel local, well planed short routes so they can always be refueled from a biodiesel facility so that the driver doesn’t have to settle for fossil fuels in a crunch.
A couple of years back Gloucester Co. started a trial in which 20 of its school buses would be run off of biodiesel. Now, according to this article at WVEC every single school bus is run off of bio fuels made locally.
Roger Kelly, head of transportation for the district says that even the drivers are noticing a difference, although the accountants are not. Fuel cost is nearly the same for both biodiesel and regular but money is not always the most important thing.
“It’s hard to put a price on cleanness,” he said. “We’re definitely saving on better health for kids growing up,” said Kelly. “Buses going up and down the road that are putting out less emissions. So, there’s a dollar amount there.”
The drivers are noticing that the buses run better on biodiesel (something I have noticed in my own car) and because biodiesel lubricates better and cleans out fuel lines and tanks that buses will last longer possibly providing a financial benefit in that area.
Other area school districts are consulting with Gloucester about making the switch to biodiesel as well.
Popularity: 10% [?]