Stories tagged with "PHEV"

The post-oil energy economies of the future - by Gordon Brown

Posted by Euan Mearns on July 15, 2008 - 8:45am in The Oil Drum: Europe
Topic: Policy/Politics
Tags: carbon capture, concentrating solar power, eib, electric vehicles, gordon brown, hybrids, nuclear power, original, phev, post-oil, severn barrage [list all tags]



British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - from zero to hero?

.... to set ourselves on a new energy path - a path from our economies that are today over-dependent on oil towards the post-oil energy economies of the future. And moving towards this sustainable energy economy helps us meet our economic, political and environmental goals.

The stuff of Statesmanship? From a speech made by Gordon Brown on 13th July at The Union for the Mediterranean Summit. The whole speech is below the fold. My emphasis added.
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Four Billion Cars in 2050?

Posted by Stuart Staniford on February 18, 2008 - 9:00am
Topic: Environment/Sustainability
Tags: 2050, automobile, civilization, hybrids, peak oil, phev [list all tags]

The Tata Nano will sell for about $2500 (US) in the base model, and get about 51 mpg (US). Source: Wikipedia.

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Freedom from Oil - a review

Posted by Heading Out on December 13, 2007 - 9:47am
Topic: Policy/Politics
Tags: military use, oil shortage, phev [list all tags]

This is the time of year when we often spend some time traveling, and at the time that I went down to the ASPO Meeting in Houston, I picked up a book on the oil situation that I read on the way down and back. The book is “Freedom from Oil”, by David Sandalow. Because of the way it is presented the book turned out to relatively easy to pick and put down, as trip segments evolved, and so I thought I would briefly review it today. It gives a different view of the situation, illustrating, through the use of memoranda from the different Departments and Secretaries of the Government, how a policy speech and program get assembled. The topic, and sub-title of the book is “How the Next President Can End the United States’ Oil Addiction”, and that was good enough for me to pluck it from the shelf and onto the airplane.

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The high potential of plug-in hybrids

Posted by Chris Vernon on December 5, 2007 - 9:59am in The Oil Drum: Europe
Topic: Demand/Consumption
Tags: automobile, carbon dioxide, hybrids, oil, phev, transportation, united kingdom [list all tags]

This article was originally written for The Hybrid Debate.

The hybrid car may be a milestone in the history of personal transportation, but it still burns petrol and releases CO2. In this sense, it’s no different from the Model-T Ford of 1908. True, the technology provides significant efficiency benefits. But it won’t be revolutionary until its next incarnation, the "plug-in hybrid electric vehicle" (PHEV), goes mainstream.

In a PHEV, the internal combustion engine (ICE) is further reduced in size; the electric motor and battery pack are scaled up; and a cable is provided, to connect the car to the national grid via wall sockets. With heavy-duty electrical components taking more of the strain, the ICE runs for shorter periods of time, thus improving the car’s efficiency.

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Review: How Can We Outlive Our Way of Life?

Posted by Robert Rapier on October 2, 2007 - 9:00am
Topic: Environment/Sustainability
Tags: cellulosic ethanol, electric car, original, phev, solar power, sustainability [list all tags]

"Have the guts to consider the silent consequences when standing in front of the next snake-oil humanitarian." -Nassim Nicholas Taleb in The Black Swan

I believe our generation faces a sobering choice: Take serious steps to reduce our fossil fuel usage now - and this will undoubtedly entail some amount of hardship - or leave it to our children to face a great deal of hardship. I firmly believe this is our choice, and we must look to solutions that move us in that direction. I also believe that if most people understood that we are pushing a very serious problem onto our children - instead of assuming scientists and engineers will solve the problem - then we would collectively pursue a solution with far greater urgency.

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Saving 20 million barrels a day. The 100mpg hybrid car should be here, now!

Posted by Chris Vernon on August 21, 2007 - 1:00pm in The Oil Drum: Europe
Topic: Demand/Consumption
Tags: automobile, batteries, hybrids, phev, transportation [list all tags]

This is a guest article by Mark Yates, The Oil Drum member googlepeakoil.

Introduction

There is an urban legend that goes "car companies are withholding the 100 mpg car". It might not have been true before... and now while not withholding it, the 100mpg is ready - they're just being very very slow to make it and sell it!

For many years the car companies have said the "the batteries aren't ready" (here and here *) and I'm sick of reading it. They are in fact so "ready" that within a few months to a year 3 relativley small automakers (further details below) will be thumbing their noses at the big 4 auto companies as they bring to market electric cars (and a pickup) with 300-700hp electric motors, 100mph+ top speed and 100-200+ mile ranges per charge. Which might lead many to ask, "why are car companies saying the batteries not ready". Meanwhile, several groups of people such as Calcars have been converting various hybrids into Plugin Hybrids capable of in excess of 100mpg (in combined city/highway driving). The technology easily exists for the 100mpg production car. Please, "big auto" just make some yourselves!

* This page at Calcars lists where the various car companies are on PHEVs.

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H2CAR: Another blind alley

Posted by Engineer-Poet on March 27, 2007 - 9:22am
Topic: Alternative energy
Tags: biomass, h2car, hybrids, hydrogen, phev [list all tags]

One of my repeated criticisms of the current US administration1 is that it is dishonestly opposed to real alternatives to petroleum (and fossil fuels in general), and acts to obstruct those alternatives outside the public eye rather than having a fair and public appraisal.  Some of this obstruction is more or less direct (cancelling a domestic hybrid-car program set to deliver product in the 2007 timeframe and also suitable for PHEV modification, and replacing it with a program of dubious feasibility and a very long time horizon), but some of it is more subtle, taking the form of misdirection.

This misdirection is evident in the shameless promotion of unready and perhaps impossible fixes, such as:

  • Cellulosic ethanol.
  • Oil from ANWR (at best, a fraction of what we could save with better CAFE or just plain price-driven demand destruction), and last but not least,
  • Hy(pe)drogen.

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