Held Hostage

I ran into a neighbor of mine at Walgreen's last night. We were both picking up junk food. She mentioned that they recently started parking their vehicles in their fenced-in backyard due to theft. This surprised me since her husband is a cop. "It's a game," she said. Apparently people have been removing bits of their two Hummers (I know, I know) piece by piece. One day they realized that the caps to their gas tanks are gone, the next, pieces of chrome are missing from the exterior. The thieves know that they can't steal the cars because of the LoJack so they just peel pieces off bit by bit. It's no surprise that we live a block from a chop shop. It's not only theft though, the other day my neighbor came out and saw that one vehicle had two flat tires. There were no punctures. Someone had simply let all of the air out and replaced the caps.

"We're moving," she said. "It's worse than it was and not everyone is back yet," referring to the fact that there are still many empty but habitable homes in the streets surrounding ours. She brought up that the vandalism on their luxury vehicles was more than a case of her husband being a cop (who refuses to get involved with neighborhood disturbances in order to to avoid repercussions), it's a case of haves and have-nots. She probably has a point except a conversation can quickly turn into an "us vs. them" situation which isn't the solution either -- especially when I own a Honda Civic.


Source: http://www.bloggingneworleans.com/2007/08/30/draft-held-hostage/

Who Killed the Electric Car?

So, just a couple days I write about an electric car hitting the streets in 2009. Then, I watch Who Killed the Electric Car? Wait…there was an electric car? Now, I feel silly.
I said I wasn’t going to talk about movies for a while, but I have been on a documentary kick the past couple days, and I have been impressed by all of them. Who Killed the Electric Car? follows the production and eventual destruction of the EV1 produced by GM. To make a long story short, the EV1 came about because of the Zero Emission Mandate created by the California Air Resource Board that stated that by 2003, 10% of the cars sold in California should have zero emissions. The EV1 was produced in 1997 and eventually taken off the market and off the street in 2003. Who Killed the Electric Car? examines why it was eventually “killed”. The documentary points to many factors including the government, oil companies, hydrogen fuel, and the car manufacturers.
I could spend paragraphs talking about how well I thought this movie was made and the amount of research that went into it, but I’d rather say that this is a sad story. It is sad that in this day in age when it seems SO possible for an electric car to be produced, so many people are resistant to the idea. Why are they resistant? To save their own butt. Big oil is always going to be resistant to this. Car companies are always going to be resistant to this. Why? To go full speed ahead making electric cars they would have to think of someone other than themselves. They want to protect what is there’s. They want to protect their money and what they have gained instead of looking at the bigger issue here. Gas powered cars are bad for the environment. Gas powered cars make us dependable on foreign oil. Those two things are bad things…plain and simple.
I am going to be getting rid of my Honda Civic here in a couple days so I become part of a one car family. I will be taking public transportation while my wife uses the car. I hope that when I need (or want) a car again, I will be able to buy an electric car. Hopefully, people wake up by then.


Source: http://joemills.edublogs.org/2007/08/26/who-killed-the-electric-car/

Green Lies and Market Truths

The sine qua non of political rhetoric is narrow context. Defining the parameters of an issue insure that the argument occurs within its confines and which ever side gets to set the boundries, is in effect choosing advantageous grounds.
"Environmentalists" certainly do not want you to know the following inconvenient fact:Spinella spent two years on the most comprehensive study to date  dubbed "Dust to Dust" -- collecting data on the energy necessary to plan, build, sell, drive and dispose of a car from the initial conception to scrappage. He even included in the study such minutia as plant-to-dealer fuel costs of each vehicle, employee driving distances, and electricity usage per pound of material. All this data was then boiled down to an "energy cost per mile" figure for each car (see here and here).

