FedEx to Convert "Beater" Delivery Trucks into Hybrids

FedEx plans to convert older delivery trucks into hybrids.

The company chose 92 of its 2000 and 2001 model trucks with 300,000 - 500,000 miles on them to be fitted with new hybrid drivetrains. So, not only does this approach have the benefit of reduced fuel consumption and emissions from those
92 trucks, but it also prevents 92 trucks from ending up in a trash heap.

FedEx says the upgraded trucks will have a 44 percent increase in fuel economy, a 96 percent decrease in particulate matter and a 75 percent decrease in smog-causing emissions like NOx. The trucks will be used on routes in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

- Brewskie

Lexus Announces Luxury Hybrid

Following the success of the Prius model, the masters of hybrid technology, Toyota, has announced a Lexus hybrid:

Launched today in Japan, the HS 250H – with HS standing for "harmonious sedan " – features not only an energy efficient hybrid engine, but also liberal use of so-called eco-plastics made from organic material in its interior and a satellite navigation system designed to help drivers engage in greener motoring practices.

Other automakers have launched high-end hybrids – Mercedes recently launched a hybrid version of its popular S-Class – but Toyota claims it is the only company to create a hybrid-only luxury car range with the HS.

Although the HS has only been launched in Japan so far, and will not be available in the US until September, Toyota has already begun the marketing drive in the states.

[...]

"While EPA numbers haven't been finalised, we expect it will offer the best MPG for any luxury car in the US – in fact its in-city MPG should be higher than the two passenger micro-car," said Templin.

Lexus also claims that up to 85 per cent of the HS model can be recycled, including the hybrid engine's batteries. "We have... made sure that the HS gives back," he said. "We have used plant-based eco-plastics in upholstery, luxury trim and trunk panels as well as foam and injected parts – in total 30 per cent of the interior and cargo area uses eco-plastics."

The HS also features a navigation system known as Harmonious Driving Navigator, which tracks how efficiently the vehicle is driven and even awards points to the greenest drivers that can be converted into charitable donations. "This system creates a fun way to encourage drivers to drive in an environmentally considerate way," Toyota said.

- Brewskie

Consumer Reports Flunks Honda Insight=(

It achieves good fuel-economy, but that's about it according to Consumer Reports. This little space pod only edged out the Dodge Caliber...

Calling it "the most disappointing Honda Consumer Reports has tested in a long time," America's most influential product testing magazine has given extremely poor marks to the Japanese automaker's new Insight hybrid.

In a verdict that reminds us of a certain Jeremy Clarkson review (albeit more kindly worded), Consumer Reports blasted the gas-electric hatchback for its "ride quality, handling, interior noise, acceleration, rear-seat, access, and visibility," consigning the hapless Honda to a 21 out of 22 ranking among other small hatchbacks and wagons. Tallying a road test score of 54 points, it was trailed only by the widely-panned Dodge Caliber, which managed just 49 points.

Despite the fact that it won't receive a much-coveted CR "Recommended" nod, the Insight still managed to post a "Good" overall road test score (largely on the strength of its 38 miles-per-gallon as-tested fuel economy). Regardless, it was comprehensively beaten by both the Volkswagen Jetta Wagon and the Hyundai
Elantra Touring, which scored 80 and 79 points, respectively.

- Brewskie

Honda Planning Two More Cheap Hybrids

Honda is planning to roll out two more gas-electric hybrids - both cheaper than the current Insight:

With news coming in that Honda isn't selling nearly as many Insight hybrids in the U.S. as it would like, it would seem the Japanese automaker could go one of a few different directions. It's possible that Honda could reverse course on hybrids and focus instead on incremental improvements to its already excellent line of internal combustion engines. Alternatively, Honda could double down on its hybrid program and commit to more models and development. It's this latter path that the automaker seems to favor.

According to a report in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper in Japan (via Green Car Advisor), Honda President Takeo Fukui says the automaker is working on two new hybrids that would cost less than the Insight's already low $19,800 starting price. We've already heard about the planned Fit Hybrid, but we'd be a bit surprised if the second low-cost model were the upcoming CR-Z hybrid hatchback, which is expected to join Honda's lineup as a 2011 model.

- Brewskie

The Transmisonless Hybrid Bus

The Transmissionless bus? Why is this significant? The mechanical transmission adds to the internal combustion engine's inefficiency - it's necessary with most vehicles, but grinds away fuel efficiency. Research is being conducted where vehicles do away with the mechanical transmission, replacing it with four electric motors, "in-wheel motors," one on each wheel. One example is the Volvo ReCharge concept car. The trick is to develop all four in-wheel motors so one doesn't run faster than the others, particularly when turning.

