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A look at several alternative fuel sources
I read a great article about alternative fuel sources. I caution you that it is a bit long. The article details six alternatives to petroleum. And, as we all know, there are many reasons for us to curb our appetites for petroleum.
These alternatives vary widely from each other and each presents different strengths and weaknesses. Each fuel source was briefly explained with pros and cons being pointed out. After that each was given a graded outlook.
Biodiesel and Hydrogen were both given “good” outlooks, but hydrogen carried the disclaimer that it would be a while until it was actually useful. Hydrogen has a lot of promise and many car companies are spending lots of money to research it. Biodiesel, however, is already starting to make an impact on the ground shipping industry with companies such as, Fedex, UPS, and DHL.
The next two we have heard about a lot more. Ethanol and its E85 blend were given a “hopeful” outlook and electricity (including hybrids) were given a “mixed” outlook. The availability of ethanol and the need for better and cheaper batteries are some of the problems these two face.
Methanol and its M85 blend where deemed “cloudy” and natural gas was labeled “limited.” Methanol has been overpowered by its cousin ethanol and natural gas is still an unrenewable resource.
Petroleum might be a hard habit to kick but we’ve got many options on the way. As time progresses, these outlooks may change greatly; it only takes a breakthrough in one area for the entire paradigm of alternative fuels to change. Who knows, maybe a new source will one day make all these alternatives obsolete.
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A new engine design to compete with all those hybrids.
Yesterday, I talked about a very fuel efficient vehicle that was not a hybrid. Today its not a car. It’s an engine; well, an engine design. The whole process doesn’t sound too complicated, but I’ll let the experts explain it to you.
Whether or not you wanted the full explanation, it boils down to this; the new design will produce a smaller more efficient engine through the use of adding ethanol to the gas at certain points (Ethanol Boosting System or EBS). The smaller engine will also make the car lighter.
The designers claim that this engine will be able to match today’s hybrid systems and will be cheaper. Now that’s a word we all love to hear. However, this technology is still 5 years or so away from mainstream and could face a few hurdles. For example, the driver would have to keep a smaller separate tank filled with ethanol, however, there are problems that come along with this design:
The challenges EBS is likely to encounter he says, have more to do with logistics — two fuel tanks in a vehicle can be hard to implement, and there’s the challenge of making sure ethanol is available at the corner gas station. Also, the engine will need a system that ensures it isn’t damaged if the driver forgets to fill the ethanol tank.
The new engine should be 30 percent more efficient than conventional engines, based on a computer model the researchers say accurately reproduces the behavior of internal-combustion gasoline engines.
I’m just glad to see all these new innovations. I don’t mind diverse answers as long as everyone is working on the problem.
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Ford endured a first quarter loss and more may be coming.
Just yesterday gas was going for $2.85 a gallon in the city where I live. And I’m not talking about the premium stuff. We all know that it will continue to climb as summer approaches. Right now there is talk of $4.00 a gallon in the near future!
This is definitely not good for our wallets. It is also not good news for Ford. The automaker just posted a $1.19 billion first quarter loss. The company has a lot of problems right now, but the one that directly correlates with the high gas prices is the fact that they have been heavily dependent on their SUVs for years. Ford’s SUVs, along with its F-series trucks, have been bailing out the companies weak car sales for years now.
Ford’s CEO, Bill Ford Jr. seems to be ready to turn the company around inspite of gas prices:
"Three months in, we are in the very early stages of this strategy to transform the way we do business, down to its very core," said chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr.
However, as gas goes higher they may see declining SUV sales as motorists turn to smaller vehicles with better fuel economies. Their F-series trucks will also have to face some new competition as GM and Toyota take aim at them with their new truck offerings.
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A look at Toyota’s impact in the U.S.
I recently saw a billboard which read, “Want to support Japan? Then buy Toyota and Honda.” I’m sure whoever is responsible for the ad (probably someone affiliated with one or all of the big three North American automakers) is very patriotic. However, in today’s world of increased globalization, this may not necessarily be the case anymore.
