From the Pioneer Press, at Twincities.com...

Miles Per Hour

A new service lets you ditch your wheels and borrow a car only when you need to.

BY JULIO OJEDA-ZAPATA
Pioneer Press

Imagine you lived a blissfully, affordably car-free existence, except on occasion when you needed to borrow a vehicle for errands around town. At those times, you'd stroll into a parking ramp, hop into a hot little hybrid number and drive off.

It's called car sharing, because such vehicles are a communal resource. Members of a group sign up to use shared cars at various days and times via an online- or phone-reservation system.

Car-sharing programs are popular in Europe and, to a lesser extent, around Canada and in a handful of U.S. cities. Now, this transportation trend has hit the Twin Cities, courtesy of St. Paul-based HourCar, a nonprofit venture with a half-dozen Toyota Prius hatchbacks deployed around Minneapolis and in downtown St. Paul for members to grab and use anytime.

Car sharing isn't for everyone. So, to get a better feel for HourCar and who should consider using it, we signed up for a week and used the two cars it keeps in two parking ramps in downtown St. Paul.

Getting set up for shared-car use is mostly painless, and using HourCar's Web site or phone number to reserve a car is simple. Drivers are fully insured and don't pay for vehicle upkeep. Best of all, they get to use popular, peppy Prius hybrids that run partly on electricity and partly on standard internal combustion — and that draw many an admiring glance from pedestrians and other motorists.

Likely customers. The car-sharing program, modeled on one in San Francisco, was created with certain kinds of drivers in mind. These include people who live or work within easy reach of an HourCar hub, such as one near Loring Park in downtown Minneapolis and another one near Lake Street and Hennepin Avenue. Such middle-class users, HourCar argues, can easily do without their own cars some or all of the time if a shared vehicle is readily accessible.

HourCar also is angling for low-income users who can't afford reliable cars of their own and might prefer shared vehicles with their relatively reasonable fees over breakdown-prone, expensive-to-repair beaters. And it hopes to sign up companies or government agencies that would make the cars available to their employees.

HourCar expenses. HourCar doesn't come cheap, nor is it a cost-effective alternative to a regular car rental for those needing wheels in days- or weeks-long spurts. Users pay a sign-up fee and a monthly fee and hourly usage fees and mileage fees (see sidebar). HourCar makes no sense for commuters, either.

But it is arguably a bargain as a periodic drive-about-town-for-a-couple-of-hours option for those who don't need day-in-and-day-out transportation. Those living in downtown St. Paul or one of the condo complexes springing up nearby, for instance, could conceivably sell their vehicles and say bye-bye to gas, maintenance and insurance bills. HourCar, along with metro buses, biking and walking, could cover most of their transportation needs.

Signing up. You don't get up and running with HourCar as quickly as renting a car, either. First, you register and wait for HourCar to do a driving-record check. Then, you sign up for and sit through an hourlong orientation in all its somewhat-mind-numbing detail. Then, you have to wait for your username and password to be mailed to you.

You're finally good to go. Hit www.hourcar.org and sign in. Click "Members" and "make/change a reservation" to reserve a nearby car for later in the day, later in the week or as long as three months in advance. (You can also do this by phone.) Sign up for just a bit more time than you think you'll need, because you pay a penalty if you keep another member waiting. (You can get dinged in other ways, too, so read your HourCar manual carefully.)

Getting going. Now, go to your designated ramp and hold your HourCar-issued key fob up to a windshield reader to unlock the car. Prius cars don't use metal ignition keys but cartridge-shaped plastic ones that fit into a slot. Your cartridge is tethered near your right foot; pop it in, press the brake pedal and push the car's big, black power button.

You won't hear anything, because the Prius gets up and running on electrical power. Press the gas pedal, and the car moves forward or backs up in near-silence. As you accelerate, the internal-combustion engine kicks in. To leave the ramp, grab the card tethered near your left foot and wave it at an exit reader. A gas card lets you fuel up at most local stations, in the unlikely event that your gas-sipping car needs it.

Final impressions. The ecology-minded will be tickled that their HourCar emissions are only a tiny fraction of those that belch out of standard vehicles during comparable drives (that's why HourCar's parent, the environment-conscious Neighborhood Energy Consortium, picked them). Car buffs and gizmo geeks will love playing with one of the most cutting-edge vehicles on U.S. roadways — and one with surprisingly spry and nimble performance, to boot.

But HourCar's main appeal is in your pocketbook. Now, you may still want to own a car. You don't want to ditch your bicycle and metro-bus pass, either, and a taxi is arguably still the best alternative for a dinner-and-theater outing to downtown Minneapolis. But, in certain scenarios, HourCar gets you going at a nice price.

What's coming? The consortium, a group that promotes energy efficiency in transportation and housing, hopes to gradually expand HourCar with more vehicles and hubs over the next year or so — assuming its smallish roster of several dozen members increases and its now-modest usage picks up. It plans to have 13 vehicles deployed by summer's end.

The consortium needs about 500 members to break even (after which, it says, any profits would be plowed back into its energy-related programs). To serve that many customers, it will need about 20 to 25 cars (including, possibly, a pickup truck). Potential hub locations include a spot near the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus.

Julio Ojeda-Zapata can be reached at jojeda@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5467. For more personal technology on the Web or via RSS, go to TwinCities. com and click "Business," then "Personal Tech."

HOURCAR BASICS

Vehicles: Six Toyota Prius hybrids that combine gas and electrical power for increased mileage and lower emissions.

