Mercedes-Benz CEO Dieter Zetsche told Motor Trend this week that increased cost was not going to be an issue for his company to meet new fuel economy standards. Obviously getting improved efficiency out of powertrains would make them more expensive as they have to meet U.S. CAFE and European CO₂ emissions limits. However, while U.S. executives like Bob Lutz are talking about adding $5,000 or more to the price to meet 35mpg standards, Zetsche looks at it differently. The use of clean diesels, HCCI DiesOtto engines, hybrids and fuel cells will raise prices. The higher initial purchase price will be offset for customers through reduced operating costs. According to Zetsche, if the cost premium can be recovered through fuel savings in the first 3-4 years of driving than customers will be satisfied. Mercedes also intends to protect their ten percent profit margins through increased efficiencies in other areas of the vehicle. That probably means that Mercedes owners will give up some features for improved efficiency. Of course for a premium brand like Mercedes, it's a lot easier to talk about protecting margins than it is for mainstream brands like GM and Ford. Being largely rid of the burden of Chrysler probably doesn't hurt either. Finally Zetsche says an S-Class diesel hybrid will debut in two years with DiesOtto engines about 3-5 years out.

[Source: Motor Trend]

Better late than never, right? It's totally my fault that AutoblogGreen Podcast #12 is so late in coming, but here it is! Episode 12 is a Frankfurt recap show, and John Neff from Autoblog.com joins Sebastian and Sam to talk about some of the highlights of the dual-personality (green and not so green) Frankfurt Motor Show. There's lots of discussion about the coming E-Flex versus Hybrid Synergy Drive smackdown, the 17 new models coming from Mercedes by 2010, many of them diesels, the Volvo C30 Efficiency kicks off discussion about plucking the low-hanging efficiency fruit, and the 'cast wraps up with further punditry about Diesel regs in the US versus the EU. It's a wide-ranging discussion clocking in at 41 minutes, enjoy!

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Roundabouts... I can honestly say that I've never found myself in one. Living here in Ohio, the traffic congestion is really not all that bad, for the most part. I hear that some cities near Detroit may be getting some roundabouts, though, so perhaps I will drive in one soon enough. Anyway, some people have problems in roundabouts, they get stuck and are not sure how or when to get out of them properly. Most Americans are more familiar with the good old stop sign or traffic light, so that is what we have the most of. Unfortunately, the roundabout is much more efficient at getting traffic flowing, and according to this posting, much more environmentally friendly to boot. This, of course, assumes that drivers can figure them out and don't drive in endless loops, burning off their tank of gas in the process. Hey look kids, there's Big Ben, and there's Parliament.

[Source: Triple Pundit]

Apparently there are only two 40+ mpg non-hybrid vehicles available on the U.S. market, but do you own one? We know you read AutoblogGreen, but just how fuel efficient is your vehicle?

Vote now.

Just how fuel efficient is your vehicle?
	10 mpg (23 L / 100 km)
	15 mpg (15.7 L / 100 km)
	20 mpg (11.8 L / 100 km)
	25 mpg (9.4 L / 100 km)
	30 mpg (7.8 L / 100 km)
	35 mpg (6.7 L / 100 km)
	40 mpg (5.9 L / 100 km)
	45 mpg (5.2 L / 100 km)
	50 mpg (4.7 L / 100 km)
	> 50 mpg
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In terms of efficiency, cars driven by humans are fickle. There's only ever one optimal accelerator position for the best fuel efficiency, no matter what gear you're in. This leads to the situation where the imprecise driving of humans is responsible for lowered fuel efficiency and performance. But what if you could tweak the vehicle's software just a little to take human behaviour into account? John Kessels, who just obtained his doctorate from the Technical University Eindhoven (Netherlands), has been playing around with hybrid vehicle efficiency techniques on non-hybrids to achieve just that.

Hybrid cars utilise technologies such as regenerative braking to reduce energy wastage and boost efficiency. The key for hybrids though is the availability of a generator which can store excess power produced by the internal combustion engine, or draw upon the power stored in the on-board battery pack if the combustion engine's output is lagging. In other words, the generator works to smooth out the energy fluctuations of the combustion engine, flattening the energy output curve and reducing its variation from that of the optimal energy output curve.

Looking to achieve efficiency improvements in non-hybrid vehicles, Kessels realised that the smaller generator and battery pack of a standard petrol or diesel vehicle could still be used in a similar fashion to those found in a hybrid.

• Car battery charged with excess power production
• Battery-charging generator turned off when inefficient
• Electric braking to generate energy and stored in the battery
• Shut off rear window and seat heating
• Shut off other electric energy systems

Analysis: Kessels' research indicated that with minimal modifications including uploading a software patch to the car's computer, fuel savings of 2.6 percent could be achieved. Shutting off the engine while idle would boost this figure but would require major modifications. These are great examples of "mining negawatts" as outlined in URGE² theory and should be embraced by the automakers immediately to improve not only the efficiency of new vehicles, but potentially of the installed fleet already on the roads today.

Related:

• A call to URGE² - Use Renewably Generated Electricity, Efficiently
• Bob Lutz blogs on GM's electric drive development
• Allan Mullaly wants to expand tech sharing with Toyota

[Source: PhysOrg.com]