Google Working On 'Smart' Plug-In Hybrid Charging

Google Inc is in the early stages of looking at ways to write software that would fully integrate plug-in hybrid vehicles to the power grid, minimize strain on the grid and help utilities manage vehicle charging load.

"We are doing some preliminary work," said Dan Reicher, Google's director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives. "We have begun some work on smart charging of electric vehicles and how you would integrate large number of electric vehicles into the grid successfully."

"We have done a little bit of work on the software side looking at how you would write a computer code to manage this sort of charging infrastructure," he said in an interview on the sidelines of an industry conference.

Google, known for its Internet search engine, in 2007 announced a program to test Toyota Prius and Ford Escape gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles that were converted to rechargeable plug-in hybrids that run mostly on electricity.

One of the experimental technologies that was being tested by the Web search giant allowed parked plug-ins to transfer stored energy back to the electric grid, opening a potential back-up source of power for the system in peak hours.

Reicher said Google has been testing its fleet of plug-in hybrids "pretty intensely" for the last couple of years.

"One of the great things about plug-ins is this great opportunity for the first time to finally have a storage technology," he said

Reicher said the company is trying to figure out how to manage the impact of having millions of future electric vehicle owners plugging in their vehicles at the same time.

Apart from plug-in hybrids, Google also is working on other green technologies such as developing its own new mirror technology that could reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants by a quarter or more, and looking at gas turbines that would run on solar power rather than natural gas.

The often-quirky company also said in late 2007 that it would invest in companies and do research of its own to produce affordable renewable energy -- at a price less than burning coal -- within a few years, casting the move as a philanthropic effort to address climate change.

Source : REUTERS

As Toyota's Hybrid Cars Prius Gobble Rare Metals, Shortage Looms

The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of gadgets and consumer goods.

That makes Toyota's market-leading gasoline-electric hybrid car and other similar vehicles vulnerable to a supply crunch predicted by experts as China, the world's dominant rare earths producer, limits exports while global demand swells.

Worldwide demand for rare earths, covering 15 entries on the periodic table of elements, is expected to exceed supply by some 40,000 tonnes annually in several years unless major new production sources are developed. One promising U.S. source is a rare earths mine slated to reopen in California by 2012.

Among the rare earths that would be most affected in a shortage is neodymium, the key component of an alloy used to make the high-power, lightweight magnets for electric motors of hybrid cars, such as the Prius, Honda Insight and Ford Focus, as well as in generators for wind turbines.

Close cousins terbium and dysprosium are added in smaller amounts to the alloy to preserve neodymium's magnetic properties at high temperatures. Yet another rare earth metal, lanthanum, is a major ingredient for hybrid car batteries.

Production of both hybrids cars and wind turbines is expected to climb sharply amid the clamor for cleaner transportation and energy alternatives that reduce dependence on fossil fuels blamed for global climate change.

Toyota has 70 percent of the U.S. market for vehicles powered by a combination of an internal-combustion engine and electric motor. The Prius is its No. 1 hybrid seller.

Jack Lifton, an independent commodities consultant and strategic metals expert, calls the Prius "the biggest user of rare earths of any object in the world."

Each electric Prius motor requires 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of neodymium, and each battery uses 10 to 15 kg (22-33 lb) of lanthanum. That number will nearly double under Toyota's plans to boost the car's fuel economy, he said.

Toyota plans to sell 100,000 Prius cars in the United States alone for 2009, and 180,000 next year. The company forecasts sales of 1 million units per year starting in 2010.

As China's industries begin to consume most of its own rare earth production, Toyota and other companies are seeking to secure reliable reserves for themselves.

Reuters reported last year that Japanese firms are showing strong interest in a Canadian rare earth site under development at Thor Lake in the Northwest Territories.

A Toyota spokeswoman in Los Angeles said the automaker would not comment on its resource development plans. But media accounts and industry blogs have reported recently that Toyota has looked at rare earth possibilities in Canada and Vietnam.

Source : REUTERS

U.S. Grants $300 Million For Alternative Fuel Vehicles

The U.S. Energy Department will award nearly $300 million to a clean cities program to help communities buy alternative-fuel vehicles, Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Wednesday.