Locations: Four vehicles at two Minneapolis locations, and one each at two parking ramps in downtown St. Paul. See www.hourcar.org/rates.html for addresses and other details.

Sign-up fee: $150 ($100 of which is refunded to those who cancel within 60 days)

User plans: Users sign up for one of two membership plans. One, aimed at occasional drivers, charges $5 a month plus a $6.95 hourly usage fee and 45 cents per mile. A plan for heavier users runs $20 a month plus $4.95 an hour and 39 cents per mile. In either case, HourCar charges only $2.95 an hour between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. (the mileage charges stay the same).

More info: To see if HourCar might be right for you, go to www.hourcar.org/shouldishare.html.

I am seeking the owner of a 2004 or newer Prius to cooperate in tire noise testing 25-29 July 2005 in Petaluma, CA. The testing would involve temporarily replacing the two rear tires, securing sound measuring equipment to the vehicle, and recording sound level data while driving various roads in the general vicinity of Petaluma.

This sounds like it could be a very cool thing to be involved with. Of course, if, like me, you live thousands of miles away, it not possible. But I am sure there are more than a Bay Area readers who would be interested.

If you are interested, just send me an email. Please be sure to put Noise Test in he subject line of your email. I get hundreds of emails per day and this will make sorting through them much quicker.

Thanks very much.

russell@priusownersgroup.com

It's "more than just mileage," execs say.

by Paul A. Eisenstein
(2005-07-18)

For Toyota, it's a question of whether the tank is half-empty or half-full. The automaker is the unquestionable leader in the fast-growing U.S. hybrid-electric vehicle market. But HEVs are coming under increasing criticism for failing to deliver the sort of mileage manufacturers like Toyota are promising.

The Japanese automaker's Prius has become the world's best-selling hybrid, while the U.S. has become Toyota's biggest market for the gas-electric midsize sedan, accounting for about 60 percent of worldwide Prius sales. With additional hybrids coming into production, such as the recently launched Lexus RX400h, Toyota is looking to sell one million hybrids annually by 2010, according to Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., and "if you put a pencil to that, (the U.S.) would be doing 600,000."

The question is what it will take to get there. While the recent run-up in U.S. fuel prices has made the economic equation for hybrids increasingly attractive, that may not be enough to nurture a truly mass market. And in the coming years, Toyota and its Lexus luxury arm are likely to shift focus to expand the appeal of HEVs, according to senior company officials.

"We see the general desire for these types of vehicles growing," said Jeff Martini, vice president of the Polk Center for Automotive Studies. "However, the compelling argument to actually buy one has to be made more strongly," he added.

Critics contend that the cost of hybrid hardware - generally adding $4000 to $9000 to the price of a comparable gasoline-only vehicle - is difficult to offset through increased mileage, even with $2.50-a-gallon gasoline. "When you just use the argument of fuel efficiency, the purchase of a hybrid car is not justified," acknowledged Kazuo Okamoto, the new head of R&D for Toyota Motor Co., in a recent interview with London's Financial Times.

The equation is only more off-balance when real-world, rather than promised, mileage is taken into account. While Toyota claims Prius gets close to 60 miles per gallon, consumers report it more typically delivers around 40 mpg. Esmond admitted there is a notable fuel economy gap, but insisted it is the result of government tests automakers rely on, rather than any attempt by Toyota to mislead its customers.

And indeed, other hybrid manufacturers, such as Honda, concede similar discrepancies. But none of the HEV makers is willing to provide a more realistic figure, said Honda planning director Dan Bonawitz, because the higher numbers are "a competitive advantage."

Perhaps, but the growing chorus of complaints could sour current and potential owners, some analysts warn. And as a result, manufacturers are looking at other ways to boost the appeal of hybrids. Honda, for example, has been emphasizing the higher performance of its Accord Hybrid, which launches from 0-60 a full half-second faster than the conventional V-6 Accord.

Lexus is also promoting the performance of its RX400h, and the luxury unit's next hybrid could usher in an entirely new line of high-performance HEVs, said the Toyota division's new general manager, Bob Carter. A final decision has not yet been made, but Lexus engineers are developing a distinctly different version of the Toyota Synergy Drive used in the Prius.

Next year's GS450h is expected to feel more like a conventional sports sedan, with a mix of software and hardware changes meant to replicate the feel of a conventional sedan going through rapid gear changes.

"You may see Toyota and Lexus going in two very different directions," Carter told TheCarConnection.com during an interview in California.

But even the Toyota division will put more of an emphasis on performance, added Esmond, during the same interview. It will put more emphasis on the other advantages of hybrid technology, such as the significant reduction in emissions, including the greenhouse gas, CO2.

While hybrids are taking some heat right now, analyst Jim Hall, of AutoPacific, Inc., doesn't foresee a serious backlash over mileage. There are "plenty of other reasons" why they'll continue to gain ground in the U.S. market, he said. In some states, hybrid owners gain access to carpool lanes, even while driving alone. Several cities now let HEVs park without paying at meters. And then there's what Hall calls "the cool factor."

For some Prius buyers, the biggest plus is the positive feedback they get driving their distinctive vehicles down the street. Ironically, Lexus seemed to miss that point with the RX400h. The most common complaint, said Esmond, is not mileage, but the fact that the gas-electric SUV is almost indistinguishable from a conventional RX330. "They want us to badge this thing so people know they are driving a hybrid," said Esmond. (Honda officials admit they've had similar complaints about their Accord and Civic hybrids.)

