(Source: Wall Street Journal & Politico via Yahoo)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to order auto makers to increase the overall fuel economy of automobiles sold in the U.S. to 35 miles per gallon by 2016, four years faster than current federal law requires, people familiar with the matter said Monday.

The move is part of a broader overhaul of fuel economy rules aimed at cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.

Image: Fueleconomy.gov

The Obama administration is expected to announce a plan to revamp federal vehicle fuel-efficiency standards to bring them into harmony with the goals of a California greenhouse-gas law. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation will jointly raise fuel-economy standards and reduce greenhouse-gas pollution under the plan.

Separately, auto makers have agreed to drop litigation challenging the legality of state-level curbs on tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases, people familiar with the matter said.

An announcement of the agreement is expected Tuesday, with representatives of several large auto companies, including General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Fritz Henderson, and the president of United Auto Workers, Ron Gettelfinger, planning to participate, people familiar with the matter said.

The agreement worked out by aides to President Barack Obama represents a partial victory for the auto industry. The industry will be able to operate under a single national standard on fuel economy, rather than multiple regimes at the federal and state levels. Auto makers have long opposed California’s tailpipe emissions program as tantamount to state-level regulation of fuel economy, traditionally a federal responsibility.

But the standards will require huge investments by auto makers to remake their U.S. fleets so that they have roughly the same overall efficiency as vehicles they now sell in Europe, where gasoline is two to three times more expensive as in the U.S. By moving the 35 mpg requirement to 2016 from 2020, the administration is stepping up the pressure on the industry to overhaul its product lineup faster. It typically takes three to four years for auto makers to design and bring a new vehicle to market.

Auto executives are flying into Washington from around the world for the White House announcement.   California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is expected to attend, the sources said.

The CAFE standard was established by Congress in 1975 in response to the Arab Oil embargo.   A 2007 energy law requires auto makers to boost the average fuel economy of their vehicle fleets to at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020, a 40% increase from the roughly 25 mpg standard for the current fleet.  Last summer, the Transportation Department estimated that requiring auto makers to achieve 31.6 mpg by 2015 would cost the industry $46.7 billion, a sum the agency said would make it among the most expensive rule makings in U.S. history.

“This rule will be a down payment on a broader and sustained effort to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” he said. “Going forward, my administration will work on a bipartisan basis in Washington and with industry partners across the country to forge a comprehensive approach that makes our economy stronger and our nation more secure.”

According to two industry officials familiar with the plan, mileage standards would rise slowly at first — from a combined requirement of 27.3 miles per gallon for cars and trucks in 2011 — and faster approaching roughly 35 miles per gallon in 2016. That would give auto makers more time to adjust — and collect credits if they can manage to exceed earlier targets — before the steeper increases kick in.

It is unclear how quickly the EPA and the Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will be able to make a formal proposal for curbing emissions and boosting fuel economy. The EPA on Monday was holding a public hearing on its proposal to find that greenhouse gases endanger public health, the first step toward regulating them.

(Source: Timesonline, UK & Autocar, UK)

A £2,000-a-car scrappage scheme aimed at kick-starting Britain’s depressed motor industry has hit trouble after a dispute between car companies and the Government over costs.

Manufacturers, including Ford and Honda, have told dealers not to register any new vehicles under the scheme, which is starting today.

Consumers are being offered £2,000 towards a new car if they trade in a motor that is at least ten years old.

The car companies said that they were seeking “clarification” from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) over “administrative” details.

The Government insisted that it had been clear on details of the scheme, under which manufacturers would pay £1,000 and the Government £1,000 towards the cost of the incentive.

However, the car manufacturers want dealers to share the cost.

The eleventh-hour hitch will come as a huge embarrassment to the Prime Minister, who had heavily promoted the “bangers for cash” scheme as the route to revitalising Britain’s depressed motor industry.

Gordon Brown and Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, visited a Nissan dealership today to talk to consumers signing up to the scheme.

Mr Brown said the £300 million project would prove “very popular” and “a great help to the British car industry.” It would help the economy to “move forward,” he said.

