UPDATED Automakers got their green on today at Day 1 of the North American International Auto Show at Detroit’s Cobo Center, unveiling new hybrid concepts and announcing manufacturing plans for electric vehicles. Government officials and citizen protesters showed up too, respectively issuing praise for the industry’s efforts to boost fuel economy and criticism for the […]
Eight auto and car parts makers will get more than $187 million in federal funds to help them improve the fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and passenger vehicles, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today. The awards, funded largely through the Recovery Act, come as the auto industry is striving to put its greenest foot […]
Cross U.S. In 48 Hours On Proposed Road
An artist’s drawing of the proposed coast-to-coast super highway on which automobiles may travel at speeds of 100 miles an hour, making the trip between New York and California in forty-eight hours. Road builders are now working on plans for a four-lane highway with all grade crossings eliminated. The super roadway will be elevated through towns with ramps furnishing access to the main road through a central lane. Night travel is expected to be fully as safe at high speeds as day touring. Parapet walls two feet in height and made of opal glass bricks are intended to flank the black-surfaced roadway. Imbedded in the walls and spaced about twenty feet apart, as shown in insert, the engineers intend to put lights whose hoods will direct the light on the pavement below the eye level of the automobile driver.
Bruce V. Bigelow wrote:
San Diego cleantech startup Achates Power said late today it has completed a $19.2 million Series B round of venture funding that brought a new investor into its fold: Triangle Peak Partners, which has offices in Carmel, CA, Houston, and Palo Alto, CA. The funding appears to complete a round we noted in October. With funding from Triangle Peak and existing investors Sequoia Capital Partners, Rockport Capital Partners, Madrone Capital Partners, and InterWest Partners, Achates is developing a radical new design for a high-efficiency two-stroke automotive engine.
Blimp Tows Aquaplane to Give Latest Aquatic Thrill
HITCH hiking behind the Goodyear blimp Volunteer is the latest form of water sport for thrill seekers on the California bathing beaches. One of the most ardent devotees of the sport is Elmer Peck, of Long Beach, holder of the world’s record for endurance on an aquaplane. He is shown in the accompanying photo stunting on an aquaplane in tow of the Volunteer which is flying low over the water at a clip of 60 miles per hour. Stunting like this demands the utmost in nerve and skill.
When General Motors Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre asked his company, “Do we sell any cars through the auto show,” nobody had an answer, he told reporters recently. Yet once more, the world’s automakers are hauling their wares to Detroit and putting on a show at the North American International Auto Show.
The annual event, which […]
Guide Silent Milk Trucks with “Joy Sticks” Like Plane’s
NOISELESS milk trucks, steered with “joy sticks” like those used in the controls of an airplane, have been introduced in Los Angeles, California. They were recently put in operation, and persons living in the residential districts of the city are no longer roused from their slumber at an early hour by the creaking and banging on the pavement of the old type milk wagons. The new trucks have no steering wheels. They are controlled by either of two “sticks” placed on each side of the truck in the driver’s seat. These allow the milkman to operate the truck from the running board so that he does not have to be squeezing in and out from behind the wheel while making his route. This objection to using regular trucks is therefore eliminated. Brake and clutch pedals are also on each side of the car on the running board, and shift levers are so mounted that they, too, can be operated from the side.
Streamlined Rear-Engine Car Designed for American Market
REVOLUTIONARY features in motor car design, including such innovations as hydraulic steering and a streamlined body with the motor at the rear of the chassis, are embodied in an automobile designed by John Tjaarda, associated with General Motors Corporation. Tests of the novel car are now being carried out, and it is likely that the streamlined automobile will be put in production shortly. Prices of the car in various models, based on the cost of various experimental types, are expected to be remarkably low, ranging from $700 to $1800.
Advantages of the rear-engine type of construction include such features as freedom from noise and engine fumes and heat, more body room, adjustable road clearance, better dynamic balance permitted through elimination of the conventional drive shaft, and improved body suspension.
