Mazda has announced plans to increase the fuel efficiency of its vehicles by 30 percent in the next seven years through the use of new engine technology and lighter materials. By 2015, Mazda's entire range of vehicles will roll off the assembly line some 220 pounds lighter compared to the vehicles it offers today, with a diet that includes a new three-layer wet paint system, along with more innovative materials, including carbon neutral bioplastics due to arrive in 2013.
The automaker's goal will also be realized through the use of its new proprietary Smart Idle Stop System that will debut on one of its products in 2009. Unlike other systems, the Mazda start-stop setup injects fuel directly into the cylinder after the engine has shut down and then ignites the fuel to force the piston down. According to Mazda this makes for a smoother, faster and quieter restart and should improve fuel economy by seven- to eight-percent. The Smart Idle Stop System will originally be equipped on models in Europe and Japan, with a worldwide rollout coming shortly thereafter.
In 2009, Mazda will begin offering E85-compatible engines in North America and Northern Europe, and in 2011 all of the automaker's gasoline engines will utilize direct-injection fuel delivery. That same year, Mazda will introduce new diesel engines worldwide that boost fuel economy by 20-percent and in 2010, look for a new 16X rotary engine equipped with Direct Injection Spark Ignition that will increase both performance and fuel economy.
The Blue Oval has gifted the U.S. Department of Energy a one-of-a-kind vehicle: a plug-in Escape Hybrid that can run on E85, has a 30-mile range on pure electric power at up to 40 mph, and gets 88 mpg in the city and 50 mpg on the highway. Yes, you read that correctly. But you might want to read it again.
The Escape uses a 4-cylinder engine assisted by a 10kW lithium-ion battery pack made by Johnson Controls/Saft. In pure electric mode, the battery pack runs until it is 70-percent depleted, and then the gasoline engine kicks in. The vehicle's emissions are estimated to be 60-percent less than that of a traditional gas vehicle, and that could climb all the way to 90-percent less if the car used cellulosic ethanol.
This is one of 20 vehicles that Ford is giving to government and research bodies in order to help push the growth and penetration of hybrid vehicles. Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, said "There's no silver bullet solution, so we're pursuing multiple technology paths – recognizing that commercial viability is an essential component for success." And we say hear hear, well done, and it's about time...
In Dallas, a businessman has spent half a million dollars to install nine pumps that dispense E85, E10, and biodiesel. The catch: the businessman is a HUMMER dealer, and the pumps are next to his dealership. The station is called Classic Clean Fuels, and it is intended to make a statement for next year's H2 and H2 SUT, which will be the first production models to be Flex-fuel capable.
You won't need to drive a HUMMER to get E85 at the station. The pumps are open to the public, a first for a dealer-owned gas station. By 2010, GM has said all HUMMERs will be biofuel-capable. GM plans to market 15 Flexfuel models next year, but only one percent of the country's service stations sell E85. GM is using that as an opportunity to open the public's (and dealers') minds to putting alternative fuel stations in alternative places.
Said GM's Larry Burns, "Down the road we may even want to consider hydrogen dispensers at dealerships."
Our friend Mike Levine, proprietor of PickupTruck.com, was trying out the new H3T pickup out in Moab, Utah this week and learned that the H3 will finally lose its hoary old five-cylinder base engine in favor of something a little more modern. A new flex fuel-capable direct-injected 3.6L V6 like the one used in the HX concept will become the new base powerplant for the H3 by 2010. The last remaining question is, will the H3 get a diesel? The answer is yes... eventually. We spoke with HUMMER's Martin Walsh at the New York Auto Show this week and a diesel is in the cards for the H3, and it will be different than the diesel six-cylinder being used in Europe. Since the 4.5L fits in anything that GM's small-block V8 does, the European diesel six is possible, but a smaller diesel seems more likely. To that end, we've heard rumors since last spring of a new diesel V6 being developed for use in the H3. We don't know when it's ultimately going to arrive, but it will, and change is clearly afoot on the powertrain side at HUMMER.
Jon Markman at MSN Money doesn't hold back when he says "Corn-based ethanol production is sure to go down as one of the greatest mistakes ever in U.S. energy policy." It's even more provoking when he writes "replacing fossil fuels with corn-based ethanol would double greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades. The studies show that switchgrass, an alternative to ethanol that's more weed than plant, would boost emissions by 50%."
The problem isn't with the cars, the problem is with what it takes to grow the biofuel in the first place. Clearing the land, harvesting, and refining the crops, plus the loss of forest and wild lands and habitats, amounts to creating a carbon footprint worse than fossil fuels. According to the Science article which, admittedly, posits an extreme scenario, it would take 423 years to even out the carbon debt if Indonesia's peat lands were converted to palm oil fields.
The research is starting to give some people pause, such as the folks at the European Union who declared they wanted ten-percent of the block's transport fuel to come from plants. And Joe Fargione of the U.S. Nature Conservancy asks, "Is it worth it? ...[S]urprisingly the answer is 'no'. These natural areas store a lot of carbon, so converting them to crops results in tons of carbon emitted into the atmosphere."
