Honda rolls out new zero-emission car

By TOMOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press Writer Posted Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:31am PDT

TAKANEZAWA, Japan - Honda's new zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell car rolled off a Japanese production line Monday and is headed to Southern California, where Hollywood is already abuzz over the latest splash in green motoring.

The FCX Clarity, which runs on hydrogen and electricity, emits only water and none of the noxious fumes believed to induce global warming. It is also two times more energy efficient than a gas-electric hybrid and three times that of a standard gasoline-powered car, the company says.

Japan's third biggest automaker expects to lease out a "few dozen" units this year and about 200 units within three years. In California, a three-year lease will run $600 a month, which includes maintenance and collision coverage.

Among the first customers are actress Jamie Lee Curtis and filmmaker husband Christopher Guest, actress Laura Harris, film producer Ron Yerxa, as well as businessmen Jon Spallino and Jim Salomon.

"It's so smooth," said Harris, who played villainness Marie Warner on the hit TV show "24" and was flown over by Honda for the ceremony. "It's like a future machine, but it's not."

The FCX Clarity is an improvement of its previous-generation fuel cell vehicle, the FCX, introduced in 2005.

A breakthrough in the design of the fuel cell stack, which is the unit that powers the car's motor, allowed engineers to lighten the body, expand the interior and increase efficiency, Honda said.

The fuel cell draws on energy synthesized through a chemical reaction between hydrogen gas and oxygen in the air, and a lithium-ion battery pack provides supplemental power. The FCX Clarity has a range of about 270-miles per tank with hydrogen consumption equivalent to 74 miles per gallon, according to the carmaker.

The 3,600-pound vehicle can reach speeds up to 100 miles per hour.

John Mendel, executive vice president of America Honda Motor Co., said at a morning ceremony it was "an especially significant day for American Honda as we plant firm footsteps toward the mainstreaming of fuel cell cars."

The biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel cell vehicles are cost and the dearth of hydrogen fuel stations. For the Clarity's release in California, Honda said it received 50,000 applications through its website but could only consider those living near stations in Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine.

Initially, however, the Clarity will go only to a chosen few starting July and then launch in Japan this fall.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for a statewide network of hydrogen stations, but progress has been slow.

The state has also recently relaxed a mandate for the number of zero-emission cars it aims to have on roads. By 2014, automakers must now sell 7,500 electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, a reduction of 70 percent.

Spallino, who currently drives Honda's older FCX and was also flown in for the ceremony, said he will use the Clarity to drive to and from work and for destinations within the Los Angeles area. The small number of hydrogen fuel stations is the "single limiting factor" for fuel cell vehicles, he said.

"It's more comfortable, and it handles well," said Spallino of Redondo Beach. "It's got everything. You're not sacrificing anything except range."

The world's major automakers have been making heavy investments in fuel cells and other alternative fuel vehicles amid climbing oil prices and concerns about climate change.

Although Honda Motor Co. was the first Japanese automaker to launch a gas-electric hybrid vehicle in the U.S. in 1999, it has been outpaced by the dominance of Toyota's popular Prius.

Toyota announced in May that it has sold more than 1 million Prius hybrids, while both the Honda Insight and the hybrid Accord have been discontinued due to poor sales.

Honda also plans to launch a gas-electric hybrid-only model, as well as hybrid versions of the Civic, the sporty CR-Z and Fit subcompact.

Toyota has announced that it would launch a plug-in hybrid with next-generation lithium-ion batteries by 2010 and a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle later in Japan later this year.

U.S. carmaker General Motors Corp. plans to introduce a Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle in 2010. It also introduced a test-fleet of hydrogen fuel cell Equinox SUVs.

Honda has no plans for a plug-in electric vehicle. President Takeo Fukui said he does not believe current battery technology is good enough to develop a feasible car.

The company has not revealed how much each car costs to make, and it is unclear when, or if, the car will be available for mass-market sales. Takeo has set a target for 2018, but meeting that goal will depend on whether Honda can significantly lower development and assembly costs as well as market reaction to fuel cells.

