Sick Prius

I despise these kind of stories. So many times the junk science, or bad reporting in the media is just scare mongering. However, in this case, I’m hardly qualified to judge. I look forward to hearing from some of you readers your thoughts on whether or not this is a real threat.

Then again, I suppose those of us impoverished Prius owners without Bluetooth, don’t have much to worry about.

From Reuters…

Car computers at risk as viruses go mobile
Warning that Bluetooth technology could be culprit
Reuters
Updated: 9:44 a.m. ET July 29, 2005

HELSINKI – Here’s a new excuse for not getting to work on time on a Monday morning: My car caught a virus.

Car industry officials and analysts say hackers’ growing interest in writing viruses for wireless devices puts auto computer systems at risk of infection.

As carmakers adjust on-board computers to allow consumers to transfer information with MP3 players and mobile phones, they also make their vehicles vulnerable to mobile viruses that jump between devices via the Bluetooth technology that connects them.

“I’m afraid there is a risk in using a Bluetooth connection in cars,” said Yevgeni Kaspersky, head of antivirus research at closely held Russian firm Kaspersky Lab.

“If the smart phones and on-board computers have the same channel to transfer the data … sooner or later the hackers will find the vulnerability in the operating systems of on-board computers and … will definitely use it,” he added.

The worst that could happen is that the computer’s control of engine performance and emissions, navigation and entertainment systems cease to function. That would probably mean an annoying trip to the repair shop or having to reboot the system.

“I am very sure that you will be still able to drive your car on your own,” said Symantec Corp’s mobile virus specialist Guido Sanchidrian.

Companies so far have seen no reports of viruses in auto systems, and studies have shown it is not easy to transplant a virus into a car, but carmakers say they are taking the risk seriously.

The first mobile phone virus, Cabir, has spread to over 20 countries, ranging from the United States to Japan and from Finland to South Africa, using only Bluetooth. Bluetooth is used in car electronics interfaces for monitoring and service.

Car makers serious
Carmakers say they use the most sophisticated protection for safety equipment such as airbags or motor controls, whereas infotainment systems so far have less stringent safeguards.

Even though they are unaware of any cases so far, companies say they are keeping a close eye on wireless virus developments. “In principle it is possible to plant something (a virus), and we have been working for many years to resolve the problem,” said a spokesman for German carmaker BMW.

German automotive supplier Siemens VDO and many other companies use systems that feature encryption to screen out unwanted programs and data, it said. “If something like a virus comes along that should not be there, then an error message pops up or it is simply not accepted,” said a spokeswoman for Siemens VDO.

She said studies have shown that, “You can’t just send a virus and have the whole thing crash.”

Finnish antivirus firm F-secure tried early mobile viruses on a Toyota Prius earlier this year but was not able to harm it.

As carmakers turn to computer security, a lucrative market could open for antivirus firms, which have been touting cell phone security for years without notable success. “People will not use the protection before there are several big epidemics. After that they will understand that it is dangerous to use phones to get online, that you need to be protected,” Kaspersky said.

Research firm IDC says the market for mobile security software will grow to $993 million in 2008 from $70 million in 2003, a rise of 70 percent annually on average. “The market is still in the beginning. The threat landscape is not there yet like it is in Windows,” said Symantec’s Sanchidrian.

The battle over California’s carpool lanes

The battle seems to be over, according to reports, the recently passed energy bill has, er, paved the way, for hybrids to access carpool/HOV lanes.

One small step my friends…

8:35 PM PDT, July 29, 2005
latimes.com :California

Hybrid Vehicles Merge Left With Carpool Lane Access
By Dan Weikel And Amanda Covarrubias, Times Staff Writer

Motorists who drive solo in fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles will gain access to carpool lanes in California under a massive transportation bill approved by Congress Friday that includes billions of dollars for projects statewide.

The $286.5 billion bill, the first major transportation funding measure since 1998, cleared the House and Senate by large bipartisan votes. California will receive roughly $23 billion for highway projects — a return of about 92 cents for every dollar in gas taxes the state sends to Washington.

By granting carpool privileges for high-mileage hybrids across the nation, the spending bill authorizes California to implement legislation that has been on hold since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it eight months ago.

The federal government gets a say in who can use carpool lanes because it provides most of the money to build them.

“The federal transportation bill is a great victory for California,” said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “The legislation contains much-needed funding that complements state and local efforts to improve our transportation system.”

