electric vehicles Archives - Page 12 of 15 -

AeroVironment and KnowWhatYouDrive educate EV car shoppers

Education and accessible, clear information is needed out there to get past the stumbling block that holds consumers back from owning an electric vehicle. If you take a look at a new educational website for electric vehicle (EV) shoppers, you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions:

What’s the difference between EVs, plug-in hybrids, and hybrids?
Why lithium ion batteries?
What do you get out of it? Why make the investment?
What’s the latest on charging technologies?
How long does it take to charge and how far do you travel?

AeroVironment is working with Saginaw, Mich.-based KnowWhatYouDrive on an educational initiative to help consumers take the plunge and purchase an EV and a home charging port. The free online course at AVEV101.com walks through all of the questions that typically come up for car shoppers – or those with some interest in owning an EV. Details are presented on the types of available charging stations, charging time, and how the installation process works. You can test your electric vehicle IQ and instantly earn $25, $50, or $100 coupon codes for an electric vehicle charging station and installation.

“Education is one of the key factors that will help speed EV adoption,” said Wahid Nawabi, senior vice president and general manager of AeroVironment’s Efficient Energy Systems business segment. Doug Taylor, founder of KnowWhatYouDrive, says that it can be a daunting task with all of the EVs on the market now through Ford, Nissan, Fiat, and other OEMs. KnowWhatYouDrive works with charging station supplier Eaton on its website, and offers a discount program for EV charging stations.

AeroVironment has been committed to making the EV ownership and charging experience more accessible to consumers. It launched a dealer program last year offering a turnkey residential charging package. Consumers can purchase the EV and the charger in combination at the time of sale and build it into the financing. The home installation process is built into the transaction so that it can take place in a faster, more seamless way than it typically happens.

Why the Cadillac ELR TV commercial is a very bad idea

Rex Parker, professor of transportation design, at Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, called me last week and expressed distress and frustration with Cadillac’s “Poolside” ELR TV commercial prominently featured in the Winter Olympics (and in the photo to the left). Parker, a former designer with major automakers, had a lot to say about it being misunderstood overseas, fueling more tension and misunderstanding during a time when US TV commercials go global and viral through Youtube and social media. His comments speak to what I see as being the most significant trend shaping the near-term future of the auto industry – globalization. As I’ve covered and commented upon many times in Green Auto Market, automakers and suppliers are now truly multi-national conglomerates serving markets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Chinese OEMs and suppliers are the most obvious example, as Fisker Automotive, Volvo, General Motors, BYD, Tesla Motors, and others would tell you. It’s not a good time to be bragging about the US being No. 1 in everything, nor is it accurate; and it rubs against ideals that a lot of people still have about this country – a land of equality in all things regardless of where you live.

The main issue Parker has with the Cadillac ad is that many people around the world won’t get the satirical, humorous angle – and will likely see it as an extreme symbol of stereotypical American arrogance and wealthy lifestyle perks. As you can see here, Parker doesn’t hold back on expressing his opinions on auto industry trends. Here are a few points he made on the phone last week……

Americans traveling abroad will usually tell you this type of TV commercial is a very bad idea. Parker was in France when this commercial hit the airwaves, and it inflamed French viewers. This type of message hurts Americans traveling abroad.
Parker, who is half Brazilian and half American, was in Brazil last summer when a street riot in his US hometown of Huntington Beach, Calif., got a lot of media attention (which I can attest to, being stuck on Pacific Coast Highway while attempting to drive through Huntington Beach during this unexpected debacle). Brazilians were informed about it while it was going on – which is ironic given that it was a modest riot without casualties. But the internet gave them instantaneous information – and what happens in the US is taken very seriously in Brazil and around the world.
The Cadillac commercial conveys “American arrogance and sets us back generations,” Parker said. The days of 1950’s US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles explaining US foreign policy are long gone, he said.
I would also add, having been raised by a World War II vet with plenty of lively tales that I heard while growing up, that the days of post-WWII gratitude to the US are long gone. US traditions for individual rights, personal freedom and expression, holding elections, having open markets for developing industries, technology breakthroughs, and enjoying multi-media entertainment, will continue to influence what people around the world perceive and value; but toying with images and messages of what others resent, and sometimes hate, about the US, is not a good way to sell cars or improve international relations.
You can certainly make the case that the US government is dominated by an autocracy of interest groups who’ve stuffed pockets with lots of campaign contributions; and that the US has serious social issues to deal with – such as the brutal impact crystal methamphetamine is having in a lot of communities. You can also talk to people who’ve lived in or visited other countries around the world that are quite unstable and struggling – they’ll explain why they live in the US and probably won’t be leaving. Those are better images to convey in a TV commercial, as you can typically see watching TV lately. If you were watching the Winter Olympics, you probably saw Chevrolet’s new campaign called “The New Us.” It shows a diverse range of families under the theme, “What it means to be a family hasn’t changed; what a family looks like, has. This is the new us.”
Sell the car: The best performing and most memorable car commercials show off the car – it might be driving up a hillside at peak performance, or featuring a young couple or family traveling together and feeling good. General Motors’ Cadillac division has done a great job for about 20 years now in selling the product in its ad campaigns; the ELR has what people are impressed about with GM’s Voltec drivetrain, and with what Cadillac designers have placed into platforms and dashboard panels. The Cadillac ELR “Poolside” commercial only shows the car being charged and its dashboard control panel for a few seconds. The commercial’s agenda looks like something else besides marketing the product.

