Amory Lovins: 10 years until you can import "super-efficient" Chinese cars
The video above is a 20-minute talk by Amory Lovins, a leading green thinker. Three minutes into the video, Amory says his "friends in Detroit" say you can import your super-efficient Chinese car in a "decade." I will let Amory explain why the American car industry must go green:
China has an energy policy based on radical energy efficiency and leap frog technology. They are not going to export your Uncle's Buick, and after that comes India. The point here is: these cars are going to be made super-efficient. The question is who will make them? Will we in the United States continue to import efficient cars to replace foreign oil or will we make efficient cars and import neither the oil or the car. That seems to make more sense.
At six minutes into the Ted Talk, Amory show several high-mpg concept vehicles. Amory also talks about the advantages of using lightweight technology in cars. At 15 minutes into the video, Amory suggests several things governments can do like create an X-Prize like contest for cars. Are you listening, Congress?
Related:
- Video: RMI's Hypercar a 100+ mpg SUV featuring Amory Lovins
- How long until we get one? A short history of the ultralight RMI Hypercar
- Interview with Michael Brylawski of RMI part two - Hypercars and cold beers
- Interview with Michael Brylawski of RMI part two - Hypercars and cold beers
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Domenick 11:49AM (1/08/2008)
Maybe it's just me but I believe the Miles Javlon qualifies as a Chinese super efficient car. Hopefully it won't take 10 years for it to arrive. Of course the Flybo is already here but it has it's limitations....
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why not the LS2/LS7? 12:31PM (1/08/2008)
He's not talking about the China I know about. The one with $1B people?
They have no efficiency secrets and their mandates of efficiency, if they even exist and are followed, are not radical in any way.
When I was last in China, SAIC was crowing about how they just started making the 1961-vintage Rover (Buick) V8 domestically (with an aluminum block).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_V8_engine
What China does have is a lot of really cheap, shitty little cars which are so unsafe that seat belts are optional. When you take out all the safety equipment and reinforcing, cars get very light and rather fuel economical.
As to a motor vehicle X-Prize, the government pays the automakers to develop stuff quite a but. The government subsidized the development of GM's dual-mode hybrid for commerical vehicles. The government paid Ford and GM to work together to develop a Diesel hybrid about 10 years ago (which the EPA then made not cost-effective to sell by barring PZEV certification to Diesels).
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Ilya Tabakh 2:40PM (1/08/2008)
There is already an x-prize for cars in the works, http://auto.xprize.org/.
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Rocketboy 2:40PM (1/08/2008)
Unless he's talking about Rickshaws, or he's referring a way to reduce China's Lead Paint surplus, I'm not seeing the 'super efficient' Chinese cars anytime soon.
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rob 10:34PM (1/08/2008)
Remember that this talk was given in 2005, prior to the Automotive X-Prize.
You can get an updated greatly expanded version of this talk from the RMI website, it's lecture #3 here:
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid231.php
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s10 12:07AM (1/10/2008)
China has set itself much stricter emission limits than the US (California including.)
I think most people will be surprised by the speed the Chinese will build better and better cars. US car makers are already too late, I see no future for them as they wont be able to compete.
By June 2008, thin plastic bags will be ruled out completely in China, thicker plastic bags may continue to exist but only if they are sold to the customers.
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