The California law, which expires in 2008, grants carpool access to hybrids that are the cleanest running in their class and get 45 miles to the gallon or better. Smaller hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight qualify, while larger SUV models might not.

Hybrid owners also must obtain a special decal from the Department of Motor Vehicles to enter carpool lanes.

Supporters of the change believe it will encourage the use of the energy-efficient vehicles and reduce reliance on foreign oil. But critics, including some traffic engineers, fear the new rules would clog carpool lanes without providing much benefit. They note that sales of hybrids are brisk, already, without added incentives.

Randall Halcomb, co-editor of Autoblog.com, an auto consumer Web page, has been critical of easing carpool estrictions to accommodate more hybrids, which, he says, might not be any more fuel efficient than a conventional car.

“You can have one person in a hybrid and two people in a regular car that gets 30 miles per gallon, and essentially they have the same fuel efficiency,” Halcomb said. “In many cases, this kind of law is a knee-jerk reaction to give the appearance of green-ness, but you’re no better off than driving a regular, economy car.”

There are now about 20,000 hybrid owners in California, which has 40 percent of the nation’s carpool lanes. The vehicles use small internal combustion engines in combination with electrical motors to increase gas mileage and reduce air pollution.

“This is a major step forward in our efforts to encourage lower fuel consumption by providing an incentive for drivers to use hybrid, fuel efficient vehicles,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said.

The federal hybrid provision applies nationwide and requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to define what an energy efficient, low emissions hybrid vehicle is within 180 days.

Besides California, Virginia is the only other state to grant carpool access to solo motorists in hybrid vehicles.

Times Staff Writer Richard Simon in Washington contributed to this report.

And perhaps just as important, from SFGate.com, the way to get your access sticker…

Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman Steve Hawkins said the DMV would begin issuing the stickers once the president actually signs the bill.

Qualifying hybrid owners can download DMV form Reg-1000 at www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg1000.pdf .

“You can either mail it in or if you live in San Jose or Los Angeles you can go into a DMV office there and get your sticker,” Hawkins said.

The DMV has already printed the stickers so they will begin issuing them almost immediately after Bush signs the highway bill “at most within a day or two,” Hawkins said.

Dave Bassage on Living On Earth

Here’s the interview with Dave Bassage, the Prius owner going for 100MPG for a complete tank in August.

If you want to be involved with the marathon, email me here

russell@priusownersgroup.com

I’ll forward your email to Dave.

Below is part of the interview but please visit the Living On Earth site and you can read the full transcript as well as listen to the show via RealAudio or download it to your computer in MP3 version. Click on the image below to visit the Living On Earth site…

YOUNG: When hybrid cars first hit showroom floors, the main selling point was fuel efficiency, with engines powered by gas and electricity, autos like the Toyota Prius got 50 to 70 miles on a single gallon of gas.

But hybrids are changing. A car like the new Honda Accord Hybrid uses an electric motor to boost its gasoline engines, giving them more horsepower than the same model without the hybrid. Cambridge, Massachusetts salesman James Bulger says these hybrids have traded in much of their potential fuel economy.

BULGER: It’s completely a different concept than what the first cars that were hybrid technology came out to do.

YOUNG: But these new hybrids don’t sit well with a group of hybrid owners who are still driven by fuel efficiency. It’s almost become an obsession for some. These mileage maniacs swap fuel economy tips on the Internet. They tweak their driving techniques to squeeze more and more miles from each tank of gas.

Dave Bassage of Walton, West Virginia, is one of those mad about mileage types and he joins us now from behind the wheel of his Toyota Prius. Dave, where are you heading and what kind of mileage are you getting right now?

BASSAGE: Well, we’re on McCorkle Avenue, which is near Charleston, West Virginia, headed for a little town called St. Albans. We’ve been going about six miles so far, and right now we’re getting 81.8 miles per gallon.

YOUNG: That’s pretty impressive, but I’m guessing you want to do even better. So how are you going to improve on that through how you drive?

BASSAGE: What we’ll be doing is trying to minimize our energy flow to and from the battery of the hybrid, and to coast at every possible chance – or actually a form of coasting that we call gliding. The way the hybrid car works, or at least the way the Prius works, is that whenever you take your foot off the gas the electric motors turn into generators and put electricity back into the battery. If you slightly depress your foot on the accelerator while you’re doing that, you disengage those electric motors so that you’re, essentially, just freewheeling.

Now, go visit the LOE site to see or hear the rest!