All four wheels of the car will be independently sprung. This is a feature of design which will no doubt soon be adapted by manufacturers of conventional type cars, many of whom are now experimenting with the idea.
Hydraulic steering gear of simple construction permits the steering wheel to be located on either the left or right side of the driver’s seat so that the car can easily be adapted to export markets where right-hand drives are popular. The chassis is hung from Adams suspension units, which are ingenious rubber mountings giving the utmost in flexibility and strength. As illustrated in one of the accompanying drawings, this unit consists of two toothed disks, between which fits a plate of rubber molded to fit. Lubrication is thus unnecessary, and the unit is noiseless at all times.
It is interesting to note that the streamlined car follows along the line of development predicted in the February issue of Modern Mechanics and Inventions. There is nothing strictly original in the idea of a streamlined car, nor in the mounting of a motor at the rear, both of these features having been incorporated in a British automobile designed by Commander Burney of the dirigible R-100 some months ago. But the adaptation of the idea to the American mass market, involving the production of thousands of cars, is a new development. It is not improbable that the flivver of ten years from now will resemble the photographs reproduced on these pages.
Until the perfection of air-cleaning devices, the mounting of the motor at the rear of a car suffered from the inevitable disadvantage of being forced to breathe dust-choked air through its carburetor, causing the motor to wear out too quickly. Some of the first automobiles, twenty years ago, had their motors mounted at the rear, and many of us can remember the days of the “side winder” which was cranked on the side, of the car.
Although designer Tjaarda is associated with General Motors, the promotion of the streamlined car is being carried on by a small group of automotive engineers and manufacturers who will probably place the car on the market as an individual corporation.
Commenting on the new car Mr. Tjaarda says: “Interest prevails at present for rear-engine cars, and for good reasons. The present-day car has almost attained its height of perfection. If streamlining is going to take seriously in the near future as is predicted the arrangement of our cars today affords so many difficulties that it is not worth while to consider such a step. For many years to come there will remain an active market for the type of cars to which we are now accustomed with progress having its way. However, there is no doubt that the rear-engine car is the car of the near future.”
It’s not a complete realization of the Car 2.0 concept — the intertwining of vehicles, communication networks and the power grid for a smarter, greener transportation system — but it’s a start: Ford Motor announced Wednesday night at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas that it has opened up its Sync platform to […]
Think North America — a joint venture between Norwegian electric vehicle maker Think Global and U.S. venture firms Rockport Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins — has just named Elkhart, Indiana as the location for its first U.S. manufacturing facility. According to a release from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, which helped lure the project with […]
Atieva, an early-stage developer of battery packs for plug-in cars, secured just over $7 million in financing this week, according to an SEC filing. The startup’s backers now include Beijing’s China Environment Fund III and Venrock Associates, a venture capital firm that Atieva sales and marketing chief Mike Harrigan told us in May had previously […]
For China’s BYD, the Warren Buffett-backed battery company turned automaker, hybrid sales have been anything but brisk this year. Since launching its F3DM plug-in hybrid model in December 2008, BYD has sold “several hundred” of the vehicles, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday. That’s up from only 80 F3DM sales through April of this […]
With large sums of cash rolling out of federal coffers to help reduce vehicle emissions, and major policy decisions coming down the pike for how those emissions will be regulated, you’d hope that the government has a tool for assessing how new policies and changes in the U.S. fleet are likely to affect emission levels. […]
Washington Family Will Tour Nation in Hollow Log Placed on Wheels
CYRUS T. GATES of Deming, Washington, has just completed a novel home on wheels in which he and his family plan to tour the nation. This motor home consists of a large spruce log, hollowed out and mounted on the chassis of a large Chevrolet truck. The log, which is fourteen feet long and eight feet across at the butt end, was hollowed out almost entirely by hand. An electric drill was used at both ends to start the hole, and then a small electric band saw was used to saw out small sections which were split out with iron bars flattened and sharpened at one end. The sides and ceiling were cut round, with a flat section left for the floor.
