Hydrogen and fuel cell automobiles

Hydrogen and fuel cell automobiles

The primary hydrogen gas cell vehicles should not anticipated to reach until the earliest of 2014, that’s when Mercedes-Benz says it will likely be able to introduce its B-Class F-Cell to the market. Different automobile makers similar to Toyota and Hyundai-Kia are targeting to begin production of hydrogen models from 2015 onwards.

Honda was the primary to supply begin limited manufacturing of a highway-authorized hydrogen mannequin, within the type of the FCX Readability, which it began leasing to a small number of customers in the US and Japan from 2008. The firm continues to explore the potential of producing extra hydrogen models, however has but to make any firm commitment. Of course we regularly speak of gasoline cell vehicles working on hydrogen but that’s not all they'll run on. Fuel cells merely covert chemical power from a fuel into electrical energy by means of the process of oxidisation, that gasoline may very well be methane, ethanol or even strange petrol, as recommended by the College of Maryland (see story). Recently, Daihatsu revealed that it is engaged on a barely totally different take on the hydrogen gas cell automobile, by exploring using hydrazine hydrate; a liquid type of hydrogen fuel which would be simpler to move and store than compressed hydrogen (see story).

As there are no models obtainable but, there isn’t any infrastructure in the UK to support using these vehicles. Nevertheless it appears the automobile makers are confident that that this wil come in the event that they stride ahead with their plans. A Toyota govt just lately proclaimed that the brand will probably be producing tens of hundreds of fuel cell vehicles per yr by 2020 (see story). So it looks like hydrogen gas cell automobiles are positively one to look at over the following few years.

Et al
In fact this information is under no circumstances complete, but hopefully we’ve given offered an outline of the most important movers and shakers within the various fuel discipline this 12 months and within the subsequent couple of years to follow. With plug-in hybrids and vary-prolonged models now joining the hybrid and electric fashions already in the marketplace, and hydrogen automobiles set to comply with, 2012 is definitely going to be an essential 12 months for this burgeoning field.

Source : http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/04/24/the-2012-guide-to-alternative-fuel-vehicles-the-green-piece/

Compressed Natural Fuel

Compressed Natural Fuel (CNG) and LPG

Vehicles able to run on compressed natural gasoline (CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Fuel (LPG-or Autogas as additionally it is know) will not be broadly available on the UK market. Many carmakers give attention to producing CNG and LPG for different markets corresponding to components of Asia, where they're already proving popular.

In the US, Honda has the Civic GX CNG mannequin as the US market seems extra focused on exploring other liquid alternatives to gasoline than dashing in the direction of electric fashions or diesels. Stateside there may be additionally higher use of CNG vans too, equivalent to Ford Transit Join CNG and the Chevrolet Specific CNG, which have been becoming a member of fleets across the country.

Back in Europe, manufacturers corresponding to Opel do provide LPG automobiles on request, with many of its models out there with a pre-registration conversion to LPG (see extra on that here).
Aside from that, its largely a retrofit market that may convert your car to run on CNG or LPG.
Though often neglected CNG and LPG fuels supply cleaner operation than petrol, but it’s a market that’s remaining area of interest here within the UK.

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Source : http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/04/24/the-2012-guide-to-alternative-fuel-vehicles-the-green-piece/

Range-extended and plug-in hybrids

Range-extended and plug-in hybrids
One other market in its infancy, 2012 is actually the going to be the yr that range-extended electric car (REEV) fashions and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) start to arrive. Although costly, we’d expect them to be a must have green accessory especially for companies, desirous to boast their inexperienced credentials.

This 12 months sees the arrival of range-prolonged fashions, the Chevrolet Volt and Vauxhall Ampera whereas new plug-in hybrids such because the Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid and Toyota Prius Plug-In also arrive. These REEV and PHEV models are additionally eligible for the Plug-In Automotive Grants due to their means to recharge from mains electrical energy and their emission levels below 75g/km CO2.
As a no-compromise sort of alternative gasoline automotive, with longer driving ranges than absolutely electrical models, you can make certain that non-public motorists can be eager to observe the place business automotive drivers lead.

Although a range-extended and a plug-in hybrid drivetrain are barely completely different in the way they operate, they're very comparable in many ways; they each mix a combustion engine (either petrol or diesel) with an electric motor and battery, in the same method a conventional hybrid does. Unlike early hybrid fashions however, PHEVs and REEVs can replenish their batteries from mains electrical energy to allow them to make higher use of clean, zero emission electric driving, boosting the car’s overall gas efficiency.

Fashionable Hybrid Models

Fashionable Hybrid Models
We’ve already broken hybrid expertise down correctly to present you more particulars (see our previous Green Piece column) so right here we'll keep it simple. Hybrids are mostly petrol-electric models, without the perform to recharge from mains electrical energy just like the vehicles below. In the final yr, we’ve begun to see the introduction of diesel electric fashions such because the Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 and the Citroen DS5.

Fashionable hybrid models include, of course, the world well-known Toyota Prius as well as models such because the Toyota Auris HSD, Honda CR-Z, Honda Jazz Hybrid, Toyota Yaris Hybrid, Lexus RX450h, Lexus CT200h, BMW Energetic Hybrid5, Infiniti M35h, Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid and the Porsche Cayenne hybrid to name a few.

Typically, hybrids provide better financial system than their regular combustion-only friends due to the upper effectivity of an electrical motor at low speeds and because it permits the car to capture braking energy.

Battery Electric Automobiles

Battery electric automobiles
Absolutely depending on electricity saved in their batteries, battery electrical vehicles (BEVs) or electric autos (EVs) as they're often called, represent a small margin of the general automobile market as of yet, however have shown large growth of 557 per cent in the final 12 months in keeping with the report from SMMT.