Cadillac ELR and BMW i8 Olympics TV commercials – How good were they?

While Super Bowl commercials are infamous for being the most expensive and most watched TV spots in the world, there might be a better media outlet for marketing new cars: the Olympics. While many of the commercials featured Olympic athletes skiing and skating by, there were two that gave a lot of time to luxury extended range electric vehicles: the 2014 Cadillac ELR and the 2015 BMW i8. And they were shown a lot more times than the single viewing you get on the Super Bowl (although the Olympics only happen every four years, or two years if you count the staggered schedule with summer and winter games). As for these Olympic TV commercials, my question would be: How good were they for marketing the cars?

The Cadillac ELR commercial plays off the competitive edge the US takes to the Olympics, and the upscale lifestyle lived by those driving the ELR – which is in direct competition with Tesla Model S and BMW i Series. “You work hard, create your own luck, and you’ve got to believe anything is possible,” well-recognized TV and movie actor Neal McDonough says as he unplugs his Cadillac ELR and takes off for the office. Americans don’t take the month of August off, like Europeans do, for vacation. “Because we’re crazy, driven, hard-working believers, that’s why.” Those other countries might think Americans are nuts, but we’ve had the Wright Brothers, Bill Gates, Les Paul, and Muhammad Ali – and we landed on the moon first, he says.

While it’s watchable and humorous, it spends very little time onscreen with the plug-in coupe, which is a very lush and impressive car to experience visually and hands on; one would think the car should make up most of the commercial’s focus and not just a few seconds at the end. Yet the commercial is more about style and social commentary than marketing the Cadillac ELR. The production schedule for the ELR is limited and there were only 41 units sold in the US in January; but that’s more than the BMW i Series sold in the US – it’s still very early for the BMW i3 and i8.

I think the BMW commercial gets a little bit closer to hitting the mark. The “Hello Future” ad features a voice over from Arthur C. Clarke’s 1964 BBC presentation. The famous science fiction novelist (with 2001: A Space Odyssey among his books) says, “The only thing we can be sure of about the future is that it will be absolutely fantastic. So, if what I say now seems to you to be very reasonable, then I will have failed completely. Only if what I tell you appears absolutely unbelievable have we any chance of visualizing the future as it really will happen.”

Near the end of the commercial, the BMW i8 appears in the dark and then takes shape, with its raising “butterfly doors” (reminiscent of the upcoming Tesla Model X and its raising “falcon doors”). This car will sell for $136,000 and is supposed to have the same performance as a BMW 335i. So, the audience will be very limited, too. Leasing will be necessary – the price will come down but it’s still very steep. The Cadillac ELR starts at about $75,000 and is more competitive with the Tesla Model S, but it’s also limited in its audience size.

For automakers to turn profits on EVs, it has to be worth the investment and reach a level of scale that makes it competitive with some of their ICE models. These niched luxury extended range cars aren’t going in that direction; they do raise consumer interest in the new alternative powertrain, but they’re too pricy to assist in widespread adoption of EVs. They get federal tax and state incentives, but the price is still very high – even with good lease packages. There’s some public opinion out there that EVs are just a toy for a very small percentage of wealthy Americans, which can get in the way of mainstream acceptance.

Educating and training the electrified transportation workforce

It was fascinating to participate last week at “Transportation Electrification Curriculum Roadmap Workshop,” which was organized by Brett Williams and J.R. DeShazo of UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. It was hosted by Southern California Edison at its SCE Energy Education Center in Irwindale, Calif. The focus of that day was on challenges being faced by education programs training students in community colleges and universities to serve the growing industry of electric vehicles (EVs), electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), and charging infrastructure.

I was wearing my consultant hat – it was not a public media event – but I would like to present some of the important information shared that day (identities of participants beyond the two organizers will remain anonymous for now). Much of the insightful information came from instructors and directors at education and training programs on campuses all over Southern California. Along with education professionals, there were people from government agencies, utilities, automakers, fleet management, and research centers. Here’s a few interesting points that were made that day…..

