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From: Felix Kramer <fkramer@...>
Subject: NYTimes: 100-MPG Cars: It's a Start by Pulitzer-Winner
Nicholas Kristof
X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=163771593; y=h-gI2SOHZxobSwMoOhgZINGl1DGmh-36MN6uXbYsbWYFG3HMkwMK
X-Yahoo-Profile: felixkramery
Nicholas Kristof is a twice-weekly columnist at=20
The New York Times. Most recently, his writing=20
about Darfur has attracted wide notice. See=20
<http://www.nytimes.com/ref/opinion/KRISTOF-BIO.html>.
We expect to have a one-page PDF version of the=20
print version of this story available Sunday at=20
<http://www.calcars.org/downloads.html>.
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/opinion/05kristof.html
The New York Times
February 5, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
100-M.P.G. Cars: It's a Start
Imagine if we could develop a passenger car that=20
averaged more than 100 miles per gallon =97 or, if=20
used only for short trips, 1,000 miles per=20
gallon. What if it could cost the equivalent of=20
only 75 cents a gallon to operate and needed to=20
go to a filling station only every other month?
Surprise =97 we have all that technology today! We=20
even have a handful of demonstration vehicles to=20
prove it. All we lack is bold political and=20
corporate leadership to put this technology in play immediately.
These vehicles underscore that if President Bush=20
is serious about curbing our addiction to oil,=20
there's plenty more that he could do =97 right now.=20
There's no need for vague, long-term initiatives=20
that are welcome but smack of procrastination.
The cars I'm talking about are known as "plug-in=20
hybrids." They are similar to hybrids like the=20
Toyota Prius, but they have bigger batteries and=20
at night would be plugged into a standard=20
120-volt outlet to charge the batteries.
They can be built to have a 30- to 50-mile range=20
before the gasoline engine needs to be used at=20
all. So for someone who commutes 15 miles each=20
way to work and rarely takes long drives, a=20
plug-in hybrid usually functions as an electric=20
vehicle and relies on gas only on rare occasions.
"If you used it only locally, you would go to a=20
gas station only a couple of times a year," said=20
Felix Kramer, founder of=20
<http://www.CalCars.org>, a nonprofit in Palo=20
Alto, Calif., that converted a regular Prius to a=20
plug-in hybrid. "This can be done right now. That's why people are so excit=
ed."
Estimates of gas mileage with a plug-in tend to=20
be 100 miles per gallon and up, but these=20
estimates depend on how the vehicle is used.=20
People who only putter around their neighborhood=20
could go thousands of miles on a gallon of gas =97=20
and a supply of household current.
Eventually, instead, maybe we'll be driving=20
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. A few years ago, I=20
drove a General Motors hydrogen prototype on an=20
Arizona test track, and it was capable of speeds=20
of up to 100 miles per hour, handled well, was=20
whisper-quiet and emitted only water vapor for=20
exhaust. On the other hand, it also cost $5 million to make.
In contrast, plug-in hybrids are economically and=20
technically feasible today. While the batteries=20
still aren't perfect, supporters say that plug-in=20
hybrids can be mass-produced today for only about=20
$3,000 more than a conventional hybrid (which=20
already costs $3,000 more than a regular auto).=20
Skeptics say that the additional cost might be=20
greater, up to $15,000 more than a regular gas=20
car =97 but even that might find a market among car=20
buyers seeking the Hot New Thing.
The higher sticker price is compensated for by=20
lower operating costs, with power from the=20
electrical grid. Indeed, if it recharged at night=20
when rates drop, a plug-in hybrid could be run=20
for the equivalent of 75 cents a gallon or less.
Another advantage is that plug-ins fit easily=20
into the existing infrastructure, unlike cars=20
fueled by hydrogen. At least at home, the=20
infrastructure is as simple as an extension cord.
"None of this requires a Manhattan Project,"=20
notes James Woolsey, the former C.I.A. director,=20
an ardent fan of plug-in hybrids to achieve=20
greater energy autonomy and stop subsidizing=20
extremism and dictatorships in the Middle East.=20
Now, he says, government incentives are needed so=20
that auto companies take the financial risk of producing plug-in hybrids.
Mr. Woolsey has a vision that starts with plug-in=20
hybrids averaging, say, 125 miles per gallon.=20
Then he would like to see them made of=20
lightweight carbon (like Formula One racers),=20
which would save enough weight to double mileage=20
=97 taking the vehicle up to 250 miles per gallon.
Then make that plug-in a flex-fuel vehicle that=20
burns E85 (which is 85 percent ethanol and only=20
15 percent petroleum), and it will go four times=20
as far for each gallon of petroleum. That's 1,000=20
miles per gallon with existing (albeit not always very economical) technolo=
gy.
Will everything work so smoothly? No, of course=20
not. But even if only one-fifth of this dream=20
were achievable, the result would still be 200=20
m.p.g. cars =97 and more energy security and less global warming.
The Bush administration is backing the=20
technologies that go into plug-in hybrids, but=20
languorously. Instead, the U.S. should promise to=20
order 50,000 fleet vehicles of the first viable=20
plug-in hybrid =97 that would be just the stimulus the carmakers need.
Mr. Bush was forthright in acknowledging=20
America's oil addiction, but he sometimes sounded=20
like an addict who declares he's going to quit "tomorrow." Let's start now.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkramer@...
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/calcars-news
http://www.hybridcars.com/blogs/power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/priusplus
http://www.seattleeva.org/wiki/EAA-PHEV
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --=20=20
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Felix Kramer <fkramer@...>
felixkramery
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