The Fruit of Knowledge
Posts tagged electric vehicles
Official: U of M researcher says plug-ins, hydrogen cars are ‘no carbon cure-all’
Jun 17th
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Carbon Offset
Your Monday green-car buzzkill is brought to you buy University of Michigan research professor John DeCicco, who says more electric vehicles won’t do much to slow global warming if energy-production methods aren’t addressed.
DeCicco, who’s with the university’s Energy Institute, says the government’s subsidies for advanced-powertrain technologies and the tax credits for plug-in vehicle buyers are “not warranted.” That’s because average fuel economy is already increasing at about four percent a year, while emissions levels from electric-power generation remains virtually unchanged.
That means more emphasis must be placed on the “well” and less on the “wheel.”
That means, DeCicco said, when it comes to a “well-to-wheel” analysis of emissions from grid power all the way to vehicle efficiency, more emphasis must be placed on the “well” and less on the “wheel” to effectively take on global warming.
DeCicco’s comments echo those of Didier Stevens, Toyota Europe’s head of government affairs and environmental issues, who recently said more electric vehicles won’t help the environment much if electricity continues to be produced largely from coal. So, if you were feeling too positive about EVs, put on a Smiths record and check out the University of Michigan article below.
Continue reading U of M researcher says plug-ins, hydrogen cars are ‘no carbon cure-all’
U of M researcher says plug-ins, hydrogen cars are ‘no carbon cure-all’ originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon
Jun 11th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, MPG, USA
It’s true that electric vehicles cost more than gas-powered ones (except, of course, when they don’t), but the running costs are dramatically lower. How much lower? To answer that question, the Department of Energy would like to introduce you to the eGallon.
Defined as “the cost of fueling a vehicle with electricity compared to a similar vehicle that runs on gasoline,” an eGallon is the DOE’s new term for easily seeing how much you’ll save filling up on electrons instead of gasoline. If you like using GasBuddy or MapQuest to find the lowest local price, you just might love the eGallon. After all, the national eGallon average today is just $1.14 – way under any gallon of gas you can find in the US.
Sadly, the eGallon calculator is just a rough average. You can’t put in your own electricity rates, gas prices or your car’s energy efficiency level. What you can do is plug in your state and see how the average gas price there compares to the average electricity price for an eGallon.
If you dig into the methodology (available in this PDF), you’ll see the assumptions working in the background include 28.2 average miles per gallon, 35 average kWh per 100 miles and 12.33 cents per kWh. The eGallon calculator will be updated monthly with numbers from Energy Information Administration. This is good, because the current calculator is using a $3.42 nationwide gas price average from last December.
Continue reading DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon
DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Official: DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon
Jun 11th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, MPG, USA
It’s true that electric vehicles cost more than gas-powered ones (except, of course, when they don’t), but the running costs are dramatically lower. How much lower? To answer that question, the Department of Energy would like to introduce you to the eGallon.
Defined as “the cost of fueling a vehicle with electricity compared to a similar vehicle that runs on gasoline,” an eGallon is the DOE’s new term for easily seeing how much you’ll save filling up on electrons instead of gasoline. If you like using GasBuddy or MapQuest to find the lowest local price, you just might love the eGallon. After all, the national eGallon average today is just $1.14 – way under any gallon of gas you can find in the US.
Sadly, the eGallon calculator is just a rough average. You can’t put in your own electricity rates, gas prices or your car’s energy efficiency level. What you can do is plug in your state and see how the average gas price there compares to the average electricity price for an eGallon.
If you dig into the methodology (available in this PDF), you’ll see the assumptions working in the background include 28.2 average miles per gallon, 35 average kWh per 100 miles and 12.33 cents per kWh. The eGallon calculator will be updated monthly with numbers from Energy Information Administration. This is good, because the current calculator is using a $3.42 nationwide gas price average from last December.
Continue reading DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon
DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Official: DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon
Jun 11th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, MPG, USA
It’s true that electric vehicles cost more than gas-powered ones (except, of course, when they don’t), but the running costs are dramatically lower. How much lower? To answer that question, the Department of Energy would like to introduce you to the eGallon.
Defined as “the cost of fueling a vehicle with electricity compared to a similar vehicle that runs on gasoline,” an eGallon is the DOE’s new term for easily seeing how much you’ll save filling up on electrons instead of gasoline. If you like using GasBuddy or MapQuest to find the lowest local price, you just might love the eGallon. After all, the national eGallon average today is just $1.14 – way under any gallon of gas you can find in the US.
Sadly, the eGallon calculator is just a rough average. You can’t put in your own electricity rates, gas prices or your car’s energy efficiency level. What you can do is plug in your state and see how the average gas price there compares to the average electricity price for an eGallon.
