Hi,
Greetings, We are all in this world together, and we all benefit from other people's success, and we all lose when other people fail. This applies to the environment, as well as the economy. Government is necessary. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln: good government must do what the people cannot, or cannot do well. So, we need other people to succeed (too) in order for society as a whole to succeed; and we need government to do this -- and therefore, we must pay for the government to function. How to do this fairly is the question. In the end, it has to happen, and the best government is the kind that adjusts things to work better as time goes on. What we call this kind of government, really doesn't matter in the end. I love the quote from Winston Churchill: "I think democracy is the worst kind of government -- except for all the others."
Hi,
I would suggest giving $1 Billion each to GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota -- and and all established car companies with production in the USA; and give $1 Billion each to Aptera, Tesla, (maybe ZAP! if they can show they are legit) and any other start up that has existed for say 4-5 years. We should not play favorites, or pick winners.
This totals ~$8 Billion; leaving 17 Billion.
Pay $7 Billion to the first car company to start production (and produce 10,000 units) of a car that seats four-five that gets at least 50mpg on the combined EPA test. (The Prius already gets 40+ on the combined...)
Pay the remaining $10 Billion to the first car company that starts production (and produce 10,000 units) on a 2+ seat car/vehicle that gets at least 75mpg on the EPA highway test. This car/vehicle would have to be a plug-in hybrid, or be a biodiesel, or be a pure electric with a range of 100+ miles.
Greetings,
Here's a wind turbine generator that uses electrical controls to get a "variable transmission", and it gains a lot of efficiency in different wind conditions:
A more efficient generator could convert more of the wind's energy into electricity
ExRo Technologies Inc.
Hi,
How much profit did car companies make on each SUV? Where did that money go?
The success of the economy is based on the success of the middle class. Other people’s success helps the rest of us. The same cannot be said for company profits — unless they continue to innovate.
The wages at the non-union auto plants are just about the same as the union ones, I think. The biggest differences come from health care expenses, and from continuous innovation.
How many models does Toyota/Scion/Lexus have? About 16 or 17?
How many models does Honda/Acura have? About 10 or 12?
Someone listed 127 GM models…
All companies should use the year that a vehicle is sold as the model year. This takes the pressure off of making change for changes sake. It also (hopefully) will reduce the prevalence of planned obsolescence; and increase the durability and the recycle-ability of the materials used. All these things would greatly lower costs over the long run.
All design changes should be based on functional improvements. Imagine it: higher and higher reliability, better and better efficiency, continuous safety improvements, more and more recycled materials, design changes based on owner’s needs — what a concept!
EcoDriving & Other Vehicle Efficiency Improvements
I want to try to list steps that car makers, and drivers could/should take to improve the fuel efficiency, in approximate order of cost:
- EcoDriving involves moderation: top speed should be reduced, use only as much throttle as needed (try to not need to use the brakes!), thinking ahead so you can take full advantage of downhills, minimize the use of air conditioning, trip planning to reduce cold startups – and walking to everything that is a mile or less.
- The most obvious improvement to cars, would be to mold the plastic on the front of the vehicle to be smooth and round, with grill openings that are sized (and placed) only as required to cool the engine. Some new plastic bumper covers and grill pieces could be snapped onto cars. Flush covers should be used on all lights. Fairing pieces could be added to side mirrors. Hood gap gaskets, and streamlined wheel covers are easy, too.
All these improvements (above) can add at least 10% and as much as 25% to the fuel economy. Here's more:
- Sealing all the seams and joints (with gaskets or backing flanges) in the high pressure areas of the vehicle.
- Smooth floor pans with no sharp protrusions -- this is part of the drag just as much as the parts of the car that can be easily seen. Smoothing the underside with covers (like the EV-1).
- Transmission ratios should be optimized for efficiency at normal driving speeds. Higher gearing with 6-7 speeds would be optimal (smaller engines need more gears to work efficiently); or CVT transmissions.
- Narrower and lighter, LRR (low rolling resistance) tires should be used.
- Average & "instant" MPG displays, that are on all the time. The new Honda Insight, the 3rd gen Prius, and some Ford models, have excellent displays that help the driver be more efficient.