Everyone has one,

What a dreadful story. What lazy, dishonest writing. Watch, if you will, as I take David Booth apart, piece by piece…

Misleading cost of saving the world
David Booth
National Post
Friday, July 29, 2005

Less than a year after my favourite Barenaked Lady drove his Prius off the lot, hybrids are embroiled in a controversy only slightly less dramatic than Michael Jackson’s contretemps with alcohol-sodden youths and monkey doo-doo.

So right out of the gate, this writer wants us to believe that the “controversy” surrounding hybrids is almost as dramatic as one of the largest pop stars in the wortld being accused of child molesting. I sense a real judgment problem. Or just poor use of hyperbole. Maybe both.

But that’s ok, follow along, David Booth will debunbk his own claim, he just waits to do it a few paragraphs down (why spoil a tantalizing opening with the truth?).

It turns out that — gasp, shock, horror — the outlandish fuel economy claims for those trendy high-tech gasoline/electric-powered hybrids are exactly that — outlandish.

More hyperbole brodering on outright lying, as I said above, he’ll say what is actually true below. So why say it this way here?

While Europeans have sensibly adopted diesels as their road to emancipation from high fuel prices, North America’s tougher emissions laws have led to hybrids: cars such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic and Accord that combine a gasoline engine for versatility with an electric motor that promises minimized fuel usage.

“…promises”? No they deliver it. At least the Prius does. The Accord does as well, just nowhere near as well.

And if you take Transport Canada at its word, they do indeed achieve quite phenomenal fuel economy. The Honda Accord Hybrid (see Page DT4) is rated by our government to only need 7.9 litres of fuel for every 100 kilometres of city driving and 5.9 litres to perform the same feat on the highway.

In recent testing, however, the Accord Hybrid I drove managed but 9.6 litres per 100 kilometres. The driving was evenly divided between urban and rural motoring and the low-mileage 2005 tester was in fine fettle.

In fact, a recent spate of newspaper articles, both here and south of the border, have lamented the Accord Hybrid’s consumptive ways, blaming its inability to generate the promised frugality on Honda’s decision to hook up its IMA electric motor to a performance-oriented V6 engine rather than a more frugal four-cylinder. And while it is true that Honda’s decision to electrify a V6 in a quest for performance did reduce potential fuel economy, it’s equally true that no other hybrid has come remotely close to its advertised economy. Toyota’s Prius, for instance, is rated by Transport Canada to need only 4.0 L/100 km of prowling the city and 4.2 on the highway. That’s 71 and 67 miles per gallon respectively, a number Prius owners dream of when they’re not too busy congratulating themselves for being so environmentally conscious.

There is nothing like an intellectually dishonest writer distorting things to make an incorrect point, is there?

Even the most miserly of the hybrids, Honda’s miniscule-motored Insight doesn’t get anywhere near its preposterous 3.9/3.3 city/hwy. L/100 km Transport Canada figures. The best I’ve ever achieved on the underperforming little runabout is about 4.8 L/100 km, and that’s with Your’s Truly treating the gas pedal like it’s dispensing my very last dram of Glenfiddich to a much-despised alcoholic in-law. Six litres per 100 kilo- metres was more the norm.

To be fair to hybrids, few cars achieve anywhere near their Transport Canada ratings.

Finally! The truth! Well, part of it. MPG estimates are, Gasp! Horror! Shock! Just estimates! I guess that’s why they’re called estimates. But down in paragraph 8 it’s ok to mention it because, well, Mr. Booth has had seven snarky paragraphs to prove to the reader just how witty and informed he is. There’s a word for this. I’m tempted to use it. But I’m sure some of you peruse this site at work, so I’ll refrain.

I’m driving an AMG-tuned CLS 55 as this goes to press and, while Mercedes-Benz says I should be averaging about 13 litres per 100 klicks, my right foot claims the number is closer to 18. In fact, virtually every automobile I’ve tested, with the exception of a few diesel-powered econocars, has sipped far more than claimed.

The reason is that Transport Canada’s (and its American equivalent, the EPA) has fairly unrealistic simulations of how the average Canadian drives. For one thing, the cars aren’t even tested in real-world conditions. Instead, each car’s fuel economy is evaluated on a dynamometer, essentially a treadmill for cars. The car doesn’t move, but rollers provide friction that supposedly replicates exterior conditions.

Aaaaahhh, I see now. These estimates are just guidelines, using the same standards so that consumers can make useful comparisons between vehicles. Wow. What an insight. You know, is there anyone of driving age that believes otherwise?