Toyota is in the midst of a major internal debate over whether it should produce more hybrid-only models, such as Prius, or continue offering hybrid options for its mainstream models. Whatever the ultimate decision, future Toyota and Lexus HEVs will be much more distinctive, Esmond promised.

From the Dublin Times online...

Hybrid cars

17 July 2005
The hybrid car is one of the easiest means by which you can reduce your reliance on petrol and diesel. These cars include an electric motor, which powers the car when it is inefficient to use the engine such as in heavy traffic. This helps to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

Unlike other alternatives to normal petrol and diesel vehicles, hybrid cars are readily available at reasonable prices.

One of the most popular hybrid models is the Toyota Prius, which was voted European Car of the Year for 2005.

The Prius' electric motor is more powerful than most standard one litre engines and the car can accelerate from a standstill to 100km in under 11 seconds. The car's fuel consumption is over 60 miles per gallon and Toyota claim that the Prius will typically emit one tonne less carbon dioxide per year than a comparable sized car with an internal combustion engine.

“We introduced the Prius to the Irish market in late 2001 and to date we have sold 470.

“The new generation Prius was launched in 2004 and accounts for 420 of these sales,” he said. The spokesman said Toyota planned eventually to introduce hybrid technology across all its models.

Other car manufacturers are also considering following Toyota's lead. Late last year, General Motors and Daimler-Chrysler - the largest and fourth-largest car firms in the world - said they would collaborate on hybrid engines.

“Today's current market size for hybrids is obviously very small,” Eric Ridenour, head of product development at Chrysler, was reported as saying at the time. “But we do see that market growing. We see them becoming a niche, but a significant niche.”

Independent forecasts estimate that hybrid engines could power up to 15 per cent of the world's cars by 2020.

COVER STORY Running on Empty A hot-rodded Prius hybrid can get extraordinary mileage from a gallon of gas--even in stop-and-go L.A. Is triple-digit mileage just around the bend?

By Dan Neil, Dan Neil is The Times' auto critic and writer of 800 Words, a weekly column for the magazine.

How far can we stretch a gallon of gasoline? OK, maybe it isn't a question for the ages. But with oil setting new records at more than $60 per barrel, it seems like a good time to ask. And considering that the U.S. economy is hooked on oil imported from political nightmares such as Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, and that our petrodollars support regimes that indulge Islamic radicalism, and that global warming threatens to turn Orlando into beachfront property . . . well, maybe it is a question for the ages.

The answer: It depends. Last month at the Society of Automotive Engineers' Supermileage competition in Marshall, Mich., a team from Mater Dei High School in Evansville, Ind., got 1,836 miles per gallon. However, the winning vehicle carried only one passenger—a skinny kid—at just over 15 mph, and it looked like a body bag on wheels.

Among street-legal cars, the Honda Insight—another aerodynamic guppy and the first (1999) hybrid gas-electric vehicle sold in the United States—is the gas mileage champion, getting 60 mpg in the city and 66 mpg on the highway.

And then there's the car I'm driving: a Toyota Prius jury-rigged by a couple of wildcatting engineers in Monrovia. Equipped with an oversized battery, a home-built battery controller (and lots of home-built computer code) and a battery charger, it's a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, or PHEV, a technology that might just represent one of the most dramatic advances in fuel stretching since the Pennsylvania oil fields. And not a minute too soon.

The idea is that owners charge up the car overnight, plugging into their garage outlet for cheap, off-peak electricity, and the stored energy covers their short-range daily driving—on average, less than 30 miles. Except that, unlike electric-only vehicles, which can range only as far as a charge allows, PHEVs can fall back on a gas engine. Within its electrically boosted range, this car can get 100 mpg.

Or more. A lot more, if you believe a growing chorus of PHEV partisans, some of whom are famously hard-nosed conservatives born again as energy evangelists. PHEV technology has earned a rousing endorsement from the bipartisan Commission on National Energy Policy. Former Secretary of State George Shultz and former CIA director R. James Woolsey, co-chairs of a dire-sounding organization called The Committee on the Present Danger, wrote in a policy paper last year: "A plug-in hybrid averaging 125 mpg, if its fuel tank contains 85 per cent cellulosic ethanol, would be obtaining about 500 mpg [of gasoline]. If it were constructed from carbon composites the mileage could double. . . . What are we waiting for?"

Setting aside the mysteries of cellulosic ethanol and carbon composites for the moment, the idea that PHEVs can be built from off-the-shelf parts has become something of an orthodoxy. "The solution is already with us," wrote Newsweek International columnist Fareed Zakaria in March. "We don't need to reinvent the wheel or wait for sci-fi hydrogen fuel cells," New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote in late June. "The technologies we need for a stronger, more energy independent America are already here."

Not so fast, says Dave Hermance, an executive engineer of Toyota and the company's guru of all things Prius. Somewhat ruefully—he isn't very happy about people hacking his beloved and delicately engineered Prius—Hermance says that while the PHEV concept has merit, it won't work with the current generation of lithium-ion batteries, which, while powerful, are both too expensive and temperamental for use in mass-production cars. Depending on their chemistry, lithium-ion batteries tend to get really hot—thermal runaway, it's called—and, as the military well knows, to ignite. "The betting line of developers is that a lithium-ion battery of sufficient cost, durability and safety is three to five years away."

Hermance isn't alone. Dr. Dan Doughty, an expert in battery technology at the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., thinks high-performance lithium-ion batteries are still too buggy to warrant exuberance. Doughty also notes that electric vehicle backers' claims of super-high mileage often do not include the cost of electricity as well as gasoline. "What chaps my hide is when people know better and hold back some of that information," he says.

