Tax Per Gallon, Or Per Mile?

As the Nissan Leaf does not use any gasoline, its drivers do not pay for highway maintenance.(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

A report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), requested by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), looks at the feasibility of taxing drivers based on miles driven. To implement the tax, the CBO found that technology exists to seamlessly record and transmit mileage.

Conrad requested the report to explore means of raising money to fund a $556 billion budget request by the Obama administration to maintain highways. Currently, funds are raised from an 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal tax on gasoline and a 24.4-cent-per-gallon federal tax on diesel. Conrad suggested an alternate per-mile tax due to lower revenues from the gas tax as vehicles become more efficient.

While saying per-mile metering devices were feasible, the report fell short of estimating the cost of implementing metering devices. It said that, while it would be less expensive to require manufacturers to install metering devices as original equipment, the phase-in would take many years.

Implementing a per mile tax would face many similar hurdles. If everycar in the nation could not be equipped with a factory-installed or aftermarket metering device all at the same time, the tax would need to allow some drivers to pay the per mile tax, and others to continue to pay the per-gallon tax.

Both Oregon and Washington are already considering some means of taxing cars that use little or no gas. Previously, Oregon considered a per-mile tax. Both states are currently looking into a road tax aimed specifically at plug-in vehicles.

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20047354-48.html#ixzz1Hvn0eWT1

Ford Focus Electric Will Connect With AT&T

The new MyFord Mobile smartphone app will allow owners to plan trips, locate charging stations, remotely lock/unlock doors, and more.(Credit: Ford)

The Ford Focus Electric will use the embedded AT&T wireless connection to send and receive data about thecar, Ford announced today.

Through the new MyFord Mobile smartphone app, owners will be able to plan trips, monitor their vehicle's state of charge, locate charging stations, remotely lock/unlock doors, use a built-in GPS system to locate the car and receive alerts.

"With a wireless connection, we're putting battery charge and vehicle range information, along with an interactive, data-driven trip planning app, directly at the fingertips of our customers," said Ed Pleet, product and business manager for Ford Connected Services. "This technology will keep drivers connected to vital information, enhancing their electric car ownership experience. The AT&T network is an important part of this equation, and we're pleased to have AT&T on board."

The MyFord Mobile app will be available for most major smartphones as well as via a secure Ford Web site.

The Ford Focus Electric was unveiled at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. A 240-volt charging station will also be available for charging the Ford Focus at home, the company said.

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20046093-48.html#ixzz1HdKsLM1u

CMU Shows Off Honda Civic Made Electric

This Honda Civic is ChargeCar's latest conversion. It can travel at least 40 miles in mixed driving on a charge. (Credit: CMU)

If you're sick of high fuel prices, Carnegie Mellon is running acar conversion project that takes gasoline-powered Hondas and makes them all electric.

The automaker showed off an electric Fit last year that can travel 100 miles per charge, but if you want a greener Civic, the CMU Robotics Institute's ChargeCar Electric Vehicle Conversion Project might be for you.

Researchers such as Illah Nourbakhsh of the institute's Create Lab work with local mechanics in converting Civics. At an open house near CMU on March 25, they will unveil a 2002 Civic EX four-door sedan that's been electrified.

The converted Civic's battery pack.(Credit: CMU)

The Civic's conventional powertrain has been replaced with a 35-horsepower electric motor and 33 lithium-iron-phosphate batteries.

According to a CMU release, the car can drive more than 40 miles in mixed urban and highway driving, and has a top speed of more than 70 miles per hour (CMU would not specify an exact number).

The project has details on the conversion of a 2005 Honda Civic LX with the same stats; charging takes about 10 hours. Check out the photo gallery here.

How much does conversion cost? Jobs vary, but a CMU official said the best estimate he's seen is $17,000 or more. Ouch.

That price may fall as the project continues. Meanwhile, a Create Lab staff member is going to order and pay for the first commercial conversion in the program.

An interesting part of the conversion project is that researchers are trying to make the cars more efficient through better power management and AI.

Batteries are linked to a supercapacitor, a high-capacitance energy storage device, and artificial intelligence algorithms are used to decide when energy is drawn from batteries and stored in the supercapacitor. The goal is to improve battery life.

You can see the converted Civic at the upcoming open house and sign up to electrify yours too; see details here.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20044737-1.html#ixzz1HG2JFMlu

Zero Motorcycles Wins $17 Million In Financing

The all-electric Zero DS gets 58 miles on a single charge and is notably quiet by motorcycle standards.

(Credit: Zero Motorcycles)

Zero Motorocycles has secured $17 million in financing from a group of investors led by Invus.

The Santa Cruz-based motorcycle manufacturer said today that it closed the financing deal on March 3 and plans to use the funds to increase its production capacity and expand its international sales. In addition to the initial funding, the company said it also has the opportunity for an additional $9 million in the coming months per the terms of the deal.

Zero Motorcycles, which is known for its all-electric drive train on street-legal motorcycles, does its manufacturing at a plant in the U.S., although some parts are imported from international suppliers. The company employees about 70 people.

Its 2011 lineup represented a major overhaul of the Zero's products. Most notably, the company introduced the ability to accept DC (direct current) power from fast-charging stations with the use of a plug-in accessory to fit a standard SAE J1772 plug. Zero also switched from a chain to a belt drive system, which in addition to making maintenance easier has also made the bikes very quiet for a motorcycle.