Fashions such because the Nissan LEAF, Renault Fluence, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Peugeot iON and Citroen C-Zero, all produced by nicely-recognized automobile makers, are naturally the best recognized models in the UK and all qualify for Authorities grants price up to £5,000 to patrons of those models.
There are electrical vans too, like the Ford Transit Connect Electrical and Renault Kangoo ZE which likewise qualify for Authorities grants for consumers worth up to £eight,000 (more particulars available on the DfT website).

Latest acceleration of the market for EVs has been driven by the launch of latest fashions, a lot of which arrived just last yr as the Authorities introduced the Plug-in Automotive Grants (PiCG). Though there have been components of the press ready and willing to dismiss electric automobiles, the market is in a sense, barely a 12 months previous, and the progress is spectacular contemplating it’s only just getting going.

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Source : http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/04/24/the-2012-guide-to-alternative-fuel-vehicles-the-green-piece/

Finding Alternatif Fuels For Cars

Quarter of firms seeking to alternative fuels

One in 4 enterprise leaders have already making use of -or are considering introducing -various gas vehicles to their business operations as oil costs stay stubbornly high.
According to a brand new report from Grant Thornton, 24 per cent of businesses globally want to alternative gas automobiles, reminiscent of electrical vehicles, hybrids, LPG and gasoline cell vehicles- to assist mitigate rising transport costs. The drive towards clean alternate options is being largely steered by mature markets, with 28 per cent of businesses within the G7 at the very least considering adopting such vehicles, compared to simply 15 per cent in the BRIC economies.

The enterprise advisory agency surveyed  12,000 companies per year across forty economies to compile its new International Enterprise Report (IBR). As a part of its analysis, the agency discovered that the value of oil costs was the main cause driving business house owners to consider various fuel automobiles;  mentioned by 69 per cent of survey respondents globally. A further fifty five per cent of companies cited tax aid and sixty two per cent cost administration as key motivators. Companies are additionally increasingly conscious of the environmental influence of their fleets with fifty eight per cent citing saving the planet as a driver towards the adoption of other-gas vehicles.

Daniel Taylor, associate & head of automotive at Grant Thornton UK mentioned: “With the United States and the EU pressing ahead with sanctions in opposition to Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil producer, it seems unlikely that costs at the pumps will ease considerably within the near future.
“Many dynamic companies are due to this fact trying to decide whether switching their fleets to various fuels might provide price savings, permitting them to liberate assets which may very well be higher employed in efforts to expand their operations. And naturally, switching to ‘greener’ fuels also boosts their environmental credentials.”

Amongst those respondents who have not considered alternative gasoline autos, cost (49%) emerges as the best constraint, intently adopted by the issue of charging/ refuelling (48%) and a scarcity of choice (38%).
The IBR also reveals that reliability (88%) and safety (eighty one%) remain the key issues for enterprise leaders when purchasing cars for his or her enterprise, with value (77%) and gas consumption (73%) not far behind. In the meantime, just forty seven per cent of businesses cited the type of gasoline as a key consideration.

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Source : http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/05/22/quarter-of-firms-looking-to-alternative-fuels/

Recycling battery to boost hybrid and electrical automotive business

Recycling battery to boost hybrid and electrical automotive business


The top-of-life for battery packs within the first technology of electric and hybrids represents a chance for industry, in accordance with US automotive web site Edmunds.com.
Because the very first battery packs reach the tip of their lives from the hybrid models first launched in the late nineties, there shall be an important opportunity to recapture and recycle metals and uncommon-earth compounds which are used within the batteries. This will not only provide a lift to automotive recycling corporations however in the long-term, will assist scale back the cost of new EVs and HEVs models.
It is going to also prove the longevity of battery packs, helping to reassure customers and increase residual worth forecasts for brand new models.

In keeping with Edmunds.com, there are now more than two million EVs, HEVs and PHEVs now on the road in the US as we speak, a quantity that can  solely grow. Automakers sold greater than 193,000 hybrids and EVs in the first five months of 2012, easily setting a file for the most important January-to-May sales quantity, despite the heavy value premiums for some of these vehicles.
Nonetheless it is going to be a while before the recycling trade actually begins to take off, as Edmunds.com Inexperienced Automotive Analyst John O’Dell explains: "There are signs that the batteries in the very earliest Toyota Prius and Honda Perception hybrids are starting to go, but these automobiles had been sold in relatively small numbers.

"Over the long term, recycling will play an important position in lowering the costs of hybrids and EVs," says O’Dell. "The reuse of the metals and rare-earth compounds that make these batteries work will help maintain prices down, and the marketplace for used batteries also will help prop up the resale worth of electrical-drive autos, which is a definite plus for consumers."

Whereas experts don’t count on a viable industrial recycling market for hybrid and EV batteries for at least another decade, giant recycling corporations like Umicore and Toxco are testing and creating efficient processes to recycle the batteries earlier than they hit their vegetation in heavy volumes. They’re additionally starting to increase their operations in the US to accommodate the inevitable jumps in volume - Umicore is constructing a new facility in North Carolina to interrupt down battery packs earlier than transport the parts to its headquarters plant in Belgium for recycling, whereas Toxco is growing capacity to develop lithium-ion battery recycling processes at its plant in Lancaster, Ohio, under a $9.5 million federal grant.
More data on how the automotive trade is preparing its mass recycling process for hybrid and electrical automobiles, is out there within the report: "What Happens to EV and Hybrid Batteries?" accessible at www.edmunds.com.

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Source :
http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/06/18/recycling-battery-to-boost-hybrid-and-electric-car-industry/