Community college and university administrators have been very restrictive about how much funding they’ve been willing to contribute to the education programs. Program directors had to get creative about securing funding, and much of this has come from grant funding outside the school and from corporate contributors.
Part of the day was spent analyzing job categories and statistics compiled by Luskin Center based primarily on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics job categories. There’s concern that the job definitions and categories are limited right now – there’s a lot of new and emerging jobs in the US economy that include solar energy and electrified transportation. So the federal and state reports that education programs are using now (and which influence funding) are limited and need to see some change. Educators would like to see the jargon for job classifications standardized in a way making it clear and accessible for everyone.
Getting young people engaged in seeking training and education in electrified transportation is a bit of a challenge. The college programs are growing, but educators are wanting to inform communities about their programs – and that would include high school teachers and administrators, students, parents, local government agencies, and others.
Program directors are spending as much of their time getting their students jobs and securing funding as they are teaching classes. That’s where creating internships and externships for students is paying off, along with student workshops and research projects.
Students are interested in becoming certified service technicians for dealers and fleets; others are getting graduate degrees in engineering to meet the growing demand for advanced vehicle technology integration. There’s also a lot of need for EVSE and charging infrastructure workers to keep EVs on the road.
The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) is working on certification for electric and hybrid vehicle technicians. That’s very much needed out there.
Another area of interest and training programs is “first responder” safety training for paramedics, firefighters, and others who rescue drivers from EV collisions. As students have asked me about when I’ve done high school presentations, there is a good deal of concern about safety when working with EVs. “Second responders” is also a big group – such as tow truck drivers and storage and wrecking yards. Cars can potentially catch on fire up to a week later, so education and training is needed in this area.
Another question: What to do about electric passenger cars and commercial vehicles (such as bucket trucks and delivery vans) that come off warranty coverage and need regular service?
Social media has its advantages in getting the word out to young people and EV enthusiasts. One participant shared that 50% of EV information in social media is being posted on Twitter. Posting photos and videos on social media is getting a lot of hits – with instructors teaching students what they should know about EV technology. Smartphone EV charging apps are also getting a lot of interest.
One point that I made at the end (and rambled on a little too long about – my apologies to the group) is that I’d like to see questions that EV buyers ask answered in these programs so that instructors and students can address them. As I learned once again last week in the Green Auto Market reader survey results, there’s a lot of concern among industry stakeholders about how we can effectively answer frequently asked questions that consumers, fleets, and other vehcle buyers have. They want to know if it’s worth their investment of time and money – acquisition costs and incentives, lifecycle ownership costs, and how it all compares to traditional gasoline ICE vehicles; and then there’s always range anxiety. Then there’s the question of the chicken or the egg – what needs to happen to make this all work – more affordable electric vehicles on the market or enough charging stations to alleviate fears of being stranded.
This working group on EV workforce training will be meeting again to keep these critical issues moving forward for the next generation of the EV workforce.

Big Picture: Bankruptcy judge speeds up Fisker court procedure, Amazon delivering packages by aerial drones

US Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross would like to see the Fisker Automotive bankruptcy procedure speeded up. The troubled automaker may be sold by January 3 under a fast-track schedule approved by the Wilmington, Del., court judge. The bankruptcy filing took place on November 22, and the typical asset bidding process is being circumvented. Fisker said the process already happened when the US Dept. of Energy held an auction for the $168.5 million loan that it made to Fisker. An affiliate of Chinese company Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC won the auction and only paid $25 million for the Fisker assets. The judge admitted it was an unusual process but seems to agree that the auction process has been moving along. Creditors will also have access to a December 10 hearing that will decide whether a disclosure statement from Fisker has enough information for creditors to decide whether to oppose the liquidation plan.

Amazon will be dropping off your orders from the sky. You thought driverless cars accessing our roads by 2020 sounded pretty far out? How about aerial drones delivering packages for Amazon.com within the next five years? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled the robotic airplane project on Dec. 1 during the CBS program “60 Minutes.” The vehicles could deliver up to five pounds in a 10-mile radius of Amazon’s 96 warehouses within 30 minutes, Bezos said. Bezos thinks it will be very green – much better than driving trucks around.

Nissan is working with NRG Energy’s subsidiary NRG eVgo to expand its electric vehicle charging station Freedom Station chain across Washington DC. Through this plan, eVgo is intending to develop a comprehensive fast charging network in the greater Washington area with charging stations at Dulles Town Center in Loudon County, Arlington County, and District of Columbia at Van Ness. In addition, two stations are currently being constructed in Rockville and Towson in Maryland alongside other sites under development stages across the Washington metropolitan area.

Check out the new zero emission vehicle (ZEV) Guidebook – a resource for California cities and counties to find where electric vehicle chargers and hydrogen stations are being installed. It comes from Governor Brown’s recent Executive Order that calls for California’s major metropolitan areas to complete infrastructure plans, improve permitting and complete other actions to accommodate ZEVs by 2015.

Installed an electric vehicle charger in your garage and you want a federal tax credit? Then you’d better do so by December 31, after which the credit expires. The credit covers 30% of the cost of purchase and installation, up to a maximum of $1,000, for installing an electric-car changing station in a private home. This means using Form 8911 with the tax filing due by April 15 of next year. There will also be expiration on that date of a 10% credit for the purchase price of an electric motorcycle or three-wheeled vehicle.