The city test simulates a 12-km stop-and-go trip with an average speed of 32 kilometres an hour. The test includes 18 stops and takes 23 minutes, four of which are spent idling to represent waiting at those traffic lights. The highway test replicates a 16-km, 13-minute outing with an average speed of 77 km/h, a top speed of 97 km/h and no stops.

And the fuel economy figures these tests generate aren’t calculated by actually measuring the fuel consumed. Instead, the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) collects the engine’s exhaust and, by measuring the amount of carbon that’s spewed out the tailpipe, the amount of fuel consumed can be calculated.

Little wonder, then, that Transport Canada’s estimates are just another empty government promise. But that’s not the only reason why the hybrid’s ability to conserve fuel may be oversold.

Whoops. Back in butthead mode. It’s not a broken or empty promise, it’s an estimate. Do you understand the difference? Were you angry with your parents for very long when they lied to you about Santa? I bet the tooth fairy just broke your heart.

And the hybrids ability to conserve fuel, at least for the Prius, aren’t oversold. They save a tremendous amount of fuel compared to many vehicles. Moreover, their lower emissions rate also help keep the air cleaner. Their quieter operation help make urban environments more livable.

Not that any of this seems to make an impact on Mr. Booth.

Even with the addition of an electric motor in the equation, there is, to quote most of our mothers, no free lunch. Much has been made, for instance, of the Toyota Prius’s ability to operate at slow speed using only the electric motor. The implication is that, in this low-speed mode, the Prius consumes no gas.

That’s — as the insurance salesman tells you when it’s time to make a claim — not quite true. It is true that, while operating only on electric power, no gasoline is being consumed. However, the batteries supplying that power need to be recharged. And that power will come from the gasoline engine.

When the battery charge gets low enough, the gasoline engine has to generate extra power to recharge the batteries. In other words, to make up some of the energy discharged from the batteries, the gasoline engine has to produce more power than is strictly necessary to power the vehicle until the batteries are recharged. Just like turning up the air conditioning full blast sucks back more fuel, recharging a hybrid’s battery array consumes fuel.

So, if it’s a zero sum game, HOW do hybrids increase fuel economy?

Well, for one thing, because the electric motor acts like a clean and green turbo-charger, the gasoline engine can be made smaller and still have enough reserve power for decent performance. As well, when you depress the brake pedal, the electric motor reverses polarity and becomes a generator, recharging the batteries so that the gasoline engine doesn’t have to (which explains why hybrids’ fuel economy savings are more dramatic in the city than on the highway). Lastly, hybrids typically shut their gasoline engines down at stoplights, eliminating the wasted fuel of idling.

I could be charitably here and point out Booth is conflating several different types of hybrids and not really describing any particular one accurately. Certainly not the Prius. However, once again he’s indulged in the oh-so-slightly dishonest to make his point more dramatically.

None of the above limitations are meant as a condemnation of hybrids, but rather of our expectations of them. Subcompact hybrids seem destined to disappoint since regular econocars already get excellent fuel economy. However, where the gasoline and electric combination will shine will be in minimizing the impact of the consumer’s desire for ever more power.

This is just plain stupid. The Prius is a blast to drive. Talk to the people who drive them. Me, for one. The idea that we need to accept this ascetic new standard and humbly drive around slowly, with no pickup, is wrong. Hybrids like the Prius have a great deal of get up and go. And they offer that performance without consuming more fuel. What’s more, the energy expended in those brief, quick accelerations, is recouped by the regeherative braking system and the standard coasting generator. So minimal energy is lost.

In other words, you can have your cake, and eat nearly all of it too.

Speaking of cake, there’s birthday cake in the fridge…

Lexus has already taken advantage of this ability with the RX 400h. Had the Japanese luxury arm produced a V8 version of its RX luxury ute for the increased performance consumers were demanding, there would have been a dramatic reduction in fuel economy. Instead, Toyota added an electric motor into the equation, got the desired eight-cylinder performance and managed to scrape a dollop better fuel consumption in the bargain. The company will apply the same technology to the GS 450h that will accelerate to 100 km/h in less than six seconds and still return decent fuel economy (even if Lexus’s claims of four-cylinder fuel consumption is a little optimistic).

