Autoblog Green http://green.autoblog.com Autoblog Green http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/%SiteURL%/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog Green http://green.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Chris Shunk, Sam Abuelsamid and Dan RothThe podcast by the people who obsessively cover the auto industry.<![CDATA[Austin Alt Car: panel looks at the future of plug-in hybrids ]]>http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/27/austin-alt-car-panel-looks-at-the-future-of-plug-in-hybrids/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/27/austin-alt-car-panel-looks-at-the-future-of-plug-in-hybrids/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/27/austin-alt-car-panel-looks-at-the-future-of-plug-in-hybrids/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



The last in our series of reports from the discussion panels from last week's Austin Alt Car expo focuses on the panel that had the broadest possible appeal: an overview of plug-in hybrids. Taking place on the Saturday, and therefore more accessible to the working public, the free-form panel featured Ron Johnston-Rodriguez of PluginCenter.com and the Port of Chelan County in Washington State, and Chelsea Sexton of Plug-In America. Austan Librach, who works for Austin Energy and Plug-in Partners (well, he used to work for PiP), moderated.

"Assuming normal economics, we're looking at a real bright future for PHEVs."
Johnston-Rodriguez started by giving a brief overview of plug-in hybrids, but all three of the panelists commented on Johnston-Rodriguez's slides. The starting point was encapsulated by Librach's statement that, "Assuming normal economics, we're looking at a real bright future (for PHEVs)." That might be a big assumption, but it's what a lot of people are counting on. Follow us after the jump to see what this future might look like.

Continue reading Austin Alt Car: panel looks at the future of plug-in hybrids

Austin Alt Car: panel looks at the future of plug-in hybrids originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As I said earlier, the panels at the Austin Alt Car expo were heavily focused on plug-in vehicles. The last discussion on Friday continued the trend and was called "Future Prospects for Plug-in Hybrids" and the participants acknowledged that their presentations were treading over some of the same ground that earlier panelists had covered. Still, Mark Duvall of EPRI and Susan Zielinski of CARSS did add a few new tidbits to the discussion and if you're a PHEV fanatic, you'll find something in the write-up and audio included after the break that'll be of interest.

Continue reading Austin Alt Car: Future Prospects for Plug-in Hybrids

Austin Alt Car: Future Prospects for Plug-in Hybrids originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alt-caralt-car-austinalt-car-expoaltcaraltcar-expoaltcarexpoaustincarsseprimark-duvallsusan-zielinskiMon, 27 Oct 2008 17:10:00 EST<![CDATA[Austin Alt Car: Will Consumers Buy In? Duh.]]>http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/27/austin-alt-car-will-consumers-buy-in-duh/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/27/austin-alt-car-will-consumers-buy-in-duh/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/27/austin-alt-car-will-consumers-buy-in-duh/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



If you want to get an answer to the question of whether or not consumers will flock to plug-in vehicles, Southern California Edison's Ed Kjaer and Better Place's Sven Thesen would be great people to get to put up some answers. That's exactly what happened at the Austin Alt Car expo last weekend, where they presented an optimistic yet realistic assessment of what PHEVs might bring to the auto industry. The real question, Kjaer said, isn't "Will Consumers Buy In?" but will the OEMs build PHEVs in volume? And that is not a given, not by a long shot. Kjaer didn't dodge the original question, just posited that the answer is a pretty obvious "yes." Whether or not we get the chance is the issue. Follow us after the jump for all the details.

Continue reading Austin Alt Car: Will Consumers Buy In? Duh.

Austin Alt Car: Will Consumers Buy In? Duh. originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When was the last time you talked to your electric power company? I mean, really sat down and had a good chat about when they should send you power and when they shouldn't? Have you told them when you'd like to have the air conditioner shut off and let the home warm up because no one will be home? If you haven't had this talk with your utility, you're not alone. Not by a long shot. In fact, figuring out how to get customers to even start having this kind of communication is a huge challenge for the thousands of utilities across the U.S. and this challenge was the topic of the seminar titled Utility Issues & Opportunities at the recent Austin Alt Car expo.

The panel dealt with vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-home transmission and distribution issues and featured Southern California Edison's Ed Kjaer, Austin Energy's Mark Kapner and EPRI's Arindam Maitra. Find out how these three people and their organizations are getting ready to get you and your car to talk to the grid on a regular basis by following us after the jump.