- Throttle control (rather than cruise/speed control!) that maintains even throttle in a user-set speed range, with minimal throttle increases to maintain the speed in that range.
- Tire pressure monitor, that warns the driver when the tires get below the recommended pressure (which could be adjusted upwards if the driver wants to run a pressure up to the tire sidewall maximum).
- Efficient and effective fresh air flow through the vehicle, with intakes on a high pressure area, and exhaust vent(s) out the back of the vehicle into the low pressure wake zone, to reduce drag as much as possible.
- Coat all the window glass to exclude as much heat as possible.
- On defrost mode, the A/C should only come on automatically at maximum defrost(if at all), and it should always be toggled on/off by the driver. I would prefer to make A/C on the defrost setting optional.
- Efficient lights such as LED's and HID, that use a little power as possible while functioning as well (or better) than incandescent lights.
- Lower consumption electronics, such as A/C, fans and audio systems.
- Active grill, that opens when more cooling air is needed, but remains closed – and is more aerodynamic most of the time.
- Use very low friction wheel bearings, such as ceramic bearings; along with low viscosity lubrication, to reduce rolling resistance. The VW 1L car uses these.
- Fully ducted engine cooling system, with the intake down low on the front, and the exhaust flows into a low pressure zone; minimizing the size of the radiator and the reducing the "internal" drag as much as possible.
- Video cameras and screens in place of side mirrors. This would help a lot with aerodynamics.
- Automatic engine shut off and start up; at least with CVT (or automatic) transmissions -- and possibly with standard shifts, based on having both the clutch and the brake applied?
- Lean burn in low vacuum conditions. Use variable valve timing to gain efficiencies.
- Store hot coolant in a vacuum insulated tank, to speed up warm-up time; a-la what the 2nd generation Prius does. Or, do what the 3rd generation Prius does: heat the coolant quickly using the exhaust heat. Preheating intake air would also help fully vaporize the fuel; making it higher efficiency.
- Tighten up wheel openings, and always use aerodynamically designed wheels/covers, with rear wheel skirts (at least optional).
- Make roof racks removable. Years ago, I saw a "papoose" add-on storage system that locked onto the back of the car, with a single caster wheel to support the weight -- it tucked completely into the air flow behind the car; and it would be a great way to add storage space when needed; that did not affect how you drove very much. It could actually greatly improve the overall aerodynamic drag of the vehicle.
- Regenerative shock absorbers: MIT has a method of using hydraulics to drive a generator, eliminating the need for a mechanically driven alternator; or, to charge the electric drive batteries. These can also be used to lift and level the vehicle, to improve aerodynamics under different loads.
- Use a composite wheel/tire that has low weight, very low rolling resistance (by being strong enough to stay round), and low aerodynamic drag, no worries about inflation -- and re-tune the suspension to work with said wheel/tire. (see item above) This could gain even more energy, since very little would be damped by the tires.
- For new 4-cylinder internal combustion engine designs, the crankshaft could be split with a hydraulic coupling that can automatically disengage two cylinders completely; saving all the pumping and friction losses, for situations when 2 cylinders are enough to provide the required torque to move the vehicle. There are also cam-driven designs that about double the efficiency of the ICE.
- Nissan is (supposedly) going to reduce their cars weight by an average of 15%. I think all cars could be reduced by 20-30% with smarter steel fabrications, smarter use of materials. Here's a site that shows a steel chassis that is 25% lighter and nearly twice as stiff/strong as a conventional steel chassis:
Multiple car door latches could be used to increase strength & safety of the chassis -- helps to further reduce weight, increase strength & rigidity, without requiring an unusual entry method.
- Make every vehicle with a plug-in electric w/ serial hybrid ICE drive train, with regenerative braking. Use a cam driven engine that spins the armature and the stator in both (counter-rotating) directions, to charge traction batteries. The engine could have rotary valves to reduce parasitic losses. It would run at it's ideal RPM to drive the torque load of the alternator.
- Rework the overall shape of the vehicle to reduce drag. Cd of 0.16-0.25 are achievable!
Here's an American company that is going to produce an extremely efficient vehicle that will get ~200mpg (equivalent): http://www.aptera.com/
Sincerely, Neil Blanchard