Mahindra Group has created an electric racing division and signed an agreement with Formula E Holdings. It’s now the eighth team to join the new FIA Formula E Championship. “Mahindra Racing” was a natural chain events, Mahindra said, since it’s been involved for some time in the production of EV through its Mahindra Reva Company. Mahindra Racing, if approved, will join in the Formula E championship with Andretti Autosport, Dragon Racing, Asia’s China Racing and Super Aguri and European teams Drayson Racing, e.dams, and Audi Sport ABT.

Inside the minds of car shoppers: The latest on green car surveys and branding trends

Sales of plug-ins, hybrids, natural gas vehicles, and other alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) are comparatively small when looking at overall new vehicle sales in the US. Still, they’re grabbing a lot of attention from media and marketing analysts lately, especially if you add in diesel-engine vehicles. While some will scoff at the idea of “clean diesel,” these cars are growing significantly in US sales numbers; diesel is about 55 cents more expensive than gasoline at retail stations, but the cars (especially from German automakers) are getting great mileage and performance. Here’s the latest coverage on how car buyers are perceiving AFVs……

Follow the money: A recent survey by AutoTrader.com says that the top reasons shoppers would consider purchasing an AFV are less emotional and more practical, with three of the top five being related to saving money. “Better fuel economy” came in first at 70%, followed by “Cost of savings on gas” at 56%, “Cleaner emissions” at 37%, “Better for the environment” at 28% and “Federal Tax Credit” at 24%. The survey measured consumer attitudes on a range of fuels and technologies including diesels, hybrids, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. The study also found that perceptions about battery life/range are working against hybrid and plug-in vehicles. Diesel is facing concerns about the fuel expense, the cost of the vehicles, and potentially high cost of maintenance.

Luxury buyers: Phoenix International’s recent finding on AFVs found that luxury SUV consumers and non-luxury car consumers have the most interest; hybrid and electric vehicles are in the non-luxury car category, so that wasn’t a surprise in the survey findings. What about luxury SUVs? Diesel SUVs have been growing in popularity, which seems to have opened the door for car shoppers to consider alternatives, along with the perception that AFVs partially embody the latest in automotive technology. Phoenix International finds it very interesting that Tesla Motors is going after all of the luxury market by adding its upcoming Model X – an electric SUV – to its model lineup next year.

As for branding: In the AutoTrader study, for all the automakers who offer AFVs, seven had high awareness among survey respondents: Toyota, Honda, Ford, Lexus, Chevrolet, Nissan, and Volkswagen. When asked which automakers they would identify as leading in the space, Toyota came out on top with 48%, Honda came in second with 28%, and Ford made third place with 25%.

As for sub-brands: Green Car Reports made a very convincing point that the way automakers are marketing green sub-brands aren’t clicking very well for name retention. The article gives readers a test – to read a list of sub-brands for automaker green technology offerings, then scan a list of automaker brand names, and then accurately connect the dots. Here’s the correct answers: BlueEfficiency – Mercedes-Benz; BlueMotion – Volkswagen; Drive-E – Volvo; EarthDreams – Honda; EcoBoost – Ford; EcoTec – GM; EfficientDynamics – BMW; Hybrid Synergy Drive – Toyota; PureDrive – Nissan; and SkyActiv – Mazda. Ford’s EcoBoost has stuck with many minds along with Mazda’s SkyActiv; Honda’s EarthDreams and Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive stand out a little bit. The other ones seem pretty forgetful (at least for this writer).

Big Picture: Gobble, gobble….. A few clean transportation items before you leave for the holidays

As you break for a long holiday weekend, here are a few happenings to read about…..

Things seem to be wrapping up for Fisker Automotive. Hybrid Technology Holdings, a Hong Kong-based investor group led by billionaire Richard Li, is buying the company’s assets for $25 million. That means the US Dept. of Energy will be losing about $139 on Fisker; the DOE will be overall be recovering about $53 million from its original $192 million disbursement.

Tesla Motors has lost it marketing leader – George Blankenship, who played a key role in setting up Apple’s retail stores and brought much of it over to Tesla, left the electric carmaker last month. As everyone knows by now, it’s a sensitive time for Tesla as NHTSA has decided to recall most of the Model S units for investigation and Tesla is working on overdrive to expand stores in North America, Europe, and Asia. Blankenship has been vague on his Linkedin page about why he’s leaving; he’s now 60 and is officially taking on the role of “Director of Smiles for the Blankenship Family.”

But there is some good news for Tesla. The automaker won a near-perfect score for its Model S, as it displaced the Chevy Volt at the top of Consumer Report’s annual vehicle owner satisfaction survey. It’s the best score the magazine has seen in years – 99 out of 100 points.