A BERR spokesman said: “Thirty-eight manufacturers have signed contracts with the Department which set out clearly that manufacturers provide £1,000 and the Government matches it.

“We understand several dealers are unhappy about the idea they should share the costs. The Government also needs to ensure VAT is paid in accordance with the scheme.”

Though the scheme was revealed in the Budget the final details emerged only at a meeting on Thursday, manufacturers said.

However, President of the AA Edmund King has pointed out that the £2000 incentive can be used as a deposit to help car buyers get finance. He added that the scheme would “transform the chances of survival in a crash for thousands of car owners” whose current old cars offer substantially less protection than newer models.

But Friends of the Earth executive director Andy Atkins said the scrappage scheme was “a lost opportunity”.

“A well-designed scheme could have played a limited role in cutting emissions from our roads,” he said. “But, unlike some other countries, the UK scheme doesn’t prevent motorists part-exchanging an old, small model for a brand-new gas guzzler.”

Business secretary Peter Mandelson visited a car dealership today to launch the scheme and said there has been a positive response from the industry.

“I am delighted by the response of the motor industry. Thirty-eight companies have signed up – all the major UK car manufacturers and a number of other companies. This means more choice for consumers and a boost for British brands. 



“The scheme has been met with a flood of enquiries from customers. It will provide a boost to the industry and kick-start sales.” 



The confirmed list of manufacturers who have signed up to take part are: Allied Vehicles, Bentley, BMW, Chevrolet, Citroen, Daihatsu, FIAT, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, London Taxis International, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, MG Motor, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Perodua, Peugeot, Porsche, Proton, Renault, Rolls Royce, SAAB, SECMA UK, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Volvo, Koelliker UK Ltd, Iveco Ltd, Chrysler and Renault Trucks UK Ltd.

(Source: Autobloggreen) & HyNor)

As the US government is cutting down its funding and research/deployment interest in Hydrogen-based transportation systens, Norway is thinking the exact opposite.  In an all out push, Norway is moving ahead with the deployment of a 580 kilometer highway peppered with hydrogen fueling stations.  One of the biggest questions surrounding hydrogen-powered vehicles right now is where to find an appropriate hydrogen pump, and looks like Norway has moved to answer that question by opening it up its first hydrogen highway.

This hydrogen highway is part of Norway’s HyNor project and stretches for 580 kilometers from Oslo on the eastern coast to Stavanger on the western North Sea coast. So far, the route consists of 12 hydrogen pumps, which is apparently sufficient to allow the Mazdas to be refueled along the way.

It is worth something and appropriate to mention a recent New York Times article titled “Norway Thrives by Going against the tide“, which articulates how Norway’s investment decisions for its future saved its economy from going bust, while the recession monster is shaking up the financial foundations of many Western economies, including those of US and UK.  The article points out “With a quirky contrariness as deeply etched in the national character as the fjords carved into its rugged landscape, Norway has thrived by going its own way. When others splurged, it saved. When others sought to limit the role of government, Norway strengthened its cradle-to-grave welfare state. And in the midst of the worst global downturn since the Depression, Norway’s economy grew last year by just under 3 percent. The government enjoys a budget surplus of 11 percent and its ledger is entirely free of debt.”

If the above mentioned investment decision is a good indicator to go by, Norways decision to invest in a hydrogen based transportation future seems foretelling and something worth noting, especially for the United States which just dealt a blow to hydrogen research by cutting down the investment.   The HyNor website notes the following: The HyNor Partnership and StatoilHydro are pleased to announce the official opening of the Norwegian hydrogen highway, HyNor, on 11 May 2009 at StatoilHydro’s new hydrogen station at Økern in Oslo. HyNor was opened by Norway’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Liv Signe Navarsete. H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway joined the first stage of the EVS Viking Rally, from Oslo to Lier, together with internationally renowned race car driver Henning Solberg. The governing mayor of Oslo, Erling Lae, opened StatoilHydro’s new hydrogen service station at Økern, and Navarsete opened the hydrogen station at StatoilHydro’s service station in Lier.