New Kits Turn Any Car Into a Plug-in Hybrid

Even Toyota Prius owners are cringing at today's gas prices. New conversion kits offer the potential for 100 miles per gallon and more.

.. --> --> .. --> FLOATING RIGHT NAVIGATION -->.. -->END CONTAINER--> .. -->start of Big Image (Horizontal 360x240)--> Soon drivers will be able to get at least double the gas mileage of a Toyota Prius hybrid, thanks to a spate of new aftermarket kits that convert any car into a plug-in electric vehicle. But they'll have to pay upwards of $10,000 to do so.

Auto manufacturers are at least a year or two away from launching the next generation of hybrids, called plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), that recharge by plugging into a wall outlet. But battery companies are ready to start selling aftermarket kits within the next few months that convert hybrids, and in some cases regular vehicles, into plug-in electric cars.

A123Systems, an automotive technology company and battery supplier based in Watertown, Mass., is now taking orders for its Hymotion L5 conversion kit, which turns a Toyota Prius into a plug-in electric car. The $10,000 kit, due this fall, works with Prius model years 2004 through 2008 and adds a special, range-extending lithium-ion battery to the Prius' existing drivetrain.

Using A123's plug-in system, the Prius, which normally runs only short distances at slow speeds on electric power alone, will have added battery power to extend its electric-only range and boost gas mileage to more than 100 miles per gallon. The Prius normally gets an estimated 46 mpg in combined city/highway driving.

Even if electricity costs as much as 15 cents per kilowatt hour, fully charging the 5 kilowatt-hour battery to run up to 40 miles would cost less than a dollar.

In Pictures: Hottest Hybrid SUVs of 2008

In late August, Poulsen Hybrid, based in Shelton, Conn., and run by Ulrik Poulsen, CEO of Bridgeport Magnetics, plans to offer a $7,000 conversion kit that turns any conventional car into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle by mounting small electric motors onto the rear wheels. The Poulsen system also uses a lithium-ion battery pack and will double a car's gas mileage, says Poulsen, the system's creator. The company hasn't released data on how far the system will go on a single charge, but charging it would also cost less than a dollar, he says.

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.. -->end of additional Images-->VS Composites' $4,000 Electrocharger, due in 2009, also works with any conventional car, including ones whose engines have a turbocharger or supercharger — good news for car enthusiasts, who seek out such engines for the added power and acceleration they bring. The Electrocharger improves fuel economy in city driving by almost 60 percent by replacing a vehicle's alternator with an electric generator, says Michael Van Steenburg, of VS Composites, based in Selma, Texas. Although the Electrocharger will be cheaper upfront than the Poulsen plug-in hybrid system, it will cost from $3 to $5 to juice the Electrocharger for a 50-mile range.

Any plug-in hybrid, whether created using an aftermarket conversion kit or built by a major automaker — like General Motors' Saturn Vue Hybrid expected for 2009, and Chevrolet Volt expected in 2010 — would cost roughly 2 cents per mile to run, compared with about 10 cents per mile for a traditional car, says Philip Gott, director of automotive consulting at research firm Global Insight.

It would take 8 years to pay off the $10,000 premium of an electric system driving 40 miles a day and saving 8 cents per mile, Gott says, which is longer than most people want to own a car. "But people buy these things to make an environmental statement," he says.

One concern for the conversion kits is their reliability and whether they would void a vehicle's original factory warranty. In this regard, plug-in hybrids built by automakers are a safer bet than conversion kits, Gott says. "Typically, kits don't have a national service and infrastructure."

Toyota, which has announced plans to bring plug-in electric vehicles to market by 2010, is skeptical of the conversion kits. "While A123's test results sound encouraging, we are still concerned that a conversion of this type may push some components beyond their design parameters or cause other parts or systems to fail," says Bill Kwong, a Toyota spokesperson. "We don't know if occupant safety may be compromised by the modifications."