The Nissan Leaf is paying off for the automaker, according to Jose Munoz, Nissan’s senior VP of sales and marketing for the Americas. The Leaf is not the top reason customers are referred to the Nissan brand, he said, and the vehicle is now profitable.

Green Truck Summit is getting some ink – it will be March 4-5 in conjunction with The Work Truck Show 2014 in Indianapolis. It will offer attendees more than 20 educational sessions and a chassis OEM forum moderated by Indianapolis Mayor Gregory Ballard.

Luxury SUV buyers and non-luxury car shoppers are most likely to consider buying alternative fuel vehicles including EVs, hybrids, hydrogen-power, or CNG-powered vehicles. That comes from a Phoenix Marketing International study. About 50% of the survey respondents were neutral to alternative fuel vehicles, while the two aforementioned categories have the highest percentages of “very” or “extremely” to purchase an alt-fuel vehicle.

UPS was among the award winners at the NGV Achievement Award. United Parcel Service and Mike Scarpino, regional manager for DOE Clean Cities Coalition, were among the recipients of 2013 NGV Achievement Award held Nov. 20 in Atlanta. UPS was recognized for 25 years of exemplary NGV industry leadership. Eleven recipients were recognized during the gala and reception dinner at NGV America’s 2013 North American NGV Conference and Expo. Richard Kolodziej, president of NGVAmerica, was given a lifetime achievement award.

The cap and trade market is getting some play in California. California companies paid about $297 million for carbon allowances on the state’s carbon auction. On Nov. 19, California’s fifth auction took place, where companies such as Exxon Mobil and Dow Chemical paid $11.48 per allowance to release one metric ton of carbon as early as this year. That was a lower price than a previous sale in August, when it sold for $12.22 per metric ton. All together, the five auction events have raised $1.4 billion.

For those interested in real-time traffic data being readily available….. INRIX, Inc. introduced INRIX XD™ Incidents, which correlates real-time traffic flow data with information from nearly 400 public and private sources including media partners, departments of transportation, emergency responders, and community reports via mobile, and in-vehicle applications, as well as social networks like Twitter. The service offer traffic intelligence that reports more accidents, road closures, and other incidents across significantly more roads in more countries and at much greater speed than ever before.

Big Picture: Hydrogen FCEVs facing rite of passage; Dates announced on two alt-fuel vehicle conferences

To paraphrase the Kevin Costner movie, “Field of Dreams” – If you build it, they will come.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles continue to struggle with “chicken or the egg” quandary. There’s only a slim hydrogen refueling infrastructure in the US, and the questions of how much fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) will be priced for and how serious car shoppers will take the products and pricing are far from being answered. Plug-in electric vehicle loyalists like Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk tend to scoff at FCEVs. Yet, other automakers seem to be taking these vehicles seriously.

Hyundai is preparing to launch a fuel cell crossover in the US next year. Hyundai’s president of research and development Kwon Moon-sik thinks cost factors are pointing the company in the direction of FCEVs instead of batteries. Several of his auto industry colleagues share that perspective. Kwon says that advanced lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles remain expensive, and he sees few opportunities for cost reductions coming soon. He thinks hydrogen fuel cells offer more hope for volume savings. The zero emissions part of FCEVs also offers appeal to automakers. Executives at Toyota, Honda, Daimler, General Motors, Ford, and Nissan are mapping out FCEV launches between 2015 and 2020; some of them share Kwon’s perspectives about the cost of FCEVs falling. It’s all part of the partnership alliance formed earlier this year on fuel cell systems between GM and Honda; and another, similar alliance between Nissan, Daimler, and Ford.

The process does require patience. Hyundai already started production of a hydrogen-powered version of its Tucson crossover; the company plans to produce only 1,000 units for sale globally by 2015. Toyota just offered a sneak peak at its FCV concept hydrogen-powered vehicle that it plans to roll out in 2015 (see photo above); the company is hoping to use it to popularize FCEVs as the Prius did for hybrids. “We think it could be the best zero emissions solution that hits the market,” said Bill Fay, general manager of Toyota’s US sale division.

Honda has helped car show attendees gain enthusiasm for FCEVs after driving its limited production FCX Clarity. Another FCEV will be joining the Honda lineup; the automaker just put out a sketch that hints at what will be shown at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show. Honda says the new FCEV Concept expresses a “potential styling direction” for a next-generation FCEV due in 2015. Honda appears to be preparing for competition from Toyota’s FCEV being launched that same year.

As for the limited number of hydrogen refueling stations, California plans to open 68 more of them by 2015. There are only nine open in the state now; 19 are in development and another 12 private or demonstration stations are operational. The governor recently signed a bill offering funding for 100 hydrogen fueling stations in the state. California is also thinking about changing its tax credit system so that it would stop favoring plug-in electric vehicles over FCEVs. The US Dept. of Energy continues to make amends with the hydrogen and fuel cell communities through its H2USA program launched in May. It’s a public-private partnership with Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Toyota to promote development of the hydrogen refueling infrastructure. The Obama administration just announced a $4 million grant for research into hydrogen fuel storage systems. Then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger might have aided the skeptics with his campaign nearly 10 years ago for the “hydrogen highway” to come soon; but steps are being taken forward these days.