Two bands of steel are fastened around the log to prevent cracking as it dries out. Bunks that will fold into the wall have been added, while a complete kitchen is installed at the rear.
Spokeless Air Wheels Coming Auto Style
LATEST rumors in Detroit and Akron indicate that there will be a radical change in tire styles before many more auto shows come and go, and that with this change will also come entirely new chassis and body designs.
The newest thing in auto tires has been under laboratory and actual operating tests for many months. Up to the present time every effort has been made to keep these tests as secret as possible. However, the results of the road tests have been so astounding that some brief news of this latest development in the auto industry was bound to leak out. The date on which the new tire will be brought before the automobile trade and the public has not yet been announced, but it is expected that it will be introduced just as soon as factory facilities will allow.To the layman, the obvious difference in this new tire (known in tire circles as the Musselman type) and those that he now uses on his car, is that this new tire needs no wheel on which to mount it. The tire uses the hub for a rim and is a complete wheel in itself; consequently, all the space from the hub to the outside diameter of the tire is air space. This tremendous air capacity allows extremely low pressures.
A comparison with present air pressures is shown in the following table: Present Pressures Pressures with Musselman type tires
35 lbs. – 7 lbs.
40 lbs. – 10 lbs.
45 lbs. or over – 15 lbs.
This low air pressure, of course, gives addiitional riding comfort, taking the bumps out of the road to a still greater extent than do the present day balloon tires. It also gives a greatly increased contact area so that the danger of skidding on wet and slippery pavements is practically eliminated.
The advantages of the Musselman type tire for airplane use are all well known. Its low pressure makes it a perfect cushion or shock absorber for landing. But it was not until experiments were made with motor vehicles that the manufacturers realized that this new type of tire would in all probability revolutionize the tire and auto industry.
ELEVATED HIGHWAY TO SPEED TRAFFIC
WHAT will be the finest, and perhaps the greatest, highway of its kind in the world, is now under construction in New York City. Built along the Hudson River waterfront, this highway, which may be listed as one of Borough President Miller’s important achievements, begins at the Hudson Tunnels at Canal Street and will extend to Spuyten Duyvil, a distance of 14 miles. The lower section, up to 72nd Street, will be elevated 14 feet above the street level. From 72nd Street, it will be a beautiful boulevard covering the tracks of the New York Central Railroad completely.
Ramps will be provided at 23rd, 42nd, and 57th Streets, reaching the center of the elevated roadway so that no cross traffic will occur. This will permit a speed of 40 miles an hour, resulting in a traffic capacity of 5000 vehicles an hour. Approaches will be constructed at nine uptown points, be- ginning with one at 72nd Street. The roadway will be 60 feet wide to accommodate six lines of traffic and will have the most modern signal system for traffic control, fire and police protection. The architectural design will take care of the esthetic as well as the practical values of the structure.
The first section between Canal and 22nd Streets is now nearing completion and may be opened for traffic before this article is printed. Construction of this section involved many difficulties, one of the worst of which was the building of concrete foundations for the 400 columns in waterfront land that was filled in years ago with all kinds of waste materials, soil, and stones.
This great structure will aid greatly in solving New York’s north- and southbound, long-distance traffic problem. It is understood that the plan calls for double-decking some time in the future.
What makes this year different from all others at the LA Auto Show, which runs December 4-13? Well, for starters, there are 49(!) hybrids and alternative-energy models being shown (http://www.laautoshow.com/AlternativeFuelVehicles.aspx). The Auto Show’s website lists the following automakers as showing such vehicles: Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Fisker, Ford, GMC, Honda, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen. For once US carmakers were getting a lot of the buzz; people are talking about the Ford Fiesta and the Chevy Volt of course.
