CONSUMO!
Racing Toward A Greener Car
By Paul A. Eisenstein
George Smith
A
lth o u g h best know n as
the “C ity of A ng els,”
Los Angeles might better be
described as the “City o f Smog.”
During the past 20 years, Cali
fornia regulators have tried to deal
w ith the issue by enactin g the
worlds toughest automotive emis
sions standards.
But that still may not be enough.
There are simply too many cars on
the road, and not just in L..A. Across
the country, automobiles are blamed
for serious environmental problems,
especially in traffic-jam med central
cities.
The first low emissions vehicles,
battery-powered cars like General
Motors EV1, have failed to make a
major dent in the automotive mar
ket. C alifo rn ia consum ers just
weren't charged up by the overly ex
pensive cars with limited driving
range, typically less than 90 miles per
charge.
Even so, it's pretty likely the automo
bile you buy early in the 21 st Century will
be a “green" car.
This represents a major turnaround for
the auto industry. Only a few months ago.
Ford Chairman AlexTrotman denounced
reports of global warming as “pseudo-sci
ence." But now, says GM Chairman Jack
Smith, “we’ve come to realize there is
cause tor concern.' That change in atti
tude means a new generation of high-
mileage. low-emissions vehicles could be
gin rolling off automotive assembly lines
soon after the turn of the century. The
newest generation of Ultra-Low Emissions
Vehicles will eliminate nearly 98 percent
of the smog-causing gases produced by
the typical car of the m id-1970s.
The worlds first “hybrid," the Toyota
Prius, went on sale in |apan last Decem
ber. It’s equipped with both batteries and
a conventional, 1.5-liter gasoline engine,
linked through a sophisticated “power-
split" transmission. O n the highway.
lb
power comes from the gas engine. But when
the car is idling, the engine shuts oft and
the electric motor takes over. The gas en
gine returns the favor by automatically re
charging the batteries when they run down.
Once the car reaches eight miles per hour,
the gasoline engine automatically restarts.
When a fast take-off is needed, as when
entering a freeway, both the gasoline en
gine and the electric motor run simulta
neously.
Virtually every automaker is develop
ing a hvbrid, though the concept does
have some disadvantages. With two power
sources on a single platform, hybrids are
complex and costly. Prius is priced about
$5,000 over a comparable, gasoline-pow
ered vehicle, even with Toyota absorbing
around $10,000 of the cost. Price is ex
pected to drop as Iovota produces more
of these vehicles.
Still, the hybrid is likely to be a “tem-
porarv" fix, GM Chairman Smith cau
tions. Another proposed solution is that
cars be powered by cleaner-burning fuels
like natural gas. Also being considered is
fuel cell power, the rocket science tech
nology used to power manned space mis
sions, since recent breakthroughs prom
ise to bring this technology down to earth.
In simple terms, fuel cells combine hy
drogen and oxygen gases to produce wa
ter vapor and a jolt of current that can be
used to run an electric motor.
In recent years, researchers have found
ways to cut production costs, miniaturize
components and boost the amount of
power fuel cells can supply. But with all
the money and effort being pumped into
alternative solutions, don’t rule the gaso
line-powered internal combustion engine
out entirely. Researchers are making
amazing inroads with cleaner, more fuel-
efficient diesels, too.
And don’t pull the plug on the battery
car. Later this year, GM will introduce a
new nickel-metal hydride battery for the
EV1 that will double its range. Even bet
ter batteries, such as lithium polymer, are
under development.
The bottom line is that whichever
technology wins this race, tomorrow's cars
will be a lot greener than today’s, and that's
good news for the environment.
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