Comparing this data, the study concludes that overall hybrids cost more in terms of overall energy consumed than comparable non-hybrid vehicles. But even more surprising, smaller hybrids' energy costs are greater than many large, non-hybrid SUVs.
For instance, the dust-to-dust energy cost of the bunny-sized Honda Civic hybrid is $3.238 per mile. This is quite a bit more than the $1.949 per mile that the elephantine Hummer costs. The energy cots of SUVs such as the Tahoe, Escalade, and Navigator are similarly far less than the Civic hybrid.
As for Ford cars, a Ford Escape hybrid costs $3.2 per mile about a third more than the regular Escape. But on the whole, ironically enough, the dust-to-dust costs of many of the Ford non-hybrids Fusion, Milan, Zephyr  are not only lower than comparable Japanese hybrids  Prius, Accord -- but also non-hybrids  Seville, Civic.
Spinella's finding that a Hummer on the whole consumes less energy than a hybrid than even some smaller hybrids and non-hybrids has infuriated environmentalists. And on its face it does seem implausible that a gas-guzzling monster like a Hummer that employs several times more raw material than a little Prius' could be so much less energy-intensive. But by and large the dust-to-dust energy costs in Spinella's study correlate with the fanciness of the car  not its size or fuel economy -- with the Rolls Royces and Bentleys consuming gobs of energy and Mazda 3s, Saturns and Taurus consuming relatively minuscule amounts.
As for Hummers, Spinella explains, the life of these cars averaged across various models is over 300,000 miles. By contrast, Prius' life according to Toyota's own numbers  is 100,000 miles. Furthermore, Hummer is a far less sophisticated vehicle. Its engine obviously does not have an electric and gas component as a hybrid's does so it takes much less time and energy to manufacture. What's more, its main raw ingredient is low-cost steel, not the exotic light-weights that are exceedingly difficult to make  and dispose. But the biggest reason why a Hummer's energy use is so low is that it shares many components with other vehicles and therefore its design and development energy costs are spread across many cars.

Save the world, drive a Hummer.
By all means read the whole thing--a wonderfully insightful article, but consider the implication for public decision making. The article discusses the "political decision" of Bill Ford to commit his company to building a whole bunch of hybrids, even as the market is saying get lost. This is the essence of socialism, even the soft socialism of the Democrat party, which promulgates the view that their judgment is at very least, "morally superior" to that of the market.
The numbers don't lie--your Hollywood Prius set is actually degrading the environment at a far greater rate than everyone else, but of course, that's why they are called limousine liberals.
UPDATE: Since I keep referring to this post and its keeps generating cognitive dissonance among left-wing pseudo-environmentalists, I decided to bump it to a current posting and add some additional reference material. The best way to fight lies is with information.
The Watt displays the actual per mile energy cost of various cars, both hybrid and non-hybrid. Even the least-cost hybrid, the Honda Insight, is considerably more expensive at about $2.95 per mile, than the industry average of $2.25 cents per mile. What's particularly striking is how the Hummer H3 is considerably cheaper than even conventional "economy" cars like the Honda Civic and Accord. If you really want to be environmentally friendly, then you need to go with a much smaller car, like the Ford Focus or the Toyota Echo--or ride a bike.

Source: http://www.uncorrelated.com/2007/08/green_lies_and_market_truths.html

Honda Civic Hybrid Named Eurozone’s Greenest Machine

The Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) is a German environmental organization that advises corporations, lobbies governments and generally represents for Mother Earth. And just for fun, each year the VCD names the Eurozone's most "environmentally-compatible" car. For the second year in a row, the 68K member pressure group has bestowed that honor upon the European Honda Civic Hybrid. The Toyota Prius scooped second. The Temple of VTEC (we are not worthy) reports that The Civic and Prius were the only compact cars to make the VCD's Top 10; the remaining eight were mini and super-minis. The diminutive VW Polo BlueMotion was the only diesel-powered motor to make the grade. Oh, and if you haven't tried Google's translation service, we highly recommend you click on the first link above for further insight into VCD's goals (e.g. "We approach the vision of a lasting and futurable mobility only with the help of many particulars.").   
The Temple of VTEC »


Source: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=5017

Pushed by gas prices and style, small cars gain in US

DETROIT - Robynne Raye has a two-mile commute, a tiny garage and a tight budget, so when she was looking to buy the first new car she's ever owned, she wanted the smallest she could find. After test-driving eight cars, the Seattle resident settled on a Honda Fit.

Raye is one of a growing number of buyers hopping into small cars. U.S. sales of subcompacts such as the Fit and compacts such as the Honda Civic reached a record 2.7 million in 2006, according to George Pipas, Ford Motor Co.'s top sales analyst. Small-car sales are expected to set a new record this year despite an overall weakening in the U.S. auto market.

"The things that have fueled the growth of these (small) cars are really not going away: Gas prices, the housing market, the fashion aspect of these cars," said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for the Edmunds.com automotive Web site. "The segment is really hitting at the right time."

The boom has left some automakers scrambling. Foreign automakers control 76 percent of the U.S. small car market, Pipas said, a sobering statistic for Detroit since small cars help capture young buyers and keep them for life.

The Toyota Yaris was the best-selling subcompact in the first seven months of this year, while the Toyota Corolla was the most popular compact car, according to Autodata Corp. The Chevrolet Aveo is the only domestic subcompact in the U.S. market right now.

"Your share of the small-car market predicts your later share," Pipas said.

