The electric car has had a rough history in the last 100 years. Hell, the battle we are seeing now was fought out over 100 years ago. The introduction of the motor carriage opened up a new opportunity for an array of drivetrains. There was a time when steam, electricity, gasoline, and even some gas/electric hybrids (Porsche, see left) fought for supremacy in automobile motivation, and it’s easy to see who won out. Gas was cheap, plentiful and very, very powerful. Not only that, but it also was quick to refuel, and as long as there was a supply of fuel the gasoline car could go anywhere. However, the electric car was left in the dust- there were severe limitations to its range and our electric infrastructure was no where ready to supply power where needed.

Enter the last 20 years, and after learning lessons from a few fuel crises we are once again looking at the little electric car. Without conspiracy theories, the technology still wasn’t quite there for it, and the costs were too high to make a reasonable business case for much of anyone. However, in the last 5 years things have changed. We have an infrastructure that supplies electricity farther than any gas station, and a push for technology that can give birth to legitimate electric cars for mass production.

And this is where Nissan and the dowdy-looking Nissan Leaf come in. Maybe dowdy is too harsh, but it’s awkward with a reason. Nissan’s brutal GTR has a drag coefficient of .27. The Leaf, which spent more time in the wind tunnel to fine tune its shape according to the spokesman, manages a drag coefficient if .28, a massive improvement over the .31 of the Nissan Versa on which the Leaf is based on. While not totally outstanding, that is near supercar aerodynamics in a 4 door hatch back. One of the troubles engineers had to deal with was wind noise- While wind noise is a part of regular NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) concerns for gasoline cars, it’s an even bigger concern on the near-silent electric car with the lack of drivetrain noise. The bulbous headlamps on the Leaf play a role in fighting wind noise caused by the mirrors in that they’re raised several inches above the hood-line in order to split the air flow ahead of the mirrors, so that air passes over and under the mirror, instead of into the mirror. Taking advantage of the compact electric drivetrain, the low hood-line smoothly transitions into a laid back windshield, the shape as a whole contributes to the odd styling, but all in the name of aerodynamics. The wheel wells, which are small by today’s standards, house relatively small 16” wheels. The small wheel openings aid in reducing drag, and there are sharp creases along the rear flanks of the Leaf’s fenders, and with the shaped tail lights the design assists in bringing air smoothly away from the car’s rear. All of this is wrapped in Nissan’s new design language, which shares some of its DNA with their Juke. The Toyota Prius and Chevrolet Volt lean towards more conservative styling, but the Leaf is here to stand out.

For the tech geeks, the Leaf haz ze teknology. Some of the things worth mentioning are the LED headlamps, which consume less power than standard headlamps. The battery is actually 40 independent cells, each of which can be replaced if malfunctioning instead of the entire battery pack. The pack itself is surprisingly compact, but still heavy at 600 lbs. On the plus side, it’s mounted low and centered in the chassis, giving the Leaf a lower center of gravity than a standard car. And most importantly, it does not intrude into the passenger compartment, unlike the Chevy Volt’s T-bar battery which consumes the center of the interior. The interior floor appears to be just the same as it is in a gasoline car, and even still shares the vestigial hump in the center of the rear seat floor, though only an inch or two high.

Speaking of the interior, outside of the digital interfaces it’s absolutely nothing to write home about. The dash is hard plastic, but touch points are soft fabric and no better or worse than any other car in the segment, including the Corolla and Civic. I found the armrest to be a little high, and the steering wheel could use more than just up-and-down adjustment, but other than that the ergonomics are quite fine. Seats are softer than expected, but quite welcoming. And Nissan touts that most materials are made from recycled plastics. But, the juicy bits are the unique displays and controls of an electric car. Gone is a tachometer, and in comes an energy meter. Instead of displaying engine RPM, it displays how much electric power is being demanded, or alternatively when coasting how much is being regenerated. A gas gauge is predictably replaced by a battery meter, but unexpectedly is the coolant temp being replaced with a battery temp gauge. The standard PRND is replaced with a toy-like selector that pivots around 4 different positions. Center is where the shifter sits when released, moving it left and up selects reverse, moving it left and down selects drive (selecting drive again engages or disengages ECO mode), and simply moving it left selects neutral. Pressing the top button in the selector’s resting position engages park. It sounds more complex than it really is, and comes across as little more than a joy stick to select a gear. The parking brake handle is replaced with a pull-up button that electronically engages the brake. This is an electric car, everything has to be different somehow, right? Thankfully the center cluster is conventional by all means, and with in easy reach.