The first hydrogen station was opened at Forus in Stavanger in 2006, the second in Porsgrunn in 2007, and now the two new stations are open in Oslo and Lier. HyNor has some 50 partners and manages a fleet of more than 50 hydrogen vehicles made by Mazda, Toyota and Think.

“We are very pleased to open up this hydrogen infrastructure for testing and demonstrating hydrogen cars. By doing this, we nurture our ambition to help implement hydrogen as a fuel in the transport sector,” says Anne Marit Hansen, Chairman of the board in HyNor. 

The EVS Viking Rally vehicles are the first to drive the Norwegian hydrogen highway. The rally commences with H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon racing together with the famous Norwegian race car star Henning Solberg. 14 hydrogen vehicles, two plug in hybrid cars and 14 battery electric vehicles are starting in Oslo and will reach the beginning of the EVS (Electrical Vehicle Symposium) 24 in Stavanger on 13 May. Events will take place along the way in Porsgrunn, Grimstad, Arendal, Kristiansand, Lyngdal and Egersund. Another 10 battery electric vehicles will join the rally in Egersund. 

This is reportedly the first integrated network of hydrogen pumps in the world, and it’s a creation of Norway’s StatoilHydro, the company that installed the underlying structure as well. Future plans call for the highway to extend into the rest of Scandinavia, as shown in the map to the right. Afterward, the alliance intends to extend into Germany. For your information, Mazda has shipped the first Hydrogen RX8 REs to Norway, indicator of a strong response to the government’s interest in Hydrogen vehicles.  

Note:  A related article from NY Times articulates how California’s efforts to build a similar Hydrogen Highway has fallen behind. One of the leading investors in Hydrogen fuel research was the State of California.  Soon after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) took office in 2003, he set in motion a campaign promise to build, by 2010, a “hydrogen highway” composed of 150 to 200 fueling stations spaced every 20 miles along California’s major highways.  In spite of the great interest, the hydrogen infrastructure has not expanded much since its inception.   the program has fallen short of expectations. With less than 10 months until the end of the decade, 24 hydrogen fueling stations are operating in California, most of them near Los Angeles.State officials say all this is part of what they now view, in the words of ARB spokesman Dimitri Stanich, as a “retooled” hydrogen highway.

“It’s very much alive,” Stanich said of the program. “This vision is still there. It’s just being groomed.”

As stimulus spending on highways and bridges ramps up, Senate Democrats submitted legislation Thursday that suggests the nation’s transportation policy is headed for a major overhaul, with a strong emphasis on reducing automobile use and carbon emissions and boosting public transit, inter-city rail and rail freight service.

 Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced legislation that they say lays out the guidelines of what they expect the next five-year federal transportation spending plan to accomplish. Their goal is to influence the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which is responsible for drafting the spending plan. The House plan is expected in early June, and the bill is due for reauthorization this fall.  The Rockefeller-Lautenberg marker, which got some early love from the Washington Post, states that the next federal transportation bill should accomplish the following:

• Reduce national per-capita motor vehicle miles traveled on an annual basis;
• Cut national motor vehicle-related fatalities in half by 2030;
• Cut national surface transportation-generated carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030;
• Reduce surface transportation delays per capita on an annual basis; 
• Get 20 percent more critical surface-transportation assets into a state of good repair by 2030;
• Increase the total usage of public transit, intercity passenger rail and non-motorized transport on an annual basis.

The focus for those trying to ascertain the administration’s transportation agenda has since turned to the five-year bill, which is expected to cost at least $400 billion. One big question is how the government plans to fund transportation spending, with revenue from the gas tax increasingly falling short. The new Senate bill does not address that problem.

Another big question is how much the bill will provide for public transportation. As it now stands, 80 percent of federal transportation money goes to highways. But David Goldberg, an official with the advocacy group Transportation for America, said Congress and the White House are sending signs that the new plan could represent a major break. The White House has already said it hopes to spend $1 billion per year on high-speed rail.