Northern California AltCar Expo and ACT Expo release dates
Two significant alt-fuel vehicle conferences have been scheduled. AltCar Expo is seeing its partnership with Bay Area Air Quality Management District come together. The Northern California AltCar Conference & Expo will take place on Friday and Saturday, March 14-15, 2014, at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, Calif. Check out the event’s website to stay current on the schedule.

The Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo is looking forward to seeing its record attendance numbers go up yet again. Next year’s conference has been scheduled May 5-8, 2014, back at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif. It will be co-located with the 14^th biennial NGV Global Conference and Exposition. “Merging North America’s largest clean fleet expo with the world’s leading natural gas vehicle conference will result in the largest gathering of clean transportation stakeholders that North America has ever seen,” Erik Neandross, CEO of event manager Gladstein, Neandross and Associates, said in the press release.

Clean Cities offers AFLEET tools and mobile app for stations
Argonne National Laboratory has developed the Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation (AFLEET) Tool for Clean Cities stakeholders to estimate petroleum use, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutant emissions, and cost of ownership of light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles using simple spreadsheet inputs. The US Dept. of Energy’s Clean Cities Program enlisted the expertise of Argonne to develop a tool to examine both the environmental and economic costs and benefits of alternative fuel and advanced vehicles. You can download the AFLEET tool in Excel and user guide in PDF free of charge at this website.

The tool provides three calculation methods depending on the user’s goals. The Simple Payback Calculator examines acquisition and annual operating costs to calculate a simple payback for purchasing a new alternative fuel vehicle as compared to a similar conventional vehicle, as well as average annual petroleum use, greenhouse gases (GHGs), and air pollutant emissions. The Total Cost of Ownership Calculator evaluates the net present value of operating and fixed costs over the years of planned ownership of a new vehicle, as well as lifetime petroleum use, GHGs, and air pollutant emissions. The Fleet Energy and Emissions Footprint Calculator estimates the annual petroleum use, GHGs, and air pollutant emissions of existing and new vehicles; it takes into consideration that older vehicles typically have higher air pollutant emission rates than newer ones.

For those seeking information on more than 15,000 charging and alternative fuel stations within the US, Clean Cities and National Renewable Energy Laboratory now have a mobile app for iPhone or iPad users. You can quickly find out where EV public charging stations, and fueling pumps for B20 biodiesel, compress and liquefied natural gas, E85 ethanol, hydrogen, and propane, can be found.

But wait, there’s more!……..

Brett Hauser, a founding member of the Open Charge Alliance (OCA), a global consortium of public and private electric vehicle infrastructure leaders, and president of Greenlots, had a few things to say about the solutions offered by open standards for electric vehicle charging stations instead of proprietary networks. Here’s a little bit of what he wrote in Greentechmedia….. Charging networks based on open communications standards are an excellent alternative to proprietary networks and have been future-proofing Europe’s EV networks for close to four years now. The open model provides site hosts the freedom to switch network management providers without having to purchase new charging stations. It also stimulates technical innovation by allowing free market competition to push down the costs of both charging station hardware and back-end software, while dramatically derisking the hardware purchase for site hosts.
Pricing is coming out on Cadillac’s extended-range ELR – $75,995 as a starting price and there’s a marketing deal with the famous department store. For $89,500, you can buy the 2014 Saks Fifth Avenue ELR. You get a White Diamond exterior finish, a Jet Black or Light Cashmere interior shade, a 240-volt charger thrown in the deal, and a relationship with an “ELR Concierge Representative.” These are only available to 100 people, and General Motors only expects to sell a limited number of ELRs anyways.
Nissan/Renault chief Carlos Ghosn is backing off big numbers for electric vehicle sales targets. The global automaker was going to sell 1.5 million EVs by 2016. So far, it’s only been about 120,000 units, primarily Nissan Leafs. At the current speed, it’s going to take about five years longer than initially anticipated, he said.
Energy Vision is now offering a new publication, “Turning Waste into Vehicle Fuel.” Funded in part by Clean Cities, it’s a first-of-its-kind roadmap for cities, communities, farms, and other generators of organic waste to develop renewable natural gas.
Kia is planning on producing an electric version of its Soul crossover subcompact to arrive next year in the US. It will be Kia’s first EV sold outside South Korea and is expected to travel 120 miles on a single charge.

Third Tesla Model S fire was pretty bad, but just how bad?