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.. -->end of additional Images-->Auto analyst Art Spinella, of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore., expects half of the aftermarket plug-in electric conversion kits will have problems. "And it's not so much the hardware that makes it expensive, it's the complexity," he says. "We really don't know yet all the ramifications of plug-in hybrids. At this point, for the most part, plug-in hybrids are nothing more than a curiosity for most consumers."

That said, Spinella expects the cost of plug-in hybrid technology, whether as part of aftermarket conversion kits or factory-original vehicles, to go down in a few years. "Look at the computer industry. Now you can get a computer for $349 that used to cost $3,000," he says. "Initially, the market is going to wind up being early adopters — people who will buy a plug-in conversion kit because it's the latest and greatest."

But whether you choose to buy a plug-in hybrid straight from an automaker in a couple of years or opt for a plug-in conversion kit this fall, certain benefits are guaranteed. "You're diverting your energy demand to that produced by a centralized facility monitored for emissions or performance, as opposed to a regular car that owners don't necessarily maintain as well," says Global Insight's Gott. "The electric power grid's energy comes from coal, nuclear, wind, hydro and solar energy."

By relying on electricity from a power plant rather than gasoline from a pump, "within a more reasonable time frame, you will continue to be upgraded to the most modern fuel technologies," Gott says.

Every year, Shell (yes, the giant evil oil company) puts on a little PR banquet in the name of vehicle efficiency called the Eco-Marathon. It’s part of the long-standing tradition of oil companies blaming car companies for the excesses of the fossil fuel economy while car companies just as joyfully blame oil companies.

Nonetheless, it’s a fun little event where teams get together and figure out how efficient vehicles really can be. And they can indeed be very efficient. By bringing the weight of the vehicles way down, putting them on high-pressure bike tires, and making the vehicles as obscenely aerodynamic as possible, these cars easily get thousands of miles per gallon.

The team from the French technical school St. Joseph La Joliverie went 7,148 miles on a single gallon of fuel. The Shell website is quick to point out that that’s "almost ten miles per teaspoon." Maybe the body isn’t the most efficient vehicle after all.

In any case... it gives you a sense for just how much power is contained in a gallon of gasoline. It’s too bad we’ve been pretty much pouring it down the drain for the last few decades.

Via EcoModder

The World's Cheapest Car

.. Begin Article Main --> .. Begin Tout1 --> ..sridhar@MT added the following code for 10 question -->

A lot is riding on the the world's cheapest car. In the words of Ratan Tata, chairman of the company behind the upstart econobox, India's "People's Car" will be a "safe, affordable, all weather vehicle for a family which is today traveling on a two wheeler." The entry level model is ticketed at just over $2,500 — or the equivalent of 100,000 rupees or one Lakh — a revolutionary price where the average lower middle class income is $200 a month. (For comparison's sake, in the early 1970s, Honda introduced affordable, good quality Civics at about $2,200, which adjusted for inflation would now be nearly $10,500.) It could well be one of the most important cars ever designed.

The car emerged at a much-anticipated launch on Thursday: a cute, short thing, with four doors, tiny wheels placed out at the far corners of the body and what looked like plenty of room inside. The Nano has just enough space for a briefcase or small bag under the hood. The engine — all two cylinders, 624cc and 33 horsepower of it — is in the back, just like the Volkswagen Beetle of old. The speedometer and other instruments cluster in a central pod in the middle of the dashboard rather than directly in front of the driver, the easier (and cheaper) to offer both left- and right-hand versions when Tata Motors starts exporting the car to Southeast Asia and Africa in a couple of years. The top third of the over-sized headlights act as the turn signals (indicators) and look like cheeky yellow eyebrows above the main lights. It has a top speed of about 60 miles per hour. "Car companies are in probably the most emotive business area that one can find apart from fashion," company chairman Ratan Tata told TIME a day before the big launch. "There will be people who say it looks like a toy, but if you consider the value proposition I think the car is great."