Hybrid technology, though not the panacea touted by many, does indeed offer many advantages if applied correctly. If you want the ultimate in real-world fuel economy, however, diesel subcompacts are still the way to go.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Hybrid technology is not a panacea. It is however, the best, most workable and most enjoyable compromise we have now and will have for probably ten years. That we should abandon or deride it because it does not deliver zero fuel consumption is ridiuclous. Worse than that, it’s dishonest to contend that. We could, today, cut our national fuel useage down by more than a third if everyone started driving a Prius. That’s not a decent goal? Saving one third?

I don’t understand this kind of binary decision set. Either we save enormous amount of fuel and the world is thereby preserved, or we ignore all the excellent measures in between, such as hyvrid technology, that allow us to drive fun cars and do economically and environmentally.

This kind of story does a disservice to us all. Thanks for nothing Mr. Booth.

We need evangelists

And not of the religious sort, of the hybrid sort.

I document it here every day. I’m sure there are many I miss but as hybrids become more and more prevalent, they will continue to be increasingly in the news and someone should be there to check the accuracy the reporting and make sure we’re not simply fostering more urban legend and bad opinion.

I try to do my part here offering the good and the bad and adding my opinion why something is one way or the other. Hopefully potential Prius buyers can come here and read and make up their own mind.

I think sharing the real world experience we Prius owners have with new or potential buyers is important. I know that reading the experiences online helped me enormously. I just wish I didn’t have to go all over the place to gather that opinion, hence the POG.

All of this goes to say, I would love to see more of you Prius owners involved. I am looking for people who would like to volunteer a small amount of their time to help gather news and as importantly, respond to some of the news that is being published about the Prius.

Nothing onerous. Nothing time consuming. Like me, a person might do it when they have a few spare minutes and email things in.

If you’re interested, email me:

russell@prisuownersgroup.com

I would love to see more contributions here on the POG. I would also offer up priusownersgroup.com email addresses to our correspondents who volunteer. I have a limited number of pop3 POG email boxes but I think it would be great to share them with some of you who want to help.

I’ve seen it said several places and I think it’s worth saying again. We can be ambassadors for this new technology. We can help make a difference. And as each of you know, the Prius is a blast to drive as well one of the best vehicles made for the environment. Why not help spread that around a bit?

Thanks.

Prius Police

Suddenly, a “stealth mode” EV switch becomes much more useful…

Moses Lake experimenting with hybrid cars
Posted: Thursday, Jul 28, 2005 – 03:41:12 pm PDT
By Brad W. Gary
Herald staff writer

Two vehicles purchased for use by police, city
MOSES LAKE — The rising price of gasoline has everyone looking in their pocketbook for spare change, but the City of Moses Lake has hopes the purchase of two new vehicles will put a dent in those costs.

City officials are currently awaiting the arrival of two Toyota Prius sedans for use by City Hall and the Moses Lake Police Department, part of an experiment to see if the electric/gas vehicles can work as a viable alternative to their internal combustion counterparts.

“We’re looking forward to getting them and trying to use them,” said Moses Lake City Manager Joe Gavinski.

Read the rest of this entry »

The CSM nails it

Commentary -The Monitor’s View
from the July 29, 2005 edition
When Hybrids Turn NASCAR
The Monitor’s View

Hybrid gas-electric cars conjure up images of a sober citizen happily, if cautiously, easing a fuel-sipping but underpowered compact car down a slow traffic lane.

That image is exaggerated, of course. But when the first generation of hybrids hit the streets at the turn of this century, the idea was to get great mileage and create less pollution. The two-seat Honda Insight, for example, is rated by the EPA at a miserly 61 to 66 miles per gallon. The much larger Toyota Prius, the most popular hybrid, still rates above 50 m.p.g.

But some new hybrids, which like the two above employ both a gasoline engine and an electric motor, are taking their inspiration more from NASCAR than the Sierra Club. Their electric motors are like turbochargers, adding tire-squealing power with little fuel savings.

Take the 2005 Honda Accord. It keeps the same V-6 engine as the conventional model and then tacks on an electric motor, which boosts horsepower from an already muscular 240 to 255, making it faster in 0-60 m.p.h. acceleration.

According to Consumer Reports magazine, fuel efficiency for that hybrid is only two miles per gallon higher than the conventional V-6 in real-life driving – a less than stunning 23 m.p.g. to 25 m.p.g for the V-6. Similarly, the new Lexus RX400h hybrid SUV has 38 more horsepower than the otherwise identical RX330.

This year hybrid buyers can take a $2,000 federal tax deduction based on the idea that hybrids are more fuel-efficient and produce fewer emissions. But lower pollution is achieved mostly through smaller engine size. Leaving an identical V-6 in the vehicle brings only a small improvement when the electric assistance kicks in.

