Autosanity|Just another WordPress weblog

Like it or not, oil (and gasoline), coal and natural gas will be in our future for as far out as we can see. No, we haven’t reached “peak oil“,  as the doomsayers like to think. New reserves are being located around the world, with potential supplies increasing, proving “experts” wrong at every turn. If we just had the guts and the leadership in the US to allow US oil companies to extract the oil that is rightfully ours. The Chinese have no such problem - they’re 50 miles off our southern coasts sucking up oil that we should be taking.

Alternate Technologies

Sure, we would all love to have a car that we could fill with water and drive to work. Or one that we’d plug in at night, and by morning would be charged up and ready to go shopping. Or, top off the fuel cell family cruiser down at the local hydrogen fueling station for the trip to grandma’s. Here’s the reality - the water car is a fraud (at least with conventional technology), battery technology won’t really give the range for modern commuter needs, and the hydrogen fuel cell car costs at least a million dollars a copy, so far. As one or more of these technologies becomes viable down the road, it will take some time to become mainstream. Remember, with the advent of the automobile a century ago, horses were still in use some thirty years after most people were driving cars.

Power For A Nation

Coal fired power plants will be with us for a long time - note that “environmentalists” over the last few decades have effectively prevented any new US nuclear plants from being built. Even if we started today, attempting to meet the energy needs of a modern and productive society with anything but coal will take decades. Energy-wise, short-sighted policies aimed mainly at appeasing the environmental lobby has cost the US dearly. France has learned well. After the energy shocks of the early 1970’s, France embarked on a nuclear power plant program and today derives 76% of its electricity from the splitting of the atom. The US? A paltry 20%.

How about wind and solar power? Although these technologies can be quite successful in certain locations, don’t expect them to fill a large portion of our future energy needs (about 1% by 2025) - and the technology is still developing.

For now, the future is here, if we just have the courage and vision to make it happen.

Here’s something interesting - China, like many Asian nations, subsidizes fuel costs for its citizens to the tune of about $60 per barrel of oil. I didn’t know that. Read the full story here. After June 19, 2008 - tonight - China will raise gas and diesel prices 18%, and cars are lined up at gas stations for one final cheap fill-up.

Even the turbocharged Chinese economy is having problems giving away reduced-cost gas. The subsidies are causing unrestrained increases in fuel consumption, as the Chinese government still must buy oil on the free market at today’s rate of $130+/barrel, diverting money from other programs such as recovery efforts from the recent earthquake. Not to mention the havoc that these subsidies are wreaking on world oil prices. It will be interesting to see how the price of oil moves as China cuts these subsidies.

Even costing 18% more, Chinese gasoline is an incredible bargain, but sooner or later Chinese citizens will be forced to pay market prices for energy as their incredible economic growth slows, as these energy subsidies are making their incredible economic growth unsustainable in the future. What straw will break the Chinese camel’s back? More national emergencies or slowing world consumption of cheap Chinese goods? Either way, China may be in for one heckuva shock someday soon as reality sets in and its citizenry are forced to pay the same price for fuel as most of the rest of the world does.

Did you know that today is the third annual “Dump the Pump Day?” In honor of skyrocketing gas prices, commuters all across the country are encouraged to use public transportation instead of personal vehicles. With skyrocketing gas prices, ridership is up 15% - 40% in cities like Chicago, Miami and Boston. Most public transportation is subsidized by your tax dollars so if you can ride the bus or subway a few days a week, you can put some of your tax dollars back in your pocket!

If using public transportation is out of the question for you, there are some things you can do to save a few bucks at the gas pumps, maybe start your own “Pass the Pump”program.

• Carpool. Is it possible that you and a co-worker (or co-workers) could commute at least once a week to work or school? Even Dagwood Bumstead carpools!
• Work from home. Does your employer have a “work at home policy?” Even one or two days a week could save you tons per year. If no official policy, it might be worth asking if you’re a trusted, productive employee.
• Commute during non-peak times. If you’re part of the 8-5 crowd, can you change your work hours to 7 - 3 or 9 - 6? By steering clear of peak rush hour traffic, you’ll get better gas mileage by not spending your time idling in traffic. And, if your city times traffic lights, the reduced off-peak traffic might be light enough to minimize stop-and-go traffic patterns which are real mpg killers.
• Bring lunch, coffee and snacks to work. Do you hop in your car each day to grab a latte from Starbucks or a burger for lunch? These little trips could be costing you more than you know. Try brown-bagging it and packing a thermos a few times a week.

A company called HYMOTION will modify your Prius Hybrid to give you up to 100 miles per gallon for 40 or so miles (meaning mostly battery propulsion).  Hymotion will remove the Prius’ standard battery pack and replace it with an  A123 HYMOTION L5 Plug In Module. All this (and more) for the low, low price of $9995 plus a $400 destination charge. Basically, your Prius will sprout a plug-in on its tail and get super efficient batteries so you can recharge from your home, and turn the car into a complete electric for short periods.

Some of the high points of the conversion;

• Turns your HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) into a PHEV (Plug-in HEV)
• Rechargeable Nanophosphate lithium ion battery that is safer and delivers higher levels of energy than the standard Prius battery
• Uses standard 120 VAC power grid to recharge
• Provides 5kWhr of rechargeable energy
• Provides frequent periods of all-electric driving

I have to ask the question - will you ever recoup the $10,394? My educated guess is no. $10,000 will take you 50,000 miles in a non-hybrid car that gets 20 miles per gallon, with gas at $4.00/gallon. But, I’m sure that you’ll feel good about yourself by lightening your wallet.  I figure that if you’ve got the cash to burn, it’s probably a better investment than spending $7,300 for a 1996 Geo Metro!

And, the batteries only come with a 3 year warranty, so will you be spending another 10 grand in 3 years just to keep the thrill of going all-electric for 40 miles per day?

Unfortunately, if you live in fly-over country (meaning most anything but East & West coast real estate) you may have some difficulty getting the apparatus installed. Installers are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle in the West, and Washington D.C. and Boston in the East. Electric car lovers in Minneapolis can get the fix too, but no where else. Don’t fret if you can’t go all electric just yet - Chevy is set to release the super-hybrid Volt by the end of 2010.