Disappointing results – just 51 mpg – for converted PHEV Priuses in Seattle
Nearly a year ago the city of Seattle started a field test of 14 Toyota Priuses converted to plug-in hybrid capability. At the time, the expectation was that the cars would top 100 mpg overall and 150 mpg in urban driving. The problem is that these PHEVs, like all other hybrids, are particularly sensitive to driving style. If you try to accelerate at any rate above the bare minimum the system won’t stay in EV mode and the mileage improvement is slashed. After 17,636 miles, the 14 cars in the city motor pool are averaging only 51 mpg. That is certainly excellent mileage by any standard, but not that much better than a regular Prius. The problem is the $10,000 cost of the extra lithium ion battery. At $4/gallon the fuel savings amount to only $200 annually. Seattle’s experience is by no means unique. Google’s highly publicized experiment with PHEVs is yielding similar results with its fleet of Priuses averaging 54.9 mpg and a pair of plug-in Ford Escapes getting 37 mpg. For all practical purposes, existing hybrid vehicles can’t reasonably be driven as electric vehicles except at excruciatingly slow rates of acceleration. Given the cost differential, it seems like PHEV conversions may be an economic dead end (One of Toyota’s PHEV Priuses is pictured. The Seattle and Google fleets feature vehicles converted by third parties). [Source: Seattle Times ] Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Toyota Disappointing results – just 51 mpg – for converted PHEV Priuses in Seattle originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
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Disappointing results – just 51 mpg – for converted PHEV Priuses in Seattle
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Leave a commentExxon Mobil posts record $45.2 billion profit in 2008
Auto Blog: Etc. , Green Daily It’s almost expected now that each quarter Exxon Mobil will produce a new record profit. Last quarter, though, as the largest publicly traded oil company in the world saw its profits decline by 27 percent, that didn’t happen. Don’t feel too bad for the company, though, as even in a down market, the oil giant still took in $84.7 billion, which was enough to set a new record for profit over the entire year of 2008 at $45.2 billion. Record high fuel prices from the second and third quarters of last year helped carry Exxon Mobil through the year. Chevron, which is the second largest oil company behind Exxon, managed to earn about $43 billion for the year. Other, smaller oil companies are struggling a bit more than their larger competitors, with even Royal Dutch Shell recording its first quarterly loss in a decade. 2009 is shaping up to continue the trend of lowered profits. [Source: AP via Google ] Exxon Mobil posts record $45.2 billion profit in 2008 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Exxon Mobil posts record $45.2 billion profit in 2008
Posted in Auto Green | a-new-record, california, daily, entry, exxon mobil, exxon profit, exxon profits, exxonmobilprofits, exxonprofits, google, looking-at-the, obama, oil profits | 1 CommentAerocivic gets a website, deer should now be safer
Auto Blog: Green Culture , MPG , Honda , Green Daily Ahhh, what $400 and a few hundred hours of work can get you. The ever-popular Aerocivic has graced our pages a few times in the past, but now modder Mike Turner is sharing his experiences with the world, first-person style. Turner has set up a website describing, in detail, the changes that he’s made to his 1992 Honda Civic CX to get it up to around 95 mpg. That’s the kind of thing we knew about already. When Turner is writing about his own car and experiences, we learn new details. For example, Turnser says that bugs and snow float over the car undisturbed, leaves barely rustle when he drives over them, and “the low sloped front of the car scoops [deer] up and over the top of the car with minimal damage to both deer and car.” I wonder if the Google Maps people will be calling him soon. In any case, the Aerocivic site is truly an enthusiasts’ source for people who want to know what it’s like to live in the aerodynamic future. Well worth checking out. [Source: Aerocivic via Treehugger ] Aerocivic gets a website, deer should now be safer originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Aerocivic gets a website, deer should now be safer
Posted in Auto Green | a-few-hundred, a-selling-point, google, green-daily, miketurner, money, san jose, tesla, u.k.bailout | Leave a commentBMW X6 ActiveHybrid to arrive by year’s end
Auto Blog: Hybrid , BMW , Detroit Auto Show Click above for gallery of photos of the 2010 BMW X6 ActiveHybrid One of the vehicles we expected to see in Detroit somehow missed our radar. The not-so-green BMW X6 ActiveHybrid was previewed in COBO and we somehow missed it. Sure we’ve seen pics of this sports car/utility vehicle crossover hybrid before and we’ve also heard BMW promise that it will be available by the end of 2009, but this time they really seem to mean it. After giving a walkaround of the BMW Concept 7 Series ActiveHybrid, BMW’s Dr. Klaus Draeger gave some additional details about this upcoming hybrid hybrid. As we’ve told you before, the BMW Concept X6 ActiveHybrid is a two-mode hybrid, and uses BMW’s 4.4L V8 gasoline engine along with its electric assistant. Going hybrid increases fuel economy on this most oddly shaped BMW by a decent 20 percent, but that still puts the X6′s mileage at just about 15 mpg/city. BMW promises that both the 7-series and X6 hybrids will be on sale by the end of 2009. Well, it’s better than nothing we guess. Gallery: 2010 BMW X6 ActiveHybrid [Source: AutoReview ] BMW X6 ActiveHybrid to arrive by year’s end originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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BMW X6 ActiveHybrid to arrive by year’s end
Electric Jaguar XF to paint Copenhagen green
Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Jaguar , Europe/EU , Racing Last September, we mentioned an event that is scheduled to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark this August called the CO 2 E – Race . At the time, we weren’t too sure what the race would involve, but many questions have since been answered. For instance, the course has been designed to look like the letters CO, and the O will be circled twice – clever – when viewed from space (or Google Maps, if that’s easier for you). We also know that only vehicles with zero carbon emissions are allowed to participate, and at least one such machine has been entered that’s based on a production Jaguar XF sedan. Danish physicist and CEO of Cleantech Motors Jesper Boie Rasmussen is leading the Project Green Light team, which has created an eco-friendly vehicle from the formerly diesel-powered Jag using lithium ion batteries for energy storage and an electric motor for propulsion. To commemorate the upcoming race, the Jaguar will make a preliminary run through Copenhagen on the same CO path that the race will use, after which the GPS coordinates of the event will be used to create a serigraph print that will be sold at auction. Thanks for the tip, Jacob ! [Source: Project Green Light ] Electric Jaguar XF to paint Copenhagen green originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
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Electric Jaguar XF to paint Copenhagen green
Posted in Auto Green | a-friend-via, bmw 730d, bmw730ld, entry, google, green, hybrid technologies, jaguarcopenhagen, jaguarelectric, jaguarxf, light, project, race, short-wheelbase, the-hypermiling | Leave a commentGet Approved!
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