Green Tech We Don't Get (yet)
Reading non-US car magazines can be frustrating. You see pictures and read about very cool cars that will never see the shores of the United States. You also read about frugal technologies that would sell very well here in LA -- if not the rest of the country. While gas prices have settled down recently into the low $3.00/gallon range, I think we all expect gas prices to be $4.00/gallon within the next 12 months.
Los Angeles car consumers are always a few steps ahead of the rest of the US car-buying public. As any car company knows, LA sets automotive trends for the rest of the country, if not always the world. European car companies are withholding some very cool gas-savings technology that would be very welcome here now -- not five or six years from now.
Most of our readers know that the Smart division of Mercedes-Benz is bringing its second-generation ForTwo city car to the US market in January 2008. But this new Smart isn't nearly as economical as its forerunner and we don't get the super-miserly diesel engine that is sold in Canada. The ForTwo for the US market will get in-city fuel economy in the 40mpg range -- not bad, but not that great for such a small car.
Next year, in major European markets, Smart will sell a "micro-hybrid" (mhd) model with CO2 output that matches the Prius and which gets an average 60+ mpg on regular gas. Smart uses a 71hp, 1 liter, 3-cyninder engine that drops the normal starter motor and alternator in favor of a single, belt-driven starter-generator that performs both functions. The engine stops when it's not needed and restarts as soon as the driver touches the gear selector or gas pedal. Nice trick!
Smart is also testing a ForTwo EV (all-electric vehicle) which has a top speed of 70 mph and a range of 60-70 miles per charge. It's not for sale yet; but it would be a nice PR gesture for Smart to loan few EV's to a local government or public university in California for testing.
BMW is pretty popular in LA. BMW sells more cars in LA than all of GM's brands combined. By 2008, in Europe, BMW will have 22 cars emitting less than 140kg/km of CO2 and all averaging over 40 mpg. Forget the technical numbers -- wouldn't it be nice if your BMW got 40 mpg?
First, most of these great numbers are achieved with clean diesel technology. We won't get any BMW diesel engines until this time next year when BMW puts a 3 liter diesel engine in the X5. Who knows when we get a clean diesel in a passenger car? However, Mercedes is leading the way with the 2008 E320 Bluetech 50-state legal diesel engine this fall. Archrival BMW shouldn't be that far behind.
But even if we don't get the clean diesels today, BMW (and other manufacturers) have other technology that could be used in the US, but the lawyers and accountants probably don't want it to happen -- yet.
The first technology we will get on these shores sometime next year is brake regeneration in a non-hybrid vehicle.
The concept is simple: Kinetic energy is converted to electricity to charge the battery and reduce the use of the energy-draining alternator. Making the system work for you is a tricky bit of mechanical, electrical and software engineering. BMW's brake energy regeneration works by using an intelligent alternator control and an absorbent glass mat battery to recycle previously lost energy. The engine control module software engages the alternator only when required to charge the battery. A traditional alternator is always running and pulling power from the engine. Further, the energy generated by the engine on over-run (under braking or descending a hill) was previously wasted. Using this intelligent alternator system, this lost energy is utilized to charge the battery.
Toyota and Honda already use their own version of brake regeneration to help charge the batteries in their hybrid vehicles.
We may see this technology first used on the X5 3.0 diesel or a 5-series.
Auto start-stop technology also isn't new; but using outside of the hybrid genre is a relatively new frontier in reducing carbon emissions and increasing fuel economy. As with the Smart MHD, BMW has start-stop technology available in both gas and diesel engines. The system automatically switches the engine off when the vehicle is stationary and the driver puts the car in neutral (only on manual shift cars). To restart, the driver only need engage the clutch before pulling away in the normal manner. The system can be deactivated at the touch of a button when the driver doesn't want it or it's not required.
Switch point display (SPD) is a handy (or annoying) driver's aid. Modern automatic transmissions do their best to choose the proper driving gear to optimize fuel economy. In a manual transmission car, you, dear driver, have to do it yourself. BMW's SPD aids the drivers of manual transmission cars in selecting the most economical gear to drive. The engine management system analyses speed, road situation, accelerator pedal position and based on this data calculates the optimum driving gear. The ideal gear is displayed by number in the cockpit display.
Given that automatic transmissions are, by far, the transmission of choice in the US, something like SPD and Auto Start-Stop may never see this side of the Pond.