Tesla Motors had its third Model S fire in six weeks on Wednesday, Nov. 6, near Smyrna, Tenn. It was at first a stunning blow to the upstart luxury, high-performance electric carmaker; it illustrated the difficulties of bringing a new technology to market and of succeeding in the auto industry. Since then, it may have quieted down. The driver of the third Model S fire has been defending Tesla, and the incidents’ stats are much better than the overall vehicle marketplace on the safety front.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said that the 2013 Model S ran over a tow hitch on Interstate 24 that hit the undercarriage of the vehicle, causing an electric fire. Tesla doesn’t know yet whether the fire involved the electric car’s battery.

The driver, Dr. Juris Shibayama, was impressed with how it all turned out and plans to buy another one of Tesla’s electric vehicles. “I am thankful to God that I was totally uninjured in any way from this impact. Had I not been in a Tesla, that object could have punched through the floor and caused me serious harm,” Shibayama wrote in a letter that was sent out in an email by Tesla.

The first of the three fires took place on October 1 in Kent, Wash, near Seattle. The Model S is said to have run over a piece of road debris described as a “curved section that fell off a semi-trailer.” Tesla said that it punched a three-inch hole through the quarter-inch-thick armor plate protecting the pack and had a force of 25 tons. The Model S alerted the driver, and he pulled over and safely exited the car. The second fire took place on October 18 in Mérida, a city in Mexico’s Yucatán region. A drunk driver jumped a curb in the Model S, took out part of a concrete wall and hit a tree. This driver was also satisfied with the safety of the car and wants to have his replacement Model S delivered promptly.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is in talks with Tesla on the Tennessee crash, and will decide soon if a full investigation is needed. Tesla did receive a top NHTSA safety rating for the Model S this year, and accolades also came in from Consumer Reports and car review publications. Thousands of cars crash and burn every year in the US – fires in Tesla’s electric cars are much less common than in those powered by gasoline and diesel; but timing does play a huge part in the stock price of a company and perceived value of a product. There have been over 19,000 units sold so far for the Model S; while it’s probably not a ratio that should raise red flags over the electric car’s safety, having these incidents happen so close together does create quite a perceptual challenge for the automaker.

Tesla Motors is now under a spotlight similar to what the Chevrolet Volt and Fisker Karma and its A123 lithium ion battery pack have been through. Li-ion batteries are commonplace in smartphones and laptops, but are still fairly new to cars. While Toyota and Daimler are impressed enough with Tesla’s battery-powered electric motor to place them in their own EVs, the new technology is quite vulnerable to safety and reliability issues.

This year has been a wild ride for the luxury electric carmaker. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become a media icon, much to the chagrin of auto dealer trade groups, which have locked horns with Tesla in Texas and other states through lawsuits and lobbying efforts. Tesla has opened retail stores in states where franchise laws dictate car sales. Dealers are concerned that if Tesla wins this fight, automakers may bypass at least some of their dealer networks and go direct to consumers.

Musk has gained much attention through his SpaceX commercial space travel company, and the Hyperloop 800-mile per hour train system that he conceived with SpaceX engineers. Investors have also been quite enamored with Musk and Tesla shares, which have peaked and plummeted this year. In May, Tesla stock (TSLA) was at about $76 per share; it reached a peak of $193.37 in late September and closed on Monday, Nov. 11, at $144.70. So far, Tesla has been very shrewd about how it’s responded to the crashes, but the company is at a pivotal juncture for its future.

Big Picture: Green car award winners to be named soon, plus a review of five significant award contests and what it all seems to mean

Green cars – fuel efficient, plug-in, hybrid, and alternative fuel vehicles – now have enough sales volume and interest to garner annual awards. I’ve counted five significant award contests being in place, with winners of two significant awards approaching. Here’s a review of finalists and winners so far for this year, and a few thoughts on what it all means…..

Green Car Reports just released five finalists for its Best Car to Buy award, all of them being 2014 models:

BMW i3
Chevrolet Cruze Diesel
Chevrolet Spark EV
Honda Accord Hybrid
Mazda 3

There have been other nominees and winners named this year, including the influential Green Car of the Year award that will be given out at the LA Auto Show this month. Here is Green Car Journal’s top five:

Audi A6 TDI
BMW 328d
Honda Accord (in four-cylinder, V-6, hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions)
Mazda3
Toyota Corolla

In April, Kelley Blue Book named its 10 Best Green Cars of 2013, all of them 2013 models and some coming in various versions including battery electric vehicles, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, diesel, and gasoline:

1. Nissan Leaf
2. Tesla Model S
3. Ford Focus
4. Chevrolet Volt
5. Toyota Prius Plug-in
6. Ford C-Max Energi
7. Volkswagen Jetta
8. Honda Fit
9. Toyota Avalon
10. Lincoln MKZ

As for the 2013 World Green Car finalists named earlier this year, the Tesla Model S, Renault Zoe, and Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid made the list that was announced at the New York International Auto Show; the Model S won the award. This award is presented by Bridgestone Corp. and looks at tailpipe emissions, fuel consumption, and use of major advanced power plant technology aimed at increasing the vehicle’s environmental responsibility.