Tata hopes the Nano will help millions of poor people around the world — the "Bottom of the Pyramid" in developing world marketing-speak —switch from two wheels to four. Environmentalists, city planners and even some competitors, on the other hand, warn that the new vehicle will clog up India's crowded roads and add clouds of pollution to its already filthy air.

Ratan Tata emphasized that the new car complies with India's emissions laws and even with Europe's much stronger Euro 4 standards. Emissions, Tata says, are "lower than a scooter's today". The company claims the car will also deliver 50 miles per gallon, or better than 20 kilometers per liter, which would make it one of India's most efficient vehicles, and vastly more efficient than the average in the U.S. Chief U.N. climate scientist Rajendra Pachauri, who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, said recently that he was "having nightmares" about the low-cost car. "Dr. Pachauri need not have nightmares," said Ratan Tata at today's unveiling. "For us it's a milestone and I hope we can make a contribution to the country."

But with India's road infrastructure struggling to keep up with explosive growth in car sales, won't the new Tata just add to the country's road hassles? That's a problem the Indian government has to deal with, not manufacturers, Tata said. "We'd certainly be concerned if our vehicle created absolute chaos all across India," he told one questioner who complained that his morning journey of a few miles across Delhi took over an hour. "But if you had chaos today and it did not include our vehicles, then I would suggest the problem has to do with something else besides the presence or absence of our vehicles." India, he agreed, "does desperately need mass transit systems... both within cities and between cities." But poor Indian families also have a right to what millions take for granted elsewhere in the world. "Should they be denied the right to independent transport?"

Eventually, Tata Motors hopes to sell a million Nanos a year. Even before it goes on sale, though, it has become an important symbol of an emerging trend in the developing world, a new brand of innovation that makes more out of less and engineers clever but cheap fixes to problems that Western companies might throw expensive technology at.

The head of the Nano team says Tata Motors has applied for 34 patents on various components and design features on the new car, though he was short on specifics. The car reportedly uses super strong glue rather than welds in some joints — a technique that a handful of other car makers have used before, though perhaps never as extensively. Tata Motors' cost-cutting drive was relentless: the windshield has just one washer rather than two, the metal steering column was hollowed out to save on steel, cheaper bearings — strong enough to perform well up to (70 kph) but fast wearing beyond that — may be used rather than more expensive components. "It's a very tight package," Ratan Tata said. Given the steep rise in the cost of steel, rubber and other inputs in the past few years, it's possible that the entry level Nano might not break even, though Tata made a point of saying the "one lakh" price tag in India will stay because "a promise is a promise". The car, the company says, will make money across its various models.

The Indian magnate, who has hinted he will soon retire, sees the Nano as an evolution rather than a revolution. "What is revolutionary anyway?" he asked TIME before the launch. "If you asked me would it be possible to build a lower cost car than this — a car say for 50,000 rupees [$1,300] — I might be driven to say, 'Yes, it might be possible.'" He pauses for a few seconds. "I don't think anything's impossible." The half lakh car anyone?

TIPS ON PUMPING GAS
(Good information)

I don't know what you guys are paying for
gasoline.... but here in California

we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per
gallon. But my line of work is

in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here
are some tricks to get more of

your money's worth for every gallon..



Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work
in San Jose , CA we deliver

about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period
thru the pipeline. One day is

diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline,
regular and premium grades.

We have 34-storage tanks here with a total
capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.



Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the
early morning when the ground

temperature is still cold. Remember that all
service stations have their

storage tanks buried below ground. The colder
the ground the more dense the

gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands,
so buying in the afternoon

or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly
a gallon. In the petroleum

business, the specific gravity and the
temperature of the gasoline, diesel

and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum
products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal
for this business. But the

service stations do not have temperature compensation
at the pumps.



When you're filling up do not squeeze
the trigger of the nozzle to a fast

mode. If you look you will see that the trigger
has three (3) stages: low,

middle, and high. In slow mode you should be
pumping on low speed, thereby

minimizing the vapors that are created while
you are pumping. All hoses at

the pump have a vapor return. If you are
pumping on the fast rate, some of

the liquid that goes to your tank becomes
vapor. Those vapors are being

sucked up and back into the underground storage
tank so you're getting less

worth for your money.