In the fuel economy and future tech debate, the hybrid vs. diesel vs. hydrogen fuel cells vs. smaller cars and smaller engines always provokes a fair bit of discussion among Autoblog commentators. At this point, no one yet knows what's going to win since nobody knows how the volatile mix of products, timelines, prices, regulations, legislation, state standards, and gas prices will ultimately pan out. Bob Lutz's prediction is that diesels, at least as far as the US is concerned, won't be much of a factor.
His reasoning is simple: "I think customers are going to say, 'Wait a minute. At equal fuel prices I'm paying $4,000 more for this." Unlike many countries in Europe, the US offers no incentive for people to buy diesels. In the States the price of a diesel vehicle is often more than $1,000 higher than that of a gasoline-engined car, and diesel fuel is just as expensive as gas (throughout California and other states, it's slightly more expensive than premium unleaded). In that case, Lutz's opinion is that just about all the customer will glean from an oilburner is a higher car payment.
Lutz sees diesel uptake in the US hovering at about eight-percent. The technology he sees as winning the day: ethanol. It's clean, it's easy to integrate into the refueling infrastructure, and it "doesn't require a change in consumer behavior." (Except for the people in emerging markets who've seen the price of corn skyrocket.) For another take on the fuel economy battle, according to Kelly Blue Book, 40-percent of US new car shoppers think hybrids are the future, with just 17-percent citing flex-fuel.
There seems to be an anti-ethanol bias in so much of the media that GM's recent announcement didn't get the kind of coverage it deserves. Did you miss it, too? Here's the news: GM is teaming up with a company called Coskata that's come up with a breakthrough to make cellulosic ethanol.
But there's a big difference between their effort and everyone else's. Coskata's process goes way beyond using switch grass. It can use any kind of agricultural waste. Even more importantly, it can use a lot of municipal waste, i.e., most the stuff we're dumping into landfills. In fact, it can use anything that has carbon in it, including used tires.
Move over Brazil! We're about to get into the ethanol game in a big way.
John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers. Follow the jump to finish reading this week's editorial.
Switching a racing series to ethanol? Smart. Shipping the ethanol around the world to show how green that racing series is? Less so.
A1GP has announced that its upcoming race in New Zealand will mark the inauguration of the series' switch to E30 Hiperflo ethanol-gasoline blend, which, as organizers point out, cuts CO2 emissions by 21% and, of course, reduces the use of fossil fuels. The mixture is specially made for use in A1GP and consists of 30% ethanol and 70% gasoline. While IndyCars and Champ Cars have run on methanol since the '60s, both series are based in the US and have to ship their fuel to fewer races abroad than A1GP.
Logistical considerations aside, overall we say it's a good thing that motorsports are shifting to more sustainable and environmentally-friendly fuel sources. At the 2008 Detroit Auto Show this week we heard all about the American Le Mans Series and its green intentions. Ferrari, which is set to begin supplying the engines for A1GP in two years, revealed its bio-ethanol-powered 430 Spider in Detroit, as well. Meanwhile, the FIA has revealed a preliminary timeline for introducing a new F1 engine formula that's anticipated to include environmental measures.
click above to view more images of the Ferrari 430 Spider Bio Fuel
Ferrari's press conference here in Detroit was rather short and to the point. They reminded us that Kimi is World Champion and that the team is busy readying his defense. They also pointed out that the F430 GT is doing a bang-up job in GT2. And then they talked about the street cars. Besides telling us that Ferrari had a record year, with sales up 8% to 6,400 units worldwide, they also showed the E85 ethanol-powered version of the F430 Spider we talked about yesterday. The F430 Spider Bio Fuel runs on the familiar mix of 85% natural ethanol and 15% gasoline, which results in a modest 10HP power bump and fuel economy that improves by 5% over the standard gas-only V8. So that means that the sweet-sounding 4.3-liter plant is now good for a true 500 HP.
The bio fuel car on display in Detroit is still labeled a concept, but the company says that it'd like to put it into production as part of its efforts to reduce fuel consumption and cut emissions 40% by 2012. As we mentioned yesterday, the regions where ethanol is readily available – like the Midwest states, Brazil and Sweden – are not major markets for the sportscar maker. But ethanol is already being used in the ALMS and elsewhere, so Ferrari already has some experience with it. We already put in our request to have one in the AB Garage. We'll let you know how that goes.
Aston Martin has officially completed the GT-class superfecta with the announcement of its new Vantage GT2. Aston Martin Racing has unveiled the first sketch of the GT2-class racing car, which is based on the V8 Vantage. The Vantage GT2 has been designed to be campaigned on either normal race fuel or E85 in race series that allow the bio-based juice, such as ALMS. It joins the stable of AM racers that already includes the Le Mans-winning DBR9 GT1 car, the DBRS9 GT3 car, and the Vantage N24 GT4 racer. The menacing GT2 car will be fully unveiled next week in Birmingham at the Autosport International show. Stay tuned for more.
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