In 2006, Volkswagen's advanced technology twin-charger engine won International Engine of the Year as well as Best Engine, 1 liter to 1.4 liter category. VW's 1.4 liter TSI engine is supercharged for low-end torque (grunt) and turbocharged for top end power. The small-displacement 1.4 liter engine generates from 138 hp to 168 hp (depending on which car it's used in) and uses direct gas injection to achieve fuel economy from 33 mpg in the city to 38-plus highway cruising.
In April 2007, VW introduced a third variant of the TSI engine. The new engine has 122 hp but eliminates the supercharger. VW claims that it has 7% more power and a whopping 30% more torque than VW's own 1.6 liter FSI (direct gas injection) engine. The new TSI is coupled with a new 7-speed DSG (dual clutch auto-manual) transmission that uses dry rather than wet clutches and together the powertrain achieves fuel economy 40 mpg.
So far, VW hasn't indicated that any of these new engines will make it to the US market. The again, VW always neglects the US market, even when such technology would be widely accepted and greeted with open green arms.
Then there is Volvo. Volvo, known for safety and Scandinavian-plain interiors, has an interesting green technology in its European portfolio. Volvo makes the new C30 1.8F. That "F" is for flex-fuel! Yes, Volvo actually sells a flex-fuel E85 engine that runs on our favorite biofuel, ethanol. You'd think that Volvo would be able to market its small cars -- the C30 coupe, S40 sedan and V50 wagon -- with a 1.8 liter 4-cylinder engine that gets 27 mpg on ethanol in the US. But you'd be wrong. Volvo hasn't announced any plans to bring that engine here.
Volvo also plans to make a 2.0 liter flex-fuel engine for the upcoming 2008 V70 wagon. That engine is considered too small for the US market, so don't expect to see it here either.
Let me take a moment to pass on some news about the upcoming Volvo C30. I really liked the C30 that I sat in at the last year's LA Auto Show. Dan Neil, LA Times automotive critic, just called the C30 Volvo's "best new model in years." [LA Times 1 August 2007, "Sexy, sporty....Swedish?"] It's a very cool coupe with a glass hatchback. It could sell very well if it's marketed properly. I believe that once people see it on the road, people will want it!
Unfortunately, Volvo hasn't a clue how to sell this car. As revealed in the 30 July 2007 issue of Automotive News, Volvo can't figure out how to sell the C30 to its target market of men 28 to 38. According to Automotive News, the typical Volvo buyer is a female, in her 40s in a small suburban family earning about $140,000 a year. About sixty percent of Volvo owners are women. Who knew?
There will be no television or print ads. Volvo will rely primarily on the internet with webisodes of "Mister Robinson's Driving School" starring Craig Robinson from the NBC sitcom "The Office." Volvo doesn't even think it can get its dealers to be interested in selling the C30 because its usual 6% dealer discount (spread between invoice and sticker) isn't nearly as much for a "cheap" $24,000 C30 as it would be compared to a $40,000+ C70 wagon or XC90 SUV.
The 2008 Volvo C30 officially goes on sale in the US on 1 October 2007.
Volvo is so unsure of itself that it only forecasts sales of 8,000 units in the first year. Perhaps Volvo is very afraid that prospective buyers who want a fully-equipped C30 will have to custom order it from the factory, wait at least 8 weeks and pay nearly $40,000. Customers may walk away from the C30 with those prices and order/wait time. At $40k, the C30 is significantly more expensive than a fully-loaded but better equipped Mini Cooper S at $37,000. Volvo could distinguish itself if it sold the C30 with the flex-fuel engine -- something the Mini doesn't offer.
[Of course, it would help if California had more than the one public ethanol fueling station in San Diego. The good news is that a second E85 fueling station will open later this summer in Brentwood. Check E85Refueling.com for the exact date. The location is Conserv Fuel, 11699 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles 90049. I think Conserv Fuel chose Brentwood to attract the rich "green-leaning" people who trample the streets of LA in a GMC Yukon or Cadillac Escalade. Most of GM's big GMT-900-based trucks and SUVs can be purchased with the flex fuel option.]
I've only touched on a few cool technologies that are out there, available now, outside the US. I sure wish the manufacturers would find a way to get new green tech to California consumers as it would be gobbled up here in the largest single "green wannabe" market in the world -- LA.