One of the most important tips is to fill up
when your gas tank is HALF

FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the
more gas you have in your

tank the less air occupying its empty space.
Gasoline evaporates faster

than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks
have an internal floating

roof. This roof serves as zero clearance
between the gas and the

atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.
Unlike service stations, here

where I work, every truck that we load is
temperature compensated so that

every gallon is actually the exact amount.


Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck
pumping into the storage

tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill
up--most likely the gasoline is

being stirred up as the gas is being delivered,
and you might pick up some

of the dirt that normally settles on the
bottom.


Hope this will help you get the most value for
your money.


DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

Thu Nov 1, 11:25 PM ET

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DALLAS - Dallas Zoo officials are moving forward with a plan to turn animal droppings, cardboard and tree limbs into power for several buildings and irrigation for the zoo's landscaping.

The waste, including Jenny and Keke's elephant poop, will go into a biogas generator. The gas that is created will help with heating, water and electric power.

"When you're in the zoo business, poo and pee is our bread and butter," Chuck Siegel, the zoo's deputy director for animal management, said in Thursday's online edition of The Dallas Morning News.

"It's really exciting that rather than taking this waste material and just adding to a landfill or throwing it out, we're able to use it for something positive. The zoo first and foremost sees itself as not only as a fun place for families, but as a conservation organization."

Talks with BDS Technologies about the first phase of the project began more than a year ago. Zoo officials hope that the design phase is complete next year.

The project could cost up to $1 million. But Doug Dykman, the zoo's deputy director of operations, said it should pay for itself within 10 years with the savings on trips to the landfill and in-house power.

The biogas generator would add oxygen to the waste and heat it to very high temperatures to create the gas.

"Gasification from waste products is not new. We're talking about taking that technology and using it on a small scale," Dykman said.

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VAXJO, Sweden - When this quiet city in southern Sweden decided in 1996 to wean itself off fossil fuels, most people doubted the ambitious goal would have any impact beyond the town limits.

A few melting glaciers later, Vaxjo is attracting a green pilgrimage of politicians, scientists and business leaders from as far afield as the United States and North Korea seeking inspiration from a city program that has allowed it to cut CO2 emissions 30 percent since 1993.

Vaxjo is a pioneer in a growing movement in dozens of European cities, large and small, that aren't waiting for national or international measures to curb global warming.

From London's congestion charge to Paris' city bike program and Barcelona's solar power campaign, initiatives taken at the local level are being introduced across the continent — often influencing national policies instead of the other way around.

"People used to ask: Isn't it better to do this at a national or international level?" said Henrik Johansson, environmental controller in Vaxjo, a city of 78,000 on the shores of Lake Helga, surrounded by thick pine forest in the heart of Smaland province. "We want to show everyone else that you can accomplish a lot at the local level."

The European Union, mindful that many member states are failing to meet mandated emissions cuts under the Kyoto climate treaty, has taken notice of the trend and is encouraging cities to adopt their own emissions targets. The bloc awarded one of its inaugural Sustainable Energy Europe awards this year to Vaxjo, which aims to have cut emissions by 50 percent by 2010 and 70 percent by 2025.

"We are convinced that the cities are a key element to change behavior and get results," said Pedro Ballesteros Torres, manager of the Sustainable Energy Europe campaign. "Climate change is a global problem but the origin of the problem is very local."

So far only a handful of European capitals have set emissions targets, including Stockholm, Copenhagen and London. Torres said he hopes to convince about 30 European cities to commit to targets next year.

While such goals are welcome, they may not always be the best way forward, said Simon Reddy, who manages the C40 project, a global network of major cities exchanging ideas on tackling climate change.

"At the moment a lot of cities don't know what they're emitting so it's very difficult to set targets," Reddy said.

