Monday, March 14, 2011

New posts from Gas 2.0!

New posts from Gas 2.0!

Ford Wants You to Know: They’re Not Back-tracking on EVs

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PDT

A few days ago, I posted an article about some comments Bill Ford made at the ECO:nomics conference in California.  Comments which, by some accounts, seemed to imply that Ford was pessimistic about the future of electric cars in the US.  A few days later, I received an email from Ford Corporate Communications, telling me I (and, by extension, my sources) had gotten the story wrong.

Rather than paraphrase and inadvertently skew the message one way or another, I’ve included Ford’s email in its entirety, below.

While I respect your editorial opinion, the post on Ford/EVs is contrary to the message Bill sent at the WSJ ECO:nomics conference.

I understand you may not have the opportunity to hear the entire WSJ ECO:nomics interview, but can share a little more info below …

Ford Motor Company is very much committed to electric vehicles – battery-powered, traditional hybrids and plug in hybrids.  At the conference, he stated that we’re continuing to work on all of the technologies because it isn’t clear yet which will be the leading technology embraced by customer.

You may recall that Ford Motor Company recently announced that it was increasing its work in electric vehicles – with the introduction of the Focus Electric (battery electric) and addition of the C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid and C-MAX traditional hybrid.  Ford’s strategy is to electrify platforms – versus a single vehicle – to offer customers the most choice.  Five electrified vehicles are planned for North America by 2012 and Europe by 2013 – C-MAX Hybrid, another next-generation hybrid sedan vehicle, C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid, Transit Connect Electric and Focus Electric.

Unfortunately we don’t have a transcript  to send from ECO:nomics – as it wasn’t a  formal speech, but rather a Q&A with the WSJ’s Jeff Ball.

The original WSJ article, gives a clearer picture of the conversation:  HERE.

I can understand it’s hard to know the whole story not being there … but if you have the opportunity to update the post, we’d certainly appreciate the effort in clarifying this for your readers.

Of course, I pointed out that it wasn’t my conclusions being highlighted in the original article – rather, they were Bertell Schmitt’s.  My exact words to Ford’s rep:  “Schmitt is highly respected in bloggerdom, so his interpretation of the WSJ quotes are, I think, newsworthy.  The counter-point is very welcome, as we all hope to see (more!) alt-fuel Fords coming in the near future … especially the global Ranger.”

I still stand by my opinion of Schmitt’s interpretation, though, and – while the WSJ article does paint a more “neutral” picture, it’s still very clear in the WSJ that Ford isn’t betting big (and not necessarily betting its own money) on the electric vehicle market in the same way that say, Mitsubishi is.  Time will tell, I suppose, whether or not the big winners will be companies that hedge their bets with a mix of alt-fuel, EV, and improved gasoline engines, or companies that go “all-in” on electrics.

If it were my money?  I’d bet the Dark Side and build plug-in hybrids with E100-capable flex-fuel ICEs (but that’s just me).

Source:  Susan Kruse, with Ford Corporate Communications.

GE to Host EV Experience Tour

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 12:00 PM PDT

General Electric will be hosting a seven-city Electric Vehicle Experience Tour that will bring automakers together in order to educate the public on the technology and operation of plug-in and pure electric vehicles.

Supporting the electric vehicle market, GE has already arranged to purchase 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015 for its own fleet as well as for fleet customers. By hosting the Experience Tour, GE hopes to help these businesses acknowledge and understand the various technical and business approaches possible for the successful production and sale of these vehicles. The goal is to show more and more US communities the advantages of using plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles as well as help them become more engaged in their growth. GE is staking a lot of money on EV acceptance, including building hybrid buses and investing in a charging infrastructure. They are poised to become a big player in the electrified vehicle market….as long as consumers get on board too.

According to Clarence Nunn, President and CEO of GE Capital Fleet Services, “Each of our tour stops will give participants first-hand exposure to the technical and business considerations for EV deployment and put them on a path toward adoption.” Each stop within the seven cities will last a full day, which will include presentations by GE and community leaders along with workshops that will help companies with integration strategies, electric vehicle planning and deployment, as well as test drives.

The dates and locations of the tour are as follows: San Francisco, CA March 10th, Seattle, WA March 15th, Los Angeles, CA March 17th, San Diego, CA March 22nd.  GE also plans to announce more tour dates for Spring 2011 in New York, NY, Washington, DC and Austin, Texas

Source: GE

VW Says It Will Build the Microbus Bulli…Again

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 08:58 AM PDT

Revealed to much fanfare at the Geneva Auto Show was the new VW Bulli concept. Volkswagen revealed to Autocar that underneath the concept were the underpinnings of a next-generation platform…and the Bulli Microbus will be built.

The Bulli concept is actually built on MQB modular design platform that will serve as the basis for the next-generation Audi A3. This platform will then be filtered down through the VW family and will, eventually, also underpin a production version of the Bulli. The Bulli will be aimed at the "square" segment occupied by such vehicles as the Scion xB and Kia Soul. The moduloar platform allows for various vehicular widths and lengths, so the dual-bench seat Bulli concept could be configured more like a traditional Microbus, or camper, or what have you.

Thing is, we've been down this road before. Volkswagen introduced a Microbus concept back in 2001, pledged to build it, and then they didn't. Sad. Also at issue is the Bulli concept is 100% electric, which I thought was great until I read Nick Chamber's piece about why a plug-in hybrid would have been better. Nothing is set in stone, and it remains to be seen which path VW takes (maybe all of them?)

I am kind of excited for this though. I love road trips, and I'd be hard pressed to stop my girlfriend from selling everything she owned to buy one of these. Can't say I'd blame her too much though.

Source: Autocar

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can read about his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout or follow his non-nonsensical ramblings on Twitter @harshcougar.
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