Car Sharing by the People, for the People.

Lets say you have a car you only use on weekends. What do you do with it during the week? Well, California may have an answer for you. The State Legislature passed a bill allowing personal car sharing. (Read it at this site). The bill states that personal insurance cannot be dropped as long as earnings don't exceed the monthly costs of operating the vehicle, (if the car-sharing company covers insurance when it is being shared.)

Organizations like Spride Share (who work with City CarShare) are taking advantage of this change in law. They provide hardware and services so that members can sign up their car and make it available for sharing. The location, availability, and rates of the car can be set online by the owner. (More info here.)

A few questions remain - if the car is abandoned or stranded who arranges and pays for it to be retrieved? If the car is stolen who is responsible? Can you choose who can share your car? Still, it is potentially a great way to offset or even negate the costs of owning a car, especially if it is simply sitting in your driveway Monday to Friday.

Sources: Yahoo Green, City CarShare, Spride, New York Times.

Solar Roadways

Imagine a renewable energy source that you could drive on. This is the basic concept behind Solar Roadways. The project seeks to replace our current asphalt roads with solar panels that are capable of carrying traffic. Not only would the roads generate clean renewable energy, but they would also transmit it.

The team hopes these roadways would replace the existing power grid, and also carry phone lines, internet cables, and TV. If all the roads in the U.S. were replaced with solar panels the energy generated would be enough to cover the annual U.S. consumption three times over.

While questions over the concept's viability remain, the Solar Roadways received a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to build its first prototype in 2009. It is also a participant in GE's Ecomagination Challenge. You can vote for Solar Roadways here.

Earthgarage Interviews an X Prize Contestant

Earthgarage's Sam Rubinoff interviewed Brad Jaegar, Director of Research for Edison2's Very Light Car, a strong contestant in the X Prize competition. Brad spoke about the design and development of the Very Light Car and gave his own personal insight on fuel efficient vehicles.

What is your background? What sparked your interest in creating an ultra efficient car?

Honestly, the entire background of Edison2 comes from motorsports and auto racing industry. The founder, Oliver Kuttner , was a fellow racer and a classic car collector, seller and manager. It was really Oliver that had the dream, he was working on lightweight parts for racing and when X Prize got his attention he wanted to go for the 10 million dollar prize. So, he created Edison2 and pulled a lot of us from the motorsports community and put us to work on this.

How many people were involved in this project?

About 100 people total, that includes contract employees all over the U.S. that we’ve hired for certain tasks. The main group of personal is about 15 in the shop, but the people that have their fingerprints on this vehicle is at or over 100.

Can you tell me a little bit about the philosophy behind the Very Light Car?

It’s pursuing efficiency through lightweight and low aerodynamic drag, which are the only two virtues of platform efficiency. When we designed this we tried to look at the problem holistically. The best answer for any form of powertrain, whether it’s electric, gas, diesel, compressed natural gas, is to have an efficient platform, which is to be lightweight, low aerodynamic drag and little rolling resistance. The energy required to accelerate the vehicle and maintain a speed is what it all comes down to. We started analyzing the EPA city cycle with a range of different platforms, different weights and coefficient of drag with cars that are already out there and we plugged in numbers that we thought we could hit and then saw how it compared to the rest of the vehicles.

This car was submitted as part of the X Prize, a competition that encourages independent breakthroughs in fuel efficiency, what do you think are the obstacles that major car companies have faced in creating a very efficient car?

There are a couple of issues. One is that, in the car industry the companies have become so large and in order to make a profit they rely heavily on different parts from already existing vehicles. So, they may be launching the new 2011 Chevy Malibu. It draws from parts from a previous vehicle or it might have the same air conditioner as a GM SUV and it makes sense from a business perspective, but when you’re really trying to break the mold and come out with an ultra-efficient vehicle it’s hard to do. Another reason is political and some laws and getting caught up in the whole bureaucracy.

Are consumers going to see the Very Light Car in the future?

We hope so. We are talking to a few companies in helping us to carry this forward and we’ll need to wait and see how everything unfolds. We need to see how we do in the X Prize and how some of the business deals go forward.