More important than emissions targets, he said, is that cities draft action plans, outlining specific goals needed to reduce emissions, like switching a certain percentage of the public transit system to alternative fuels.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone's Climate Action Plan calls for cutting the city's CO2 emissions by 60 percent in 2025, compared to 1990 levels. However, planners acknowledge the cuts are not realistic unless the government introduces a system of carbon pricing.

Barcelona, Spain's second biggest city, has, since 2006, required all new and renovated buildings to install solar panels to supply at least 60 percent of the energy needed to heat water.

The project has been emulated by dozens of Spanish cities and inspired national legislation with similar, though less stringent, requirements, said Angels Codina Relat of the Barcelona Energy Agency.

It's not only in Europe that cities are taking action on climate change.

Several U.S. cities including Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle have launched programs to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Bogota, the capital of Colombia, has reduced emissions with the TransMilenio municipal bus system and an extensive network of bicycle paths.

In Vaxjo, (pronounced VECK-shur), the vast majority of emissions cuts have been achieved at the heating and power plant, which replaced oil with wood chips from local sawmills as its main source of fuel. Ashes from the furnace are returned to the forest as nutrients.

"This is the best fir in Sweden," said plant manager Ulf Johnsson, scooping up a fistful of wood chips from a giant heap outside the factory.

He had just led Michael Wood, the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, on a guided tour of the facility, which is considered state of the art. Not only does it generate electricity, but the water that is warmed up in the process of cooling the plant is used to heat homes and offices in Vaxjo.

Every week, foreign visitors arrive to see Vaxjo's environmental campaign. Last year, even a delegation of 10 energy officials from reclusive North Korea got a tour.

A similar but much larger system is in place in Copenhagen, Denmark's capital, where waste heat from incineration and combined heat and power plants is pumped through a purpose-built 800-mile network of pipes to 97 percent of city.

Copenhagen is often cited as a climate pioneer among European cities. It cut CO2 emissions by 187,600 tons annually in the late '90s by switching from coal to natural gas and biofuels at its energy plants. Its goal is to reduce emissions by 35 percent by 2010, compared to 1990 levels, even more ambitious than Denmark's national target of 21 percent cuts under the Kyoto accord.

In 1995, the city became one of the first European capitals to introduce a public bicycle service that lets people pick up and return bikes at dozens of stations citywide for a small fee. Similar initiatives have since taken root in Paris and several other European cities.

Next, Copenhagen plans to spend about $38 million on various initiatives to get more residents to use bicycles instead of cars.

Transport is one of the hardest areas for local leaders to control since traffic is not confined to a single city. Without stronger national policies promoting biofuels over gasoline, Vaxjo, for one, will never reach its long-term target of becoming free of fossil fuels.

But it's doing what it can locally. So-called "green cars" running on biofuels park for free anywhere in the city. About one-fifth of the city's own fleet runs on biogas produced at the local sewage treatment plant.

Using biofuels instead of gasoline in cars is generally considered to cut CO2 emissions, although some scientists say greenhouse gases released during the production of biofuel crops can offset those gains.

Vaxjo has also invested in energy efficiency, from the light bulbs used in street lights to a new residential area with Europe's tallest all-wood apartment buildings. Wood requires less energy to produce than steel or concrete, and also less transportation since Vaxjo is in the middle of forests.

Although Vaxjo is tiny by comparison, the C40 group, including major metropolitan centers such as New York, Mexico City and Tokyo, has been impressed by the city's progress and uses it as an example of "best practices" around the world.

"They're a small town," Reddy said. "Apply that to 7 million? It's doable but its going to take a lot longer."

___

On the Net:

City of Vaxjo: http://www.c40cities.org

TOKYO - Hybrids don't have to sacrifice looks to be environmentally friendly — they can be muscular and stylish, too. That's the message Honda hopes to send at this month's Tokyo auto show with its new gas-electric hybrid sports car CR-Z.

"This is something rivals can't offer," Tetsuji Morikawa, a Honda Motor Co. engineer, said of the CR-Z, whose sales date is promised for the "near future."

The vehicle has maintained "the essence of the sports car" while still delivering good mileage and less pollution, he said.

