Featured Threads Archive

We're back and after a week of turkey overload, we're rested and cover a crazy range of topics.

• Spy photos of the Chevy Bolt, which will be revealed at CES in January
• Pre-ordering the Tesla Model X
• VW stock located circling the bowl
• Kia's new plug-in hybrid, which is scheduled for release in 2020
• If you have a Kia Soul EV, make sure you get your steering wheel pinion glued back together
  
• Evan defends Tesla's Consumer Reports numbers
• We go off on a rant about speed limits and speeding
• Something about Faraday Future, who has nothing to show for something
• The Audi a3 eTron, a large, low-mileage, plug-in hype machine
  
• We go around the panel and provide winter driving tips.

Enjoy!

Virginia was originally the first state to give clean fuel vehicles free HOV access. This boosted hybrid sales from 2000-2011 in the DC Metro area, and still now, whereas Va. hybrid owners are grandfathered. As long as they own HOV plates, these can be transferred to a new hybrid or plug-in. So we still have 18,000 hybrids/plug-ins with free HOV access.

This year Virginia started converting I-95 and next I-66 to HOV-3 Toll lanes with no hybrid free access. HOV (Clean Fuels) plate users have a couple more years until the new HOT lanes are completed. Most of these projects are private funded by Transurban. Dynamic tolls can be as high as $17 when traffic is heavy.

Car pooling (we call it our "slugging" system) is quite active here. It'll be interesting to see if the new HOT lanes encourage even more car pooling as hybrid drivers lose free access, and other factors.
...

VW still doing the one thing it’s best at, screwing it’s customers, a proposed “solution” http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1101130_volkswagens-fix-for-european-diesels-gets-the-green-light-but-will-owners-get-the-shaft Kia announces Niro hybrid crossover https://www.autonews.com/article/20151116/OEM04/151119908/kia-greenlights-niro-in-green-car-rush “because ‘plastic’ parts are made for toys” http://insideevs.com/kia-soul-ev-recalled-for-possible-fault-with-steering-gear/ Tesla says Model S issues have been cut in half https://chargedevs.com/newswire/tesla-says-model-s-reliability-issues-have-been-cut-in-half/ Wherein the police negate their main function http://www.streetsblog.net/2015/11/16/speeding-is-a-big-problem-where-police-stopped-google-car-for-slow-driving/#more-165973 Faraday Future still only good at […]

Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us

	model	Nov_15	Oct_15	Sep_15	Aug_15
1	Prius Liftback	8287	9611	9952	10450
2	Ram Pickup Diesel	3848	4283	3836	4093
3	Model S	3100	2100	2400	1600
4	Prius c	2601	3373	3367	3844
5	Volt	1980	2035	949	1380
6	Camry Hybrid	1964	2545	2629	3314
7	Prius v (lowercase v)	1643	2128	2575	3119
8	Fusion Hybrid	1388	2050	2002	2441
9	Leaf	1054	1238	1247	1393
10	CT200h	984	1077	1131	1504
11	RX 400 / 450 h	958	514	443	599
12	Fusion Energi	944	849	808	949
13	Sonata	931	1342	1185	1647
14	Optima Hybrid	844	1262	1136	1167
15	ES Hybrid	833	895	907	1281
16	C-Max Hybrid	815	912	1247	1501
17	Avalon Hybrid	798	993	1064	1322
18	i3*	723	986	1710	792
19	MKZ	676	646	596	713
20	C-Max Energi	639	695	719	723
21	X5 Diesel	525	296	204	391
22	e-Golf	472	596	343	381
23	Grand Cherokee Diesel	341	321	315	343
24	XV Crosstrek Hybrid	319	211	370	455
25	Highlander Hybrid	318	375	367	377
26	Accord Hybrid	289	442	854	1369
27	Range Rover	283
28	Ramge Rover Sport	270
29	GL-Class Diesel	258	245	214	236
30	Civic Hybrid	239	455	613	590
31	CR-Z	236	316	310	333
32	Cruze Diesel	218	202	222	279
33	NX...

Finally, a sustainable carbon neutral solution for living and transportation. We need more companies, industries competing on new innovative solutions for realistic lifestyle changes.

Green Car Congress: Honda opens Smart Home US in California; produces more energy than it consumes; direct DC-DC EV charging

Honda Smart Home US | April to September Data Release; Water...

Sergiospl posted this in a thread in the Gen 4 forum, and I thought it deserved to be here in the News forum as well:
from HybridCars.com:
Official EPA MPG Numbers Are In For 2016 Toyota Prius

The announced ratings of the 2016 Prius 2ECO and the other 2016 Prius models are now official

"Specifically, five of the six total trim levels will be rated 54 mpg city, 50 highway, 52 combined, and the lighter Prius Two Eco promises 58 city, 53 highway, 56 combined.

The 2015 Prius was rated 51 mpg city, 48 highway, 50 combined."

Please continue in the ongoing thread found here: Official EPA numbers are in for 2016 Prius | PriusChat

Newswise — A transition to hydrogen as a major fuel in the next 50 years could fundamentally transform the U.S. energy system, according to the National Research Council, and a surprise discovery at New Mexico State University may speed that transformation.

David Johnson was a doctoral candidate in 2007 working on lab experiments for his dissertation in molecular biology at NMSU when he unexpectedly identified a biopolymer that could result in safer hydrogen storage.

Johnson, who now has his doctorate and is working at the NMSU Institute for Energy and Environment, was working on a National Science Foundation-funded grant to find a unique hydrogen-producing microbial community when he noticed some unusual bubbles forming in the reactor.