The funding from the U.S. government's economic stimulus package is designed to encourage states and cities to reduce dependence on oil by helping pay for more than 9,000 alternative-fuel and energy-efficient vehicles, the Energy Department said.

It will also establish 542 fueling and recharging stations for the vehicles, the department said.

One project will complete a 700-mile regional liquid natural gas (LNG) fueling corridor connecting infrastructure in Southern California and LNG fuel stations being developed in Utah. The corridor will be along one of the nation's busiest trucking routes.

Overall, the department estimated the funding will help the clean cities program save about 38 million gallons of petroleum annually.

Chu said the vehicles will mostly be American made, providing a boost to the lagging U.S. auto and manufacturing industries.

"By changing how we drive, we are actually driving economic recovery," he said.

Ethanol groups have called for greater use of so-called "flex fuel" vehicles that can use special fuel blends of up to 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

President Barack Obama has said he would like to see more electric vehicles in the United States by 2015.

Source : REUTERS

Honda to unveil electric car in U.S. by 2015: Report

Honda Motor Co Ltd plans to develop an electric car to debut in the U.S. market by around 2015 as tighter environmental regulations push demand for zero-emission vehicles, the Nikkei newspaper said on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the company, Japan's No. 2 automaker, said it was developing an electric car but had not decided when to launch it.

The company could also not comment on the Nikkei business daily's report, without sources, that a prototype of the car would be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in October.

The vehicle is expected to be around the size of a minicar, the Nikkei said.

Other automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG have also announced plans to launch electric cars in the next few years.

But they say it could take decades for the vehicles to spread due to their high cost, limited driving range and long charging times with the current battery technology.

Nissan Motor Co, Japan's third biggest automaker, unveiled its electric car "Leaf" earlier this month with plans to begin selling it in the United States, Japan and Europe toward the end of 2010.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Electric car industry boost as leading developer plans production of tens of thousands of vehicles a year

Carmaker developing three models with Renault for sale in Denmark and Israel, with plans to expand scheme further

The electric car industry received a boost yesterday after a leading developer of low-emission vehicles said it would produce of tens of thousands vehicles a year from 2011. Better Place, which will run the scheme with Renault, plans to market them initially in Denmark and Israel.

The French carmaker is developing three models: a saloon, a compact city car and a van. In Denmark, a car will cost up to 200,000 kroner (£23,080).

"We expect the production of electric vehicles to be in the tens of thousands per year for the Danish market from 2011," said Jens Moberg, chief executive of Better Place Denmark, the Danish subsidiary of the transport company developing the lithium batteries fitted in the vehicles.

Electric car drivers will need to sign up for a monthly subscription with Better Place to get access to the batteries. "It will be like signing up for a mobile phone contract," said Moberg.

He declined to say how much a subscription would cost but said the battery would cost €8,000 (£6,900) to manufacture in 2011-12. "I expect the cost to come down afterwards as production expands," he said.

Drivers can recharge the batteries at home, which would take several hours, or switch batteries at a "swap station", taking three to five minutes – less time than it takes to fill a petrol tank.

In Denmark, close to 100 battery swap stations will be available around the country, with plans to expand further.

Drivers will also be able to top up their batteries at charge spots installed at car parks and on the streets. Copenhagen is working to install up to 60 by the time of the UN climate change summit in December, when world leaders will attempt to broker a worldwide deal to reduce carbon emissions.

A number of electric Renault cars will also be available to drive during the conference. Those trying out the cars will not have to worry about parking, as it is already free to park an electric car anywhere in Copenhagen.

Moberg said Better Place was in discussion with a number of European countries, including France, about expanding the scheme further from Israel and Denmark.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

The Naturmobil is the ultimate green car

The future of eco-friendly travel has nothing to do with hybrid synergy drives – instead it involves four wheels, a treadmill, and a horse. The Naturmobil, the brainchild of an Iranian engineer, Hadi Mirhejazi, combines 19th-century travel with 21st-century gym equipment.

