Archive for the ‘Hybrid Cars’ Category

Premium fuel only

10 percent more for 5 percent better efficiency

So, the Chevy Volt will require premium gasoline, but don’t worry, premium gasoline makes the Volt 5 percent more fuel efficient when in range extended mode. Unfortunately, however, premium gasoline costs about 10 percent more.

Then again, if you can afford a Chevy Volt, do you care about the cost of premium gas? Of course, if you can afford a Volt, do you need a 00 tax credit?

“The Volt is a game-changing product,” says an Obama vehicles executive. The iPhone was a game-changing product, and it didn’t take a tax credit. And they sold over 90 million of the things. A game-changing product does not need a tax credit. They’re mutually exclusive.”

Rush Limbaugh made that point, recently, according to Straightline, which then used Limbaugh’s rant to ask whether vehicles like the Volt are deserving of tax credits.

I say yes, but not in the way the plug-in tax code is currently written. Like the Volt, the current plug-in tax credit doesn’t make cost-effective sense. Too much focus is on battery size rather than the potential of real world change. Unfortunately, if a plug-in is going to achieve success, it’s probably going to have to be a small battery plug-in hybrid according to the experts, and even then success will be difficult.

Consequently, while I’m not a big Limbaugh fan or hater (to be honest I’ve never listened to a show), he makes a valid point. Ultimately, competition and free markets are not purely evil tools of the devil’s capitalism, and when tax credits are focused on political favoritism rather than real world realities, inefficiency is inevitable.

Today, automakers have many tools to increase automotive efficiency, they just don’t have any incentive. Consumers don’t care that much, unless gas prices are sustainably significantly higher, and regulations don’t demand pushing the limits of efficiency. Thus,  if tax credits are the best solution, then they must inspire cost-effective, efficient competition. Otherwise, it’s all just tax-funded greenwashing and a prayer for a miracle.

On the other hand, to be sure, America can expect Japan, Korea and China, for instance, to compete against our products, and in the end it will all boil down to one thing: the most bang for the buck.

For now plug-in tax credits have little to do with the most bang for the buck or real competition, and that might be OK, at the R&D level. The possibility of speeding up a battery breakthrough is a worthwhile endeavor, but it can’t be the primary goal, especially when the science isn’t very supportive. Furthermore, the move to battery-powered vehicles is ultimately about efficiency, and we should be striving towards that efficiency as efficiently as possible if we want the most bang for our tax-funded policies.

Hybridcarblog

Back in style again?

SUVs make a come back

Compared to last year US auto sales are up 17 percent and the biggest surprise in that turnaround is the increase in large SUV sales according to recent reports.

Large SUV sales have increased 19 percent. Compacts have picked up share, but sales are only up 14 percent. As of June, hybrid cars, on the other hand, have witnessed a 17.5 percent decline in sales.

Large SUV sales are good for automakers because it’s basically like “printing cash,” says Jim Hall at 2953 Analytics.

Nonetheless, since the gas spike of 2008 cars are still outselling trucks, so automakers – or consumers – appear to be learning how to redefine success in America using more efficient vehicle designs, at least somewhat more efficient designs. Of course, declining interest in hybrid cars during this same period of time demonstrates just how hard significant reductions in oil consumption will be to achieve.

Hybridcarblog

In need of an update

A better ride coming soon

In some respects the Honda Insight has been a failure. Sales of the hybrid have fallen fall short of Honda’s expectations and many consumers – even Consumer Reports – have slammed the shoddy ride quality of the Insight.

Fortunately, a number of new upgrades to the vehicle are in the works.

According to reports coming out of the UK, but applicable globally, a new suspension with “an adjusted spring recoil-rate, new rear axle mounts and an adjustment to rear camber angles” should provide Insight drivers with a much smoother ride.

Likewise, the new Insight will offer new colors and better interior materials, including leather.

Hybridcarblog

Can this really change the auto industry?

Game changer? Not any time soon

The latest energy bill provides nice tax credits for natural gas vehicles. Honda executive claims, “This could be a game-changer.”

“The Volt is a game-changing product,” recently claimed a Volt executive.

Maybe. Nonetheless, shouldn’t we wait until the game actually changes before claiming a product a “game changer”?

As the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize comes to an end, for instance, one thing appears obvious, just “how difficult it will be to make truly revolutionary improvements to the automobile.” Despite numerous hybrid and plug-in attempts, only one technology has emerged as the most “revolutionary” potential game changer: weight reduction.

Ultimately, the game isn’t really changing, and the only reason there is any change at all has nothing to do with “game-changing” products. Instead, new CAFE regulations are forcing automakers to make a few changes. Of course, not enough changes to have any real impact on oil dependence, or even foreign oil dependence.

Even if every other American commuter drove a Chevy Volt 40 miles or less per day, so that only electricity was used, America would still be heavily dependent upon foreign oil. That’s how little and how slowly the game is actually changing.

One day plug-in vehicles, natural gas and/or many other technologies could become real game changers. Unfortunately, none of today’s “game changers” are set to cause a revolution in the US auto industry any time soon. Likewise, any number of technological breakthroughs across many different technologies could easily make today’s “game changers” irrelevant.

“Game changer?” Sadly, the auto industry still has a long way to go before they can rightly claim such a description.

Hybridcarblog

Far more cost-effective than plugging in?

The reality of hybrid cost effectiveness

Sure, we’ve pitted the Chevy Volt against the Toyota Prius in the past, but this time we have some real numbers. Unfortunately, the numbers don’t look good. So, if you think the Volt is set to save America, you might not want to read any further.

Since yesterday, many have compared the Nissan Leaf to the Chevy Volt. I don’t believe in such a comparison. Range anxiety is real and a vehicle like the Leaf will never resonate with the masses unless you can cut the price of the vehicle in half, minimally. The Chevy Volt, on the other hand, could easily convert the masses into plug-in vehicles, as long as the Volt is cost-effective.

Cost Comparison

Today, you can lease a Prius for 9.00 per month, while a Volt lease will soon cost 0.00.

The average Prius drivers spends 5 per year on fueling costs. The difference between Volt and Prius lease payments after a year is 00. Consequently, even if the Volt uses nothing but free electricity, it will still cost 00 more to lease per year. Of course, perhaps if gas prices hit .00 per gallon, then the Volt will be competitive, but considering higher gas prices push the cost of everything higher, will most Americans even be able to afford a new car?

But won’t the Volt cost much less to maintain than a Prius?

Certainly not on a three year lease, and since you can buy two Prius hybrids for the price of one Volt, there isn’t even a reason to compare purchasing cost-effectiveness. When it comes to purchasing, the Prius is a far better deal. Moreover, the battery pack on the Volt will probably not be as reliable, long term, as has been the much cheaper Prius battery pack.

In fact, in terms of maintenance, insurance is easily the biggest cost, and if insurance companies price Volt insurance fairly, it should cost more to insure a Volt than a Prius, a good bit more.

Today, the Volt just isn’t very cost-effective compared to the Prius, and that’s even after a 00 tax credit that some have reported enables GM to reduce lease costs by 0 per month on the Volt’s 3 year lease option, but what happens after the tax credits expire?

While battery costs will come down, will they drop by 00 per car in the near future? Likewise, wouldn’t such battery cost improvements also make the Prius cheaper, lighter and more fuel efficient as the king of hybrids could then switch to lithium?

And, yet, that isn’t even the most disturbing Volt news. After a decade on the market, hybrid cars still account for less than 3 percent of market share. Hybrids, such as the Prius, are just not perceived to be cost-effective by most consumers, and the Volt will even be far less cost-effective and much more expensive.

Hybridcarblog