What is unique is when you press the “Zero Emissions” button, which brings up an array of menus on the Leaf’s LCD screen related to the electric drive and charging systems. The Leaf has taken a page out of the GTR’s wizardry, giving more bar graphs, detailed information, and charging options than the average person would know what to do with. However, like the GTR, this information is directed solely for the intended enthusiasts. G-Meters and 0-60 timers are replaced with energy consumption dials, detailing power usage by the motors, accessories like radio and climate control, and finally “other systems,” whatever those maybe. It shows real time how using the various accessories affect the range. Another nifty feature is the programming that one can apply to the Leaf. Not only can you tell it to only charge between certain hours, in order to take advantage of off-hour rates, but also when to automatically kick on the heater or A/C at a set time so that the interior is at-temp before you get into the car, eliminating the need to split the energy between both systems while driving. Another adaptation for the electric car is what is displayed on the GPS. The map has a pair of circles, which show the Leaf’s range overlaid the map. The inner circle shows the low-ball estimate of the car’s range, and the outer circle shows the outer reaches of the range. A quick zoom out quickly demonstrates how much ground can becovered on a charge, and it’s a bit of a surprise at just how far you can go on this glorified golf cart. It can also update regularly with new charging locations, and display those on screen. And, as you run the battery lower and lower, it will eventually default the GPS to show local charging stations in a passive attempt at getting you to juice it up. And you can kill it dead, there’s no back-up battery to save stupidity. There is relief though, that most major cities plan to put in place charging stations at major stores, fastfood joints, and businesses so that the car can be charged while you’re out and about. Even 440v DC “Fast chargers” are an option so that the car can be charged from 0%-80% in roughly 25 minutes. These will even be placed between various cities so that cars like the Leaf can run on longer trips, albeit with a 20 minute break during the trip. This almost sounds like a deal breaker, while keeping in mind that the Leaf is meant to be a commuter car, much of the “range anxiety” can be relieved by changing how you treat a “fill up,” meaning unlike a gas car where it’s no problem to run it down near empty and refill it, it’s a good habit to top-off the Leaf where ever it can charge.

Introductions aside, it’s time to drive. Coming into this, it must be said that I drove to the event in a 1969 Chevrolet CST/10 pickup. It’s loud, rough, and has enough 40 year old components remaining that it shakes, rattles, and rolls down the road with quite a presence. I get into a Leaf, adjust my seat, and start to poke around for the “start” button when I’m told it’s already running. I know this is an electric car, but it’s still…odd… to hear nothing. When you do actually “start” the car, it does play a little juke while lighting up the gauge cluster to let you know that it’s actually on. The throttle is a bit spongy at low speed, but the Leaf’s instant 200 ft lb of torque makes its presence known if you dive deeper into the throttle. It’s an experience unlike any other car. Even though it’s an electric car, you can find an excuse for traction control at speeds where most 4 bangers are still building steam. Off the line it surges with authority, and thanks to the lack of a transmission, it steams right on up with an uninterrupted, slightly sci-fi soundtrack from the electric motor. No peaking power bands, no shifting… Just forward. And during all of this, the Leaf is beautifully smooth, quiet and dare I say; graceful. During cruising you’re more likely to hear the hum of the A/C blower motor than you are of the drivetrain. Wind noise is well controlled, an achievement that the reps were very proud of. It’s a level of cabin noise that’s surely lower than the best luxury cars, an interesting side effect to the electric drivetrain. It may still use a dated suspension, but the ride is well controlled and the handling is surprisingly quite precise and a little tossable thanks to the low center of gravity.

And it creates quite the proposition for future drivetrains. Here we have a $25,000 car with NVH levels competitive with cars twice its cost. A premium experience, in this regard. Without pistons violently thrusting up and down and transmissions jumping through gears it provides smooth thrust that will never be matched by a piston engine. Not even a CVT can provide the smooth responsiveness that the direct-drive electric motor gives. It gives a small car a level of refinement that manufacturers can only dream of with a gas engine, especially to the bread-and-butter cars. To the average consumer there’s less maintenance to worry about; there’s no oil to change, emissions systems to inspect, or cooling systems to worry about. Brakes are even given a lengthy life span thanks to their job being shared with the regenerative braking/charging system. In the future land of beige, it’s easy to see electric cars cross-shopped with Corollas, Cruises, and Civics. Its price is competitive with them, for instance to get the options that you get in the Leaf, a comparable 2011 Honda Civic runs the MSRP of just under $25,000. And other than out-right range, it just does everything better than they can. With all off this, and the fact that you’ll never buy gas for the damn thing, it starts to make sense, even financially. The current short comings of electric cars are solvable problems in time. Nissan has committed to designing the battery pack to be replaceable with future innovations, and designing the unit so that future Nissan EVs with more advanced batteries can have their guts transplanted into the Leaf, keeping older models relevant in 5-10 years.