Two of the motorcycles, the Zero DS and Zero S, also got battery upgrades, making it possible to drive more miles between charges. The 2011 Zero DS has a range of about 58 miles and retails for about $10,495. Its biggest advertisement seems to be that its 2010 version was adopted by a California police department, with several more departments evaluating the new version.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20044206-54.html#ixzz1GyNC5Tca

Florida, Carolinas Getting Smart Grids In $500M Push

Progress Energy is moving forward with its plan to spend $500 million to upgrade two of its electric utilities in Florida and the Carolinas to a smart-grid system.

Together the two utilities provide electricity service to over 3.1 million customers. The Raleigh,N.C.-based company is paying for the upgrade in part with a $200 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The grant came out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and is part of the high-profile push by the Obama administration and many state leaders to upgrade U.S. electric grids.

The project is also a boon to IBM's efforts to grow its presence in the potentially lucrative industry of smart-grid analytics. Progress Energy plans to use IBM's WebSphere software platform as a tool to integrate distribution management and demand response systems. Big Blue has also been hired to help install and implement the systems in conjunction with Progress Energy, IBM announced today.

IBM has run several pilot programs to test smart-grid systems in the past four years, including a consumer-level one in North Carolina in 2009 which found that on average, the introduction of smart-grid technology and smart meters cut electricity use by 15 percent.

In the case of Progress Energy, however, IBM's services will concentrate on equipment and system upgrades, analytics, and management that will enable the company's utilities to better control things like voltage levels, as well as electricity distribution across power lines.

IBM is one of a number of blue-chip companies getting into the smart-grid industry in recent years through software and services. Many of them have done so by buying smaller companies with existing technology, as is the case with Johnson Controls' purchase of EnergyConnect, Honeywell's purchase of Akuacom, and Siemens' acquisition of Site Controls.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20041579-54.html?tag=mncol;title

Retroficiency App Sizes Up Building Energy

Retroficiency's Web application is designed so energy auditors or building managers can get a quick idea of energy use and evaluate efficiency projects.(Credit: Retroficiency)

Start-up Retroficiency today officially launched its service for streamlining efficiency projects in commercial buildings and said it has raised a seed round of funding.

The Boston-based company said it has raised $800,000 from local angel investors and World Energy, which operates online auctions for bidding on energy supply contracts.

Retroficiency's Web-based application is designed to quickly create a picture of a commercial building's energy profile and potential efficiency upgrades. It can be used by energy auditors to speed up creation of their reports or by buildings' facility managers to prioritize projects.

Many building owners or occupants are interested in improving efficiency, but the manual process of sending out an energy services professional can be time-consuming, said CEO and founder Bennett Fisher.

With the application, users fill out a survey with basic information, such as square footage, occupancy, and year built. Drawing on a database of existing buildings, it can infer more specifics, such as the type of lighting used and estimated electricity and gas usage. People can later update the profile with more specifics.

"There's a huge bottleneck of finding efficiency opportunities and going after this. New York City wants to audit 20,000 buildings. How are they going to do this with a guy walking around with a clipboard counting lightbulbs?" said Bennett.

So far, Retroficiency has signed one customer--commercial building manager Jones Lang LaSalle--for its service and is in trials with a handful of others.

In the commercial building efficiency area, there are dozens of large and small companies seeking to find a niche for their goods and services, in part because there's a lot of potential to save money and lighten buildings' environmental footprint. Bennett said he has found that its "identification and qualification platform" competes largely with manual processes and spreadsheets.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20041035-54.html#ixzz1G9EoGnR6

EPA Approves New Air Conditioning Refrigerant

Automotive air conditioning of the future will not be the environmental blight it has been in the past. The EPA on Monday announced it has approved the refrigerant HFO-1234yf for use in vehicles.

Designed by Honeywell and DuPont, HFO-1234yf has a global warming potential that is 99.7 percent less than the current chemical (HFC-134a) used in most car air conditioners.

General Motors last summer announced it planned to use HFO-1234yf in 2013 models pending final approval.

GM will be joined by other automakers eligible to receive greenhouse-gas emission credits for 2012-2016 models by adopting eco-friendly refrigerant, thanks to new laws passed last year.

Over the next few years, HFO-1234yf will become the new standard for U.S. automakers; the refrigerant has also been approved for use in Europe and Japan. The change will be better for the environment, the EPA said.

Prior to the use of HFC-134a, car air conditioners generally used CFC-12, which the EPA calls "a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance."

"This new chemical helps fight climate change and ozone depletion," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "It is homegrown innovative solutions like this that save lives and strengthen our economy."

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20038449-48.html#ixzz1FxG08oKF

Coda Aims To Sell 50,000 Electric Cars By 2015

Electric car start-up Coda Automotive aims to sell 50,000 vehicles by 2015, mostly in the United States, chief executive Phil Murtaugh told reporters today.

Coda, like Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive, is one of several new companies that are banking on mass-market adoption of electric vehicles. Major automakers including Nissan Motor and General Motors are also racing to launch electric cars.

Coda's electric sedan.(Credit: Coda Automotive)

Coda is making its first vehicle, the Coda EV, in China in partnership with Hafei, which is controlled by state-owned China Changan Auto, and is scheduled to begin selling it in the United States in the second half of this year.

It will be sold to fleet buyers in California initially and slowly expand into other states, Murtaugh told reporters in Beijing.

"Once we start selling to fleets and get a feel of how we are doing, we will start selling to consumers. Our plan is to go slowly," he said.

Coda has set a target to sell 10,000 to 14,000 units in the first 12 months after its launch.

The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company also has a battery joint venture with Lishen Battery Power.

The company had in January tapped Murtaugh, a former GM and Chrysler executive with extensive experience in China, as its new chief executive.

Story Copyright (c) 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20038244-54.html#ixzz1FTtx3cz6