The idea of paying for your insurance by the mile is not new. MileMeter, in Texas, offers pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) rates and California has been using mileage brackets to set insurance rates for years. A new, more precise PAYD system is under discussion in California that would give people who drive less a financial incentive to do keep doing so – and maybe convince people on the fence to find an alternative when possible.

State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner recently issued regulations on what PAYD mileage verification plans could look like. It's likely that people with PAYD would think twice when getting behind the wheel and combine trips when possible. The Brookings Institution studied PAYD last year and found that driving would drop by eight percent if all U.S. drivers were under a PAYD system. Also, two-thirds of U.S. households would save an average of $270.

MileMeter is looking to expand to California, and MileMeter founder and CEO Chris Gay told the Sacramento Bee that, "Our take is that half the market out there is being overcharged and underserved – and that's who we aim to address." The bigger insurance companies are looking into PAYD, but have not yet decided to offer it in California. This is an idea that easy to implement and, in lieu of higher gasoline taxes, could have a dramatic impact.

[Source: Sacramento Bee via MMN]
Photo by Wouter Kiel. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Things are looking up for Azure Dynamics these days. After inking a deal to help Ford with the development and production of the Transit Connect BEV next year, the company has a new order for its hybrid delivery vans. FedEx has signed up to take on another 51 of the vans based on Ford's E450 cutaway chassis. Once the new vans are delivered by the end of this year, FedEx will have 325 hybrid and electric vans in its fleet and its Bronx, New York facility will be the first all-hybrid depot in the U.S. The Bronx depot will have 100 hybrid delivery trucks in service. FedEx already has 25 Azure trucks in its fleet and the new additions join another 92 trucks that were retrofitted with hybrid systems earlier this year. Since introducing its first hybrid in 2004, Fedex has accumulated four million miles on them.

[Source: Fedex]

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A big piece of the end-of-life plan for lithium batteries is recycling and there is only one place in North America currently capable of carrying out that procedure. That facility, owned and operated by Toxco Waste Management in southeastern British Columbia, experienced a large fire last Saturday after suffering through a series of explosions. The event, which happened after-hours, seems to have started in a lithium storage building and created an impressive fireworks display for about 45 minutes. No one was hurt and the main facility remained unscathed, though firefighters at the scene couldn't use their hoses to put out the lithium-fire since it is reactive to water. Officials reportedly were told the explosions produced sulphur dioxide and lithium hydroxide emissions. A statement on Toxco's website addressing the incident says, "The fire did not result in any negative impacts to the environment of the surrounding area." British Columbia Environment Ministry officials have visited the site to make their own assessment.

Lithium batteries from across the US and Canada, mostly from phones and laptops, are stored at the site in earth-covered bunkers chilled to -324 degrees. The low temperature is supposed to make the chemicals inert and prevent incidents like this from happening. The exact cause of the fire is under investigation though arson is not suspected. Toxco, which has a recycling agreement with Tesla Motors, has plans to add lithium battery recycling to their pre-existing facility in Ohio. Thanks to Jeff for the tip!

[Source: The Globe and Mail / Vancouver Sun]

Last week, Renault announced it will build the Twizy EV in Spain starting in 2011 and plug-in vehicle batteries and the Zoe Z.E. in France in 2012. But Renault's push to bring electric cars to market soon don't stop there, they've got a trinity to complete. Today, Renault said it build the all-electric Kangoo Van in early 2011 in Northern France. The Kangoo will be built at Renault's M.C.A. (Maubeuge Construction Automobile plant where the automaker also builds standard Kangoos and Renault has been building vans for twenty years.

The production van won't look like the concept be bop version that Renault unveiled in May (above), but it "will be designed for professionals, primarily for urban and suburban use," Renault says. The Kangoo, along with the sporty Zoe and the city-dwelling Twizy, gives Renault a varied collection of all-electric vehicles that, possiblye, everyday drivers will be able to buy in two or three years. Throw in alliance partner Nissan's Leaf and you're looking at the most-developed EV line-up around.


[Source: Renault]

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At last January's Consumer Electronics Show, Garmin announced a new optional extra for its Nuvi GPS system. The Eco-Route adds the ability for 1xxx series Nuvis to display a variety of vehicle information about what is going on in the engine. The cable plugs into the cars OBD-II diagnostic communications port to read out an array of data including fuel and air information, throttle position, combustion mixture and more. The system also includes a driving challenge that users can use to help train themselves to drive more efficiently. In addition, the Nuvi now allows drivers to select a more economical route that may or may not be the fastest or shortest route. The connection cable is priced at $149 but no on-sale date has been announced. It could be shipping before the end of the year or early 2010.


[Source: GPSCity via Engadget]

Low-speed, neighborhood electric vehicles are an interesting case. No one thinks of them as "real cars" – although the Wheego Whip, above, tries to be the Cadillac of NEVs – but they certainly serve a purpose and can meet the transportation needs of some people, some of the time. But, should they be free?

Keith Andrews, president of Fairplay Cars, sent in some background information about a controversy brewing in Oklahoma that, at least for now, makes some NEVs effectively free. The state offers a huge tax credit towards purchasing an NEV, but the Oklahoma Tax Commission is campaigning to "black list a significant number of street legal electric cars from the states healthy tax credits now in place," Andrews wrote. The trouble revolves around the difference between a LSV and a golf cart. According to Andrews, the low-speed vehicle makers in favor of the plan pointed out in court that Oklahoma has already defined what is and is not a low-speed vehicle – based on NHTSA rules – and therefore "should adhere to its own standard and confirm approval of all LSV's that qualify on the Federal level." The Oklahoma Tax Commission has promised to appeal to the state Supreme Court, saying the decision could cost the state over $40 million. Read more from Andrews after the jump.