However, there must be time taken to look at it from an environmental approach. And to me, it’s one that has few grounds to stand on. Whileelectricity has the advantage of being DIRT CHEAP (Even if gas was under 1.50/gallon, the cost to run the Leaf off your house is still cheaper, according to Nissan’s statistics), it’s not clean energy for the majority of the US. Roughly 48% of our electrical energy comes from coal. Only 7% comes from renewable resources, such as wind or hydroelectric power. Ever notice that any Nissan advertisement with Zero Emissions* has an astric? Their ad campaign is built on the fact that there are zero *tailpipe emissions. While you do have to consider the lack of pollutants being burned by the car, it must be said that it’s not free and clear from pollution. Granted, the extra demand for electricity from the cars will be insignificant for now, and the expansion of cleaner energy such as nuclear, and fuel cell technology in the future can be the better answer to that problem. The batteries are a point of scrutiny in most cars, but Nissan claims that they are recyclable, and even if the cells become too weak for automotive use, they can still be used for stationary applications as energy storage. One last point of contention on Lithium Ion batteries is the fact that the materials have to be mined. Keep in mind, so does the material for your cell phone, iDoodad, laptop, and high-performance R/C car. We’re already mining the materials, it’s wrong to scrutinize the electric car battery when lithium already powers an array of other devices in our lives.

So what does this mean for the piston engine? It means nothing in the short run, but maybe everything in the long run. The electric car is just moving past the point of being a novelty; it’s now a legitimate player. It’s the birth of a new era for the automobile, one that’s deprived of cam shafts, valves, pistons, and gasoline. It’s strange to think that there is going to be a time where the familiar exhaust note is nowhere to be found in new cars. And in part it’s because the electric motor can accomplish everything we want piston engines to do; flat torque curve, smooth power delivery, low noise, low maintenance, efficiency and low center of gravity. As time progresses, outright performances gets better and better as well (Fisker and Tesla want to show you). While the source of power may change and evolve (to one that doesn’t rape the land for battery materials with the impression of environmental goodness), the electric drivetrain is going to make its comeback over the next century.

The 20th century will always be the rise of the gasoline engine. Maybe the 21st will be the rise of the electric motor.

Been wondering where to cash in on your government rebate in recent days? There are lots of great new cars on the market, but EcoModder has picked 5 in particular that have extra appeal when coupled with the government cash for clunkers (CARS) rebate.

1. 2010 Honda Insight

The cheapest hybrid on the market is even cheaper with a fat rebate. If you’ve always wanted a hybrid but have been long-detered by the price premium, this is the perfect time to cash in an on eligible price rebate. The Toyota Prius also becomes much cheaper under this plan, but still can’t beat the Insight’s low price.

Price after rebate: $15,300

2. 2009 Honda Fit

Looking for big value in a little car? The Honda Fit is perfect for people looking to get a lot of car out of a vehicle with a small footprint. The car’s already low price makes it a perfect entry level vehicle or second family car.

Price after rebate: $10,250

3. 2009 VW Jetta TDI

With VW’s oft-lauded diesel models back on sale in all 50-states, a lot of people have been scooping up new TDIs. However, like hybrids, diesels carry a price premium that has prevented many people from capitalizing on their superior gas mileage. With a CARS rebate, this is no longer. You can pick up a manual transmission TDI now for a price comparable to similar gas vehicles without the rebate.

Price after rebate: $17,770

EDIT: VW notes that their clean diesels are also eligible for a further $1,300 government rebate for fuel economy, kicking down the price possibly as low as $16,470.

4. 2009 Smart Fortwo

The Smart Fortwo has always been a small, thrifty vehicle, which has gotten even thriftier with this rebate. You can get the absolute base model for as low as $7,490, or capitalize on Smart’s offer of a $99/month payments on the Fortwo.

5. 2009 Toyota Yaris

If you’re not into hatchbacks but want a cheap, fuel efficient sedan, the Yaris is for you. The Yaris is the smallest car in the Toyota lineup, and is easy on gas while maintaining a small footprint in a traditional sedan form.

Price after rebate: $7,705

Recently the New York Times has run several powerful articles underscoring the dangers of driving distracted, something which I don’t think can be emphasized enough.

When I first got a cell phone a little over a year ago, my home state of New Jersey had just made one of the country’s first hands-free cell phone laws. I thought this was great and eagerly purchased a bluetooth headset for use with my phone and left it at that.

Even so, I tried to avoid talking while driving unless I was on a long-haul highway trip, in which case the phone helped snap me out of highway hypnosis every now and again. However, I began to notice that fuel economy would always take a hit when I was on the phone.

Why? I was distracted. I didn’t think I was being particularly unsafe; I never drifted out of my lane, missed an exit, or had a close call. But, I was clearly distracted.

On top of this I had to follow a friend through city traffic recently. Because of the dense traffic we happened to get separated several times, in which case we called each other on the phone to reestablish our link. The phone, I found, was very distracting. Talking to my friend about where he was in traffic made it even harder to figure out where he was in the sea of cars ahead of me.

And I got terrible mileage.

So here’s a thought: if you can’t put down the phone because it’s not safe (even hands-free is unsafe and I have completely stopped answering when I get calls), remember that every minute spent on the phone will have a negative impact on your fuel economy.