Fisker Karma — being shown at LA Auto Show
And then there is the keynote address, delivered by GM’s Bob Lutz, who said, in part, “At GM, we deeply believe that, in an energy-constrained world marked by dramatic growth in developing markets, it is critical that the global automotive industry – as a business necessity and as an obligation to society – develop alternative sources of propulsion based on diverse sources of energy. … Going forward, the automobile industry simply can no longer rely on oil to supply 98 percent of the world’s automotive energy requirements.” (quoted in AutoBlogGreen’s coverage by Sebastian Blanco: http://green.autoblog.com/2009/12/03/la-2009-bob-lutz-keynote-the-automobile-industry-simply-can-n/).
Bob Lutz — Keynote Speaker at LA Auto Show
At the same time, GreenCarCongress reports that Pike Research has predicted 10-fold growth in lithium-ion batteries by 2015, up from $878 million to $8 billion annually in that period. That is in spite of the novelty and relatively untried technology involved. They quote John Gartner, the senior Pike analyst as saying: “Just as Li-ion batteries are relatively untested in real-world transportation applications, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles are an unknown as a mass consumer offering. ” (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/12/pike-liion-20091203.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greencarcongress%2FTrBK+%28Green+Car+Congress%29)
That constitutes quite a leap of faith, especially when at the same LA Auto Show, the “Green Car of the Year” (as named by a panel of experts and Green Car Journal) is not a hybrid but a diesel: the Audi A3 TDI. According to Wired Autopia, “The A3 diesel is powered by a 2.0-liter direct-injection turbocharged engine that puts down 140 horsepower. It delivers 30 mpg in the city and 42 on the highway.” (http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/12/audi_a3_tdi_green_car_of_the_year/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29)
Green Car of the Year — Audi A3 TDI
At the same time, there may be a growing consensus, at least in Europe, that the bridge from oil-powered to electric vehicles (BEV, PEV, EV, whatever you call them) may well be what are called “micro” or “mild” hybrids, rather than what the public knows as Prius-type HEVs. That would not sit well with the lithium-ion crowd, because it’s unlikely that micro and mild hybrids will be made using li-ion batteries, which do seem to be the current candidate for pure EVs, although as we reported recently, the Nissan Leaf, set for introduction in 2015, will use a more exotic battery with a new-fangled cathode: lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, referred to as a Nissan Super Battery.
In fact, most micro and mild hybrids today are using a variation of the traditional lead-acid battery, variously called a VRLA or AGM battery — much less expensive than a comparable NiMH or Li-ion version. Interestingly the micro and mild hybrids can achieve pretty good improvements on mileage and on carbon emissions, which is the key to the technology. The EU has carbon limits it will impose, backed by draconian fines on automakers, on 2012 fleets. Those limits can be reached with full hybrids like those being shown in LA, or with EVs like the US-based privately held Fisker and Tesla vehicles, or the Norwegian Th!nk Electric mini-cars, and a variety of other fairly uncommon passenger vehicles. The EVs have no carbon emissions at all, so they are a bull’s-eye for carmakers looking to comply with the 2012 bogey. And, as we reported recently, there are several candidates for no-emission winners among commercial vehicles.
According to some estimates, 10-13 million vehicles will be outfitted as micro hybrids within a couple of years, affording improvements in carbon emission or mpg of up to 15%. A micro hybrid assembly assists the gas-driven engine only (there is no electric drive train, and they never power the car solo), and some use the friction of regenerative braking to recharge themselves. On the other hand, they are mostly a drop-in or clip-on technology that is relatively easy for a carmaker to implement. Mild hybrids, which offer even more efficiency, may follow along behind, but are anticipated to be slower off the block than the micro assemblies.
The sticking point is the energy storage device. Even “advanced” lead-acid batteries face classic problems: corrosion and sulfation on the poles, slow re-charging, and limited life expectancy. All the newer, more exotic batteries face cost issues, and some may face safety issues as well. What is needed is a battery that combines the cost and easy of manufacturing of lead-acid with the better performance characteristics of higher-priced batteries. The difference may lie with a relatively cheap ultracapacitor: carbon.