Continue reading Austin Alt Car: PHEV opportunities and challenges for utilities

Austin Alt Car: PHEV opportunities and challenges for utilities originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gridpoint's Steve Hauser

The overwhelming theme of the discussion panels at the Austin Alt Car expo last weekend was plug-in vehicles. From questions of infrastructure to the vehicles themselves to the grid load, the weekend served as a crash course in the state of the PHEV industry. Throughout this weekend UPDATE: Monday, actually, then, I'll be posting write-ups from the panels and audio recordings of what was said. If you've ever wanted to have PHEV lessons yourself, now's your chance.

We'll start with the technical panel on infrastructure. This event featured Steve Hauser, from Gridpoint, David Kaplan, who's worked with Microsoft and other tech companies as well as Gridpoint and V2Green (V2Green is partnering with Austin Energy on the smart grid test), and Richard Lowernthal of Coulomb Technologies. Follow us past the jump for the details.

Continue reading Austin Alt Car: obscene amount of information on the smart grid and plug-in vehicles

Austin Alt Car: obscene amount of information on the smart grid and plug-in vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alt car expoaltcaraltcar-expoAltCarExpoaustinaustin alt caraustin-alt-carAustinAltCarSat, 25 Oct 2008 18:08:00 EST<![CDATA[Austin Alt Car: face-to-face with a biofuel Hummer]]>http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/20/austin-alt-car-face-to-face-with-the-sbas-biofuel-hummer/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/20/austin-alt-car-face-to-face-with-the-sbas-biofuel-hummer/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/20/austin-alt-car-face-to-face-with-the-sbas-biofuel-hummer/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


click for more shots of the biodiesel H1

The H1 in the center of the Austin Alt Car expo show floor was decked out in a Health Yes! paint job but it was the handmade sign that caught the eye. "Powered by Vegetable Oil and Biodiesel," it read and was yet another one of these hard-to-know-why type of conversions. I mean, if you're trying to win greenie points, why start with a vehicle that, by anybody's calculations, burns tremendous amounts of fuel?

Whatever the reason, the Hummer was part of the booth sponsored by the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, which is pushing for a sustainable biodiesel standard DieselGreen Fuels of Austin. Sadly, SBA board member Daryl Hannah was not present at Alt Car, but at least we got a good look at the two vehicles the SBA brought to the show, the Hummer and a VW with the Veg Oil vanity plate and a warning over the fuel tank (UPDATE: which was legally mandated).

Gallery: Austin Alt Car: Biofuel Hummer


Gallery: Austin Alt Car: Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance

Austin Alt Car: face-to-face with a biofuel Hummer originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rhett Akins. Aaron Tippin. Ted Nugent. These are the usual suspects when you think about electric vehicles, right? Naturally.

Well, when it comes to electron-powered all-terrain vehicles, they are just some of the celebrity ETV drivers. Bad Boy Buggies has been selling ETVs (that's electric terrain vehicles) to the hunting and country music crowd for a while now and has had a lot of success tapping this market. Based in Natchez, Mississipppi, the BBB crew made the trip down to Austin, Texas for the Austin Alt Car expo this weekend and found a favorable reception for their line of aggressive golf carts. Available in either two- or four-seat configurations, the ETVs use eight 6-volt batteries and a two 13 hp motors (for 26 hp total) that offer 130 foot pounds of torque and can carry 1000 pounds. The four-seater starts at $8,975.

Aside from the silent attack promised in the company's "They'll never hear you coming" tagline, Bad Boy Buggies' ETVs can be fully outfitted for the hunt. The ETVs are more vehicle than the similar AETVs we saw last year. I mean, how many EVs offer two types of gun racks as options?

See a video of a Bad Boy Buggie in action after the jump.

Gallery: Austin Alt Car: Bad Boy Buggies

Continue reading Austin Alt Car: Bad Boy Buggies electric ATVs promise "they'll never hear you coming"

Austin Alt Car: Bad Boy Buggies electric ATVs promise "they'll never hear you coming" originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bad boy buggiebad boy buggiesbad boy buggybad-boy-buggiesBadBoyBuggieBadBoyBuggiesBadBoyBuggyetvMon, 20 Oct 2008 19:08:00 EST<![CDATA[Austin Alt Car: Lighthouse Solar roof, carport an enviously good deal]]>http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/20/austin-alt-car-lighthouse-solar-roof-carport-an-enviously-good/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/20/austin-alt-car-lighthouse-solar-roof-carport-an-enviously-good/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/20/austin-alt-car-lighthouse-solar-roof-carport-an-enviously-good/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



When I head just how (comparatively) cheaply you can get solar panels installed in Austin, Texas, I was pretty jealous. The real short version is that a $20,000+, 3 kWh system can be yours for around $6,000 thanks to local and federal tax breaks. And considering the amount of sunshine that Austin gets, this is a real deal.