Chrysler LLC recently announced it will develop a small car with China's biggest automaker, Chery, that will be exported to North America in 2010. Ford, which sells subcompacts outside the United States, will unveil a concept car next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show that likely will be the basis for a global subcompact that will come to the U.S. market by 2010. General Motors Corp. plans to bring a redesigned Aveo hatchback to North America in June, spokeswoman Nancy Libby said.

U.S. automakers have historically given short shrift to small cars because of their weak margins. With a starting price of $10,000 to $15,000, small cars can't give automakers the kind of five-digit profits they can get from a fully loaded sport utility vehicle.

But Laurie Harbour-Felax, managing director of Stout Risius Ross, a financial and operational advisory firm, said Honda and Toyota Motor Corp. showed the industry how to make money off small cars. Both Japanese companies use common platforms and parts on a wide variety of vehicles, Harbour-Felax said. For example, every Toyota and Lexus vehicle in the world might have the same horn, so the company can save money by having one supplier make 9 million horns.

"That is not something the domestics have traditionally done very well," she said.

Libby wouldn't say whether GM makes a profit on the Aveo, but said GM intends to make money on every product it sells. Toprak said most automakers probably break even on their subcompacts.

Toprak said there's another reason automakers need to have small cars in their lineup: Government fuel economy standards. Small cars help automakers bring down their fleetwide fuel average, balancing big fuel guzzlers like SUVs. That's a hot issue now that Congress is debating an increase in fuel economy standards.

High fuel prices have prompted much of the shift to small cars, but they now are safer and have far more style than in the past, said Aaron Bragman, an auto industry analyst with the consulting firm Global Insight.

BMW's Mini showed that small cars can have deluxe features despite being tiny, he said.

"The Mini was not cheap. That started people thinking that size doesn't necessarily equate to how good something is," Bragman said.

Now competitors have upgraded small-car interiors and safety systems, and U.S. buyers are responding because the cars are far safer than their predecessors, he said.

"The small cars are featuring tons of air bags," Bragman said. "You can option one out to have just as many safety features as a large vehicle."

Demographics also are driving the small-car boom, as Generation Y grows older and buys their first cars. Dave Terebessy, a market analyst with the automotive forecasting firm CSM Worldwide, said if buyers feel good about a vehicle's quality and reliability, they'll stick with the brand.

"If you get the consumer in at a younger age and they like your product, they're more likely to stick with your brand over time as they make more income," Terebessy said.

But Toprak said the market is getting so full and competition so fierce that automakers can't count on keeping small-car buyers as much as they could 10 years ago.

"Loyalty in the car business isn't what it used to be," Toprak said. "There are more vehicles in a given category competing than at any other time in history."

"I just don't find it acceptable anymore that a car could come on the market if it gets less than 30 miles per gallon, " Raye said.

Source: http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/BUSINESS01/708270318/1066/RSS02

Is It Worth The Money? Honda Civic Vs. Honda Civic Hybrid.

Seeing as how many people say that hybrid cars are a waste of money, you will never get back the extra expense, and that they pollute just as much as straight gasoline fueled cars, I wanted to check for myself just how different they are from each other. Since Honda makes the Civic in a "regular" and a hybrid version, I figured it would be a good test as they are as similar as two cars can get except for what actually makes them go.

The Honda Civic that is the most likely match for the hybrid version is the Civic EX, which starts at $19,510 with an automatic transmission. The car pretty much comes loaded with everything under the sun except for navigation and leather seats…which is good, because the Hybrid we compare it to won't either. The car has a 140 HP 4 cylinder engine, a full array of airbags, and claims to get 30 mpg city/40 mpg highway. Not bad at all! It holds 13.2 gallons of gas, so at 40 MPG on the highway you can go 528 miles. Rated as an ULEV (ultra low emissions vehicle) it is probably one of the better "green" cars on the road that is not a hybrid…it emits 6.30 tons per year of greenhouse gases, putting it towards the lower end of every car on the road. So to make a difficult comparison a little bit easier (so I don't have to go get an engineering degree) lets do some simple math…$19,510 for the car plus $595 destination fee plus $1,659 in tax (here in California) makes the Honda Civic with a gas engine cost $21,764 just to drive it home. And let's say you keep it for 5 years and you drive an average of 15,000 miles per year at 35 MPG, which amounts to 2,142 gallons of gas at today's price of $3.00, so your total for gas would be $6,426. Total expenditures: $28,190 over 5 years. Then if you sold the car, Hondas normally retain 49% of their retail value over 5 years, so it would still be worth $9,959. $28,190 - $9,959 = $18,231 for use and gasoline of the car over 5 years, or $3,646 per year to own and drive the car. Pretty decent figure, I must say.
So what about the Honda Civic Hybrid? Do you think it can beat that?