[Source: News 9, WSJ, Keith Andrews]

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After much hemming and hawing, General Motors will reportedly build a version of the Cadillac Converj, the gorgeous but awkwardly named extended-range coupe concept first shown at last year's Detroit Auto Show. According to The Detroit News, the Converj will probably take a few years to reach dealer showrooms, as GM will first direct its efforts on launching the Chevrolet Volt, the more affordable sedan with which it is likely to share much of its Voltec drivetrain architecture.

From where we sit, the Converj seems like a natural move for GM, as Cadillac's higher margins should help offset the research, development, and production costs of everything from the Volt's lithium ion batteries to its motors and control modules. For its part, however, Cadillac is still declining to comment on the story, and the DetNews story doesn't name a source.

Either way, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz has previously gone on record as a champion of a production Converj, and he has said that a serial version would look very similar to the 2009 showcar – in much the same way that the Camaro evolved from concept to production. As the concept was gorgeous, we're down with that – we only hope it doesn't take as long to build as the Bowtie's broad-shouldered muscle car.




[Source: The Detroit News]

The first new team to disclose that they will compete in the 2010 TTXGP electric superbike events has just thrown its hat into the ring. SWIGZ.COM Pro Racing and its AMA pro rider Chip Yates will do battle at the Isle of Man event, the 4 scheduled UK races, the American race at Infineon and any as-yet-unannounced FIM international and American events. While they could use one of the new Mavizen TTX02 mounts being created for new competitors, they plan on building a bike of their own instead and have enlisted the aid of a program director, several engineers and a designer whose previous experiences includes work on helicopters and unmanned aircraft. While we can only imagine the look of the final road-ready craft, we are pretty sure it won't resemble in any fashion our own feeble attempt at photochopping the Swigz bottle you see pictured above.

It's said that the new bike is already in the early stages of development and they hope to have a fully functioning machine early in the first quarter of 2010. The next phase of their program will see the team split, with some going to the UK to establish a European base and make duplicate back-up bikes. Yates, who is a mechanical engineer and has a Master's degree in business, will be very involved with the development and plans on taking commercial advantage of intellectual property produced in the effort. This fierce competitor and former Boeing employee already holds 7 U.S. patents pertaining to automotive drivetrains currently in use by Gil de Ferran's IndyCar program and Jeep Cherokees produced since 1999. Chip sums up the teams approach to the new bike thusly,

This superbike program requires a much different approach from electric vehicles we've seen especially as it relates to weight and range. Our engineering strategy is to optimize the power, weight and range of the bike specifically around target laptimes for the tracks we will be competing on in the U.K., Europe, and in the U.S.A. Given the relatively short race distances, our simulations show us exactly what battery capacity and motor performance is needed to turn laptimes competitive to a 600cc internal combustion powered racebike. We understand and embrace the technical challenges and are prepared to do heavy lifting to advance the state of the art to meet our expectations for a legitimate lightweight and exciting superbike.

It all leads us to believe this upcoming racing season should be as interesting from a technological standpoint as it will be from a competitive one. Game on!

[Source: RoadRacing World]

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Aside from fuels, one of the biggest uses of petroleum is in the production of polymer materials like plastics. Just as automakers have attempted to reduce the use of petroleum-based fuels, researchers are also working on reducing the other dino juice applications.

One of the best known applications of bio-plastics to date is the soy-foam seats used by Ford that debuted in the 2008 Mustang. The new foam cushioning material has since been added to other cars in the lineup.

A new study from Utrecht University in the Netherlands indicates that bio-plastics, while a small business today today, could expand rapidly in the next decade. The researchers estimate that these new materials could supplant 90 percent of all petrochemical plastics over time. No specific timing is given for when that level might be reached, but it will likely take many years. In the meantime, we could make a huge difference by just eliminating all the blister packs used in product packaging.

[Source: GreenCarCongress]

EV business may be booming soon

I dropped by the Center for Automotive Research's (CAR) "The Business of Plugging In" conference in Detroit recently and came away with a collection of quotes and useful information from movers and shakers working to make vehicle electrification happen.

Most reasonable observers understand that electric vehicles will not replace liquid-fueled vehicles in large numbers any time soon due to their three key disadvantages of high battery cost, limited driving range and long recharge times. But everyone sees that they will become an increasingly viable alternative as automakers respond to growing consumer demand and ever-toughening fuel economy standards.

Respected research firm J.D. Power and Associates forecasts that, while 90 percent of U.S. light vehicles sales today are gasoline-powered (most of the other 10 percent are flex-fuels and diesels), the gas-only share will decline to about 80 percent in 2012 and less than 75 percent by 2016. Part of the alternative-energy 25 percent will be 1.5 million gas-electric hybrids (about nine percent of projected total sales), including plug-ins.

Power's good-news predictions: the number of hybrid models available in the U.S. will increase from 22 today to more than 100 by 2015, and the number of "pure" (battery only) EV models will swell from one (the Tesla roadster) to at least 13 by 2012. Bad news for pure EV fans: Power says just 0.5 percent of sales (fewer than 100K units) will be pure EVs by 2015. There's more after the jump.

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