Image: Ryan Harvey

Recently we have been seeing a lot more 3-wheelers than we used to. The Automotive X-Prize competition is full of them, with teams hoping to take advantage of the improved aerodynamics and reduced rolling resistance of 3-wheeled vehicles. While many of these vehicles end up looking like space-age ships (ahem, Aptera) or land rockets, the design principles are sound, and can even be cool.

Just take a look at this recent article by Popular Mechanics that looks at some of the historically cool 3-wheelers out there. Despite being around since the beginnings of the car and motorcycle, these vehicles never really took off. I can see 3 good reasons why that is about to change:

• Fuel efficiency: 3-wheeled designs have greater possibility for fuel efficiency, which is going to be a must as we transition away from gasoline and toward alternatives like batteries or hydrogen.
• Speed: 3-wheelers tend to be fast, very fast. Like motorcycles, often much faster than cars. However, they are safer than motorcycles and offer a more conventional drive for the everyday driver/commuter.
• Fun: For most drivers, the biggest difference in a vehicle’s “fun factor” is how well it handles. While the suspension on the average land boat may be getting better, they will likely never rival the sporty feeling you get behind the wheel of a trike.

I, for one, welcome our 3-wheeled friends to share the streets with us any time!

Though they would have us believe otherwise, in truth the team has been kicked out for failing to completely fill out the registration. The HP2G team is claiming that they left in the latest phases in order to bring their technology to the public in a time of need.

However, that doesn’t jive with the official report from the X-Prize foundation. Nor does it make sense that they would wait all these years to be discredited in the public sphere before rushing to make things public.

Here is the official word from the X-Prize Foundation:

HP2g put out a release last night claiming withdrawal from the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE as well as making some unsubstantiated allegations. I’d like an opportunity to set the record straight:

As you recall, HP2g was one of over 120 teams that entered the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE non-binding Letter of Intent program. While Mr. Pelmear states in his release that HP2G voluntarily withdrew from the competition, HP2g actually did not complete the full Registration Application prior to the deadline and was therefore rejected as a Registered Team.

Hopefully this will end some of the chatter around the car, which has nothing but the false claim of 110+ MPG, which is arrived at if you only count the gasoline portion of E85 and not all the ethanol that the car burns.

For those of us that bought fuel efficient vehicles in the first place, it can sting a little bit to know that the people who made bad vehicle choices in the past are getting $4,500 dollars for a new car while we get nothing.

Well, worry not. This may be of little consolation, but you can now decorate your beautifully used, fuel-efficient clunker with a bumper sticker showing off how great your mileage is.

Personally, I can sport the “My Clunker Gets 60 MPG” sticker. What about you?

With all the new hands-free cell phone laws hitting the books these days, there is a lot of press about the distracted American driver. I am not doubting that. In the old days we had fiddling with the radio. Now we have the cell phone. Soon we will have internet and tv connected cars.

Over the last few years there has been lots of talk about TV and video dash displays in American cars from manufacturers, and lots of argument back from citizens groups opposed to the idea of more distractions on the road.

Well, one thing I have noticed lately is that that dream (nightmare?) is already a reality in Japan. It is not uncommon to see Japanese drivers stopped at lights watching cooking programs or game shows. At night you can see the bright screen lit up in the center consoles of so many cars speeding down the road.

The skeptics are right: once TVs get in cars everyone will be watching. But does that mean they are right that the TV screen will turn drivers into distracted pilots of rolling weapons?

That much, I think, is still up for debate. Of course the driving culture in Japan is different than my home back in the U.S., but unlike my local news, I have yet to see the Japanese TV screen lit up with stories of horrible car accidents and distracted drivers.

Furthermore, my own experience suggests that Japanese drivers are far better, more cautious, and more courteous drivers. Low speeds and narrow roads often mean pulling over to let other cars or pedestrians pass and high volume means a constant need to pay attention.

In my own experience logging hundreds of miles on my bicycle, I have only had one instance where I felt a driver had done something annoying. Even on the busiest roads with no shoulders (including bridges and such) drivers always drive safely.

This experience runs contrary to the idea that technologically connected cars create dangerous drivers. Even if Japanese drivers have a safer baseline, there would be some indication of it if these TV-capable cars really were creating rolling torpedos.

I don’t intend to say distractions aren’t dangerous, but perhaps we should shift our focus from removing distractions to improving drivers and, more extremely, making licenses harder to get.

Photo: Tark Siala

Since complaining about the extreme pollution from diesel buses in Japan the other day, I have noticed something else: it’s not just the buses.

At first I thought it was just the little 50cc scooters because their engine size exempted them from many of the Japanese regulations. Then I thought it was just sub 400cc motorcycles because their regulations were less strict. Eventually I realized there were just as many gas-burners spewing black trails of hydrocarbons as there were diesel buses putting out clouds of particulates.