The Civic Hybrid starts at $22,600 with an automatic transmission and has the same options as the standard car above. It has a 110 HP engine, safety features everywhere, and claims to get 49 mpg city and 51 mpg highway which is about 20 more mpg than the regular Civic. It holds 12.3 gallons of gas (1 gallon less than the regular Civic), so at 51 mpg on the highway you can hopefully go 627.3 miles. The Hybrid emits 4.40 tons per year of greenhouse gases, so it does indeed pollute less than the other car. So again, let's do some simple math…$22,600 for the car plus $595 for destination fee plus $1,864 in tax makes the Hybrid cost about $25,059 to drive home. At first glance, this looks like it adds a $3200 premium over the standard Hybrid, but let's continue on. Let's say you keep this car for 5 years as well and drive the same 15,000 miles per year at an average of 50 mpg, which amounts to 1,500 gallons of gas at today's price of $3.00 - making your total for gas over 5 years $4,500. That's a savings of about $2,000 in gasoline costs just over 5 years as compared to the car above. So add them all up again and you get $25,059 plus $4,500 in gas = $29,559 over 5 years. Then if you sold this car, if the average Honda retains 49% of its value, you could sell it for $11,074. $29,559 - $11,074 = $18,485 for use and gasoline in 5 years. About the exact same as the car above…but wait, there's more!
When you buy the Civic Hybrid, at least until the end of the year, you get a tax break of $2100…bringing that total cost for 5 years down to $16,385, or $3,277 per year. So let's take a look at the final numbers, if your head is not spinning yet:
Honda Civic, standard gasoline engine: $18,231 including use and gasoline for five years. This breaks down to $3,646 per year or $303.83 per month.

Honda Civic, hybrid gas/electric engine: $16,385 including use and gasoline for five years. This breaks down to $3,277 per year or $273.08 per month.
In addition to the cash savings you also emit less pollution and depending on where you live, you might get to ride in the carpool lane by yourself or park at parking meters for free, so there are a few extra bonuses as well. It seems to me that while the cash difference between the two cars is not that significant, it is close enough that people considering the regular Civic should also consider the Hybrid. Sure, it might have a higher price tag in the window, but when you break down the costs over the first 5 years of ownership, the Hybrid comes out slightly ahead, both in expenses and "green-ness". Either car is a fantastic car; I owned a Civic years ago that ran without complaint right up to 150,000 miles when I got rid of it, and my brother has owned a few now. Although I love the Prius, my wife and I are digging the "regular old car" look of the Civic Hybrid. Other than not knowing when, I know that our next car will definitely be a hybrid!

Source: http://www.mytwodollars.com/2007/08/27/is-it-worth-the-money-honda-civic-vs-honda-civic-hybrid/

Natural gas-fueled cars proving popular in Utah

Vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas have had limited appeal in most of the United States. But, as in many things, Utah is proving to be the exception to the rule. While gasoline is hovering at or above $3 a gallon in most of the country, natural gas is currently going for the equivalent of $0.736 a gallon in Utah. Local utility Questar Gas operates vehicle filling stations in the state that have seen sales rise sixty percent in the past two years.

Thanks to substantial state incentives, Utah now has the lowest gas prices in the country and the second largest network of filling stations after California. In addition to the cheap, fuel federal and state tax credits of $4,000 and $3,000, respectively, can save buyers a healthy chunk on the Honda Civic GX which is currently the only new CNG passenger car on the market.

Source: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/08/27/natural-gas-fueled-cars-proving-popular-in-utah/

Sean O'Grady: This car is a Chihuahua

This week, I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about and try the Honda Civic Type-R. Among what we might call the "petrolhead community", the Type-R has a very special status as a "hot" hatch. In the past, Type-R versions of Civics and Accords have done their revviest best to dissipate Honda's "trusty wheels for pensioners" image. So, I thought, would this one.

Being a fan of Honda cars (but only since I actually started driving them, and getting on in years myself), I fully expected to fall in love with this machine. I was looking forward to it. But I was a little disappointed.

The Honda Civic Type-R doesn't quite live up to expectations, if only because expectations are usually pitched so high for the Type-R sub-brand. There's just something ever so slightly lacking in this Civic, and I'm not sure I'm a sufficiently competent chassis engineer to tell what it is (in fact, I'm not a chassis engineer at all, in case you were somehow under that illusion).

I note that it has dropped the independent rear suspension it deployed on the old-model Civic, in favour of a torsion-beam set-up, usually regarded as inferior (and cheaper). I also see that the new car is heavier than the old one, so that doesn't help, given that the engine they've carried over for the Type-R is more or less the same, albeit impressive, two-litre petrol unit that happily thrashes to 8,000rpm.