The point? Hybrids can be used either to save fuel or to boost power. A tax credit that blindly gives a break to all hybrids doesn’t necessarily reward fuel saving.

Congress is expected to pass an energy bill by Friday that apparently will address this flaw. It will base its tax credit on how much better gas mileage the hybrid achieves compared with a comparable non-hybrid model.

If designed for fuel conservation, hybrid vehicles can play a role in helping to break America’s gasoline addiction. As an Environmental Protection Agency report leaked to The New York Times Thursday shows, US cars and trucks are getting bigger, heavier, faster – and less fuel efficient.

Car buyers who want to buy “green” should be sure that the hybrid they’re considering really saves fuel. And federal policy should reward hybrids that cut demand for foreign oil – not subsidize faster muscle cars.

The continuing hybrid battle

An interesting look, with a few too many of the typical observations, on hybrids and how GM dropped the ball. Well, GM doesn’t admit that specifically, but…you can read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

The extra cost of buying a hybrid
By JEREMY CATO
Thursday, July 28, 2005 Updated at 11:19 AM EDT
Globe and Mail Update

The surging cost of a fill-up is figuring into the car-buying decisions of Canadians, but it’s not the only reason Toyota is expanding its fuel-conscious fleet of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles with the introduction of the station wagon-like 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV.

The environment is also weighing on the minds of many consumers who want to drive a larger vehicle but also want to be socially responsible.

Gasoline-electric hybrids pollute less than comparably sized non-hybrids. The Highlander Hybrid, for instance, meets Environment Canada’s stringent Tier 2 Bin 3 standard and it also is certified for the tough California Air Resources Board Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle tailpipe standard.

Obviously, fuel economy plays a big role. Toyota Canada claims fuel consumption for the Highlander Hybrid is half that of conventionally powered SUVs at 7.5 litres/100 km city, 8.1 highway and 7.8 combined. A seven-passenger gas-powered V-6 Highlander gets fuel economy of 12.7 city/9.0 highway.

Clearly, there is a “feel-good factor” coming into play for many hybrid buyers who are willing to pay a stiff premium for the latest “green” automotive technology.

For a manufacturer such as Toyota, which has invested more heavily in its hybrid effort than any other auto maker, there is a significant marketing benefit in being seen as the leader in offering environmentally sensitive vehicles — even if fuel economy and environmental gains, not to mention fuel-pump savings, are marginal compared to other vehicle ownership costs.

Not all auto makers have seen hybrids in this way.

Earlier this year at Detroit’s auto show, General Motors vice-chairman Bob Lutz, who heads all product development for the giant auto maker, admitted that his company overlooked the marketing and public relations benefits of selling a growing fleet of hybrid vehicles to the public.

In analyzing the “business case” for hybrids, GM did a rigid cost-benefit analysis and found that, purely in terms of dollars and cents, the right decision was to delay the technology until it was ready for wholesale application to large fleets of fuel-swilling pickups and sport-utility vehicles.

So GM overlooked the value of hybrids to auto makers interested in creating a positive image in terms of public perception. “We forgot the emotional impact and the fact that a lot of people out there want to make an environmental statement,” Lutz said.

Read the rest of this entry »

THANK YOU

To everyone who went out of their way to visit today. Getting the site closer to it’s first 1,000 visitors is a great birthday present.

Thanks again.

-russell

Prius MPG Marathon in Pittsburgh

August 5th through the 7th, Dan Kroushl and Dave Bassage, along with two others, will be driving Dan’s Prius in an attempt to see what they can wring out out of one, tiny, tank of fuel. The goal is something around a thousand miles or more. They’ve been doing a lot of work and think they can do it.

If you want watch, help or drive, contact Dave at:

fikescr@earthlink.net

Dave’s done an interview on NPR’s popular, “Living On Earth” show about the marathon. You should be able to hear on the LOE site, sometime tomorrow.

They’ve been in contact with HBO who may shoot some film during the marathon for an upcoming special and the local Pittsburgh media has been involved as well.