I head these numbers while hovering around the Lighthouse Solar booth at the Austin Alt Car expo this weekend. The company can add the aforementioned solar panels to your roof or build an entire carport out of the way cool panels. To give you an idea, the carport in this picture is a 1.7 kW size. Depending on the location, it might even make sense to use the special double-sided solar panels. Light-colored concrete and pools, for example, reflect a lot of light upwards and the collectors on the bottom of the glass can suck up the energy just as well as the ones on top.

There are about a half-dozen companies in the Austin area that can install solar panels, and the tax credits would apply no matter who you choose. Even with this many companies offering solar services, Lighthouse has done around 50-60 this year, which I think speaks volumes to the potential of solar energy if it's made affordable.

Gallery: Austin Alt Car: Lighthouse Solar


Austin Alt Car: Lighthouse Solar roof, carport an enviously good deal originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>lighthouselighthouse-solarsolarMon, 20 Oct 2008 15:29:00 EST<![CDATA[Austin Alt Car: Propane participates proudly]]>http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/20/austin-alt-car-propane-participates-proudly/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/20/austin-alt-car-propane-participates-proudly/http://green.autoblog.com/2008/10/20/austin-alt-car-propane-participates-proudly/#commentsFiled under:

One of the more organized presences at the first Austin Alt Car expo this past weekend was from the Texas propane community. From propane-powered lawnmowers to a giant propane-powered school bus, you couldn't miss the vehicles. Three pro-propane groups - the Texas Propane Educational & Marketing Foundation, the Propane Education & Research Council, and the Alternative Fuels Research & Education Division of the Railroad Commission of Texas - came together to showcase ways to burn propane for transportation. There are currently about 8,000 propane vehicles in the state, and around 200,000 in the entire U.S. See, for example, the ProPane Chevelle and compare the local numbers with 10 million propane/liquid petroleum gas (LPG) vehicles around the world.

One thing the partnership wanted to do at the Alt Car was highlight the possibility of converting vehicles on the road today to burn propane. A lot of big GM and Ford vehicles can be converted using "EPA certified conversion kits," for example. In Texas, at least, filling the tank with propane is feasible in a lot of places; there are 750 stations offering propane in the state.

[Source: Texas Propane]

Continue reading Austin Alt Car: Propane participates proudly

Austin Alt Car: Propane participates proudly originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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click to enlarge

The two vehicles that Gary Krysztopik and Z Wheelz brought to Alt Cat Austin this weekend could not be more different. One the one hand, we have the ZW2 (above), a hot rod like trike with all sorts of chrome. The three-wheeled bike is Krysztopik's prototype kit car - one in a planned full line of kit cars - that he hopes to have ready by the end of the year and will sell for around $20,000. If you're thinking that those fat wheels don't look all that common for an EV, you're right. Krysztopik said ZW2 is really more of a show car and is not focused on efficiency. The design and specs are meant to get a new crowd of people interested in EVs.

In the picture, you can see four white boxes under the seats. These are the edges of the battery row, and there are two more rows up front that contain a total of 24 lead acid batteries, weighing 2,000 poiunds, in this thing. Krysztopik's design keeps everything modular, so should the kit builder put in smaller and lighter li-ion batteries, the seats could be lowered to help keep the center of gravity closer to the ground.

Krysztopik's other vehicle on the show floor was a converted 1991 Porsche 911. He bought a franchise from conversion company EV Porsche and now offers conversions of all types of vehicles in the Austin area. The 911 is a demonstration vehicle, and he said that interest from the show would probably generate two or three sales. He'll be using this money to finish getting the kit ready for the ZW2.

Lastly, while ZW2 is a good internal name (it's the Z Wheelz vehicle that seats two people), Krysztopik knows he'll have to fancy it up a bit for the public. Right now, he's kicking around the Manta or the Drifter. What's your suggestion?

Gallery: Austin Alt Car: Z Wheelz

Austin Alt Car: Z Wheelz shows off Porsche EV and ZW2 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here in Austin, Texas, one of the big sellers of electric-powered two-wheeled vehicles is Alien Scooters. On the floor of the Austin Alt Car Expo, the shop has a large display area full of two-wheeled EVs. Oh, and inflatable aliens.

