So it's time to go...I'm sitting in the airport waiting for my (ever so inefficient) airplane so that I can increase my carbon footprint by like 50% for the year...and I have to wonder...was it worth it?
The Los Angeles Auto Show is about showcasing green technology, and in a year when the greenest new car gets 21 mpg (though, it is a giant SUV,) there obviously wasn't too much happening right now that was interesting.
Sure, we're getting a new small car in America from Chevy. There are a couple new hybrid versions of existing vehicles and soon we'll have the first hybrid full-size truck in the form of the Silverado. But this year's show was a lot more about the future than the present. That's something I can appreciate, even if it's a little bit disappointing.
There aren't going to be enough hydrogen fueling stations in the Los Angeles area to support fuel cell vehicles for at least another five years, and other areas of the country are far behind them. But car companies are preparing for that future, and Honda and GM both have plans to get fuel cell vehicles into the hands of consumers (GM this winter, Honda next summer.) While both Volkswagon and Toyota were showing off their own fuel cell concepts.
And as I continue to chat up fuel cell engineers and tell them that their technology, with current infrastructure, is unfortunately DOA, they insist on reminding me that we can't solve this problem instantaneously. The hydrogen economy is going to take a long time to take off...if it ever does.
But everyone agrees (except Toyota) that the Volt is a game-changer. Once the technology is delivered, it will work for everyone who has a 110 volt plug in their house. In America, that's everyone. It will decrease gasoline consumption by as much as 90% for everyone who uses it and the technology (GM insists) exists and only needs to be modified and molded into the form of the car.
So, much to the chagrin of fuel cell engineers who have spent a full decade and a billion dollars developing their technology, the real story of the green future of cars was only announced a year ago. Electric cars! Who would've thought...besides all of us, who've been asking them to invest in battery technology for the last decade. Finally it's caught on...so, for now, we're gonna stop complaining.
EcoGeek's coverage of the LA Auto Show was underwritten by the General Motors Company, which, we agree, is very strange since we say some fairly mean things about them with some regularity. The only condition of their assistance (travel and lodging) is that I disclose it, which, of course, I would have done anyway.
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written by Say no to fuel cell, November 16, 2007
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written by Ethan, November 16, 2007
As long as most people out there are going to buy a car in the size and shape they want, then the gas guzzlers are the most important target to hit.
For every 10000 city miles a civic hybrd drives, it saves 83 gallons of gas compared to a non-hybrid. For every 10000 city miles a chevy tahoe hybrid drives it saves 238 gallons -- almost 3 times as much!
If the 10000 miles is half highway, then the savings are 69 and 154 gallons respectively.
If we want to cut down carbon emissions from cars as quickly as possible, it is probably much more effective to give tax credits to make hybrid behemoths than to try to convince the people buying cars that they could make do with a smaller car.
I own a prius, but I'm also reading this blog. The only ways to make the public green is to either give them what they want with more efficiency (like the tahoe hybrid) or tax gas so much that they can't possibly afford to drive a big car -- which would be VERY unpopular with the guy who bought a hummer last week since he now can't afford to drive his car.
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written by Rubab, November 16, 2007
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written by zupakomputer, November 16, 2007
I'm not going to take digs at those who are at the least in the right area, even when it's commercially motivated, because there's just way too many that are not there in those areas at all - nor are they making any attempt to be, and they are far more deserving of any wrath. But I'm also not inclined to hold back and be 'nice' about the cold hard facts either.
We need to acknowledge some things, such as - we shouldn't have paved over the land in the ways we have.
Blowing up mountains to move them elsewhere is insane.
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written by Celainea, November 16, 2007
The original diesel engine was designed to run on cooking oil and can still easily be converted to do so. This would cut the gas guzzler consumption down considerably. Truckers across the Nation are already getting into it. Their huge vehicles run more efficiently and cleaner.
I've been waiting 40 years for hover crafts. I love electric vehicles, but not everyone has easy access to a plug. Take high rise apartment dwellers for instance. Steam engines came out with the Model T's and as many people have water hoses as electrical access. Maybe we should think about those too.
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written by Enzer Miliard, November 16, 2007
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written by jfwells, November 16, 2007
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written by FallenKnight, November 16, 2007
I also don't think electric cars are the way to go, unless power companies are going to implement sustainable energy to generate electricity. After 15-20 years of electric vehicles, I'm sure power companies would raise their rates for no readily apparent reason, just like the gas companies are doing now.
When people stop buying into hype and educate themselves we will finally see real progress in the American auto industry.
For the record, I drive a 1986 VW GTI that gets 35 mpg and will carry almost as much gear as all but the biggest SUVs out there.
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written by Jaime, November 16, 2007
Hydrogen is also a great way to go when you think about a new Hydrogen economy that can create jobs and clean energy for our cars. At the same time, if we have too many of these cars discharging vapor in the atmosphere would't we be affecting climate change all over again? Even with this last doubt I would go for Hydrogen, as long as it is not the only technology developed out there. This is not a one way solution as many things in real life aren't.
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written by jules, November 17, 2007
Now, what are these people thinking in giving the award to an SUV? 21 mpg is still pathetic. Of course better than 14, but pathetic.
I remember my childhood in Madrid, and we did all things in small car. We hauled toys, entire families and pets, in Minis, Fiats and even Vespas with sidecars. My friends still do it over there. Gas prices should hit $9 a gallon for the US to start changing habits. Sad but true, the only way to change behavior in people is hitting their pocket...I love this country, but some things just are not right...
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written by iamian, November 17, 2007
Given the government numbers on emissions of the US power plant mix and the amount of energy it takes for an EV power system vehicle... It works out that a EV pollutes about as much as a 100MPG Gasoline car if all the electrical power comes from the dirty coal burning power plants... and up infinity MPG gasoline car when the energy comes from renewable energy like solar , wind , hydroelectric etc...
and EVs are cheaper to maintain and run...
and the Electricity is cheaper than gasoline...
and building a new solar , wind ,or hydroelectric power plant is easier , and cheaper than making more fossil fuels like oil to continue running on gasoline...
And the US Energy mix from power plants has been getting greener on its own as new laws come out and greener energy gets mixed in...
Power plants are companies .. they want to sell their product... which happens to be electricity... if fossil fuels become to expensive to stay in business they will switch other to renewable to increase profits having nothing to do with being greener.. if the power plant can not produce enough energy to keep up with demand, they will build more power plants to sell more power... if they don't a competitor power company will... oil companies can only find so much oil... no matter how much people want to buy it we use it faster than nature makes it.
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NOV 15
"21mpg and green, and then all this slobbering on your part? You sir, ..."
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