Classic car buff magazine, Motor Trend, just named its top five hybrid and diesel cars in its analysis of fuel efficient vehicles:

Volkswagen Jetta TDI
Toyota Prius
Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid
Honda Civic Hybrid
Chevrolet Cruze

Here’s what I get from studying the rankings:

There’s still a wide split over the pragmatic present realities versus the long-term goals of clean transportation. Plug-in electric vehicles are embraced by many, but its influence is still quite marginal. The Chevy Volt took the Green Car of the Year award three years ago, but for all of the cars on the ranking this year for the most influential annual award, plug-ins have very little to do with it. Ron Cogan and the Green Car Journal team, along with its panelists, seem more supportive of highly fuel efficient gasoline and diesel internal combustion engine models.
There are surprises, as well – especially Kelley Blue Book naming the plug-in Nissan Leaf as its No. 1 green car of the year. Battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles dominated its list, which is very interesting coming from a company focused on resale values.
Diesel engine passenger cars, especially with turbocharged direct injection engines (TDI), are really taking off in the US. It doesn’t seem to matter that diesel is usually about 50 cents a gallon more expensive than regular gasoline these days. The fuel efficiency is great and driver experience and positive reviews are helping. German automakers have been selling a lot of diesel cars in Europe for many years, and the US market is now starting to open up (which Volkswagen seems to be counting on to earn its No. 1 sales spot in global auto sales). US automakers have started getting into the game, such as General Motors with the Chevrolet Cruze diesel version.
Clean transportation shoppers have a lot of options today – whether you’re talking about fleet managers and purchase agents, government agencies and policy wonks, consumer organizations, environmental groups, or tire-kicking automotive journalists who go to all of the media days at car shows. Every green vehicle category has its hardcore advocates, but once all of the top five widely accepted industry standards are accepted – reduced emissions, fuel efficiency, safety, reliability, and performance – there’s a lot of competition in the market these days.

Aside from the awards, let’s take a look at top stories of the past week….

Plug-in vehicle sales were stronger in October than September, but not near the record level seen in August. The Chevy Volt saw 2,022 deliveries, up 14% from September; the Nissan Leaf was right behind it with 2,002 units sold, up 2.5% from September’s 1,953. Ford was thrilled to have its C-Max Energi and Fusion Energi plug-in hybrids collectively beat the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid in sales numbers for the first time.
Tesla-Mania!: The automaker saw its biggest drop in stock value during October – down 17% from its peak of $23.5 billion to $19.4 billion at the end of the month…. Daimler AG would like to do more with Tesla beyond receiving electric motors for is Smart ForTwo EV and the new Mercedes-Benz B-Class EV….. Panasonic Corp. has a contract now with Tesla to supply lithium ion cells for the Model S and Model X battery packs, and that could mean $7 billion in revenue for Panasonic…. Elon Musk’s associates have formed Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, a company seeking investors for the high speed rail network that will get from San Francisco to Los Angeles in just 30 minutes….. Edmunds.com reported that the Tesla Model S is now the most-registered new car in eight of 25 wealthiest US neighborhoods tracked by zip code.
GreenLots is bringing its Sky open access network to the Vancouver area as part of the west coast’s DC fast charger corridor that so far extends through Oregon and Washington and will soon go up into British Columbia and down to California.
BYD Co. defended itself in a California court yesterday on charges that it didn’t comply with minimum wage laws for engineers working at its Lancaster, Calif., plant and its Los Angeles office. The Chinese company has a contract to make electric buses for the Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Respected junior college training center Rio Honda Community College in California is offering a campus tour on Nov. 14 from 11:00 am until around 1:00 pm PST. Click here to learn more and register for the facility tour at what’s one of the most significant training grounds for future engineers and service technicians in: CNG; LNG; hydrogen fuel systems; hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric technologies; high-voltage storage and generation technology; and solar and wind energy technology.
Via Motors’ plug-in hybrid cargo van, built on the Chevrolet Express platform, passed its crash tests needed to be met before it can go on sale, according to the company. The van gets 35 miles on battery only, with a total range of 400 miles.
Ford recalled 2,618 Focus Electric cars due to potential loss of power to its wheels while in motion that’s related to software anomalies. Nearly all of these 2012 to 2014 models were sold in the US, and the automaker says there was one crash and no injuries related to the recall question.
Biofuel and oil industry lobbyists are quite busy in Washington as the White House and US Environmental Protection Agency prepare to issue a ruling on ethanol blending rules implementing the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.
While this TV ad campaign has been around since the summer, you may have noticed General Motors advertising that the GMC Sierra pickup is in league with the Hoover Dam’s smart grid hydropower. Fuel efficiency and performance are promoted as GM competes for truck sales head-to-head with the Ford F-Series pickups and its EcoBoost-powered engines.