The other two drivers are both record holders for hypermiling in either the Prius of the Honda Insight. From Dave’s email to me this morning;

We have four drivers committed with significant experience driving for high mpg. Dan Kroushl is owner of the Prius we’ll be using and the guy who discovered he could get consistent 100 mpg laps on the course we’ll be using. Wayne Gerdes from Chicago is the world record holder for highest mpg and most miles in a tank in a Honda Insight. He’s driven the course with Dan and shown that he too can score 100 mpg segments in Dan’s car. Rick Reese is the guy whose record Wayne broke, now owns his own Prius, and is the only one of us not to have seen the course yet, but has duplicated Dan’s results in his own Prius near his home in South Carolina. And then there’s me, the weak link of the driver team with no records to my name, but I recently scored a personal best 71 mpg tank in my Prius and was able to achieve 100 mpg in Dan’s on the course when I checked it out a few weeks back.

If you live in the area or want to visit Pittsburgh, contact Dave for more details on hooking up with the marathoners.

Encouraging signs

From the Tewksbury page of Townonline.com…

Senate presents bipartisan alternative fuel, vehicle plan
By Jim O’Sullivan / State House News Service
Thursday, July 28, 2005

“I can suck on that tailpipe for a week and I’m not gonna die,” Walter Zuschlag said, gesturing toward the Toyota Prius parked a few yards to his left.

Zuschlag, a technical specialist for Toyota, was talking to Jeremy Marin, a regional representative for the Sierra Club environmental group – a seemingly improbable ally. But Zuschlag and Marin are finding common ground on hybrid vehicle benefits, including high gas mileage and 90 percent less fuel emissions than equivalent traditional cars of their size, Zuschlag said.

Automotive industry representatives and environmentalists joined lawmakers outside the state capitol July 28 announcing a broad legislative effort to offer fiscal incentives for consumers and businesses who use alternative fuel, and to establish mandates for state agencies, including one calling for half of all state vehicles to run on alternative fuel within five years.

The bill – which sponsor and Senate Minority Whip Bruce Tarr said would be filed by the end of the week – drew bipartisan and bicameral backing. Supporters include Senate President Robert Travaglini, who arrived behind the wheel of a hybrid Ford Escape with Transportation Committee co-chairman Steven Baddour. Tarr preceded them in a hybrid Toyota Prius.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Prius is still the touchstone…

…against which all others are judged. Here is a commentary piece about the Escape, which means the Prius. From E Magazine…

COMMENTARY
An Olive Branch
The Sierra Club Embraces Ford for Producing Fuel-Efficient Hybrids
By Jim Motavalli

The Sierra Club’s climate campaigner, Dan Becker, routinely bashes the auto companies. Here’s a typical outburst, from PBS: “They churn out more and more gas-guzzling SUVs, so now we’re producing less-efficient cars on average than we were in 1980.” Given his background, it was surprising to hear his kind words in a press release dated July 11: “For years,” he said, “the Sierra Club has pressured Ford to make more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. They are now beginning to do that, and we want to help them succeed.”

Come again? The Sierra Club is helping Ford? Is this the same Dan Becker who in 2002 worried that Bill Ford might be “showing his true stripes as just another short-sighted auto executive with no interest in the environment, our oil dependence or the truth”?

Environmental groups usually see car companies (even the greenest ones) as the devil incarnate. Bluewater Network took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal this week lambasting Volvo, of all companies, for not being green enough. The group hates Ford, so the amiable tree huggers at Volvo became fair game when the Swedish company was acquired by the American auto giant. Against a photo backdrop of a Volvo wagon pulling down a tree, the ad reads, “[N]ot a single new Volvo averages more than 26.1 miles per gallon, less than half of the best-performing four-door sedan on the market. That’s bad news for already dangerous levels of air pollution and global warming.” Since Volvo cares very much about its environmental image (and goes the extra mile with rigorous green campaigns on reducing manufacturing pollution, adopting water-based paints and insisting on life-cycle analysis), this ad caused great consternation in both Dearborn and Gothenburg.

The hybrid Mercury Mariner will mostly be sold online.
I’ve long wondered why Volvo didn’t address its fuel consumption issues by building a hybrid of its own, especially since it recently showed off the 3CC, an electric concept vehicle with a theoretical 190-mile range. But the company’s acquisition by Ford probably makes the idea moot, since any Volvo hybrid would compete with the blue oval’s own entries.

Hybrid technology has clearly arrived, with no less than 10 models on the market, ranging from the tiny (Honda’s Insight) to the mighty (Lexus’ 400h). A hybrid version of the best-selling Toyota Camry is on the way. Keep in mind that all hybrids are not created equal; some (like the Lexus and the Honda Accord Hybrid) don’t offer huge fuel savings, but do offer extra performance as part of the incentive. The military obviously appreciates the potential of hybrids: The U.S. Army and the EPA are co-sponsoring research on a hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle, and the Defense Department has a diesel-electric pilot program.