If you dig into the methodology (available in this PDF), you’ll see the assumptions working in the background include 28.2 average miles per gallon, 35 average kWh per 100 miles and 12.33 cents per kWh. The eGallon calculator will be updated monthly with numbers from Energy Information Administration. This is good, because the current calculator is using a $3.42 nationwide gas price average from last December.
Continue reading DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon
DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Official: DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon
Jun 11th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, MPG, USA
It’s true that electric vehicles cost more than gas-powered ones (except, of course, when they don’t), but the running costs are dramatically lower. How much lower? To answer that question, the Department of Energy would like to introduce you to the eGallon.
Defined as “the cost of fueling a vehicle with electricity compared to a similar vehicle that runs on gasoline,” an eGallon is the DOE’s new term for easily seeing how much you’ll save filling up on electrons instead of gasoline. If you like using GasBuddy or MapQuest to find the lowest local price, you just might love the eGallon. After all, the national eGallon average today is just $1.14 – way under any gallon of gas you can find in the US.
Sadly, the eGallon calculator is just a rough average. You can’t put in your own electricity rates, gas prices or your car’s energy efficiency level. What you can do is plug in your state and see how the average gas price there compares to the average electricity price for an eGallon.
If you dig into the methodology (available in this PDF), you’ll see the assumptions working in the background include 28.2 average miles per gallon, 35 average kWh per 100 miles and 12.33 cents per kWh. The eGallon calculator will be updated monthly with numbers from Energy Information Administration. This is good, because the current calculator is using a $3.42 nationwide gas price average from last December.
Continue reading DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon
DOE eGallon proves plug-in vehicles can drive for just $1.14 a gallon originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Toyota exec says unless electric grid is clean, EVs ‘make little sense’
Jun 11th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Toyota
Let’s face it, Toyota does not believe in electric cars. Not the battery-powered plug-in kind anyway. Plug-in hybrids? Sure. Fuel cells? As soon as feasible. But a simple EV? No, that just isn’t Toyota’s thing – a few side projects notwithstanding.
“If the electricity is not sourced from renewables then electric vehicles make little sense.”
The latest example of the company line comes from Didier Stevens, Toyota Europe’s head of government affairs and environmental issues. He told Responding To Climate Change that EVs aren’t a good idea as long as the electricity used to power them is full of carbon. Stevens’ exact words were, “We always assess a vehicle from well to wheel. If the electricity is not sourced from renewables then it makes little sense.” Good point, but if that’s your logic, then why sell gas-powered cars? There’s carbon in there, too, you know. Stevens also said, “We are looking with some concern at the German plan of having 1m electric vehicles on the road by 2020. If more and more of their electricity is going to come from coal, then this does not solve the problem. It just shifts the emissions to another area. This is not how it should be.”
Stevens does feel that government regulations have been key to making gas-burning cars cleaner, and says that the same kind of force needs to be brought to bear on electricity providers: “Some pressure is always needed. Look at the progress made on CO2 emissions standards for cars, would that progress be made without targets? I doubt it.”
Toyota exec says unless electric grid is clean, EVs ‘make little sense’ originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: Toyota exec says unless electric grid is clean, EVs ‘make little sense’
Jun 11th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Toyota
Let’s face it, Toyota does not believe in electric cars. Not the battery-powered plug-in kind anyway. Plug-in hybrids? Sure. Fuel cells? As soon as feasible. But a simple EV? No, that just isn’t Toyota’s thing – a few side projects notwithstanding.
“If the electricity is not sourced from renewables then electric vehicles make little sense.”
The latest example of the company line comes from Didier Stevens, Toyota Europe’s head of government affairs and environmental issues. He told Responding To Climate Change that EVs aren’t a good idea as long as the electricity used to power them is full of carbon. Stevens’ exact words were, “We always assess a vehicle from well to wheel. If the electricity is not sourced from renewables then it makes little sense.” Good point, but if that’s your logic, then why sell gas-powered cars? There’s carbon in there, too, you know. Stevens also said, “We are looking with some concern at the German plan of having 1m electric vehicles on the road by 2020. If more and more of their electricity is going to come from coal, then this does not solve the problem. It just shifts the emissions to another area. This is not how it should be.”
Stevens does feel that government regulations have been key to making gas-burning cars cleaner, and says that the same kind of force needs to be brought to bear on electricity providers: “Some pressure is always needed. Look at the progress made on CO2 emissions standards for cars, would that progress be made without targets? I doubt it.”
Toyota exec says unless electric grid is clean, EVs ‘make little sense’ originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Read This: Will low EV prices bring in buyers who aren’t ready for plug-in vehicles?
