Recent Comments:
The wait is over. First U.S. Nissan GT-R delivered at 12:01 AM {Autoblog}
Jul 7th 2008 8:17PM A tech at my local Nissan dealer here in South East Michigan told me they have approximately $50,000 in dealership costs to be allowed to sell a GT-R. They had to send a tech to training, a new alignment machine was needed because the car sits lower than anything else they sell, and some more random pieces of kit had to be added to their facilities. Since they are planning to receive two cars, they plan on splitting the cost of their investment over the two cars, for a $25k mark-up a piece. I wonder if they will loose the rights to sell the car after those two make it off the showroom floor.
Wartsila and MAN join forces to produce clean and efficient marine diesel engines {Autoblog Green}
Oct 18th 2006 3:16PM I admit that my numbers definitely do not reflect state of the art, but that wasn't my goal.
Palm oil prices rising rapidly {Autoblog Green}
Aug 28th 2006 12:31PM While I am fully aware that other vegetable oils are available, it is to be expected that prices for other sources will follow the curve seen with palm oil, which could eventually impact the cost of biodiesel. Even if prices do stay low, sustainability should be a major concern.
Clearly, higher yield sources for biofuels in general are available, but these either require more research, or a major change in what farmers are currently growing. The majority of ethanol plants use corn as the feedstock, not because it's the most efficient of sources, but because it is readily available, and there is a large lobby pushing it.
For your eyes only: MINI owners get private marketing {Autoblog}
Aug 11th 2006 2:15PM I'm one of the lucky MINI owners that received the book in the mail, containing the special glasses. They should have spent the advertising dollars on the updated MINI instead for me to buy an other one. The interior looks especially cheap. Thanks, but no thanks.
Tesla Roadster unveiled in Santa Monica {Autoblog Green}
Jul 20th 2006 10:17AM The car was designed in little over three years with the help of some seasoned professionals (from companies like Lotus, which have substantial experience in designing vehicle like this).
Cycles for production vehicles of the established manufacturers are close to three years, and are substantially more complex, since they have to establish the manufacturing process for mass production on top of the vehicle design.
BMW diesel cars in U.S. by 2008 {Autoblog Green}
Jul 20th 2006 10:05AM While the diesel engine's efficiency varies with load and rpm, it doesn't vary nearly as much as a gasoline engine. Gasoline engines vary load by throtteling, a very inefficient process.
What you are proposing, a series hybrid that uses ultra-capacitors instead of batteries is being pursued actively by a few companies, but the technology is probably not mature enough for mass production, and ultra-cap costs are not for everyone's budget. Some information on an ultra-cap design for a bus can be found here:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/04/26/ultra-capacitors-making-electric-hybrids-more-efficient/
There's also the AFS Trinity, which is a passenger car concept. The specs are still pretty vague on this one.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/05/05/full-assist-or-mild-extreme/
AutoblogGreen for 06.30.06 {Autoblog}
Jun 30th 2006 8:24AM The image of the Dodge Charger (yes, it's got a Hemi) with the list of Autobloggreen posts is somewhat ironic.
Significantly lower car fuel use in Germany by 2025 {Autoblog Green}
Jun 29th 2006 5:59PM The population decline for Germany by 2025 is predicted to be about 5%, not 25%. While the native German population is predicted to go down a bit more than 5%, continued immigration reduces the overall reduction in population.
New affordable solar panel production method {Autoblog Green}
Jun 29th 2006 4:58PM I actually read some more about this company and the technology after writing the post. It turns out that the conversion efficiency of solar panels made with this production method is lower than the traditional silicon approach (14% vs 20%). Also, the company uses copper and indium to create the thin films. Both materials have gone through some serious price swings, which will affect their bottom line (indium is as scarce as silver).
Hydrogen hybrid Prius cars arrive in Golden State {Autoblog Green}
Jun 19th 2006 2:23PM Don't confuse efficiency with range.
The engine in the Prius concept is run on hydrogen instead of gasoline. Running a gasoline engine on hydrogen allows for lean fuel air mixtures and enables higher compression ratios. This results in a higher efficiency for the hydrogen powered engine. For equal amounts of energy entering the engine, the hydrogen engine will produce more energy.
However, since the engine is being run with lean fuel air mixtures to keep emissions and combustion temperatures at a reasonable level, the maximum power will be lower for the hydrogen engine.
Also, hydrogen has a lower energy density compared to gasoline. If you had a hydrogen tank that was able to hold the same amount of energy (not the same amount of gallons!) as the gasoline tank, your hydrogen powered car would be able to travel further, because of its higher efficiency.
Easier said than done though, your hydrogen tank would have to be about 4 times the size of the gasoline tank, and it needs to be cooled continuously to keep the hydrogen in liquid form. If the hydrogen is stored at high pressures in gaseous form, an even bigger tank is needed (and I believe these prototypes store hydrogen in gaseous forms). That is why the range for these cars will be significantly less than their gasoline powered versions.