And so I've come to a battery-strewn laboratory and workshop in Monrovia. Greg Hanssen and Pete Nortman of the engineering firm EnergyCS are loaning me their electrically hot-rodded Prius, the kind of vehicle upon which so many angels have alighted. On the dash of their plug-in car is an LCD gauge that measures gas use to the thousandth of a gallon—"milligals"—and as they pass me the key I'm aware that the car embodies a lot of painstaking engineering and handiwork, hopes and dreams. I'll be careful. How far, actually, can I go on a single gallon of gas? How far can we all go?

Greg Hanssen has nothing but respect for the Toyota Prius. "Not a day goes by that I don't think what an amazing machine this is," he says from the right seat during our orientation drive (and, yes, the meter is running).

From an engineering perspective, the Prius' neatest trick is its computer-orchestrated integration, the fluid interplay of the electric motor and gas engine. The Prius is a "strong" parallel hybrid, which means that both electric motor and gas engine act on the driveshaft through a power-splitting gearset. At low speed, the electric motor drives the car. When higher speeds or heavy acceleration are required, the gas engine and electric motor work together. Some of the engine's power is diverted to a generator that charges the battery. Also, like other hybrids, the Prius captures kinetic energy otherwise lost during coasting and braking and converts it into electricity, a technology called regenerative braking.

The result of all these dancing electrons is that the Prius extracts about twice the energy from a gallon of gasoline as a conventional car—a measure called tank-to-wheel efficiency. A lot of Prius owners have been disappointed that they couldn't get the mileage claimed by the Environmental Protection Agency—60 mpg city and 51 mpg highway—but that has more to do with the testing cycle of the EPA than with the Prius, which reliably returns 45 mpg in mixed city-highway driving.

Hanssen and Nortman want more. Given its lightweight, aerodynamic shape and state-of-the-art engineering, "the Prius is an ideal platform for a plug-in," says Hanssen.

But it's not simply a matter of adding an extension cord. The Prius' stock nickel metal-hydride battery is relatively small—holding about 1.3 kilowatt hours of energy, enough to run a powerful hair dryer for an hour. It is also lightly taxed. The car's computers limit the battery workload in order to reduce wear and tear. To meet the California Air Resources Board requirements for advanced technology partial zero-emission vehicles—AT-PZEV, a green-car badge of honor—an advanced powertrain vehicle has to be virtually maintenance-free for 150,000 miles.

Hanssen and Nortman removed the stock battery (as well as the spare tire) from below the cargo floor and installed a 9 kWh lithium-ion battery, a King Kong version of the battery running your laptop. It's about twice as energy dense (energy-to-weight ratio) as the stock battery, but on the downside adds about 180 pounds.

Also, they hacked the car's software to let the system tap the battery (up to 21kW of instantaneous energy) to within about 20% of its capacity.

The other significant bit of hacking involved rewriting the software to allow full-electric operation at speeds up to 34 mph. In other words, at traffic jam speeds, the plug-in Prius operates as an electric vehicle.

Does it work? In the time it takes for Hanssen to explain the car's operation, we have traveled 9.09 miles around Monrovia on highway and surface streets and have used only .067 of a gallon of gas. According to the computer, that's 134.8 mpg with the same humming effortlessness as the stock Prius. So far, so amazing.

This Sunday, Richard Hilton, who was kind enough to write in a few weeks ago and say some nice things about POG, send this beautiful shot of his Prius.

All those wonderful fall leaves, it makes me anxious for October, when it won't be 90 degrees and 95% humidity, like it is now.

Thanks very much Richard.

you click on the thumbnail to the entire image

I recently commenced a trip from Melbourne to Cairns in my 2001
Prius on holidays.1500kms into the trip I got the triangle alarm
with PS (power steering) background in red. It hadn't dawned on me
that the PS stood for power steering. I pulled over, after traveling
a few kilometers looking for a safe place on the side of the road,
and turned the ignition off. Waited for a minute or so and restarted
the Prius. The alarm had reset and the vehicle continued as normal
for another 10km until the alarm went off again at which time I
repeated the reset process. And again it traveled for about 10km
before the alarm went off again. This repeated for about 6 occasions
at which time I had arrived at a Motel where I was to spend the rest
of the night quite worried about what was going to happen to the
rest of my trip.
I had had problems on 2 or 3 accessions in the last year of having
the steering wheel vibrate violently when backing out of my garage
and reported this to Toyota, but they said that because it was not
happening very often to leave it as is, so I did. Well, not a good
decision.
I described the fault on the Prius Tech forum and they reported that
it was a known fault and was caused by a noisy pot. So here I am in
the middle of no-where with the thing alarming every 10km so I
thought that if the pot was noisy then moving the pot with no power
might clean off the noise causing debris and I commenced moving the
steering wheel back and forth, about 150 times, giving quite a bit
of torque at the points at which the power steering would be
activated.
The next day the car traveled the 350 km to the Gold Coast with no
trouble. At the Gold Coast I took the car to Toyota which cost me
$33.00 for them to report that they could find nothing wrong but
they gave the computer a reset. Stayed at the Gold Coast for a few
days with no alarms before continuing my journey.
Next stop Rockhampton 850km away, and yes 200km into the journey the
alarm went off again. So I stopped and did the moving of the
steering wheel 150 times before setting off again. Now I am getting
the alarm every 200km. Got to Rocky OK, continued the next day to
Airlie Beach another 500km with the same thing happening, am getting
an alarm every 200km, but nothing was going to screw my holiday.
Left the car and spent the week enjoying the Long Island resort,
before continuing on to Townsville about 500km on. The alarm was
starting to occur every 50 km now and I am getting worried, so on
arrival, I handed to car to Toyota explained what was happening and
that the whole steering system needs replacing. The tech did his
thing and said that there was heaps of information about the problem
being reported by the computer and that a replacement of the
steering system was required and would cost $3000.00 plus labour.
Because the car was sooo great to drive I told him to go ahead and I
would continue to Cairns with a hire car.
Spent a great few days in Cairns including some snorkeling of the
Great Barrier Reef and on the way back to Rocky received a call from
Toyota to tell me that the steering system, installation and wheel
alignment was going to covered by Toyota for free. The bill was
$180.00 for the diagnosis. So it pays to not do your block and
complain, but be patent, but with a car that drives so well you
don't get easily upset.
So I would like to publicly thank the Lexus Service Manager and his
troops of Townsville Toyota Australia for fixing the car of my
dreams and backing me for backing them buy purchasing their hybrid
vehicle.
The rest of my trip continued without event, of which 7500kms were
driven at 5.1litres/100kms although the computer had been reset
completely which set my trip meters to zero. And if the wife
suggests that we do our next trip by car I will gladly agree as long
as the car is a Prius, so I am looking to doing West Australia next
year in maybe a new Prius.