Several companies have been developing lead-acid batteries with new, potentially game-changing technologies. Peoria IL-based privately held Firefly Energy (http://www.fireflyenergy.com) offers its Microcell(TM) foam grid technology. With a strong scientific background, the Firefly battery is being tested by the US Army and by a small number of others, but does not seem to be in mass production. Lyon Station PA-based privately held East Penn Manufacturing (http://www.eastpenn-deka.com) , a major supplier of lead acid batteries) is working with Japanese developer Furukawa on an UltraBattery with an enhanced negative electrode that also seems not to be ready for prime time yet. And New Castle PA-based Axion Power International* (OTCBB: AXPW; http://www.axionpower.com) has introduced its PbC battery technology, being commercialized in a supply agreement with global battery giant, Alpharetta GA-based Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE, http://www.exide.com/). The PbC battery may be the closest to the finish line with a multi-patented nanocarbon electrode that maximizes performance and minimizes lead-acid downsides such as corrosion and sulfation, while preserving its price advantage and ease of manufacturing and recycling. One of these may be the winner of the micro hybrid sweepstakes.
Meanwhile, the King of the Hybrids, Toyota, is showing the 2010 Prius at the LA Auto Show — this time with a Panasonic lithium-ion battery instead of the NiMH batteries of the first two generations of Prius (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/12/prius-phv-20091202.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greencarcongress%2FTrBK+%28Green+Car+Congress%29). Hyundai is showing the 2011 Sonata hybrid, with its own li-ion battery pack (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/12/hyundai-introduces-2011-sonata-at-la-auto-show-with-4cylinder-gdi-engine-gdi-turbo-and-hybrid-powert.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greencarcongress%2FTrBK+%28Green+Car+Congress%29).
At the LA Auto Show it is clearly the Year of the Hybrid, and it is clearly the year of the Asian-made li-ion battery, which must be a bit of a trial for the US-based li-ion giants: Johnson Controls/Saft, Ener1 Inc, and A123 Systems. Go see all the hybrids, see the future of vehicle transportation — and have fun!
Please do your own diligence before buying stocks — we don’t make recommendations; we just write on interesting companies.
* client of Allen & Caron, publisher of this blog.
The New York Times ran an article that I suspect few people read, because it was in the middle of section 1 opposite a bunch of desperate retail ads for SALES-SALES-SALES, but it points at the soft spot of the move toward electric vehicles (EVs): how to get them charged when you are not at home (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/business/energy-environment/02electric.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss). Henrik Lund, a professor of energy planning at Aalborg University in Denmark, puts his finger on it: “There is a psychological barrier for consumers when their car is dependent on a battery station.”
Better Place plug-in — sleek and easy
In this article, Palo Alto CA-based, privately held Better Place is teaming up with the largest Danish electric utility to put charging stations up across Denmark, and they have $100 million to spend doing it. Kudos, but it is grid electricity, and it tries the imagination to think of grid plug-ins every few miles on the huge US Interstate Highway system. Works for Denmark though.
We have relatively few EVs on the road today, and one of the big reasons is just that: how do you get them re-charged? That is not to say that the EV movement is not taking off — it clearly is, but it is taking off from a different runway, so to speak. Just to be clear, yes we are aware of Tesla, Fisker, Th!nk Electric, and several other small companies with slick-looking EVs and HEVs, but they are not very common yet.
Ford Transit Connect EV will be shown at the Chicago Auto Show Feb 2010
If you look at the recent announcements from Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and Oak Park MI-based Azure Dynamics* (TSX: AZD and Pink Sheets: AZDDF.PK; http://www.azuredynamics.com/), one of the most high-profile EV announcements in recent months relates to delivery vans: the super-successful (in Europe) Ford Transit Connect: http://www.fordvehicles.com/transitconnect/. Point being that this EV is designed for vans that have routes to drive, especially urban routes with lots of start-and-stop traffic — very little open-road driving, so the mileage to “empty” is not an issue. There should be thousands of these puppies on the road when they show up in select Ford showrooms in 2010.