So, what’s the deal? I certainly did not notice this trend the last time I was up by Tokyo. Perhaps rural emissions standards tend to be lower, like in the U.S. Perhaps no one is paying attention.

Either way, it is taught me a valuable lesson about the strict emissions standards we adhere to in the United States. While some in the industry and elsewhere complain that our emissions standards are overly strict compared to more densely populated regions like Japan and Europe, I tend to disagree.

The general philosophy is that Americans have gone nuts trying to reduce emissions to the point that they are no longer a problem. A little but more and we would never even notice, right? Not quite. Sometimes we take out air quality for granted in the U.S. I can remember looking out over the Philadelphia skyline on any number of occasions and never once thinking about automobile pollution.

However, on any given day in Kumamoto, a small city by most standards, it is hard to see the mountains across the city because they are so obscured by the slight haze the always hangs in the air.

So, don’t be tempted to think U.S. regulations are too strict. They may be expensive and a pain for auto companies, but they keep our air clean and the health and human well-being from that is probably immeasurable.

Okay, I know this isn’t official, but I couldn’t help but stop and take a picture when I saw this today.

The picture was taken out at a Toyota distribution lot in the countryside outside of Kumamoto, Japan. It is a busy lot and the stock is always changing. This is the first of three times that I have ridden my bicycle past it when I saw such a site.

Anyway, doesn’t the iQ look like just the car for America? I would say so.

These last two weeks in Japan I have been painfully aware of two competing types of Japanese drivers: the sleep in the car for 4 hours while it is idling on the side of the road driver and the fuel conscious ecodriver the stops the engine at traffic lights.

The Idler

The Idler is a quintessentially Japanese phenomenon. It may be a taxi driver, construction worker, or just someone eating just-purchased food outside of the convenience store.

Generally you will find the Idler in a parking lot or alongside a less travelled road with the windows up, A/C on, laying back in their seat with their feet up on the dashboard. Depending on what the Idler has for obligations, he might do this for hours at a time, especially if it is a taxi driver trying to keep the cab cool for possible passengers.

Several places in Japan have made this sort of practice illegal because of the pollution and waste of several hours of idling, but it is still incredibly common.

The EcoDriver

Surprisingly, there are also quite a few EcoDrivers in Japan. At first I thought everyone just drove around madly because they had such small cars they got good gas mileage anyway, but I quickly realized that was not the case.

Many times while waiting at stop lights I have heard to roar of engines starting back up when the light goes green. Even some of the city bus drivers are cutting the engine when idling at a light for a long time.

Even more surprisingly, people practice engine off coasting down hills. The other day I was biking out in the countryside to visit a friend of a friend’s tea house, and when returning down the mountain I was tucked in behind a truck with a motorcycle at about 35 mph. When we got to the bottom of the hill a few miles later, the motorcycle’s engine suddenly started up and the ride took off. I didn’t even notice he had the engine off!

Today, in fact, when driving with the owner of the guesthouse I am staying at, I noticed his habit of putting the (automatic) van in neutral when coasting or waiting at stops. Though he doesn’t drive a particularly efficient vehicle or express any concern about gas mileage, he does this simple thing as if it is common sense.

So, are Japanese drivers fuel wasters or fuel savers? I’m not ready to make that conclusion just yet, but it seems that common sense driving practices here have a larger fuel efficiency component than they do back home in the U.S.

It seems like a different European automaker is coming out with a new diesel engine or vehicle option every day. Over here in Japan however, there was quite a lot of hype over one or two diesel cars that might be sold by Honda or Toyota in the United States.

Everyone was excited to see the new generation of cleaner diesels from the Japanese companies. Meanwhile, those companies are already selling diesels in Europe and cutting back on their plans to sell them in the U.S.

Is this a mistake?

I think most of us would admit that diesel has serious image flaws in the United States, but that hasn’t prevented VW’s new TDI models from flying off the showroom floors and generating quite a bit of buzz. However, if we are going to understand the reluctance of Japanese companies to bring diesel anywhere, we need to understand the reality of diesel in Japan.

In Japan, diesel is still relatively restricted to off-road construction equipment, big transport trucks, and soot-spewing public buses. The first time I saw one of these buses I thought “wow, how odd.”

Now I know better. At least 50% of buses in my area will leave a huge cloud of poisonous fumes behind it when leaving from a stop. Because I am riding my bicycle behind these buses many times, I am quite aware of how nasty the situation is, and I assure you I am not exaggerating. It is all I can do sometimes to hold my breath until I get through the worst of it and navigate away from the bus in question.

Why are public buses polluting so badly? I can honestly say that I don’t know what the issue is. Perhaps the same emissions requirements don’t apply to public vehicles or my area just has sub-standard diesel emissions requirements.

Either way, I doubt the Japanese who live with it daily have a more favorable view of the situation. If this were my only experience with diesel, I would hate it too.