The bright white bubbles were forming a biopolymer that NMSU biology researcher and professor Geoffrey Smith didn’t recognize.

This biopolymer was also capturing and storing hydrogen as the gas was being produced. With a tight molecular...

NAGOYA -- Since its first-generation Prius debuted in December 1997 with the slogan: "just in time for the 21st century," Toyota Motor has been a pioneer in hybrid vehicles.

Back then, hybrid cars were seen as a marginal segment in the auto industry, yet they quickly caught on with consumers and other carmakers have followed Toyota's lead.



Company Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada was the man behind the development of the first-generation Prius. He recently spoke to The Nikkei about the various challenges encountered during development of the world's first mass market hybrid car.

After joining Toyota in 1969, Uchiyamada spent many years testing various methods of resolving car vibration and noise issues. His life took a dramatic turn...

So far about 11 states charge an EV annual fee for road usage. Only one state (Idaho) apparently hits hybrids and just a few hit PHEV with fees. Sounds like Washington considering a new PHEV fee (PiP is free, looks like!). NH has a proposal for a road usage fee for all vehicles over 20 MPG, prorated Based on MPG (this is better than taxing hybrids per se). WI has been considering.

Green Car Congress: 11 states assessing fees on EV owners in lieu of traditional fuel taxes

Source: NHTSA Delays “Quiet Car” EV Ruling | TheDetroitBureau.com

I think we all knew that coal-fired electric plants reduce the climate benefits of electric cars. And we know how dependent China is on coal for electricity. However, I did not realize that the problem is big in the Netherlands and some other highly developed, climate-conscious countries as well.

Electric cars’ dirty secret: All the coal needed to run them

Quote on "break even points" in the US:

"In coal-fired Colorado, a gasoline car with fuel economy better than 34 miles per gallon will be better for emissions than the average electric car, according to calculations from the Union of Concerned Scientists. In hydropowered Upstate New York, in contrast, the same gas car would need to achieve 112 miles per gallon. In the Washington region,...

Source: Tesla Tells Detroit To Stop Fighting Electric Cars

I have toyota prius 2006. We are planning a long trip in a week and I checked my spare tire - donut. It is losing air. I checked on some tire dealers and our Toyota dealer and they don't have a donut spare tire. Are there any options available that not will kill me financially? What is the best option?
Please advise.

This week it’s all about the fourth generation Prius and it call comes from Danny Cooper. Paul Guzyk, Tony Schaefer, Patrick Conor and Russell Frost break down the new Prius, a car which Danny just drove. See Prius Chat for the video reviews (link below) http://priuschat.com/threads/priuschats-2016-toyota-prius-first-drive-video-review.159651/

Read more about this episode on WhatDrives.Us

A plan to "bottle" sunlight via hydrogen in Western Australia's Pilbara and export it to Japan is edging closer to reality, according to a Sydney-based company.

Renewable Hydrogen is planning to establish a small 10-megawatt-hour PV solar farm near Karratha.

As part of the pilot program, the company is proposing to purify seawater before separating hydrogen from oxygen via electrolysis, a process powered by solar energy.

The hydrogen becomes a vehicle for storing renewable energy and is converted into transportable forms for export.

Renewable Hydrogen's initial plan is to export the hydrogen to Japan as ammonia, but executive director Andrew Want said the hydrogen could also be converted into other forms such as synthetic methane or LNG.

"We will effectively bottle it and ship it to Japan on a true industrial scale," Mr Want said.

The company, along with the Pilbara Development Commission and a confidential Japanese partner, is finalising a feasibility study into the pilot...

The pipeline, with a diameter of 508mm and a distance of 25km, starts at the hydrogen generation station at the Jiyuan Industrial Park and ends at Luoyang Petrochem complex in the Jili district.

The working pressure of the pipeline is 4 MPa, and it is capable of delivering more than 10,000 tonens of hydrogen every year.

The company also noted that due to the mountainous and steep geography along the route of the pipeline, many obstacles have to be overcome, including the need for tunnelling and crossing railway lines and highways.

25km of hydrogen pipeline constructed in China | News | gasworld

The article did not say how they got around the problem of hydrogen embrittlement. Perhaps, they just painted to separate hydrogen frim the metal pipe.

Meet First Toyota's First Mirai Owner - And His Half-Filled Fuel Cell Vehicle

Police pulled over the Google driverless car for going 24 in a 35 mph zone, but couldn't give it a ticket because there was no driver! The computer probably explained that some stupid human had capped its speed at 25 mph, but questions remain:
If the programming includes an incorrectly high speed limit, would the Google car get off with speeding?
Did the Google car correctly recognize a cop pulling it over, and was it cooperative when questioned?
How would the.car take a breathalyzer test if required by the police?

We need an "auto-drive" option on the Gen 4 Prius!

Even on coal based electricity it would seem;
Electric vehicles beat gasoline cars in cradle-to-grave emissions study - LA Times

Although the study is not posted in the article (but linked to a summary here; Cleaner Cars from Cradle to Grave (2015) | Union of Concerned Scientists full copy is downloadable), it seems to be based on everything from manufacturing to recycling -
The summary has a short youtube video;

But it isn't mentioned whether there's accounting for the substantial ratio of home charged ev's - which would even further make the environmental point. But the article does go so far as to sum up in this fashion;

The latest paper from UCS on EVs and greenhouse gases is out!
http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/Cleaner-Cars-from-Cradle-to-Grave-full-report.pdf

From the summary:
As a side note, the EPA thankfully changed their "egrid" naming conventions. So now, the year in the name is the year the data is from, rather than the year of release.

The report above is using the latest, 2012, electric...