Jun 8th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Manufacturing/Plants, Honda
Car shoppers are getting some pretty sweet deals on plug-in electric vehicles lately, with Honda joining the price cutting war with its Fit EV. Now that the early adopters are no longer in the market – they have theirs now – automakers are being pushed to bring down sticker prices to increase sluggish sales. The big question has become: What if these new car owners are dissatisfied with the EV experience?
Nissan led the way this year, cutting 2013 Leaf prices by $6,400. After slashing the price 18 percent, the Japanese automaker saw Leaf sales more than triple from previous months in March and April. Honda joined the fray last month, cutting the monthly payments on its 36-month Fit EV lease from $389 to $259. Its dealer network will be increased to expand the market – from 36 to more than 200. Ford produced more than twice as many Focus EVs than it was able to sell last year – 1,627 units manufactured but only 685 sold – and has now cut the sticker price by $2,000 and has been offering discount financing packages.
What concerns me is that we’ll … attract people who might not be best suited for an EV – Honda’s Steve Center
The trick is that cutting prices probably won’t be enough to make this second wave of EV buyers into long-term, loyal owners, says Steve Center, American Honda’s head of environment business development. Honda never expected to sell a high volume of these cars, but the results have been discouraging so far. When the Fit EV was launched 10 months ago, the automaker expected to sell just 1,100 units over three years. So far, there has only been 161 units sold, but that appears to be changing, finally).
“What concerns me most is that we’ll have a situation of excess supply, creating artificially low prices, and [attracting] people who might not be best suited for an EV,” Center told Automotive News. “Then you will get a certain percentage of people who are going to be dissatisfied with the EV experience, and that will damage that option going forward.”
It’s going to have to be worth it for new owners to take the EV experience seriously and have good things to to talk about with their peers. Higher gasoline prices, reliable battery performance and a plentiful charging infrastructure would help, but those three variables remain, to one degree or another, up in the air.
Will low EV prices bring in buyers who aren’t ready for plug-in vehicles? originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: EV advocate Paul Scott off Obama guest list following public outcry
Jun 6th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture
People like to criticize US politics. People like to speak poorly about President Barack Obama. There are a lot of electric vehicle haters out there. Put those three issues into the Internet blender and it’s no surprise when they blow up. That’s what happened with the recent story about long-time EV advocate Paul Scott spending $32,400 of his retirement savings to attend an Obama fundraiser and thereby get a chance to talk to the President about the benefits of electric vehicles.
In fact, the story got so much attention that the Democratic National Committee has now apparently disinvited Scott and returned his check. Even though Scott – a Nissan Leaf salesman, a co-founder of Plug In America and a friend of the site – took the action independent of his job and his PIA association, the public discussion of “pay for access” apparently mucked things up but good. We’ve asked Scott for his thoughts on the matter, but have not yet heard back. He did tell Mother Nature Network that, “I’m not in good health, and I don’t know how much longer I’ll live. This seemed like a good way to spend my money, to push the economic benefits of electric cars for our nation. My thought is that the average American pays this kind of money, over time, to the oil companies. We pay out $700 billion a year to Big Oil, and spend $80 billion a year protecting the oil supply.” It’s a discussing worth having, $32,400 or no. You can read Scott’s original message to the President here.
EV advocate Paul Scott off Obama guest list following public outcry originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: EV advocate Paul Scott off Obama guest list following public outcry
Jun 6th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture
People like to criticize US politics. People like to speak poorly about President Barack Obama. There are a lot of electric vehicle haters out there. Put those three issues into the Internet blender and it’s no surprise when they blow up. That’s what happened with the recent story about long-time EV advocate Paul Scott spending $32,400 of his retirement savings to attend an Obama fundraiser and thereby get a chance to talk to the President about the benefits of electric vehicles.
In fact, the story got so much attention that the Democratic National Committee has now apparently disinvited Scott and returned his check. Even though Scott – a Nissan Leaf salesman, a co-founder of Plug In America and a friend of the site – took the action independent of his job and his PIA association, the public discussion of “pay for access” apparently mucked things up but good. We’ve asked Scott for his thoughts on the matter, but have not yet heard back. He did tell Mother Nature Network that, “I’m not in good health, and I don’t know how much longer I’ll live. This seemed like a good way to spend my money, to push the economic benefits of electric cars for our nation. My thought is that the average American pays this kind of money, over time, to the oil companies. We pay out $700 billion a year to Big Oil, and spend $80 billion a year protecting the oil supply.” It’s a discussing worth having, $32,400 or no. You can read Scott’s original message to the President here.
EV advocate Paul Scott off Obama guest list following public outcry originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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