It doesn’t take much knowledge about Japan or about cars to guess that the car culture in Japan would be much different, but even expecting these differences it can still be somewhat surprising to see what they actually are.

Staying in Kumamoto City, a ruralish city in Western Japan on the island of Kyushu, I would like to share a few interesting trends I have noticed (wondering if they ever could or should go to North America):

• Station wagons: In Japan, a lot of new cars being sold are station wagons. Tons of them, in fact. Back in the U.S. I wondered why Toyota was doing something as foolish as bringing the Venza to the North American market when nobody liked station wagons anymore. Clearly the wagon has experienced a resurgence here, and it seems to be Honda leading the way. Perhaps Toyota is trying to head off its rival in the North American market.
• Stick shifts: Yesterday, I caught a ride with someone to take me to the local library since I couldn’t find it and she was driving there already, so she figured she’d show me. Her car was one of Japan’s ubiquitous and boxy little things, which has plenty of room to toss my bike in without any disassembly despite having a smaller footprint than a new Honda Civic, was a stick shift. In Japan you can get even minivans and family runabouts in the stick shift variety.
• Magazines: Just browse the magazine aisle of your local Japanese bookstore. You’ll find all sorts of goodies. Recently, in fact, I saw an entire shelf dedicated to publications on Toyota’s Prius. Ever wondered how to drive a third gen Prius most efficiently? There’s a magazine for that! For the new Insight, too.
• Insight II: Speaking of the Insight, April’s #1 seller in Japan, I have already seen quite a few running around during my cross country cycling trips. Americans may think it looks too much like the Prius, but around here it actually stands out from the pack reasonably. Especially when looking at the prices of Honda’s lineup in Japan.

Those are just a few examples. Hopefully, I will be able to do more than scratch the surface on the car culture here, and I may even be able to bring you a few pages of one of those fancy Prius driving guides! Let me know if there’s anything particular to the Japanese market you want me to check out.

It’s no secret that I am not a big fan of Elon Musk or the way that he leads the company. From calling reporters nasty names to deceptively overhyping new products, it feels like Musk is going to the extreme just to drum up any sort of press he can for Tesla Motors.

Now Musk is up to it again. Except this time, instead of over-representing the value of his company’s products he is lying about the products that his competitors produce. From ABG:

In a recent interview discussing Tesla Motors, CEO Elon Musk didn’t really reveal much new information, although he did manage to misrepresent the performance capability of the Chevy Volt, again. He refers to the Volt’s range extender as a “lawn mower engine” and says highway performance “will be anemic.” While the Volt will no doubt feel anemic next to a Roadster, the reality is that the 160-horsepower electric motor will provide more than adequate performance for almost anyone’s needs and should accelerate to 60 mph in about 8.5-9 seconds.

This reminds me of the recent Chevy ad where the company teases Honda about its superior line of lawnmowers. While people who know about quality engine design know that Honda has good lawnmowers because they have good engines, the association between a car and a lawnmower is an entirely negative one.

Musk just doesn’t seem comfortable with competition. Neither of the cars have been released yet, with the Model S even further away than the Volt, but already he is waging a nasty marketing campaign against it.

Perhaps he’s worried that Tesla Roaster sales don’t seem to be going anywhere.

Since we last reported on the situation, the two sides have come to an agreement on how to move forward with the scrappage scheme. Both sides have compromised, and a lot of the worst parts (like that American-only clause) have been stripped from the proposal, but it’s still nothing to be happy about.

Having become even more jaded to the idea, I chalk this up to nothing but industry stimulus with a damaging and dangerous veil of greenwashing draped over top of it. Here are the plan specifics:

• Passenger cars: Cars that get under 18 mpg will be eligible for trade-in on new cars getting over 22 mpg. The rebate will be $3,500 unless the mpg differential will be 10 or more, in which case you’ll get a $4,500 rebate.
• Light-duty trucks: Trucks under 18 mpg can be traded in for trucks over 18 mpg. $3,500 for a 2 mpg difference and $4,500 for a 5 mpg difference.
• Large light-duty trucks: Trucks under 15 mpg can be traded in for large trucks that get 1 mpg better mileage and a $3,500 voucher. If you somehow manage to find a truck with 2 mpg better, you get $4,500.
• Work trucks: These trucks have no EPA rating, but if you trade in a pre-2002 vehicle for a new vehicle of the same or smaller class, you’ll get a $3,500 voucher.

Rewarding mediocrity

So here’s the proposal: $3,500 to buy a car with a dismal 22 mpg rating. That’s just terrible. If the government is going to be giving out lots of money, why not at least require some better fuel economy ratings? The same goes for trucks. I realize that large trucks get bad mileage, but there are enough choices out there that we can require more than 1 mpg of difference. Wouldn’t stricter rebate requirements also push automakers to improve so they qualify?