-John van der Linden
john.vanderlinden@optusnet.com.au

Now I don't want to be seen here as constantly bitching about the media is saying about the Prius but that said, I think one of the purposes of the POG is that of an advocate the Prius and to a lesser extent, for hybrids in general. I know that several of things posted on the POG have elicited reactions and emails to the reporters in question. In two cases I know the author did respond and it opened a dialogue into that hopefully corrected some misinformation.

Which brings us to this piece. My only real gripe with it is you have to get down to the fourth paragraph before fuel cell reality sets in.

And please don't misunderstant me, if fuel cells were practical, now, I think a lot of us would be driving those vehicles. But they aren't. And there are some serious obstacles to surmount before they can be half as real as the Prius. And while I very much was them to be a reality, and the problems that stnad in the way of fuel cell vehicles solved, they're not, so I'm not (all that enthusiastic about them that is).

And I think we take our proverbial eye off the ball a bit when we focus on this, as consumers, when there are excellent options available now (once again, the Prius and other hybrids).

Either way, here it is, you tell me what you think...

7/25/05 Running on fumes

A test drive of Honda's new fuel-cell-powered car shows that hybrid vehicles aren't the only option
By Richard J. Newman

I'm supposed to be paying close attention to the fuel gauge--but other parts of the car are much more interesting. The accelerator, for instance. This week's test vehicle is Honda's hydrogen-powered fuel-cell car, the FCX, and it's much peppier around town than a typical economy car. It feels and sounds different, too. Since the hydrogen powers an electric motor rather than an internal combustion engine, there's no rumble, only the faint hum of machinery. As I accelerate, the FCX feels more like a tram than a car, smooth and steady, without the jolt of shifting gears. One oddity is a ghostly warble that intensifies as I speed up, like bad sound effects from a Scooby-Doo cartoon.

How do hydrogen-powered cars work?
For a concise review: fuelcellpartnership.org
Go a layer deeper: ucsusa.org
Writing a thesis? scied.science.doe.gov (PDF)

The automakers' spin:
Honda: The FCX fuel cell vehicle
Toyota: The FINE-S concept vehicle
GM: The Hy-wire fuel cell vehicle
Ford: Six prototype vehicles

From U.S. News:
Hybrids: Invasion of the green machines
More car reviews parked here

The futuristic FCX is a long way from showrooms--there are only about 20 on U.S. roads--but it's a glimpse at the holy grail of the auto industry. Fuel cells generate power when hydrogen mixes with oxygen from the air, and they could represent a much deeper leap into the future than hybrids like the Toyota Prius, which still require a gas-powered engine. Hydrogen can be extracted from water, which could reshape petropolitics from China to Iraq. Hydrogen also is a more efficient fuel than gasoline. The FCX averages 57 miles per kilogram of hydrogen, roughly equivalent to 57 miles per gallon of gas. And the FCX' s tail-pipe emits precisely zero pollutants or greenhouse gases--only a small stream of water vapor seeps out.

Every major automaker is chasing hydrogen dreams, but Honda is the first to allow ordinary bad drivers like journalists to try one out. And recently Honda leased an FCX to a California family of four, the Spallinos of Redondo Beach, who agreed to offer feedback on everyday driving. I'm sure they'll notice that the FCX is not quite as functional as other hatchbacks. The rear storage area is tiny, and the back seats don't even fold down. That's because an ultracapacitor, which stores energy captured during braking, takes up the space back there.

Pit stops. Most important, fuel cells are still an immature technology, and it's not clear if manufacturers will ever be able to build them cost effectively. While hydrogen itself is a superclean fuel, extracting it from hydrocarbons, the most common production method, can create more pollution than it saves. And wringing it from water requires a lot of electricity, another source of pollution. Filling stations hundreds of miles apart won't cut it with consumers either.

But the FCX makes a persuasive case for the technology. The electric motor's clean, quiet ride is a reminder that the internal combustion engine, the automotive standard for a century, need not be the end of the road. And it's satisfying to look in the rearview mirror and know I'm leaving no toxins behind. I'm just happy I can give the FCX back to Honda before the fuel meter hits the peg.

Honda's Hydrocar

The FCX runs on the energy released when its hydrogen fuel mixes with oxygen, creating a chemical reaction.