Hybrid vehicles tend to be bulkier than sleek sports cars because of the size and complexity of the hybrid systems, which include a battery, motor, engine, converter and other parts. They're usually not known for their torque, acceleration, handling and innovative design.

The CR-Z comes with a new hybrid system developed by Honda whose breakthroughs allowed designers to get around such restrictions to achieve its lean cutting-edge look, said Morikawa, while declining to give details about the hybrid system and the vehicle.

The model will be on display at the biannual Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public Oct. 27 in the Tokyo suburb of Chiba.

Japan's No. 2 automaker already sells the hybrid Civic but discontinued the hybrid Accord and hybrid Insight. It has promised a new hybrid in 2009.

Interest in hybrids is high among the world's automakers amid concerns about global warming and rising oil prices.

Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. has emerged the leader in the technology, having sold more than a million hybrids globally over the last decade.

Tokyo-based Honda, which has sold about 220,000 hybrids worldwide so far, is eager to make its stamp on hybrids by showing how its reputation for sporty cars will also work for hybrids.

.. yatartarthd --> .. source -->

Since the infamous demise of the major carmakers' electric vehicle programs, there's been a vacuum in the niche market of zero-emissions, all-electric vehicles. We're not talking about the so-called "neighborhood electric vehicles," which have top speeds of about 25 mph. We mean the fast and fully functional vehicles that can provide everything you need in a car—without the global warming gases and other tailpipe pollutants.

A new breed of small, scrappy carmakers isn't waiting for the majors to take the lead. These companies are all facing the same bumps along the road to market acceptance: price, production issues, line expansion, maintenance, and warranties. The field of available EVs is limited, but if you're serious about going all-electric, here is a rundown of the latest offerings.

Venturi Fétish

$400,000, just 25 units per year

The folks at Monaco-based Venturi Automobiles have used two strategies to overcome the problems of producing a high-performance, all-electric luxury sports car: Manufacture only 25 units per year and charge $400,000 for each one. The Venturi Fétish, described by the company as "the first production electric sports car in automobile history," can bolt from 0 – 60 in 4.3 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 105 mph. The physics behind this level of performance: 330 horsepower pushing a carbon-fiber vehicle weighing only 2,425 pounds.

When its 100 Lithium-Ion battery packs are topped off, the Fétish can go 220 miles before needing a recharge, according to Venturi. A rapid battery charge is available, yielding about one mile of driving for every minute of juice. Venturi has taken the guesswork out of knowing how much charge is left by teaming up with Intel to create a wireless information system that remotely monitors energy status, as well as other critical data.

But before you write a deposit check, you might consider that the Fétish is not yet certified for American roads. Also, customers must take delivery in Monaco and are responsible for transporting the vehicle to the United States … or anywhere else, for that matter. Orders are being taken now. Delivery takes about a year.

Tesla Roadster

$98,000, delivery date in question

Tesla Motors achieved instant rock-star status in 2006, when the company announced details of its Roadster, a screaming-fast, all-electric two-seat sports car built on the frame of the Lotus Elise. Since then, it's been a nonstop media love fest for Tesla and its heroic efforts to revive the dream of a mass-produced electric car. There's a lot to admire about the idea of a Tesla Roadster: 0 – 60 mph in less than 4 seconds, 135-mpg equivalent, 200-mile range, and a brilliant tech design that wires together nearly 7,000 rechargeable lithium batteries.

Much of the excitement results from Tesla's plans beyond the Roadster—to reinvent the entire auto industry in the model of a Silicon Valley start-up. The high $98,000 price tag for the Tesla Roadster should be forgiven because—according to company statements—the first e-sportscar is only a stepping stone to a larger, more affordable, mass-produced electric car. In August 2007, Martin Eberhard, the company's founding CEO, stepped down and was replaced in the interim with Michael Marks, an early investor in the electric car startup. Eberhard wrote in his corporate blog that the company's first scheduled delivery in late September is "not yet fully within our grasp." The company is waiting on final results from crash and durability testing. Until those are competed, the 600 customers who have submitted deposits will have to wait for a confirmed delivery date. Tesla offers a 100,000-mile warranty for the Roadster's battery pack.