(Source: Wheels Blog – New York Times)

There are bad work commutes. Then there are blood-boiling commutes that need to be vividly rehashed to unwitting co-workers, friends, anyone. Now there’s another option: The Washington-based nonprofit groupTransportation for America has launchedthis Web site as a home base for people who want (or need) to vent about their miserable trips to and from work.

(Source: USA Today & Image: Jalopnik)

As the American lawmakers are getting ready to pass the landmark “cash for clunkers” legislation, many of you are still left wondering what this legislation entails and how it will affect you.  The media chatter in the past has offered very little except that the legislation would provide federal vouchers of up to $4,500 for people to trade in their older vehicles for new ones that get better mileage.

Talk of the vouchers has kept some would-be new car and truck buyers on the sidelines, waiting to see whether they’d qualify for government help. So, for the moment, the idea is hurting sales. Based on interviews with lobbyists and congressional offices, the USA Today captured the details of this legislation in a nice Q & A format:

Image: Newsday

Q: What’s the idea behind “cash-for-clunkers”?

A: Supporters say it would replace older vehicles with new ones that use less fuel, are safer and pollute less. And it would give the struggling auto industry a sales boost.

Q: What’s the bill’s status?

A: It’s in a House committee and backed by the president. Senators from both parties are prepared to co-sponsor similar legislation as soon as this week.

Q: Sounds like a sure thing.

A: Not so. Environmental lobbyists, who don’t think it boosts fuel economy enough, might derail it or get it changed enough in the Senate that a compromise would take awhile.

Q: Any groups trying to keep it from being derailed?

A: You bet. Car companies, autoworkers, component suppliers and car dealers, among them. The House bill “will help jump-start auto sales and the U.S. economy, while also providing environmental benefits and increasing energy security,” says Ziad Ojakli, Ford Motor spokesman.

Q: What’s the price tag?

A: About $4 billion. The money is currently proposed to come from Energy Department funding included in the already enacted $787 billion economic stimulus package.

Q: If the House bill becomes law, how would it work?

A: The government would send up to $4,500 to the selling dealer on your behalf, if you:

1. Trade in a car that — this is a key point — has been registered and in use for at least a year, and has a federal combined city/highway fuel-economy rating of 18 or fewer miles per gallon.

2. Buy a new car, priced at $45,000 or less and rated at least 4 mpg better than the old one (gets a $3,500 voucher). If the new one gets at least 10 mpg better, you get the full $4,500.

Example: Trade that well-worn 1985 Chevrolet Impala V-8, rated 14 mpg, for a 2009 Impala V-8 rated 19 mpg and the government will kick in $3,500. Downsize to Chevy Cobalt (27 mpg) or even a larger Honda Accord (24 mpg) and get $4,500.

Mileage ratings back to 1985 are at www.fueleconomy.gov.

Q: What about trucks?

A: It’s more complicated.

For standard-duty models — most SUVs, vans and pickups:

1. The old one must be rated 18 mpg or less.

2. The new one must be at least 2 mpg better for $3,500 or at least 5 mpg better for $4,500.

For heavy-duties (6,000 to 8,500 pounds gross vehicle weight rating):

1. The old one must be rated 15 mpg or less.

2. The new one must be rated at least 1 mpg better for $3,500, or 2 mpg or more for $4,500.

Work trucks (8,500 to 10,000 lbs.) don’t have mpg ratings, so age is the criteria. The old one has to be a 2001 model or older. And only $3,500 is available.

Q: Is it worth it for $4,500?

A: The assumption is that the people most likely to use the program would trade in cars worth less than $4,500. Thus, while not necessarily clunkers, most would be at least 8 years old.

Q: Can I combine these incentives with other offers?

A: Yes. For instance, you could trade for a hybrid and get the voucher, claim the hybrid tax credit and get dealer or manufacturer discounts. You also could deduct the sales tax, if any, on your next federal tax return.

Q: Would I ever see the $3,500 or $4,500?

A: No. It’s an electronic transfer from the government to the dealer. Dealers want to be sure the amount can be counted as cash from the buyer, which would help buyers get credit because they’re financing less.

Q: What does the dealer do with my trade-in?

