2. How far can fuel efficiency take us?
On June 8, 2012 the 2013 Honda Fit EV received the best fuel efficiency rating
ever issued by the U.S. EPA - 118 miles per gallon equivalent. MPGe is an
efficiency measure based on how far a car can travel on the amount of
electricity equal to the energy in one gallon of gasoline.
3. Powering Electric Cars, Motorcycles, Tricycles
This is Protean’s in-wheel motor that can be installed either in new vehicles or in
older ones. The in-wheel systems allow up to 85 percent of the available kinetic
energy to be recovered during braking. This can increase fuel economy and driving
range up to 30 percent and contribute to the reduction of battery size and cost.
4. Unique transport technologies
Volkswagen's People’s Car Project launched last year has led to creation
of a "Hover Car" that floats above the road using electromagnetic
levitation.
5. Evs Charge While Under Way, Wirelessly
Induction plates built into roadways so cars are charged as they travel. By
lighting a bulb, a team from the Toyohashi University of Technology
demonstrated this wireless power transmission at the trade show WTP
Wireless Technology Park 2012,, July 5 and 6 in Yokohama.
6. Diesel-electric Hybrid Wins at Le Mans
In June, not just one, but two, of Audi's R18 e-tron quattro diesel-electric
hybrids dominated the Le Mans 24 hour endurance race, the first hybrids to
win the famous 80-year-old competition. First place finisher traveled 5,152
kilometers (3,201 miles) in 24 hours.
7. Nano-Hydrogen Automotive Fuel
Cars of the future may run on hydrogen gas, encapsulated in microscopic
beads that can be pumped like a fluid. In a new approach to hydrogen, the
facilities of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be used in "hydrogen
micro-bead" research, development and possibly production.
8. Fueling With Waste Food
Everyone knows biodiesel can be made from used cooking oil, but how about
those buses in Oslo, fueled with waste food. Stale bread, banana peels, coffee
grounds and other food waste will go into the Norwegian capital's new biogas
plant. Out comes methane fuel and nutrient-rich biofertilizer for agriculture.
9. Biodiesel Crops: Can’t Eat Them
The oil from jatropha curcas seeds is used for making biodiesel fuel in the
Philippines, in India and in Brazil, where it grows naturally and in
plantations. Biodiesel is now made also from Camellia and from algae.
10. Fuel Up on Pond Scum
Algae can become biodiesel, biobutanol, biogasoline or methane. The U.S.
Energy Dept. estimates if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the U, it
would require 15,000 square miles - about half of the land area of Maine.
11. Natural Gas Popularity Expands
There will be a total of 25.4 million light duty natural gas vehicles on roads
around the world by 2019, predicts a new report from Pike Research. The U.S
.already has 114,000 vehicles fueled with this abundant fuel. Pakistan has
nearly 3 million.
12. How Small Can Small Be?
Going small and lightweight is one way automakers are cutting down on
the amount of fuel required to go from A to B. Renault’s Twizy is a
featherweight ultracompact - just 7.6 feet long by four feet wide.
13. Baby, Will You Share My Car?
Renault is offering 50 Twizys for car sharing in Paris, and sharing EVs is
catching on across Europe and also in the United States. Car sharing
network Zipcar is adding more EVs and hybrids to its fleet.
14. High-Stakes High-Speed Rail
High-speed rail is the next generation of transportation across the USA, China
and Japan. Oh, and Europe too. In July, California invested $4.7 billion to be
matched by $7.9 billion in federal and local dollars.
15. Time to Vote
Each of you now has $10,000. With your mobile
phones choose which technology you would
invest in. (Detailed instructions will be given
during the session.)
I’ll announce the results in a moment.
And… the winner is _______________ !