Below is a bit on e-Traction, a Netherlands-based company, with a new hybrid bus based on this concept. Potential fuel savings is 50%.

A company based in the Netherlands called e-Traction has developed a new kind of hybrid bus that uses in-wheel electric motors to improve efficiency and a GPS system to reduce pollution in congested areas of a city. The bus is a series hybrid: a diesel generator charges a battery, which in turn supplies electricity for two motors, one in each rear wheel. Thanks largely to its in-wheel motors, the bus can travel twice as far as a conventional bus on a liter of diesel, says Arend Heinen, who is both an engineer and spokesperson for the company. That translates into a reduction in fuel consumption of 50 percent. The company has been awarded contracts to retrofit seven commercial buses with its technology, with the first to be completed next month.

In-wheel motors have been around for some time: they have been used in several concept cars and experimental, low-production vehicles. But with the exception of electric bicycles, the idea has never found its way into a mass-production vehicle, says John Boesel, the president and CEO of Calstart, a nonprofit based in Pasedena, CA. The use of e-Traction's system in commercial buses would be a step toward more widespread use.

As with other hybrid buses, thousands of which are already in use in the United States, e-Traction's design saves fuel by capturing energy from braking, using it to generate electricity that can later be employed for acceleration. The in-wheel motors confer additional savings by eliminating the need for a transmission, differential, and related mechanical parts. That reduces both the overall weight of the bus and energy losses due to friction. Hybrid buses typically see fuel-cosumption reductions of about 25 to 30 percent compared with conventional buses, but e-Traction's design offers 50 percent reduction. In certain conditions--at low speeds in frequent stop-and-go traffic--some other hybrid buses have seen similar fuel-economy improvements. The in-wheel motors can also improve traction by allowing precise control over each wheel, and they allow for greater flexibility in vehicle design since there is no need to
mechanically link the wheels to an engine.

[...]

In-wheel motors have met with limited success in the past. In part, that's because it's been difficult to coordinate motors that have no mechanical connection to each other, a problem that the company says it's solved by developing a proprietary electronic control system. But there could be remaining issues. Putting the motors in the wheels places larger demands on the suspension (it has to be stronger to hold on to the much heavier wheels) and can make the motor and electronics more vulnerable to damage, both of which can reduce reliability. "There's little between the wheel and potholes," says Bill Van Amburg, senior vice president at Calstart. Dan Pederson, a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, says that the large in-wheel motor is likely very expensive, which could make the system hard to justify without
government subsidies.

Also: The battery alone stores enough power to run the bus 1 hour with the generator off.

- Brewskie

Second-Generation Insight Hits Showrooms March 24

The second-generation Honda Insight, the first sub-$20,000 hybrid, goes on sale March 24 with a sticker price starting at $19,800. It's estimated fuel economy will be 40 mpg in the city, and 43 on the highway. While respectable, it's two less highway mpg than the Civic hybrid, eight fewer highway miles than the current-generation Prius (the next-generation Prius is suppose to achieve 49 city, 50 highway), and one city mile less than the upcoming Ford Fusion hybrid - a medium sized car (starting at $27,000).

Undoubtedly, the relatively low sticker price is sparking interest in the car, as evidenced by Honda's recent announcement that they'll increase hybrid production.

- Brewskie

By the Grace of the Gas Gods Themselves: the 2010 Prius

It's here. Geeks and cost-consciousness revlers can rejoice. This car is to fuel sippers and coupon clippers as the Xbox is to video game junkies, and U2 is to multi-generational rock fans. This high tech space-pod gets 50 mpg on the highway, and 49 in the city.

Read about this amazing car below:

The combined E.P.A. estimated fuel efficiency breaks down to 50 miles a gallon on the highway and 49 in the city, for a combined gas mileage of 50. That’s an improvement over the current Prius, which gets 46 combined.

Toyota said a larger, more powerful 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine, producing 98 horsepower, actually helps improve highway mileage. “By making more torque, the new engine can run at lower average r.p.m. on the highway,” Toyota said in a news release. Net horsepower from the gas-electric hybrid system is 134. “When operating at lower r.p.m., the new engine uses less fuel. Mileage is especially improved in cold-start conditions and at higher speeds.”

An electric water pump and a new exhaust gas recirculation system also contribute to the engine’s increased efficiency. Other improvements include: a lighter transaxle, which reduces torque losses by as much as 20 percent over the previous model, and a new cooling system for the inverter, which converts direct current to alternating current.

The 2010 Prius will be on sale this spring.