We've covered a lot of these vehicles in the past (I smiled when I saw the financing available tag hanging from a Vectrix scooter), but I thought you'd like to look at these bikes and scooters nonetheless. I sure wish I had a some extra money right now to get one or two of these. Not only are they fashionable, but bikes are just so hyper-efficient that adding a bit of battery-power to the frame is just a good idea. Are EV bikes, as the company's slogan indicates, "Out of this world transportation" or just good stuff for us earthlings?

Gallery: Austin Alt Car: Electric Two-wheelers

Austin Alt Car: Out of this world electric two-wheeled vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) was present at the Alt Car Expo in Austin, Texas yesterday. This is quite the reasonable place for him to be, not just because he's the Representative from this area but because he's been a long-time promoter of more government support for plug-in vehicles.

Doggett said he came to the Plug-in movement through the recently-ended Plug-in Partners campaign, which started in Austin. He helped get plug-in tax credit legislation passed in the House six times, but he did not vote in favor of the final bill (the seventh passing) because it was part of the the huge bank bailout bill we heard so much about a few weeks ago. He's like that.

We spoke to Doggett about the bill and his efforts on behalf of PHEVs. He said the final version provides about half as much support for PHEVs as he originally intended three quarters of a billion dollars instead of $1.5 billion. The provisions were also - unfortunately, in Doggett's mind - changed from individual manufacturer cap to an overall cap. There is an industry-wide cap of 250,000 tax credits for consumers between now and 2014. "This was done perhaps with the idea in mind that General Motors would have the Volt out there and be ready to try and claim as many credits as possible against its competitors."

It's a long way from Austin to Detroit.

Listen here (6 min):



Austin Alt Car: Congressman Lloyd Doggett talks PHEV tax credits and GM's influence originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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L to R: Duncan, Kaplan, Doggett.

The one press announcement at this weekend's Alt Car Expo in Austin, Texas had to do with the efforts of the local utility, Austin Energy. Austin Energy is hosting this Expo, and used it to mark the end of the Plug-in Partners campaign. Wait, using an alt car show to call an end to a movement that has worked incredibly hard to get the big automakers to focus on plug-in vehicles? Yup. Austin Energy general manager Roger Duncan announced that the Plug-in Partners program is officially finished now because, "We have absolutely achieved success." The rumor is that the EDTA might take over some of the PiP work moving forward, but for now it's mission accomplished.

Also speaking at the press conference was Lloyd Doggett, U.S. Congressman for the Austin area. Doggett said that the smart grid/plug-in efforts are "a campaign that really matters for our city and the planet." Doggett knows what he's talking about; he's worked in Congres for years on getting pro-PHEV legislation passed (we got a chance to speak directly with Doggett about this, and we'll post that interview shortly).

Lastly David Kaplan of V2Green showed of a piece of web-based PHEV software that AE uses to track - and predict - PHEV use. The company currently has two converted Priuses plugged into the network and a fleet of thousands of virtual cars that can help engineers and others understand how customers will affect the grid load and vice versa. It's a new era in grid planning - something we'll have much more on later. For now, you can see the software screens by clicking here (then just click on each picture to go to the next screen).

Gallery: Austin Alt Car: Smart Charging prototype

Austin Alt Car: Austin Energy ends Plug-in Partners, unveils new smart charging software originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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click to enlarge

"I'm the greenest guy here."

That's the claim of Jerry Roane, of Roane Inventions Incorporated, who did note that the pure solar vehicles in the corner were potential competitors. "Here" is the first ever Austin Alt Car Expo, which started today in Austin Texas. We can debate whether Roane is right or not after the show, and we'll be bringing you full coverage over the next few days, but for now we'll start with a look at Roane's TriTrack vehicle idea. It's green, but it's also pretty much the craziest thing we've seen in a long, long while (note: like Chris Paine, we have a soft spot for the crazies).

The aerodynamic TriTrack vehicle, made from a aluminum honeycomb composite, seats four and is very lightweight. How light? Try 300 pounds. This incredible lightness means that lead acid batteries are actually preferred when the vehicle is off the guideway to give it some heft.

Guideway? That word certainly didn't mean much to me when Roane first used it, but we've got the full details after the jump.

Gallery: Austin Alt Car: TriTrack


[Source: Tritrack]

Continue reading Austin Alt Car: TriTrack concept wins the outlandish-as-all-get-out prize

Austin Alt Car: TriTrack concept wins the outlandish-as-all-get-out prize originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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