Toyota hopes to help make that clear with some new advertisements of its own. Their new ad campaign will promote how Toyota is good for America. These ads will detail how much money they have invested in their U.S. plants and how many Americans they employ. They are also planning to expand even more in the States while GM and Ford face cutbacks.
There will probably be some people who are upset at these ads and will never believe a foreign company could be good for America. However, if you take Toyota’s (and any other foreign companies) sales as any indication, most people buy whatever car they want.
And shouldn’t they? This is America. The land of freedom and capitalism. Let the people choose, and may the best product win.
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Thoughts about the new VW commercials.
Have you seen the new Volkswagen Jetta commercials? Wow! After I saw them, that was the first thing I said. And, I think, I repeated that phrase on each repeat viewing as well. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen them yet and are worried I will ruin some surprise. You probably won’t see it coming anyway.
Both commercials start out very unassuming, and wiht someone driving a Jetta and having a casual conversation with the passenger(s). At first, you might not realize it is a car commercial. And then, all of a sudden, through no fault of the Jetta driver, a very realistic car wreck happens. If it catches you off guard, which I believe is what the ad is designed to do, it is very much akin to a jump scene at a scary movie. These are not small fender benders either. The first thing you think about is how badly the people are hurt. Which leads to the next scene in which everyone who was in the car is shown visible shaken by the accident but otherwise very ok. The new VW slogan which is, “Safe Happens,” is then shown.
After I saw this I immediately thought two things. First was, “wow, that was a weird, almost scary commercial.” And the second was, “that car must be really safe.” I realize that it is just a commercial and none of it was real but they still made their point.
Now, my second thought was, what they were going for with these tv spots? However, I wonder, if a lot of people might just think it is a disturbing commercial. Usually, car companies want the thought of an accident to be far from anyone’s mind when their commercials are running. This is a bold strategy for Volkswagen and it will interesting to see how people react to it.
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GM is revamping its Saturn brand.
When GM unveiled the Saturn brand in the 90’s, it was marketed as “a different kind of car company.” Although that slogan was dropped a few years ago, Saturn will once again be a different kind of company. This time it will be because GM is finally revamping its image and lineup.
Saturn grew quickly in the early 90’s as a semi-independent branch of GM. The idea was for them to compete with smaller foreign cars. However the brand has long since passed its prime. As Brett Clanton of the Detroit News put it,
its sales peaked a dozen years ago and its entire lineup was outsold by the Honda Accord last year.
With GM’s financial problems well known, it seriously had to evaluate the Saturn brand and decide if it was worth keeping. They decided to make the necessary changes and hopefully move the brand forward. Maybe Saturn won’t go the way of Oldsmobile. GM tried a similar re-invention of the Oldsmobile brand in the late 90’s but then phased out the brand ending in 2004. (Side note: I currently drive a 98 Oldsmobile Intrigue which was one of the “new” Oldsmobiles)
The New look of Saturn will be much more European and upscale. Check out their website at Saturn.com to see four of the new models. The SKY Red Line looks especially spiffy.
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A new poll indicates increased interest in hybrids.
We have discussed rising gas prices and related issues several times already this week. Many people are decreasing the amount they drive their cars and turning to smaller more fuel efficient vehicles.
Yesterday we looked at the Toyota Prius and discussed hybrid cars. But how many of you out there will purchase a hybrid vehicle? A new Gallup poll conducted last month and release earlier this week showed that 57% of those surveyed will consider buying a hybrid when they purchase their next vehicle.
Here are some more statistics from the poll.
Those favoring hybrids show little gender or regional differences, but "hybrids appeal much more to younger and middle-aged Americans than to seniors," Gallup reports. Upper-income Americans are slightly more likely than lower-income Americans (62% vs. 55%) to say they would seriously consider buying a hybrid when purchasing their next car.