Where do you see the future of fuel-efficient vehicles? Is it gas, diesel, electric, lightweight or a combination of these things?

I think it’s a combination, what this country needs is energy diversification. So, you’re not going to see the entire fleet of vehicles in the U.S. move to electric. That being said you're going to see electric vehicles becoming more popular. You’re going to see alternative vehicles becoming more popular, running on E85 and biodiesel and compressed natural gas. We are definitely in some interesting times seeing the auto industry being shaken up…there is definitely going to be a transition.

Do you mind if I ask, what do you personally drive?

On the street I drive a 2001 Audi S4. It gets decent mileage, has the six cylinder engine, but it’s a sporty vehicle. You can put the pedal to the metal and have fun with it.

I wish you the best of luck at the X Prize

Thank you.

Very Light Car is Rocking the Xprize

Edison2 is an automotive design company from Lynchburg, Virginia. They are currently in the final stage of the Progressive Automotive X prize, a competition to create a 100mpg vehicle that is safe, well-performing and production capable. The name of their car, The Very Light Car, explains their design. It is a gas and ethanol powered car that is very aerodynamic and weighs only 700 pounds! I had the chance to interview the Director of Research and Development, Brad Jaegar this morning. Stay tuned for the post!

I'm On The Highway To...Canada?

Yes, Canada. Washington state has a plan, and that plan is to build electric vehicle charging stations. By this fall the State of Washington plans to turn a 275 mile section of Interstate 5 (runs from Oregon to Canada) into an electric-highway. In time to meet the next generation of electric vehicles being released later this year.

Sign Posts for the stations might look something like this. (nissan-leaf.net)

With a $1.32 million federal grant it plans to build both level-2 charging stations and level-3 stations (in partnership with private firms for the latter). Level-3 charging stations mean that it will only take about 30 minutes to recharge an electric vehicle's battery to 80%. The maximum between each of the level-3 stations is set at 80 miles apart, and with the level-2 stations also available, most electric-vehicles should always be within range of a charging station. That would be a big step in reducing "range anxiety," a key barrier for wider acceptance of EV's.

Greenfrastructure

Greenfrastructure (my combination of green and infrastructure) is an area with a lot of activity recently. The ParkGreen by AAbast Energia (greendiary.com).

The ParkGreen Parking Lot

A concept called a micro park by Sara Ruzomberka and Tiffany Jimene.

Micro Park

  The Ev Island which we covered in an earlier post.

EV Island

Or going in the opposite direction, areas previously devoted to transportation have been converted into green spaces. Like High Line Park in Manhattan. (architectureweek.com)

High Line Park.

The first electric car charging station was opened at a private parking lot earlier this month and plans were made to open 100 more by September 2011. The City of New York currently uses 10 electric vehicles, and plans to add another 40 for its park and transportation departments. (latimes.com)

New York is an ideal place to start the transition to electric vehicles, as most city drivers go no more than 40 miles a day. The spread of electric vehicles outside of the city poses problems. Viable electric vehicles require charging infrastructure because many people feel anxious about the reduced range. The project in New York, happily, takes a step towards the solution of that problem.

Biodiesel on the Rocks

Biodiesel, an emerging source of alternative energy, could be in danger if an expired tax credit is not renewed.

Biodiesel can be made from a variety of animal or plant products; even algae is being studied as a possible source. Biodiesel is renewable, creates less pollutants and a great way to decrease the environmental impact of a diesel vehicle without having to make drastic changes. Most diesel engines can use biodiesel blends and pure biodiesel with minor engine modifications.

The tax-credit responsible for much of the growth in the industry expired six months ago, and has yet to be renewed. Concerns over the deficit, and the November elections, mean politicians are wary of giving their opponents anything that can be seen as fiscally irresponsible. Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, says he is determined to get the tax credit reinstated. Yet, despite the professed commitment of many in both parties to alternative energy, it looks as if the issue may be tabled until after the elections.

Diesel fuel is significant. It's used in tractor-trailer trucks, barges, trains, and other heavy equipment. For these applications, biodiesel is often the only feasible alternative energy source.