Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Navy Receives First Chevy Fuel Cell Vehicles

Posted: 04 Jan 2011 03:58 PM PST

Even the U.S. military is worried about peak oil and weaning its weapons off of crude oil. A few days ago, the Navy took delivery of Chevy Equinox full-cell vehicles in the Aloha State, Hawaii.

The vehicle is part of the Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative, which aims to add hydrogen fuel infrastructure and vehicles to Hawaii by 2015. The Navy is among the first customers to take delivery of the Equinox fuel-cell vehicles (whether they leased or purchased them, the press release doesn't say). GM and 11 other departments, agencies, and universities are part of the HHI, which among other things calls for the installation of 25 hydrogen fueling stations on the island of Oahu.

Oahu is home to about 900,000 people, making it the most populous of all the islands and contains both the capital of Honolulu and the naval base of Pearl Harbor. The island is the third-largest in the Hawaii chain, and has about 227 miles of coastline. In other words, it ain't very big. That's perfect, because last I heard, the Equinox fuel-cell had a range of about 200 miles on 9 lbs of hydrogen. That two-and-a-half ton vehicle takes about 12-seconds to get to 60 mph, because it has to drag along an extra 770 lbs of equipment and extra safety supports to protect the 10,000 psi fuel tank.

GM started rolling out these Equinox fuel-cell vehicles back in 2006 as part of Project Driveway, which leased fuel-cell vehicles to about 100 vehicles in three-cities to a wide variety of customers for real-world testing. It'll be a boon to Hawaii too, as this slice of paradise needs to import every ounce of oil across about 2,500 miles of Pacific Ocean. A gallon of premium fuel is hovering around $3.95, and diesel is over four bucks. These are the highest average gas prices in the nation (though I paid about $5.00 a gallon on a cliff side gas station along the Pacific Coast Highway).

A controlled fuel-cell experiment on Hawaii sounds pretty neat, but when is GM going to start selling fuel-cell vehicles? Do they not trust the technology, or do they not trust us with the technology?

Source: GM

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

Ford Teases Focus Electric Ahead of CES

Posted: 04 Jan 2011 12:20 PM PST

Ford has said they are going to enter the electric car market with all guns a-blazin' later this year with their first entry, the Focus Electric. Ahead of its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show, Ford released this teaser picture.

The Consumer Electronics Show is, in the words of G4 television, "nerd mecca." It is a show generally reserved for computers and phones and all of that electronic gadgetry. Basically, it's a haven for all of the devices that kids would rather have than a car. Not the best place to unveil a new car than, right?

Wrong. I think Ford's doing this right. Rather than unveil the Focus Electric at the Detroit Auto Show next week, they are unveiling it at what is essentially a social media mecca. Nerds, geeks, and techies will be out in full force, and Ford has been forgoing many traditional marketing schemes in favor of social networking…and it's been working. Ford sales continue to impress, and word of mouth about the Blue Oval is overwhelmingly positive.

By unveiling the Focus Electric at CES, Ford is betting that its high-tech car will be welcomed with open arms by technology fans. Ford has invested a lot of money into bringing social media into its cars, and I gather that they are hoping to entice young buyers who are more interested in the latest app than horsepower figures. Ford is going to release details of the Focus Electric at CES, but expect a 100-mile all-electric range, lots of neat gizmos and touchscreens inside…and apparently a LED-lighted "fuel" filler. Kinda neat. I wonder what else do they have in store?

Source: Ford’s Facebook

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

Hypermiling Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Crosses America on Two Fill-Ups

Posted: 04 Jan 2011 07:07 AM PST

To drum up some attention to the forthcoming 2011 Sonata Hybrid, Hyundai took its new hybrid on a cross-country trip, from San Diego to Georgia. They made the 2,269 mile trip on less than two full tanks of gas.

This summer, I did my own cross-country excursion with my girlfriend. While we managed to get over 30 mpg  in my four-cylinder Mustang over the course of 12,000 miles, we still had to fill up over 40 times during our six-week trip. That’s a lot of fuel, and a lot of money that could have been better spent elsewhere.

I wish I had one of these Hyundai hybrids. At the wheel of the hybrid Hyundai is none other than Wayne Gerdes, who also successfully drove a Ford Fusion Hybrid for over 1,445 miles on a tank of gas. He also drove a regular Sonata from New York to Chicago, managing to get over 66 mpg. This latest trip took the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid across mountain ranges and the American south, meaning this vehicle went through some pretty extreme temperature and elevation changes, which would explain why it "only" got 59.59 mpg across the country.

Hyundai did a similar trek with the standard Hyundai Sonata this summer, managing to get over 66 mpg driving from New York to Chicago, but that trip was half the length and done during the warmer summer months, when the Sonata Hybrid's battery is better able to operate. Still, it took the Hyundai Hybrid just 38 gallons of fuel and five days to cross the country, and Gerdes filled up just once, finishing the trip at Jekyll Island, Georgia, with two gallons of fuel remaining.

I'm not sure what kind of tricks Gerdes employed on this trick, such as drafting in the wake of semi trucks or coasting down hills, but you've got to hand it to this guy, he really knows how to wring the most miles from a tank of gas. The EPA rates the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid at 40 mpg on the highway, but if you've got a feather light foot and a lot of patience, it's clear you can get a lot more MPG's from these modern hybrids. Does anybody think they could do better?

Source: Hyundai

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.
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