A: Gives it to a salvage operator. The engine, transmission and some other parts must be destroyed so they can’t be reused. The idea is to cull fuel-thirsty, polluting drivetrains. Operators can resell other parts, however.

Q: What’s to keep me from buying a junkyard car for a few hundred bucks, getting it barely running and trading it?

A: The one-year-in-service requirement noted earlier. Lawmakers wanted to exclude the revival of so-called junkyard dogs, because they’ve already been taken off the road.

Q: What do I get if I recently bought a car that would have qualified?

A: The bill contemplates making the incentives retroactive to March 30, but it’s unclear how to find and junk cars that were traded in that long ago. Some might already be back on the road, driven by new owners.

Q: What’s wrong with environmentalists’ idea that the new car or truck should get much better fuel economy than the House bill currently requires?

A: Opponents say the environmentalists’ fuel-economy improvement thresholds are so high that foreign brands benefit disproportionately, because their lineups tend now to have more small, fuel-efficient vehicles.

But the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy complained in a statement criticizing the House bill that the proposal as it stands now is way too lenient.

The council charged that the bill “aims primarily to clear Detroit’s unsold inventory from the storage lots,” rather than to seriously cut fuel use.

Q: How soon could this become law?

A: Depends on how much critics can sway the Senate, and to what piece of legislation this “fleet modernization” bill is attached.

If it becomes part of a larger bill that’s likely to get lots of debate, it could take awhile. If it’s attached to urgent, must-pass legislation, such as an appropriation bill, it could move quickly to the president’s desk.

A current plan is to add the program as an amendment to climate change legislation now being considered.

As proposed, it would be in effect for just one year.

(Source: Detroit Free Press & Image: Jalopnik)

WASHINGTON — Congress appeared ready Wednesday to move forward on a bill to pay people to surrender their old gas-guzzlers for new, fuel-efficient models — but the auto industry hasn’t decided what it wants out of the program.

While backers of a cash-for-clunkers plan announced a deal earlier this month, the final bill has yet to be crafted because of a last-minute dispute between foreign and domestic automakers over incentives for leasing. Environmental groups aren’t thrilled with the compromise, saying it is weighted too heavily toward truck buyers.

But with House and Senate leaders, along with President Barack Obama, voicing support, industry officials say they are hopeful a bill that will boost a lethargic market for new vehicles will get through Congress in weeks. Backers say the compromise would cost about $4 billion — paid for by money from the economic stimulus plan passed earlier this year — and could boost sales by 1.3 million vehicles over a year, according to industry officials.

Owners of cars and trucks that get less than 18 m.p.g. could get a voucher of $3,500 to $4,500 for a new vehicle, depending on the mileage of the new model, but no trade-in value because the vehicles would be scrapped.

“This is a jobs bill that helps the environment,” said Ziad Ojakli, Ford’s group vice president for governmental affairs.

The plan does have several hurdles that will keep some potential buyers on the sidelines. The clunker being traded in has to be kept off the road — meaning it will have no trade-in value beyond the voucher. Far more trucks on the road will qualify for the vouchers than cars: even 15 years ago, only five models of midsize sedans managed just 18 m.p.g.

And while the compromise among U.S. House members was unveiled earlier this month, the actual bill will be kept under wraps until it is introduced with the House Democrats’ plan to control carbon emissions through a cap-and-trade system, expected no later than Monday.

Although cash-for-clunkers programs in other nations have been motivated by environmental goals to improve the mileage of vehicles on the road, environmental groups are lukewarm about the U.S. compromise.

(Source: BBC)

The need for speed is not normally a selling point for commuters who buy electric vehicles. But it could be.

And you better believe it – this bike moves.

“You can accelerate faster than any car,” says Neal Saiki, who invented the electric motorcycle.

“You’ve got all kinds of power, and it is totally quiet. I think it is a lot like flying.”

Image Courtesy: The Motor Report

A gentle turn of the throttle and the force of the lithium-ion battery pack is transferred directly to the back wheel, sending the bike rocketing down London’s Kings Road.