Sparky: An electric motor with smooth pickup spins the wheels.

Efficient: It averages 57 miles per kilogram of hydrogen, roughly equivalent to 57 miles per gallon.

Clean: Water vapor is the only tailpipe emission.

Scarce: There are only about 20 of the cars in the States now. Mass production is years away.

23. Toyota Prius

With petrol prices nudging $2 in some parts, who wouldn't want a car that promises to slash your fuel bill by 50 per cent? Prius' big selling point is its hybrid engine - an electric motor that powers the car independently at low speeds, teamed with a smaller-than-average petrol motor that kicks in when extra grunt is needed. The result is a family-size hatchback that sips around five litres of standard unleaded petrol for every 100km, about half that of your average car and, best of all, it's a friend to the environment.

It's fun list of what (and who) is cool right now in Australia.

This does a disservice to everyone.

Getting past the Triad's road blocks

Sure, we all want to help the environment.

And there's little question that a hybrid car cuts down on pollution. But will buying a hybrid car save you money, with gas prices going through the roof?

Fast Forward turned to some experts for advice.

Weighing the expenses

Hybrid cars, which typically combine an electric motor and a gas engine to save fuel, have sticker prices several thousand dollars higher than their gas-fueled counterparts.

But wouldn't drivers make that money back by spending less time at the pump?

"Right now, you're going to be hard-pressed to find they make sense from an economic standpoint," said Gabriel Shenhar, a senior auto-test engineer for Consumer Reports.

A June study from online car authority Edmunds.com shows that typical drivers would have to own their car for at least five years to recognize any savings.

The rest of this junk is below fold...

"Gas would have to cost at least $5.60 per gallon for hybrid drivers to break even if they drove 15,000 miles per year over the five years. Alternately, they could break even if they drove at least 37,000 miles per year at the current average gas price of $2.28 per gallon."

Bradley Berman, the editor of HybridCars.com, cautioned against comparing hybrid cars with gas vehicles, because your choice depends on what you're seeking in the market.

Hybrid car buyers aren't purchasing the cars to save money -- they typically want the latest technology or want to do their part by helping the environment or reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil, he said.

"It's difficult to do an apples to apples comparison," said Berman.

Even Berman doesn't recommend trading in your economy car for a hybrid.

But if you're driving a gas-guzzling SUV or are ready for a new car, Berman said you might want to consider a hybrid.

"It makes sense for people who are currently in the market," he said.

Berman said a driver who doesn't use a hybrid car much would have a longer payback period. But, he said, current gas prices show no signs of dropping, and drivers might likely see the economic benefits sooner.

The experts at Edmunds.com agreed, and said that as the technology improves on hybrids, the cost differential should go down.

Tax break

Drivers who buy a hybrid car by the end of the year are eligible for a federal tax deduction of $2,000. Berman said that equates to between a $400 and $600 return on your taxes, depending on income level.

However, the tax deduction is being phased out. In 2006, hybrid vehicle purchases will be eligible for a $500 deduction. But vehicles purchased after 2006 will not be eligible for a deduction.

Finding one

Eight models are on the market now from Ford, Honda, Mercury, Lexus and Toyota, and more are expected in the future. Experts said not to accept anything over sticker price and to call around.

"There's still a high demand, especially for those still coming out, even though these are not cheap vehicles," Shenhar said.

Waits are much less now than they have been in the past, Berman said. Typically, drivers are still having to order hybrids and then test drive them when they come in. If they don't like them, he said, customers can get their deposit back, and dealers know they'll be able to sell the car.

The tight market might help hybrid owners sell their cars. Berman said used hybrids are sometimes being sold at a price higher than that for which the car was originally sold. But that will likely change as more hybrids come on the market.

Elmon Dale, the general sales manager at Rice Toyota in Greensboro, said there is a minimal wait at his dealership. So far, Rice Toyota has sold 90 hybrids this year and has some in stock available for test drives. That's more than in 2004, because more cars have been made available.

The verdict

It depends on the expert.

"Between tax deductions, reduced maintenance costs and very strong retail costs, there may be a stronger economic value," Berman said.

Shenhar said the Toyota Prius comes closest to being cost-efficient, but the cheapest way to go might still be a very economic gas car, however untrendy that might be.

His recommendation if you're trying to save money and fuel: a used Toyota Echo. But Shenhar said with a laugh that some may find that "too frugal."

Online sources:

•www.fueleconomy.gov

•www.hybridcars.com

•www.edmunds.com

•www.consumerreports.org

Fast Forward runs every Saturday. Got questions you want answered or need to vent about transportation issues? Send 'em our way at fastforward@news-record.com . Be sure to leave your name and a way for us to get in touch with you.

From the Greensboro News-Record

It's in your head, not your pocket

The price of gas was up last week. Again.

But for all the complaints about high gasoline prices, a close look at the numbers shows a modest additional cost for most drivers. At the recent average price of $2.41 a gallon in Pennsylvania suburbs of Philadelphia, the annual cost of operating a fuel-efficient Toyota Prius is up $98.18 over a year ago, or $1.89 a week. A gas guzzler like the Ford Expedition takes a bigger bite - $6.49 more a week. It's less in New Jersey, which is well-known around here for cheaper gas.

Then why all the fuss? Unlike many products we buy, increases in the price of gasoline hit us hard, visually. Every time we drive down the block and see another, higher number on those fuel-price signs, we feel a bit poorer. The increase is equally glaring at the pump, with the numbers rolling by faster than ever.

