In this video -Peugot 3008 testdrive, and – fuel cell are for houses, not cars.
Below: The Guardian notes that beyond electric cars, a revolution in conventional motor technology –
But away from the spotlight, carmakers have been quietly delivering significant cuts in CO2 emissions with some re-engineering of internal combustion engines, technology advances, weight reduction and aerodynamic improvements.
Increasingly stringent fuel economy standards in Europe and the United States that were mandated due to climate change concerns have been the main catalyst. Yet with rising fuel prices and a waxing awareness of global warming, consumers have also been clamoring for more fuel-efficient vehicles.
“Carmakers have finally gotten the message and have made a good start in making cuts in CO2 emissions but only after they were forced to,” said Dorothee Saar, an industry analyst at the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH) in Berlin ahead of the Frankfurt international car show starting on Tuesday.
“Before 2008 they had only voluntary targets that were largely ignored. They’re moving forward now because they know if they don’t cut emissions they’ll pay heavy fines. They’re doing better but there is still a lot of untapped potential.”
In the European Union, CO2 emissions fell 3.7 percent last year to 140 grams per kilometer after dropping 5.1 percent in 2009. Average emissions are down from 186 grams in 1995. The EU is on track to meet a 130 grams target by 2015 set in 2008 in the face of heavy resistance. The limit will be 98 grams in 2020.
In the United States, notorious around the world for its gas guzzlers, the Obama administration announced plans in August to raise fuel economy requirements by 53 percent by 2025. The proposal requires companies to reach an average fuel efficiency across their U.S. fleets of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.
Even hybrids represent only a small slice of the pie so far. Out of an estimated one billion vehicles on the roads worldwide, only 47 million alternative vehicles are running as hybrids, on hydrogen or electric power, according to a recent report by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership.
Electric cars, a key part of a low-carbon economy, have been on the minds of consumers with a green consciousness for years. Green will be a major theme at the Frankfurt Car Show with an entire building — Hall 4 — devoted to electric mobility.
“Never before have the stars of the Frankfurt Car Show been so revolutionary, so green, so efficient, so quiet and so super clean as in 2011,” wrote Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday.
I have enough money saved up to buy an electric car… enough for a Tesla Type S, but not a Roadster.
I must confess, I have always been pessimistic about the likelihood of automakers achieving the fuel efficiency standards prescribed for them. My expectation was that the only way that they’d reach those standards was by heavy reliance on hybrids and electric-only cars. I did not expect that they’d be able to squeeze much more efficiency out of the traditional gasoline engines, so I’m pleased to see these numbers. I suspect that their biggest gains will be accomplished by reductions in weight. Fortunately, we now have a goodly supply of composites that can assist this process — and when the automotive industry starts using those composites, their price will surely fall.
I’d really like to see the development of readily-available variable-density composites. Consider, for example, one of the points where the engine mounts to the body. That particular point needs to be very strong so that the engine vibrations don’t tear it up. However, a few inches away from that point, you don’t need as much strength. In the old days, we just used a big sheet of steel that was strong enough to support the engine, and too strong everywhere else. The first approach to this problem was to weld a thick plate onto thinner metal at the support point. That’s better, but still clumsy. There have been a number of clever schemes for devising curved support points that reduce weight, but again, they’re not idea. The ideal solution would have each and every point on the body having exactly enough strength (and therefore weight) to do its job — and no more. That can only be done by computer design and manufacturing. I suspect that this process, when it’s fully developed, will give us a good increment in efficiency.