A couple exciting pieces of news have hit me in the last few days that I thought I’d share. For one, it looks like the new internal combustion engine has been chosen for the upcoming Chevy Volt. The Volt, for those that aren’t familiar with it, will be a unique plug-in electric hybrid car that will feature an electric drivetrain mated with an on-board ICE (internal combustion engine) to provide range-extension beyond the proposed battery-driven 40 mile range. The writeup (featured in the link from GM-Volt.com) notes that the Volt will be sustained by a 1.4L non-turbo 4 cylinder engine that will charge the batteries past that 40 mile window. No word on exact fuel consumption to recharge-level, but the rumors lead me to believe that the 1.4L will get something like 40-50mpg when converted to electric energy.
Another exciting piece of news is the proposed California high-speed rail. This will provide a real alternative to air travel in the congested and polluted California airspace between Northern and Southern California, and with the unique design proposed, makes traversing California a breeze. Imagine a 2 and a half hour hop from San Jose, CA to Irvine, CA, all with mobile phone connectivity, internet, comfortable seats, and scenic views; not to mention reduced pollution, and reduced costs!
The $9.95 billion bond measure is up for a vote this November.
1 response so far ↓
1 rafael // Jul 30, 2008 at 12:41 pm
The whole point of PHEVs (or EREVs, if you prefer) is that they let you drive on grid electricity for the first X miles after charging up - typically overnight. As long as your average daily commute/errands stay under that limit, the engine will only fire up rarely. The whole point is to sharply reduce your personal dependence on gasoline.
High speed trains are the quintessential true electric vehicles. They are actually a perfect complement to PHEVs, allowing owners to avoid using oil not just on short trips but also on most of the occasional long drives. The car’s ICE will still be useful for getting to places without rail service.
If the electricity required to run the trains (<500MW generating capacity) is produced from renewable sources, their operations will not generate any greenhouse gases at all.
Better yet, HSR tracks can support light cargo trains hauling mail, packages, perishable foods etc. using electricity rather than diesel-powered trucks for at least most of the journey. La Poste in France owns some TGV trains, but there are no firm plans for any cargo traffic on the HSR network proposed for California.
Only shipping and long-haul flights will always require hydrocarbons, typically from fossil sources.
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