Of course, some are hit harder than others. A low-wage worker who has a long drive to work is getting slammed. For most, however, the added cost of gassing up pales next to expenses such as the mortgage and car payments, school tuition, and summer camp.

As usual, this ignores all the benefits of not using as much fuel as most other vehicles and reduces it, once again, to how much money is left in your pocket, quite literally, at the end of the week. This short term, immediate gain way of "comparing" hybrids to other vehicles is just plain dumb.

Anyway, on to the story...

Jay Nitikmas is one of many county residents who get around in a Toyota Prius. (Bill Lovejoy / Sentinel)

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel, this very nice report on Prius owners in Santa Cruz...

Want a Prius? Look no further By GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTER SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

The Toyota Prius, it seems, was custom-made for the Santa Cruz stereotype.

The sedan’s unique, sleek body lets others know that this driver is saving the planet while going out for groceries. The gas-electric motor technology keeps techies entertained. And the drive is quiet enough on long commutes to listen to public radio.

"The Honda, they just modified a sedan, and it’s a pretty boring car. Going down the road, you couldn’t even tell it was a hybrid," said Jay Nitikmas of Santa Cruz, who picked up his Prius last year.

In other places, conformity might be a selling point. But not in Surf City.

"The Prius, it’s a paradigm shift. It’s more of an appliance than a car," Nitikmas said.

Many drivers report cruising 40 to 50 miles on one gallon of fuel.

Designed to release as few emissions as possible, the car doesn’t offer a sunroof — that would break its streamlined style, said salesman Mike Livanos at Toyota of Santa Cruz in Capitola.

Gotta be first
Demand is biggest in California, especially the northern half. "(Prius owners) gotta be the first guy on the block to have a DVD player," said Bill Kwong, Toyota product communications administrator. "You have a lot of techies."

Now, for county newcomers to the hybrid bandwagon, that gotta-be-first spirit is paying off.

The national average wait for a Prius is about two months, Kwong said. But because demand in Northern California was so high at first, more are allocated to those dealerships.

So instead of waiting three to five months at a small dealership in the Midwest, Santa Cruz residents — if they time it right — could pick one up today.

"Sometimes we’ll have four that are sitting here, then we’ll sell all four in a day, and we won’t have any more for a couple weeks," said Dan DiVito, new car sales manager at Toyota of Santa Cruz.

At one point, DiVito said, the dealership was selling 60 a month. That puts it right up with top Toyota sellers Corolla, Camry and Sienna.

In the first six months of 2005, consumers bought 92,558 hybrids — compared to 85,699 in all of 2004. The Prius, at 53,308 in sales, is responsible for about 58 percent of the hybrid market. Honda’s three models — the Civic, Accord and Insight — account for about 23 percent.

Power-LMC predicts hybrid sales, which accounted for 0.5 percent of the U.S. auto market in 2004, will grow to 3.5 percent by 2012. And the number of hybrid models available will grow from 10 in 2005 to 44 by 2012.

James Scheer of Soquel was one of the first to buy a Prius in 2001.

"I like the fact that I feel like I’m contributing something to the environment and slowing down global warming," Scheer said.

Young and old
His grandson — a few years shy of a driver’s license — is eyeing the gas mileage.

"He has expressed his intention to take over our Prius, because he wants to drive something that’s real gas thrifty," Scheer said. "So at that time maybe we’ll end up getting another hybrid."

After being on the market for a few years, some say the once-seemingly infallible hybrid cars do have their weaknesses. A handful of drivers have reported stalling or shutting down at highway speeds or less.

The battery delivers up to 500 volts, instead of the standard 12 volts in most gasoline-only cars.

And while owners rave about the Prius’ maintenance record, Jerry Sharpen, owner of Putney & Perry Auto Service & Parts in Santa Cruz, said most cars run smoothly the first few years if owners take care of regular oil changes and tuneups.

And sales are skyrocketing.

"On Glen Haven Road where I live, there must be 10 or 15 of them," Scheer said.

At Nitikmas’ small software company in Scotts Valley, four of about 25 employees drive the sedans, he said.

Stories fly about Prius drivers waving to each other on the road, like Volkswagen Beetle drivers used to do. But Scheer said it’s not such an exclusive club these days.

"They’re getting so commonplace that it’s not something you do so much anymore," Scheer said.

Genevieve Bookwalter is the Sentinel’s transportation reporter. Contact her at gbookwalter@santacruzsentinel.com .

Toyota Prius
WHAT: Hybrid car running on a 500-volt battery power and gas engine.

PRICE: 2005 Prius will increase by $300 to $21,815 on Aug. 1.

MILEAGE: 2005 Prius gets 51 mpg on the highway and 60 mpg in city driving, according to the EPA.

UNDER THE HOOD: 1.5-liter I-4 engine produces 76 horsepower at 82 pounds-feet of torque with 50 kilowatts and 295 pounds-feet of torque via the electric power. There is no need to plug this vehicle in. The batteries for the electric power are recharged as the driver applies the brakes or coasts.

THE COMPETITION: Honda’s two-seat Insight, at 61/66 city/highway mpg, remains the most fuel-stingy hybrid.

COMING: Toyota intends to double its hybrid production in 2006 to 500,000 units, mainly to satisfy North American demand. Toyota has said it will produce hybrid versions of its Camry sedan in Kentucky next year and will add another hybrid to its Lexus lineup in 2006.