It's just that it doesn't seem to shift with the same urgency as, say, a Golf GTI or a Mazda 3MPS (a very underestimated car, that one), or any of those brightly painted Renaultsport something Cup something models you occasionally see.

On paper, the Civic is a near-150mph pocket supercar that sprints to 60mph from standstill in 6.6 seconds (faster than the Golf GTI), but on the road it feels more lethargic. Maybe it's because I'm more used to torquier engines that need less revving, and Honda is still holding out against turbocharging, but I didn't get the best out of this Civic.
I ought also to mention, in passing, its solid build, superb detailing and gorgeously adventurous dashboard design as major pluses; but, for a change, I'm not sure I can recommend this Honda over, say, the equivalent Renault. That's a letdown.

However, I'm still happy to highlight the baby Daihatsu Copen to anyone who'll listen. A few weeks ago, I was subject to my first episode of Copen comradeship when a girl in a red one waved at me as we passed on the A6 in Leicestershire. I don't know the girl, but I imagined her little car living a pampered life as a pet, a sort of automotive Chihuahua somewhere in the lovely heart of England.

That's where I should be. Life in London is no fun for car or owner, let me tell you. I have a strong belief that all those speed humps and potholes in the capital lead to premature wear and tear, of car and driver. This is why SUVs are so popular in London. Whenever I've had one, I've tried to see (social-scientific research in action, this) how fast I could go over a speed hump without being bounced off the ceiling. Amazingly fast, usually. Not what the anti-car lobby had in mind, I think.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/living/motoring/comment/article2898969.ece#2007-08-28T00:00:01-00:00

Japanese vs.US Hybrid Cars-Why the Difference?

Hybrids are the fastest growing segment of the American car market.In 2006 the sales of hybrids rose to 1% of total car sales ,an increase of 22%over the previous year.This high rate of growth looks set to continue with the public growing increasingly concerned about depleting world oil resources and the environmental impact of fossil fuels.The figures speak for themselves.Hybrids can cut fuel consumption by up to as much as 40%.As far as cleaner environment goes the new Ford Escape Hybrid produces less than one pound of smog producing pollutants in a 15,000 mile drive.Its significance can be understood only when you consider that for non hybrid passenger vehicles the corresponding figure is 67 pounds!It was Toyota which first demonstrated the hybrid-electric concept at the Tokyo Auto Show in 1995.At that time Toyota set an aggressive development schedule to bring the Prius to the Japanese market in two years time in an effort to be the first car company in the world to offer a production hybrid-electric car for sale.And succeed they did.The Prius was offered to the Japanese public in 1997 before the signing of the Kyoto Protocol.The Prius went on sale in the US in 2000 and was an instant success.The first hybrid electric model in the US market,however, was the Honda Insight in 1999.The Honda Civic hybrid went on sale in 2002.The year 2004 will be remembered for the launch of the second generation Prius.In addition the first full size pickup hybrids the Dodge Ram and the Chevy Silverado as well as the first SUV hybrid the Ford Escape hit the streets this year.The success of the 2004 Prius led some experts to call it the most successful car model of all times.At one time it sold at a premium of $2000 over its sticker price!Even today the Prius sells more than all the other models combined.So what did Toyota and the other Japanese automakers get right which the US automakers got wrong?Nothing really because it was just a question of focusing on a particular area.US automakers concentrated all along on pure electric cars and hydrogen fuel cars.While electric cars were introduced in the market they did not become popular because of limitations of size,speed and range.The hydrogen fuel car is still under development although GM hopes to introduce it in the market by 2010.Of late the US manufacturers have sought to duplicate the success of the Prius.Encouraged by the success of the Ford Escape they have directed their energies into developing an American hybrid.But unlike the Ford escape which has been built under a licensing agreement with Toyota,GM's forthcoming Chevy Tahoe hybrid is st to be a very important event for the American auto industry.Why so?The Prius recharges its battery pack through deceleration and regenerative braking.Thus while it improves fuel economy significantly in the city its results are not so spectacular on the highways.The USA is a huge country with a vast highway network.The Tahoe hybrid and all GM dual mode hybrids offer some additional tricks on the highway, which is very important in the US.The year 2008 therefore promises to be an interesting one for the US hybrid industry.While none of the models are going to match the efficiency of Toyota,US automakers are clearly back in the reckoning.


Source: http://planet-automobiles.blogspot.com/2007/08/japanese-vsus-hybrid-cars-why.html

Honda UK announces Top Spec Civic Hybrid

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