In fact, from a non-scientific scan of the market, it appears that most of the pure EV announcements (not all, but most) relate to commercial vehicles. Look at Kansas City-based Smith Electric Vehicles, whose website says they have led the EV market for 80 years (http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com/) — all the vehicles they show are commercial vans and trucks. Makes sense, of course, because they all go back to the same place every night and can plug in. Smith announced at the end of October that they will introduce a postal delivery vehicle: perfect application.
The much-heralded but perhaps under-funded commercial vehicle from Anderson IN-based privately held Bright Automotive is also clearly aimed at a barn-stored commercial user who can bed down vehicles next to a plug every evening. http://www.brightautomotive.com.
Same with Torrance, CA-based Enova Systems* (NYSE Amex: ENA; http://www.enovasystems.com), which creates drivetrains for hybrids and pure EVs for some of the largest commercial-vehicle manufacturers in the world (Freightliner, Laidlaw, First Auto Works of China). The funding — partly because of tax breaks and stimulus money — is in commercial vehicles.
But back to the NYT story. In order for ME to turn in my one-horse-open-shay for an EV, I have to be able to drive on the open road without worrying about finding a plug for my car to recharge. I’ve pushed cars that ran out of gas, and it’s no fun, but at least there are gas stations pretty much all over the place. Without that infrastructure , there is some nail-chewing about driving an EV.
Apparently there are some jurisdictions that are trying to pioneer the infrastructure for EVs. There has been a fair amount of attention paid to privately held Campbell CA-based Coulomb Technology (http://www.coulombtech.com/), which has been signing deals with a variety of municipalities, most recently Houston, according to their website. They are conducting demonstrations with stand-alone charging stations, but most of the ones they are installing today seem to be grid-connected — which probably doesn’t cut it for my drive through the Catskills. There was a demo of interest in Washington DC this year, where Coulomb worked with San Diego-based privately held Envision Solar (http://envisionsolar.com/) and New Castle PA-based Axion Power International* (OTCBB: AXPW.OB; http://www.axionpower.com). The product was a pretty slick-looking, no-emissions, solar-powered charging station with inexpensive longlasting PbC batteries to make it work when the sun don’t shine. Sounds good, looks good, is good — but how many miles of highway would have to be served in order for the Clampetts to get from the Appalchians to Beverly Hills?
This morning there was an announcement that Nissan will introduce an EV with a 200-mile range — in 2015 (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/12/02/nissan_super_battery/ ). They will use a lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide cathode (say that five times fast). But something that’s 5 years out has little effect on people who are considering buying a car today.
Nissan Leaf, due in showrooms in 2015 or so
The big lithium-ion battery companies — Ener1 Inc, A123 Systems, and Johnson Controls/Saft — all seem interested in grid-connected battery applications. That is, they are interested in storing electricity generated in nonpeak hours for peak distribution (very helpful, by the way, but no help for my car). But I have not read anyplace of anyone wanting to install lithium-ion batteries in solar car-charging stations out in BFE; they’re too expensive, and they might get wet (which is a no-no for lots of exotic batteries). Ener1 Inc is Nasdaq: HEV; http://www.ener1.com. A123 Systems is Nasdaq: AONE; http://www.a123systems.com. Johnson Controls is NYSE: JCI; http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/.
Axion Power’s supply agreement with Alpharetta GA-based Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE; http://www.exide.com/) looks like a candidate, with the carbon-based PbC technology, to provide an affordable, long-lasting battery for a charging station. And the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium has a lot of information on souped-up lead-acid batteries that work-better-last-longer, but still have the same killer problems of short life and low rechargeability that makes them dowdy wallflowers at the EV prom.
All told it may be up to the Coulombs, the Better Places, the Envision Solars, the Axion Powers, the Exides to come up with the ideas and demos for charging stations (and they have). But like the Interstate Highway system itself, a good way to get EVs on the highways would be for the federal government to puts a priority on charging stations. More stimulus, anyone?
Please do your own diligence before investing in any stock. We do not recommend stocks — we just write about interesting companies and interesting developments.
*client of Allen & Caron, publisher of this blog.