By Ron Wiggins

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Every so often, I write a column in my sleep, and usually, no one can tell. Full disclosure is in order this time, because last night, I watched Kinsey on pay-per-view, and this on the heels of browsing my thumb-worn copy of the Masters and Johnson Report . So now, without further ado, straight from the adults-only section of my mind:

Everything You Wanted to Know About the Toyota Prius but Were Afraid to Ask

Q: Why are you bringing sex into a story about a gasoline hybrid-electric car?

A: When I first considered buying a Prius, I had serious concerns about the name. Prius sounded a lot like priapic to me. Priapic means overly concerned with virility or masculinity. I looked up Prius , and it doesn't mean anything. I bought the car and have put 1,300 miles on it commuting to West Palm Beach from Martin County.

Q: So this has nothing to do with sex. It's just a cheap trick to get people to read about your stupid car?

A: Yes. I love my car very much. Also, I want everybody to buy a hybrid just as soon as possible to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Q: So now we get to hear you gloat about your mileage?

A: Thought you'd never ask. I'm getting 47 miles per gallon. That gives me about 450 miles before I buy gas, about 9.5 gallons. That leaves me more than two-plus gallons, enough for another 100 miles if I were to set the cruise on 65.

Read the rest below the fold...

A: Now see, this is the kind of question that prompts me to talk about my new car. Even Rush Limbaugh, the Information Sponge, thought hybrid vehicles required overnight charging. They don't. A small gasoline engine directed by a computer charges the battery and is instantly available to add power the second it's needed. The batteries also tap power from braking.

Q: OK, now you lost me. 'Tap power from braking'?

A: Pretty cool — as you apply the brakes, your forward motion generates electricity through the wheels, sending that electricity into the batteries where it is stored. Unless you hit the brakes especially hard, you rarely use your actual caliper brakes above 5 mph.

Q: What about reports that the Toyota Prius stalls at highway speeds?

A: That was a software glitch and subject of a recall. Not everybody got the word that it had to be fixed for 2004 cars. The affected cars didn't actually stop — they kept going with battery power only. With a gasoline engine and electric motor, you have a spare engine in case one of them quits.

Q: You hear about people getting 60 mpg with hybrid cars. Are they lying?

A: Not always. If you buy a Honda Insight two-seater hybrid, you can really get 60 and 70 mpg on the highway. They're not very peppy or practical, but they get twice the mileage of a motorcycle.

Q: I'm not sure I've ever seen an Insight. What do they look like?

A: If you saw John Travolta in Be Cool , that was his rental car.

Q: Is there still a waiting list for the Prius? And do you have to pay an extra dealer profit to get one?

A: I waited about 10 weeks. I told my dealer that I knew Toyota was doubling production from 100,000 a year to 200,000 and that I would buy something else before I would pay more than list. I mentioned that I was considering a Honda Accord hybrid, the upgraded 2006 Honda Civic hybrid and the latest evolution of the Volkswagen Jetta coming out in 2006 but that if I could get a blue Prius loaded to the gunwales for list price, I was ready now.

Q: How do you know you didn't get special treatment?

A: I got the same deal as my neighbor, Marie Restaino, who bought a Prius for list price last year. She told me that if I mentioned her name, I would get her deal, and she would get a finder's fee to boot.

Q: Why didn't you buy one of the other choices you mentioned?

A: I considered the Civic hybrid, but I much preferred the fastback storage space of the Prius. I didn't drive the Accord for fear that I would like it and pay the extra $5,000. The Accord gives you 250 horsepower and 30 to 38 mpg. I didn't consider the Ford Escape hybrid introduced this year nor the Toyota Highlander hybrid both because I don't like SUVs, and their mileage doesn't approach the Prius' economy.

Q: Is this a Prius commercial or what?

A: There isn't much to dislike about my Prius (and no, I don't own any Toyota stock). But it handles beautifully, accelerates like a V-6 and with the seats folded down, I could sleep in the car. However...

Q: Uh-oh. What is it?

A: I might not be smart enough to own this car. One of its quirks is that when you stop, the gasoline engine quits and you can't tell the car is running. Well, not running, but ready to go. Like a golf cart. On my second day with the car, I parked for an hour and was amazed to return to a cool car. Turns out I had forgotten to hit the power button and the AC kept going on batteries. No worry about the batteries dying because the gasoline engine kicks in as needed.

Q: So you have to remember to turn the power off?

A: This is especially important if you get the smart car that "reads" the key from pocket or purse. Since you don't insert or withdraw a key, you must know that if you get out of the car without turning it off, it just might decide to roll into the Starbucks without you. Fortunately, the one time I almost did this, a panel alarm stopped me from getting out of the car.

Q: Any parting wisdom?

A: Yes. The more Americans who order hybrid cars, the more time we buy before we have to find something besides oil to burn in our vehicles. There is plenty of oil in the ground right now, but there is a limit to how fast it can be sucked out and refined. If you don't like $60-a-barrel oil, you'll hate $100 a barrel. So do something about it. Tell your congressman and your president to put more research and investment money into renewable energy.

From the Palm Beach Post.

At first I thought it was really cool. I'd seen another new Red one cruising around on the way into the office earlier in the day. Obviously someone who worked near me.

Truth be told, Lancaster has a lot of Prii around town.

But today was the first white one I had seen. So here I am, sitting behind this car in traffic and I'm thinking, you know, I wish that car was blue. Or silver. Or black.

Silly of me.

For your assistant: Toyota Prius.

"It's economical and it looks good. They can tell everybody they bought a Prius. And you get a huge tax break when you buy an environmentally friendly vehicle."

The rest of the story is fairly tedious. You can, however, read it here.