I just don’t get it. It seems like a lot of money for not much improvement in fuel economy. Then when you consider the high environmental cost of producing new cars and large trucks, this deal seems even worse. Why are we encouraging consumers to turn in a 15 mpg truck for a 16 mpg truck? A 2001 panel van for a 2010 panel van? That kind of turnover does nothing but prop up the truck industry that dragged our nation’s fuel economy into the gutter in the first place.

What a terrible waste. I really hope this legislation doesn’t pass, but I doubt there is any hope in stopping it. If people learn how to get better gas mileage with their current car, they could easily outpace a 1, 2 or 4 mpg increase without having to buy a new vehicle.

Last month Tata decided that they would begin to sell their Nano by selling pre-orders for the car and then randomly choosing 100,000 of the pre-orders to actually take possession of the new vehicle.

It’s unfortunate for the company that they cannot magically produce 203,000 of the new, ultra-cheap car for the Indian market, but surely they are happy knowing that even in this global downturn they will have sold all of their vehicles well in advance for the foreseeable future.

The Tata Nano, while only being available in India for now, is sure to change the landscape of the global auto industry. This vehicle is so cheap that it will allow a whole new class of Indians to get behind the wheel, sure to cause increased traffic, vehicle fatalities, pollution, and fuel consumption that come with the other joys of car ownership.

However, no one is sure if that doomsday scenario will really play out on India’s streets, or if the people and the country will be able to deal with the flood of inexpensive cars about to hit the road.

Source: ABG

At a panel discussion during the 2009 New York International Auto Show, the inevitable question came up: should we focus on one green technology or continue our scattered approach to things? Henrik Fisker, the charismatic man at the helm of Fisker Automotive, had an answer that surprised me: we should explore every avenue, except mild hybrids. According to him they were a short term solution at best, and much of the investment in them is wasted money.

Since then I have been thinking about the pros and cons of investment in mild hybrid technology. While hybrids like the Toyota Prius have certainly enjoyed their fair share of commercial success, there are good arguments on both sides of the issue.

3 Reasons Mild Hybrid Investment is Wasted

1. Mild hybrids may reduce our fuel consumption, but they are not a substitute for petroleum based fuels. Using less gas may be great, but is it worth money that could go to developing non-petroleum transport technologies?
2. Fuel efficient technologies already exist. Small cars and diesels have had the potential to get great fuel economy for decades; it would require less money and less waiting to just cut the fat.
3. Hybrid technology is still a bandage for inefficient vehicles. While the Prius may be popular, more money is being spent on making SUV, trucks, and luxury cars into hybrids than vehicles with any decent fuel economy potential. Cadalac Escalade hybrid, anyone?

3 Reasons to Keep Investing in Mild Hybrids

1. They save fuel. Like it or not, internal combustion engines are going to be in the United States and the world for decades. We might as well develop the technology to save fuel over that long term.
2. Mild hybrid technology is profitable and affordable. Compared to other technologies like battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell, it’s actually possible to purchase and afford mild hybrids.
3. The technology builds consumer acceptance of environmental automobiles. Unlike many skeptics predicted when the Insight first came to the United States, people aren’t getting shocked to death by their cars or having the electric motors blow up and fail on a daily basis.

So, is Fisker right? Is money invested in mild hybrid technology a waste? It’s clear that he has an agenda to sell his own plug-in electric vehicles, but I think he may be on to something. The economical Geo Metro is still competitive with the Prius in terms of fuel economy, but such conventional technology has all but given way to modern hybrids. Perhaps a return to the basics and renewed focus on conservation would do more than all the world’s advance hybrid drivetrains put together.

What do you think?

Photo: kbass941

It’s not official yet, but it’s getting close: the United States may have its own cash for clunkers plan in the works. Notably, the United Kingdom just instituted their own cash for clunkers plan, though that plan is short term and relies on the voluntary participation of automakers.

Unlike the UK program, the two plans floating around the US legislature right now focus on getting vehicles with below average fuel economy off the roads.

Plan #1: Cash for American autos

One of the plans will offer up to $5000 to the purchase of a new car. However, there are a few pretty big catches:

• Only American cars can receive the full $5000;
• Cars manufactured elsewhere in North America will receive less;
• Foreign cars will receive nothing;
• Cars must get 27 mpg (trucks 24 mpg) to qualify.

Frankly, this plan is a bad one. Right now the Japanese and European automakers are the ones with high mileage cars ready in other markets and having the government price them out of business is not going to encourage them to sell them here. Who is going to buy the fuel-efficient Toyota Yaris when relatively inefficient Chevy Aveo costs $5000? I’m not economically conservative by anyone’s yardstick, but protecting our failing auto industry with incentives is not going to help the country in the long term.

Plan #2: Cash for inefficient vehicles

The other plan will give tax credits of up to $4,500 dollars to consumers who trade in vehicles that get less than 18 mpg and purchase vehicles that get at least 25% better mileage than the segment average.

