100-M.P.G. Cars: It's a Start, Nicholas Kristof, NYTimes, 2/5/06

[Coastie for Truth]

Imagine if we could develop a passenger car that averaged more than 100 miles per gallon — or, if used only for short trips, 1,000 miles per gallon. What if it could cost the equivalent of only 75 cents a gallon to operate and needed to go to a filling station only every other month?

Surprise — we have all that technology today! We even have a handful of demonstration vehicles to prove it. All we lack is bold political and corporate leadership to put this technology in play immediately.

These vehicles underscore that if President Bush is serious about curbing our addiction to oil, there's plenty more that he could do — right now. There's no need for vague, long-term initiatives that are welcome but smack of procrastination.

The cars I'm talking about are known as "plug-in hybrids." They are similar to hybrids like the Toyota Prius, but they have bigger batteries and at night would be plugged into a standard 120-volt outlet to charge the batteries.

They can be built to have a 30- to 50-mile range before the gasoline engine needs to be used at all. So for someone who commutes 15 miles each way to work and rarely takes long drives, a plug-in hybrid usually functions as an electric vehicle and relies on gas only on rare occasions.

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Coastie's Comments

Kristoff writes "plug-in hybrids are economically and technically feasible today. While the batteries still aren't perfect, supporters say that plug-in hybrids can be mass-produced today for only about $3,000 more than a conventional hybrid (which already costs $3,000 more than a regular auto). Skeptics say that the additional cost might be greater, up to $15,000 more than a regular gas car — but even that might find a market among car buyers seeking the Hot New Thing."

Coastie Responds -- I think $3000 above a regular hybrid (as a Prius or Insight) and $15000 more then a gasoline car is just GM defensive weapons of mass distraction - like the manufactured economic studies GM paid for.

IMHO - after 30+ years in alternative, renewable, and green energy out of a 40+ year technology career - this is feasible, viable, enable us to quite following the failed PNAC-NeoCon policies of "force projection for oil hegemony" and get us out of the Middle East and bring our troops home.

---Coastie, PE, PhD

[catnhatnh]

1. I have seen threads on this...

....throughout Europe cars are MARKETED that get 60+ mpg...all it takes is a willingness to shed size, weight ,and horsepower...but you must accept an 1800lb vehicle with 50-60 hp can drive at 65 mph and with 4 people aboard.The idea that 3500lbs, and 400 hp equates to "performance" remains mostly an american and euro trash attitude....working people should embrace the ideal and ask why fuel efficient european vehicles are not available here..

[Coastie for Truth]

2. CAL CARS Initiative

has modified Priuses and Civics to make them "Plug In Hybrids" - same size and weight as Priuses and Civics and (this year) Accord.

Not Mini Coopers. Not 1800 pound toys - but 2900 pound family cars.

I have seen them. (Stanford - Peninsula Car Club) - I have driven them (Galvez to El Camino Real to Page Mill Road to I-280 to Sand Hill Road to Stanford Plaza to El Camino Real). Not a Mini Cooper or Tercel or Echo -- but a real family car.

Coastie, PE, PhD

[salin]

6. Would love to see those

heck I would just love to drive my 06 Prius on the route you describe (nostalgia).

[awoke_in_2003]

4. Well, I willingly shed size and weight

it's call my 1983 Harley-Davidson. 50+ MPG, and in Fort Worth can be ridden year round (unless there is ice on road, then I stay home no matter what).

[postulater]

3. My wife's 06 Prius is getting 50 mpg in winter in Wisconsin

Just our way of stickin it to the man.

[salin]

5. Add me to that list (06 Prius)

though I am at 48.5 mpg in winter in Indiana. I hear that when it gets warmer - so there isn't that period when first driving that is lower consumption - that the mileage goes further up.

Was just thinking about the driving trip I took when moving to California - and how much cheaper such a drive would be with this car.

Just met an 00 Insight driver who can do the Indianapolis to NYC trip in five tanks of gas.

[Apollo11]

7. European Ford Fusion diesel gives me 50 mpg

Electricity comes from somewhere - so a plug-in car will have an environmental impact at the power plant. If the power plant uses oil or gas - then the impact will include carbon dioxide emissions.

Around 10 weeks ago I bought a new European Ford Fusion. It's a smallish car (around 4 metres or 160 inches long), front wheel drive, but shaped like your typical 5-door SUV (not to be confused with the American Ford Fusion).

With all the extras including 20 percent tax, aircon and 5-year extended warranty, the car cost me just under 17,000 euros ($20,000 US).

The TDCi turbo diesel engine gives me great performance. Officially, it is supposed to give 59 mpg (US gallons) on the highway. It has low emissions (meets Euro IV standards, and only 119 grammes of CO2 per kilometre).

My experience so far, having done around 1400 miles, including a lot of urban traffic in Brussels and some out-of-town highway driving (80mph is the legal limit in Belgium and Holland), has been an average 39 mpg.

So I guess, when I am driving on the highway at around 60 or 70 mph, I am getting at least 50 mpg, which is good to know.

You can see the European Ford Fusion here:
http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/fusion/-/-/-/-/-/-

[rayofreason]

8. I disagree.

Electric vehicles just displace the pollution to the energy production site - the power plant. And batteries are expensive, heavy (therefore adding to the energy use of the vehicle), and they produce significant heavy metal pollution in production and disposal. Relying on an expensive solution will only delay the switch away from gasoline.

What are needed are renewable liquid fuels - bio-diesel, ethanol/methanol - that can be produced from plants so that there is no net CO2 emission. The problem is that the energy content of such fuels is about half that of gasoline (http://www.uvi.edu/Physics/SCI3xxWeb/Energy/GasolineFAQ.html), so you will get less mileage per gallon. But that is a small price to pay, and will be counterbalanced by the lower cost per gallon relative to gasoline.

[drm604]

9. Isn't it kind of a cheat to describe this as a 100 mpg car?

It's not really getting that. It's just using a different power source at times, the electricity from the outlet. That electricity isn't free or without environmental impact. In the U.S. odds are that it comes from burning coal, which also impacts the environment.