This may be somewhat surprising, considering how Americans love their powerful cars. However, the price of gas coupled with the countless new hybrid models on the horizon may be enough to push drivers in this new direction.
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Toyota looks to continue success in hybrid car market.
With gas prices and concern for the environment both on the rise, many motorists are increasingly focused on one set of numbers represented by three small letters. MPG as everyone knows stands for miles per gallon. But did you know that Toyota hopes to put a really big number in front of those letters? How does 113 sound to you? As in 113 mpg.
Toyota hopes to set a new record for production cars by reaching this number with its next version of the Prius. The Prius is already one of the most popular hybrid options available to drivers in North America but with competition from other automakers they hope to build on its success.
The Prius works by alternating between running its gas powered engine and in electric mode. The new version will run in electric mode far more often, including all the time at slow speeds. This will all be accomplished with some really cool new batteries. These aren’t your average double A’s.
The current Prius uses nickel-hydride items, which currently offer the best balance between cost and performance. But engineers are working on new lithiumion cells, which are lighter, smaller, generate more power and last longer.
Look for this new Prius around 2008 as well as electric offerings by the likes of Subaru and Mitsubishi some time after that.
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The popularity of sub-compact cars is on the rise.
Until recently, sub-compact cars have not fared very well in America. The SUV has been king for some time now but its position of dominance might not be as secure as it used to be. This does not mean that small cars will come to dominate American highways the way they have in Europe, but they are getting a lot more respect these days.
It’s not hard to figure out the reason behind the rise in popularity of the smaller cars. It’s the rise in gas prices. It’s not uncommon for motorists to turn to smaller cars when gas prices increase because smaller cars tend to get better gas milage. Car manufacturers are wise to provide affordable cars at the smaller size not only for this reason but it is a great way to get young, first time car owners. This can help build up your brand, especially if these young buyers are loyal later in life.
Many foreign car manufacturers started out primarily making sub-compacts and still excel at doing it today. However, the North American “Big Three” (GM, Ford, Daimler Chrysler) have a lot to learn. Peter Johnson pointed out some shortcomings in a recent article.
Toyota has introduced the Yaris, Hyundai has significantly revised the Accent, Kia has updated the Rio, Honda has just introduced the Fit, and Nissan will introduce the Versa in May of this year. And let’s not forget Scion with the xA and xB.
The Chevrolet Aveo is essentially a re-badged Daewoo and doesn’t offer the level of refinement as the others. The Ford Focus is larger and more expensive, as is the new for ’06 Dodge Caliber.
Many of our North American manufacturers have been in decline recently. Maybe a new fleet of small fuel-efficient cars could be a step in the right direction for these companies. I want to see them succeed, but if they don’t provide consumers with what they need, the consumers will go elsewhere.
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Zero-Percent Financing on Certain Hybrid SUVs
Ford is now offering zero-percent financing on new Hybrid SUVs. They’re expanding the zero-percent financing options to increase sales of the Escape and Mariner models. The zero-percent incentives have been successful in California and Washington D.C. and now the incentives are available nation wide.
The incentive on the gasoline-electric SUVs was offered last month in California and Washington, D.C., but was expanded effective Monday and runs through July 5, Ford spokesman Monte Doran said.
"We’re really committed to making hybrids mainstream and also keeping hybrids affordable," Doran said.
In March, Ford sold 1,441 Escape hybrids, up nearly 17 percent from February and down about 8 percent from March 2005, Doran said, while 149 Mariner hybrids, which went on sale in October, were sold in March, up 38 percent from February.
Ford is trying to make hybrid models available and affordable to all, which is something that more car companies need to do. Ford is demonstrating their commitment to the environment and innovation by allowing the commoner to actually consider buying a hybrid.
This news makes me actually want to consider the hybrid Escape. I’ve always been a fan of the Escape, but now, since the hybrid’s financing options are so good, I’ll probably look at the hybrid models.
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