This plan is a much better one. Instead of picking arbitrary fuel economy targets, it encourages a constant increase in fuel economy in terms of a percent above the average. This means perpetual innovation without the need to legislate every few years. Furthermore, it is the most inefficient vehicles that will benefit for higher mileage. A 25% increase in fuel economy on a full-size truck will save more than a corresponding increase on a Prius.

Photo: kbass941

It’s official: the UK is going to start giving incentives for drivers to trade in their 10 year or older car. The reason? To get older, less efficient, more polluting vehicles off the road. According to the government, there are almost 10 million passenger vehicles and 1 million commercial vehicles on the road in the UK that will qualify for the scrappage credit, meaning a lot of people could soon be buying new cars.

The plan will work in a number of ways:

• Auto manufacturers and the government will split the bill 50/50, meaning that it won’t be all government money going to this program.
• Participation is voluntary for the automakers.
• There are only about £300 million of government funding available for the project, which is intended to run from May of this year until the middle of next year, or until those funds run out.
• The car must’ve been registered before July 31, 1999 in the UK in order to be eligible; you can’t import cars just to capitalize on the credit.
• The credit will go towards the purchase of a new car.

Scrappage Scheme: A boon for UK auto sales

Under the plan there are about 11 million cars that could be scrapped in order to purchase new cars. The global auto industry is clearly in dire straights, so this plan may be a good way to mesh environmental responsibility with economic stimulus.

This is the angle that the government and automakers are pushing. They hope that getting old cars off the road will help reduce air pollution as well as CO2 production from the current UK fleet.

But is it greenwashing?

The jury is still out on this, but my gut tells me that yes, it is. A 16% decrease in CO2 emissions doesn’t sound like much of a benefit when you consider the CO2 that will escape during the scrappage and production of 11 million new cars. While I don’t have any numbers to support this, common sense and an old adage go a long way in this sort of situation: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Outside of most major cities, air pollution from automobiles is a decreasing problem. Amid the natural turnover of older vehicles, old cars represent a smaller percentage of vehicles and play a smaller role in the total air pollution picture. In time, these older cars will be all but gone on their own, without artificially increasing the rate of production and destruction of vehicles.

On a personal note

It has been my rule for a few years that I won’t buy a new car until I can find a new car that can easily beat the fuel economy of my 1991 Honda CRX on the highway. While some cars could trounce me in the city, most of my mileage is on the highway, and I still haven’t seen an affordable car hit the market that can get 65 mpg on the highway so I won’t be turning in my car anytime soon.

What about you? Would you go for the scrappage program if it were available to you?

Source: Treehugger

Once seen as a stopgap between conventional internal combustion engines and full battery electric vehicles, hybrid technology wasn’t given much of a lifespan. There was an assumption that the hybrid gasoline-electric hybrids would stick around for a decade or so while battery and fuel cell technology picked up to a point where they could completely take over.

These days, however, it seems like the battery takeover time is much further down the road and that hybrids (and plug-in hybrids) will be here for much longer than anyone had anticipated. Part of the reason is that hybrids have achieved a level of consumer acceptance that still doesn’t exist for battery electric vehicles. While hybrids are road-proven, most people still think of electric cars as fantasies or crushed hunks of metal at a General Motors scrapyard.

Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see that Honda, a company that is notable for producing the world’s first production hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, will be extending the outlook of hybrids:

But hybrids have stayed in limelight longer than we expected. Today, an increasing number of people think that hybrids will remain a player 2-3 times longer, until fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles begin [gaining share]. Hybrid technology is also applied to fuel cell vehicles, range-extender vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles. Thus, instead of being a bridge technology, hybrids are expected to remain in the mainstream for quite some time.

You would assume the company would be promoting a quick shift away from conventional ICE and hybrid technology to a fuel cell platform, but it seems as though the serious doubts about the viability of that and battery technologies will even further postpone their adoption.

Source: GCC

Everyday dozens of quality news stories are published about green car stuff on the blogosphere. At EcoModder we try to talk about the best and most interesting, but we never cover it all. We do, however, read it all. If you’ve ever wondered what some of the best sources of green car news are, you need to check out these 4 blogs:

1. Autobloggreen: ABG is the source of green news on the web. If they don’t cover it all, no one does. Be wary of a high density of quips and abbreviated editioralizing on their short-format blog posts.
2. Green Car Congress: GCC is for those of you who want the nitty gritty details. Ever wanted to know detailed specs on concepts cars or look at some good graphs or figures on driving trends? This is the place!
3. Treehugger: Author Michael Graham Richard takes on the auto issue from the standpoint of a complete greenie. TH is a great source of further information on rail and pedal-powered news.
4. Wired Autopia: Autopia may be a blog about cars, but they have more than their fair share about green car news popping up on there. Their longer, in-depth format makes the blog a joy to read.

Well, there you have it. The 4 main blogs that we follow here for green car news. What about you? Do you have any blogs that you would add to the list?