- Brewskie

Honda to Increase Hybrid Production

(Editor's note: Ghawar Guzzler will once again try blockquote for article excerpts.)

Honda has been hit by the global slowdown like most carmakers, and has seen its earning decline like oil companies; but this isn't stopping the pirate from unloading its war plunder and gear for battle. It's time to whip the lackadaisical crew into battle frenzied and churn out more Insights.

Demand for Insight hybrids has been overwhelming; Honda is beefing up factory RPM's, planning to spit out more Insights. Excerpt from the blog below:

Honda had originally planned to sell 200,000 Insight hybrids over the next year — half in America and 60,000 in Japan, reports Reuters. But the “response has been overwhelming,” said Hiroshi Kobayashi, deputy chief operating officer for Honda’s domestic operations. “We will have to increase production plans,” he said, though he stopped short of saying how many more Honda would build.

In Japan, the Insight will start at about $20,000, which is much cheaper than the new Toyota Prius, which will go on sale in May with a base price of about $24,300.

- Brewskie

Cheap Hybrids Minus Pricey Batteries - No Hot Air

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is developing a new type of hybrid vehicle that's affordable, and is close to achieving the same fuel saving. The catch? Throw out the sowing machine size electric motor and its pricey companion, the uper-duper expensive battery.

Sounds like a lot of hot air. Well, it takes air and a novel, yet seemingly low-tech (but difficult) paradigm buster that's going to make you slap your head, and say, "Why didn't I think of that?"

The Swiss Institute is developing a car that stores energy by using the engine's pistons to store compressed air. Later, when needed - you guessed it - the air is released and the car is propelled along. This nifty feature adds 20% to the engine's cost; for gas-electric hybrids, the electric motor and its pricey battery companion add 200%!

Some info. from the article is below (link):

The overall idea of air (or pneumatic) hybrids isn't new, but making them efficient has been challenging. "It's difficult to keep the [energy] losses involved in moving air around small enough that it looks attractive," says John Heywood, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT who has also worked on developing air hybrids. What's more, tanks of compressed air store far less energy than batteries, severely limiting the fuel savings in typical air-hybrid designs, says Doug Nelson, a professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. This is one of the major drawbacks of cars designed to run solely on compressed air.

Guzzella's new air-hybrid design makes use of advanced control systems to more precisely control the flow of air, improving overall efficiency. To overcome limited storage capacity, the design relies less on capturing energy from braking than other hybrids, and more on another approach to saving energy: using pneumatic power to boost the performance of smaller, more efficient gasoline engines.

[...]

Guzzella's design replaces a two-liter gasoline engine with a very small 750-milliliter one that's adequate for cruising speeds. It uses compressed air to provide boosts of power for acceleration. The dense, compressed air provides the oxygen needed to burn larger amounts of fuel than usual, a technique called supercharging.

A similar approach is already used in some production vehicles, where exhaust gases drive a turbocharger. But turbochargers are known for a problem called "turbo lag"--a noticeable delay between when the accelerator is depressed and when the extra power kicks in. The lag is the result of the time it takes for the turbine in a turbocharger to start spinning fast enough. Guzzella says his system suffers no such delay, providing extra power instantly. That's could make the technology more appealing to consumers, says Zoran Filip, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, who was not involved with the research.

About 80 percent of the efficiency gain in Guzzella's system comes from using the small engine. Some of the rest comes from capturing energy from braking and then using it for acceleration--over short distances the car can be propelled by compressed air alone, using no fuel. Fuel is also saved by adjusting the load on the engine to keep it running at optimal efficiency, either by increasing the load by using some of the pistons to compress air, or by decreasing the load by using some compressed air to drive the pistons. Finally, compressed air can be used to restart the engine, making it practical for the system to turn the engine off whenever the car comes to a stop, rather than idling.

[...]

Computer simulations suggest that the design should reduce fuel consumption by 32 percent, which is about 80 percent of the fuel-savings of gas-electric hybrids, he says. Initial experiments have demonstrated that the design can be built.

- Brewskie

Honda's 2010 Insight

The return of Honda's Insight. It will be priced around $19,000 - $4,000 cheaper than the Prius, but with lower fuel efficiency. A strange oddity is Ford's upcoming Fusion hybrid, a larger car, will achieve slightly better city fuel economy (41 mpg vs. 40 mpg) then this little space pod, though at a higher price of $27,000. Still, it's good to see Honda stepping up with a what appears as a competitive hybrid: one that doesn't resemble an aerodynamic soda can flying down the road, barely sipping atoms of petroleum-based fuel, while primarily running on psychedelic dreams. This will suffice until we get this money shot below filling up the roads: