Mass Fuel Cell Adoption Would Cost $200 Billion and Al Gore Challenges US to Go 100% Fossil Fuel Free in 10 Years

A new study was just published in which researchers estimated it would cost $200 Billion in research and infrastructure to bring fuel cell vehicles to mass market levels.
The study analyzed the cost of bringing 2 million fuel cell cars to the roads by 2020 and 25 million by 2030. It was determined that to achieve [...]

Popularity: 7%

Forget the Volt’s Roof, GM Puts World’s Largest Solar Roof on a Whole Assembly Plant

Just while we’re busy discussing whether GM will put a solar roof on the Chevy Volt, and we begin to hear rumors about the next year Prius getting a solar roof option, GM has taken the idea to the next level.
Today GM announced that they have placed a massive solar panel array on the roof [...]

Popularity: 6%

Bob Lutz’ Boss Cool on Global Warming Comment

Not to beat a dead horse, but this item continues to persist in the media.
As many of you know, Bob Lutz recently was quoted as saying global warming was a crock of sh*t. This resulted in an impressive run of internet and print media discussions, in the end Lutz made it clear that his [...]

Popularity: 3%

Will Mass Use of Plug-in Cars Increase Air Pollution?

We have reviewed and discussed the EPRI study which suggested mass-adoption of electric cars can be handled by the power grid, will result in net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and dramatically reduce U.S. petroleum consumption.
A more recent study by GM suggests E-REV use will reduce tailpipe emissions by 80%.
In the USA Today, two studies [...]

Popularity: 4%

Bob Lutz Turns up the Heat on Global Warming

By now many of you have probably heard about this. Originally reported in D-magazine is a “closed-door”conversation between GM Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz and several journalists. On the topic of the Chevy Volt, Mr Lutz reportedly called global warming “a total crock of sh-t”.  He went on to say he’s a skeptic rather than [...]

Popularity: 3%

Driving the Volt

Peter Savagian is an engineer at GM who worked on the EV-1. He recently presented data from his study on the effect of driving electrified vehicles.
The presentation examines and discusses the implication of plug-in hybrid and E-REV utilization.
Per Peter, “GM’s Advanced Propulsion Technology Strategy is to remove automobiles from the environmental dialogue.”, and “another [...]

Popularity: 4%

New Study: Using U.S. Farmlands for Biofuel Production will Increase Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Ethanol supply produced from corn grown on U.S. croplands has been increasing and is thought by some as an opportunity to reduce petroleum consumption. Indeed carmakers like GM have been promoting E85 engines, and the U.S. government has been subsidizing farmers to produce corn.
The use of corn ethanol as being net energy positive [...]

Popularity: 4%

Audio Interview: Donald Hillebrand, Director of Center For Transportation Research, Argonne National Lab, Part I

Dr. Donald Hillebrand is the director for transportation research at the Argonne National Lab, a pivotal government organization involved in testing and deployment of plug-in cars. He is also a very intelligent and highly insightful man. We had an extensive and interesting discussion which can be heard in the player below the post. [...]

 

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Popularity: 2%

GM Pushes To Control Electric Utility Rates

Here we’ve just finished posting about how much it will cost to drive the Volt.  Some interesting comments have come back.  I’m working on getting some more battery specifics and will report back to you very soon.
In the meantime, GM is part of a large coalition of heavy electric users in the state of Ohio. [...]

Popularity: 1%

New Government Study Shows PHEV Use Will Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Oil Use

Yesterday the Electric Power Research Institute and the National Resources Defense Council released a comprehensive assessment which found that widespread use of plug-in electric vehicles (PHEV) could be expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve ambient air quality.
The 3 key findings:

By 2050, 450 million tons less greenhouse gas would be produced.
The power grid can [...]

Popularity: 3%

Build Your Own Plug-in Electric Car

Sure, wed all like to drive off in an all-new, dealership-supported, warrantied, and well-made GM Volt. But there are folks who dont want to wait until 2010. Indeed the do-it-yourself movement is rapidly underway. As we’ve discussed previously there are a variety of ways to “grow your own” electric car.
There are several [...]

Popularity: 3%

E85, Corn, and The Volt

We talk a lot about the electric engine, plugin capability, and lithium batteries when we discuss the Volt. It is time we discussed another very important aspect of the vehicle, the fact that the combustion engine can run on E85.
E85 is a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, not the other way around!
Due [...]

Popularity: 4%