| |
VK2AAB > FUEL 29.07.08 10:03l 87 Lines 5134 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 5547_VK2AAB
Read: GUEST
Subj: Electric Car News (UK)
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0MRW<DB0ERF<DB0FBB<DB0IUZ<DB0GOS<DB0RES<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<
JE7YGF<JN1ZPJ<VK7AX<VK2TGB<VK2IO<VK2AAB
Sent: 080726/2314Z @:VK2AAB.#SYD.NSW.AUS.OC #:5547 [Sydney] $:5547_VK2AAB
From: VK2AAB@VK2AAB.#SYD.NSW.AUS.OC
To : FUEL@WW
Someone asked me recently why I had not sent a fuel bulletin for a while.
I usually only send bulletins of significant interest that reflect what is
happening to oil supplies or its effect on the economy.
Laterly there has not been much of interest other than petrol price increases.
Oil production figures in detail I am sure are not of much interest to amateurs.
Similar information could be found on the internet for those interested in detail.
If you want to read more detail you will find www.energybulletin.org and
www.theoildrum.com has lots of interesting info, more than I can put up here.
If anyone wants info on a particular area of the subject let me know.
73 Barry VK2AAB
-----------------------
Transport
Ministers embrace electric car revolution
Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor, The Independent, 20 Jul 2008
View original article
Gordon Brown is to launch the biggest revolution in the way Britons drive since
the development of the internal combustion engine. He will meet manufacturers
this week to try to persuade them to mass-produce electric cars, and is
considering a remarkable plan to sell the cars cheap, together with their fuel,
that is modelled on mobile-phone contracts.
The scheme, which has already been taken up by Israel and Denmark, would sell
heavily subsidised vehicles - or even give them away - in return for contracts
to buy the electricity to charge them. Its inventor, a Silicon Valley software
entrepreneur, believes it will at least halve the cost of motoring while
dramatically reducing one of the main sources of the pollution that causes
global warming.
The Prime Minister - who will reveal some of his thinking at the Motor Show
this week - wants all new cars sold in Britain to be electric or hybrid
vehicles by 2020, and is trying to enlist leaders of the motor industry because
he wants "to see those cars manufactured in Britain".
He also wants to "incentivise" the rapid changeover to electric vehicles in
Britain, and so is studying the mould-breaking scheme being promoted by the 38-
year-old entrepreneur, Shai Agassi, backed by $200m (#100m) of venture capital.
Under the scheme - the most advanced of several proposals the Government is
considering - motorists would be provided with cars just as mobile-phone
customers now get their handsets. In return, they would take out a contract for
a maximum number of miles.
The contract would entitle them to receive the electricity, either by plugging
into any one of hundreds of thousands of recharge points across the country, or
by exchanging flat batteries for fully charged ones. At present, the cars'
range is likely to be only about 100 miles between recharges, which would take
about two hours, so, on longer journeys, motorists would pop into filling
stations for a three-minute battery exchange.
However, the plan will only help to fight climate change if the electricity
comes not from fossil fuels, but from nuclear or renewable energy.
Back to top
US car giants go small and electric
James Quinn, Telegraph, 23 Jul 2008
View original article
Two of America's largest car manufacturers are furthering their ability to cope
with the high price of oil - with plans to work with electricity and with
smaller cars.
GM, whose first electric car, the Chevy Volt, is due to roll off the production
line in 2010, is working with more than 30 power companies across the US to
study the implications of a mass fleet of electric cars on the roads.
Ford, which has focused on 4x4s and pick-up trucks, is set to shift its focus
to smaller cars to win a larger share of an overall declining market.
The companies - number one (GM) and number three (Ford) in the US respectively
- are taking the measures as part of a wider restructuring to return to
profitability amid higher commodity costs and lower demand.
GM is working with some of America's largest utilities to understand the issues
that will surface when the Chevy Volt is unveiled in late 2010. The car will
run on an electric motor powered by lithium-ion batteries, which can travel 40
miles when fully charged.
The new group will study if local grids can handle the increased power demand,
and if tax incentives might be given for buying what is likely to be an
expensive vehicle.
The group includes all power companies covering 40 states, as well as non-
utilities such as the Electric Vehicle Research Institute.
Ford is expected to announce a shift to smaller vehicles, converting up to
three of its large North American assembly plants from making larger vehicles
to smaller cars.
The announcement, set to come with Ford's quarterly earnings, will see compact
cars such as the Ford Fiesta made in the US for the first time.
The compact version of the Focus - only in saloon form in the US - is likely to
make the transatlantic move.
Six of its European models are expected to now begin production in the US, with
a focus on models with medium-high fuel efficiency.
Ford is expected to put its smaller Mercury marque at the heart of its new
strategy.
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