The experience is vastly different from the ride of a conventional bike. There is no clutch and no need to change gears. Turning the throttle instantly delivers powerful torque, along with just enough chain rattle to remind you that this is still a motorcycle.

Change the software settings, explains Mr Saiki, founder and chief technology officer of Zero Motorcycles, and the bike will deliver zero to 50mph in just five seconds.  While still at college in California, he designed the world’s first helicopter powered by a human.

The invention eventually helped him become a designer of “high altitude research vehicles” for US space agency Nasa, a job he left to start building motorcycles.

“What we’ve done here is to combine the world’s smallest, lightest battery pack with a revolutionary 28 pound (12 kilogramme) frame,” says Mr Saiki, who invented the battery himself and designed the frame from aircraft grade aluminium.

Enough, perhaps, to convince thrill-seeking commuters, though at an expected price of some £8,000 in the UK and a maximum range of 60 miles per charge, the bike may struggle to attract people away from established motorcycle communities.

Zero Motorcycles is pitching the bike as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional motorcycles.

In terms of fuel economy, there is probably not that much in it, since motorcycles tend not to be all that thirsty in the first place.

But when it comes to emissions it is a clear winner, the company insists, even in countries with coal-fired power stations.

“Although there is some pollution associated with the production of electricity, a Zero motorcycle produces less than an eighth of the CO2 pollution per mile at the power plant than a petrol-powered motorcycle,” Zero declares.  In the video below, you can hear about the Zero S from Neal Saiki himself as he walks through various aspects of its innovative  design & cutting edge technology.  

 It is a claim the conventional bike makers will find hard to refute, not least since they tend not to publish any CO2 figures at all.

Many commuters will be more interested in data on battery charging times, though.

Zero says a four-hour charge using an ordinary household socket will cost six pence and deliver 60 miles of motoring, and Mr Saiki insists the battery pack should be able to deliver such performance for about five years.

“You charge it in the morning and it’ll be ready for lunch,” he says.

“It would cost you $30 (£20) to go from California to New York,” observes Zero’s PR man.

Though allow for the frequent recharging, and the journey would take a long, long time.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Washington Examiner & Washington Post)

A car-sharing program intended to save Montgomery County money has ended up costing $1,300 per hour of driving.

(Source: Green Car Congress)

Transport for London (TfL) will begin a six-month trial ofIntelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) technology which aims to reduce road casualties and help drivers avoid speeding penalties.  As part of the trial, which will start this summer, a London bus will be fitted with ISA.   The trial will monitor driver behavior, journey times and the effect that driving within the speed limit has on vehicle emissions. ISA uses the digital speed limit map of London which TfL launched on 29 January 2009. This is the first time all of London’s speed limits have been mapped accurately with regular updates.

This innovative technology could help any driver in London avoid the unnecessary penalties of creeping over the speed limit, and at the same time will save lives. We know the technology works, and now we want to know how drivers in all types of vehicles respond to it. ISA is intended as a road safety device, but if Londoners embrace this technology we may well see additional benefits including reduced congestion as a result of collisions and reduced vehicle emissions as drivers adopt a smoother driving style.

—Chris Lines, Head of TfL’s London Road Safety Unit

The UK government’s Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) and the Motorists’ Forum (MF) recently issued a joint report evaluating the impact of implementing an Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) system across the entire road network on reducing deaths and injuries on the UK roads and on reducing fuel consumption and emissions of CO2 and criteria pollutants.  Of the two proposed benefits of ISA—GHG emissions reduction and increased road safety—the report concluded that the calculated social benefits of the accident savings far outweigh the values of fuel or CO2 saved.

The intelligent technology, which works in conjunction with a GPS, enables drivers to select an option where acceleration is stopped automatically at the speed limit specific to any road in London within the M25 area. The unit can be disabled at the touch of a button, at which point it reverts to an advisory status where the current, legal speed limit is simply displayed as a driver aid. There is also a complete over-ride switch with disables the system entirely.

The practical uses of the technology will be tested in the six month trial after which a report will be submitted to the Mayor of London, and the technology will be made available to external organizations.