AC Propulsion eBox

$70,000 for an electrified Scion xB, 25 units per year

After 15 years of building production-quality electric cars from the ground up, AC Propulsion has shifted its strategy to converting a conventional car into an electric vehicle. So, your first stop in buying an eBox is a visit to your local Scion dealer to purchase a 5-speed Scion xB for about $15,000. AC Propulsion can also coordinate the purchase of an xB near its San Dimas, California, headquarters. Its engineers will then remove the internal combustion engine and related components and install an electric drive and 5,000 small-cell battery system.

The company chose the Scion xB because it's lightweight, practical (seats five, good storage), easy to convert, and relatively affordable. The cost of conversion adds another $55,000 to the purchase price, but the final result may be the closest we have to an EV that can meet the average driver's needs: air conditioning, power steering, power windows, power mirrors, and remote door locks—just like a regular Scion xB, but no emissions. The eBox accelerates to 60 mph in 7 seconds, reaches a top speed of 95 mph, and will go 120 – 150 miles on a charge. The company expects to build 20 – 25 eBoxes through early 2008. Orders take about 6 – 8 months to complete, and the battery warranty is still being worked out.

Phoenix Motorcars' Sport Utility Truck

$45,000, fleet buyers only (for now)

Phoenix Motorcars, based in Rancho Cucamonga, California, takes an outsourced approach to building its all-electric Sport Utility Truck (SUT). The vehicle platform—all the metal, glass, and components, except for the engine and fuel system—is supplied by SsangYong, Korea's fourth-largest automaker. (SsangYong doesn't sell cars in the United States.) For the SUT's 100-kilowatt electric motor system, Phoenix taps UQM Technologies, which has 25 years of experience building high-performance motors, generators, and controllers. The rechargeable batteries are supplied by Altair Nanotechnologies, and the vehicle integration is completed by Boshart Engineering.

The results? A practical truck that offers 1,000 pounds of payload capacity and 120-horsepower performance capable of 0 – 60 mph in less than 10 seconds and top speeds of 95 mph. Plug the vehicle into a standard 220-volt outlet (like the one you use to power your clothes dryer) for about 6 hours using the onboard charger to achieve about 130 miles of range. Phoenix Motorcars sells the vehicle for about $45,000, but only to fleet buyers for now. However, the company does have ambitious plans to produce 6,000 units for the consumer market in 2008.

Commuter Cars Corporation's Tango T600

$108,000 – $150,000 for 39-inch wide vehicle, uncertain delivery time

Given the world's environmental and energy problems, there's little doubt that we need to rethink the fundamental concept of the daily commuter vehicle. The Tango T600 electric car may be just the ticket, but putting this vehicle on your shopping list will take several leaps of faith. First, you'll need to throw away all the expected conventions about appropriate car size. The Tango is 102 inches long (8 1/2 feet) and only 39 inches wide. In other words, it's as tall as most conventional cars, not quite as long, and only half the size from side to side. That means the driver sits in front and the passenger in back—like a tandem bicycle.

The next leap is the driving range. The Tango's battery packs provide racecar levels of performance: 0 – 60 in four seconds. But even when fully charged, the vehicle's range of 40 – 100 miles (depending on type of battery) will limit your driving to a fairly modest two-way commute.

The biggest leap of faith is with Commuter Cars' business model, which could put you on a waiting list for years. Instead of raising money ahead of time and starting production, the company is focusing exclusively on building one vehicle at a time, and using the profits to create research and production capacity for the next vehicles. They are currently filling the first 10 orders—7 of them for the $150,000 model, which uses lithium batteries (from A123 Systems), and 3 for the $108,000 model using lead-acid batteries. All future cars are "depending on funding" and pre-orders are fully refundable. By the way, the purchase price is for a "mostly assembled" kit, rather than a finished vehicle.