Gas 2.0

Amtrak Proposes $117 Billion High-Speed Rail Corridor by 2040
Volkswagen Passat Goes Over 1,500 Miles on One Tank of Fuel
Audi Likely To Sell A1 Compact In The U.S.
Edison’s 1912 Electric Car Restored

Amtrak Proposes $117 Billion High-Speed Rail Corridor by 2040

Posted: 05 Oct 2010 02:18 PM PDT

I used to love trains. Hell, I still love trains, though the “honeymoon” wore off some time ago. Connecticut has what I like to call a “half-finished” railway system. My state is small, but very congested, which is why rail commuting is on the rise here. Yet the tracks are old, incomplete, and can’t even handle the full speed of the Acela high-speed train that currently runs on them. Also, a lot of people don’t want to listen to high-speed trains ripping through their backyards.

None of that is stopping Amtrak from proposing a $117 billion upgrade to the Northeast Corridor over the next 30 years that would make room for a 220 mph bullet train between Boston and Washington D.C. Can we afford it though, and more importantly, is it worth it?

I may be young, but I’ve learned that almost any project with a “projected cost” will have cost overruns. It’s like California’s high-speed rail, which went from costing $45 billion to $65 billion, and the project has barely begun. So in my mind, $117 billion would just be the start of costs. However, this corridor would benefit a lot of people, reaching upwards of 33 million people by the time it was completed, creating 40,000 temporary jobs, and 120,000 jobs from “economic benefits”.

The Amtrak proposal would go between Boston and Washington D.C., with one high-speed train that makes just two stops in between at Philadelphia and New York. The current “high-speed” Acela train can do this trip in about 6.5 hours, but a new “Super Express” train would cut that time down to about 3.5 hours. This would require new tracks to be built, as well as maintaining and upgrading current tracks and providing plenty of local access as well. And of course, there are plenty of NIMBYs to get in the way. It is easy for me to sit here and say “they could build it in my backyard” because I know they won’t. Would I really want a train line cutting my town in two though? Not really.

I’m torn. We could do a lot of good with that $117 billion going towards other areas… but spread out over 30 years, that is just under $4 billion a year. Is it worth the cost and should we take the big plunge? Or should we take smaller steps first, and perhaps improve current rail service so it appeals to a broader base? I’ll tell you one thing, those Amtrak train cars could use a bit of upgrading.

Source: Infrastructurist | Image: Amtrak

Volkswagen Passat Goes Over 1,500 Miles on One Tank of Fuel

Posted: 05 Oct 2010 02:15 PM PDT

One of my recent pieces about Washington wanting to bump up fuel efficiency standards to 62 mpg by 2025 drew a lot of negative comments. Much of it along the line of “the government shouldn’t make automakers do anything” and “it’s impossible to get 60 mpg out of a real car!”

Now I don’t know about you, but I was born in America. This is the country that put a man on the moon, split the atom, and has a higher standard of living than anywhere else in the world. So why is it that the distance record for a single tank of gas now belongs to a Volkswagen Passat?

This isn’t the kind of Passat you can buy in America. It’s one of those fancy “BlueMotion” diesels we hear so much about. Loaded with all sorts of gas-saving technologies, like Start/Stop, low-rolling resistance tires, and a lower ride height, VW took their Passat from Kent, England to Southern France… and back again on a single tank. Total distance? 1,527 miles, at an average speed of 45 mph. I know that isn’t exactly “highway speeds,” but it also isn’t crawling along either. The 1.6 liter TDI diesel engine can reach 62 mph in about 12 seconds, and has a top speed of 120 mph. Again, not fast, but not slow either.

Now in fairness, the Passat has an exceptionally large gas tank, and it went through 77.25 liters, or 20.4 gallons of diesel on this trip. At its Euro-mpg rating of 64 mpg (which is more generous than the US standards) that is good for almost 1,300 miles. The crew driving the Passat however, were able to eek out 1,527 miles, or more like 74 mpg, which is a certified world record (as Guinness was on hand to verify the whole trip). VW claims it is more like 89 mpg… but again, that is using Euro standards. Basic math (1,527/20.4) says they got 74 mpg. Which is still awesome.

So don’t tell me it isn’t possible to get 62 mpg out of cars in the next 15 years. We’re already doing it today, in full-size sedans no less!

Source: Volkswagen

Audi Likely To Sell A1 Compact In The U.S.

Posted: 05 Oct 2010 02:12 PM PDT

Compact cars have come a long way since they first entered the national consciousness during the 1970′s fuel crunch. I’m not saying there weren’t compact cars before then… but it was the first time Americans started to really associate size with fuel economy. Since then, that is really all compact cars have had going for them. They’re small, fuel efficient, cheap… and boring as hell.

That has changed though in the past few years. The Ford Fiesta comes to mind, and the new Chevy Aveo looks sharp too. Even Audi looks ready to throw its hat in the compact ring with the A1, which seems likely to go on sale here in the U.S. in the next few years.

Remember how just a few years ago, everybody associated status with the size of your car, and SUV’s were all the rage? Times are a-changing, and more people are demanding small cars… or at least that is what the automakers tell us. I really dig a lot of the new, small cars though, and in these tight economic times, they really make sense. While the Audi A1 (built to compete with BMW’s Mini, among other vehicles) was originally built for Europe, it could cross the pond to America.

What I like about the A1 is that not only is it sharp looking and has a low-entry price (around $21,000, at least in Europe), but it has a wide range of engines from a turbodiesel to a turbocharged petrol engine making 182 horsepower and 184 ft-lbs of torque, and I really like the Sportback concept (pictured). Not bad numbers for a car that can get in excess of 40 mpg, though such numbers can change at the drop of a hat once a European car hits the North American market. The A1 will enter its second generation in the next few years, and it is during that time the car is likely to make its entry to the U.S. market… though a final decision might still be 18 months away.

So what say you readers? Yay or nay on the Audi A1?

Edison’s 1912 Electric Car Restored

Posted: 05 Oct 2010 02:10 PM PDT

Imagine a future where petrol-powered cars never really caught on. It is hard to do, I know, but try to envision a world where for the past century, electric cars have been the favored mode of transportation. It may have helped us avoid certain wars, global warming might not be the alarming issue it is, and instead of the Big Three automakers, we might have dozens of smaller ones.

It is nice to imagine such a world. And it might have happened too, what with great minds like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford working together. One man with vision though has lovingly restored the only Edison-built electric carriage left in the world. That is dedication.

In 1912 Thomas Edison, the man behind the light bulb, built three electric-powered cars. Edison believed electricity would power future cars, not petrol, because at the time petrol cars were noisy and messy and oil itself difficult to obtain. Such a future did not come to pass though (much thanks to Henry Ford and his petrol-powered Model T for that one), and two of the three Edison electric cars disappeared. The other has been hidden away in a London garage, waiting for the day it returned to the spotlight.

Bob Burrell of Chelmsford, Essex, has spent the past eight years restoring this car. Since there were only three built, and two of them vanished, I imagine it involved a lot of custom craftmanship to bring this car back to working order. Powered by two 15 volt batteries and a 30 volt motor, it can go as fast as 25 mph. Not too shabby, though the Model T was capable of going as fast as 40 mph thanks to its 22-horsepower 4-cylinder engine.

Now the car has reemerged, on the dawn of a new age of electric cars. I hope this is a good omen.

Source: Express UK