In essence it is a horse, tethered to a treadmill, inside a perspex box on wheels. The driver and passenger sit in the front (the prototype is a two-seater sports car), while the horse is in the back. To get moving you simply turn on the treadmill and wait for the "engine" to start trotting. The horse's movement, aided by 20 gears, recharges the treadmill's battery, and keeps the vehicle moving. It can go at quite a canter, reaching 28mph during a road test.

Mirhejazi spent more than two years building the Naturmobil, and says he uses "many types of technology to make the horse comfortable". The animal sits under a jacket of cold water. For the more delicate problem of "emissions", Mirhejazi straps on an extra-large colostomy bag. The waste is then collected beneath the treadmill, "so the road will not get dirty or smell bad"; a selfless design, given there is no partition between horse and driver.

There are a few drawbacks. Despite the horse's cooling system, the Naturmobil is not suitable for hot climates. Motorways and main roads are also off-limits.

Mirhejazi had hoped to attract advertising for the vehicle's exterior, which could host two LCD screens. The plan was to take a publicity road trip around the world. Alas, the plan never came off. Mirhejazi has offered to give away the prototype, patent, and $100,000 to anyone who can explain why the Naturmobil was really invented. Advertising? Eco-friendly horse box? It seems the inventor himself is not entirely sure.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

GM claims electric car will achieve 230mpg

Chevrolet Volt vital to change image of carmaking group as it emerges from bankruptcy

General Motors said today its new electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, would receive a fuel economy rating of 230 miles per gallon in city driving, and would transform the market for plug-in vehicles.

The 230mpg fuel rating (or 370km per 3.8 litres) would offer greater fuel efficiency than any mass market vehicle currently on the road, including the Toyota Prius.

GM did not release the draft highway fuel economy rating for the Volt – although it is expected to be lower than the city figure. The carmaker sees the Volt as an important symbol of its switch from old gas guzzlers to new greener and smaller cars, and is using a logo with the figure 230 printed on a green background to build interest in the brand.

The company has a fleet of 30 test vehicles that it is developing in Arizona. It based its mileage rating on a draft environmental protection agency methodology for plug-in electric cars.

Nissan announced last week that its electric vehicle, the Leaf, would get 367mpg using the same standards.

The Volt, which will start production late next year, could be capable of travelling up to 40 miles (64km) on a single charge before its small petrol engine kicks in to power the car and recharge the battery.

That range would make the Volt an ideal commuter car for Americans: about 80% have a commute of less than 40 miles, according to the department of transport.

The battery could be recharged in about eight hours at a cost of about 40 cents during off-peak hours.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

S.Korea says to set 2020 emissions target

Plan to curb emissions by increased use of hybrid cars, renewable and nuclear energy consumption, energy efficiency with light-emitting diodes and smart grids

South Korea, Asia's fourth largest economy, has pledged to set one of three targets for carbon emissions by 2020, voluntarily joining Kyoto signatories in moving toward a firm commitment to roll back climate change.

The government said on Tuesday it would choose a 2020 gas emission target this year from three options: an 8 percent increase from 2005 levels by 2020, unchanged from 2005, or 4 percent below 2005 levels.

The country is one of Asia's richest nations and an industrial powerhouse. Emissions doubled between 1990 and 2005 and per-capita emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide based on 2005 levels were 11.1 tonnes, the same as some European nations and the 17th largest among OECD members.

The government estimated each target to cost between 0.3 and 0.5 percent of GDP and will curb emissions by increased use of hybrid cars, renewable and nuclear energy consumption, energy efficiency with light-emitting diodes and smart grids.

Rich nations bound by the Kyoto Protocol to curb greenhouse gas emissions are under intense pressure from developing countries to ramp up their targets to cut emissions as part of a broader climate pact under negotiation.

Those talks culminate at the end of the year at a major U.N. gathering in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

Wealthy developing states such as South Korea, Singapore and Mexico have also come under pressure to announce emissions curbs.

South Korea's targets are modest compared with developed countries such as the United States and the European Union.

Japan and the United States respectively aim to cut emissions by 15 and 17 percent by 2020 against 2005 levels, while the European Union and Britain are each aiming for reductions of 20 and 34 percent by 2020, compared with 1990 levels.

China and many developing nations want the rich to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020 to avoid the worst effects of global warming such as droughts, floods and rising seas.

SOURCE : REUTERS