Bluewater Network, Rainforest Action Network and Global Exchange will undoubtedly keep up the pressure on Ford, even if the company were to introduce a zero-emission fuel-cell car tomorrow (unlikely). But despite the prior bad blood, the Sierra Club is now working to help promote the Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV, a close cousin to the Ford division’s already extant Escape Hybrid that will be mostly sold online. The club is introducing the Mariner to its 300,000 members in the Insider newsletter. Additionally, 3,000 Sierra Club leaders will have a chance to test drive the Mariner (and other hybrids) at the upcoming Sierra Summit in San Francisco in September. The Sierrans also say they will help Americans learn how to get the best mileage out of their hybrids. “It’s not every day that the Sierra Club is able to applaud Ford’s actions,” says a truly reborn Dan Becker.

Auto companies make green statements every day. It ain’t news. Mary Ann Wright of Ford’s Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Programs, for instance, proclaimed, “Ford is committed to improving fuel economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions across its range of vehicles.” Yawn. Dog bites man. But when an implacable foe becomes a friend, that’s worth headlines. And it’s especially so when the vehicle is pretty darned good. Ford is making the Escape available to journalists, so let’s take a closer look at it:

To most observers, the 2006 Ford Escape I’m currently piloting is just one more gas-guzzling SUV, indistinguishable from the thousands of others around me (all chosen because their owners wanted to show how individual they were).

But this land barge has a green heart. The Escape Hybrid, selling for a base price of $26,380 (or $33,000 fully optioned with all-wheel drive) is the first credible “full” American hybrid. Although, as they say, “actual mileage may vary,” the Escape Hybrid achieves an EPA rating of 36 miles per gallon for city driving. That’s a 70 percent improvement over the conventional Escape V-6. It can travel 576 miles on a tank of fuel.

The Escape Hybrid: Few visual clues.
But there’s more to the Escape than just good fuel economy numbers. It’s also an emissions champ, designated an Advanced Technology Partial-Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV) by the California regulators. The bottom line is that in addition to having a tailpipe as clean as the Prius (“partial zero” translates as a 97 percent reduction in hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides over the average 2005 car), it’s also a global warming fighter with carbon dioxide emissions halved because of its excellent mileage numbers.

The Escape is that rare animal: a practical SUV. I used it to move a collection of furniture, and discovered that (with the headrests removed) the rear seats fold down to make a flat floor that can accommodate 44-inch wide loads. And even when loaded to the gunwales, the Escape does stop-and-go driving mostly in full electric mode. The “312 miles to empty” readout advanced to only “308 miles to empty” after I lurched through the usual 20 miles of gridlock. When traffic stopped altogether, I just sat there enjoying CD music and cold air conditioning, but burning no fuel.

When you think about it, isn’t “city” performance the key? Even when we’re commuting on the highway, it’s all stop-and-go. Zero to 60 times are quite beside the point when cars hardly ever reach 60. We’re going to have to adjust our standard benchmarks.

In place of the standard V-6 drivetrain, Ford uses a 2.3-liter Duratec four attached to a 70-kilowatt permanent magnet electric traction motor (generating approximately 94 horsepower). If it’s brawn you’re after, you’ll hardly notice the difference in power between this and a garden-variety V-6 Escape. The gas engine can start up in 400 milliseconds, and its comings and goings are barely perceptible.

It was something of a revelation to learn that Ford had licensed Toyota’s Prius technology for the Escape, but the company downplays this. The company line is that Toyota is not directly providing any components. But the performance will certainly seem familiar to Prius owners.

If the Escape fails in the U.S. market (the jury’s still out) the mysterious “coolness” factor may be involved. The Prius, with at least a six-month waiting list, shouts out the driver’s green virtues with distinctive styling. The Escape (like the Honda Civic Hybrid) is practically indistinguishable from a conventional model. Maybe some unique design touches for the 2007s?

The Escape Hybrid would be a perfect fleet vehicle for state and federal agencies with green procurement policies to acquire in droves. It’s made in the U.S.A., versatile and practical, with more rear legroom and better gas mileage than a recently introduced competitor, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Just last week, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission approved the Escape (and five other hybrids) for street duty. Considering that the ubiquitous Ford Crown Victoria costs just as much but gets only 18 mpg in the city, doubling the mileage around town can’t hurt the taxi companies’ bottom line.