GM CEO Calls for Gas Tax Rather than a Fuel Efficiency Mandate

In a June 2011 interview in Detroit News, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson said his company and his industry would be helped, not hurt, if consumers paid higher gas taxes. He suggested that a $1 a gallon increase in the gas tax is a way to encourage buyers to purchase more fuel efficient cars.

The current federal gas tax is only 18.4 cents a gallon, but Akerson said that he would not be opposed to an immediate 50-cent-a-gallon increase to take advantage of recent declines in gas prices. Although he concedes that this would probably make some of his Republican friends "puke," it would do more to help the environment than a federal government mandate of of 60 MPG.

Paul Ballew, chief economist at insurer Nationwide who was formerly a director of sales analysis at GM, said it's always been clear within the auto industry that given the choice between tougher fuel economy standards and higher gas prices, the latter is a better deal for the automakers.

However, it is very unlikely that Republican lawmakers would support such a move. "They're not going to get it though, because that would take a lot of sanity in Washington and we're not going to see that," Ballew said.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Americans Want Cars to get 60 MPG

According to a survey released on May 16, 2011, a solid majority of Americans want vehicles that are much more fuel efficient. The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) said its survey of 2,000 Americans found strong support for a government mandate of 60 miles a gallon by 2025. As reported in USA Today, “Cars would cost more, but respondents said they'd be willing to pay more as long as the higher purchase costs could be recouped in gas savings in 5 years.”

“Concern about volatile gasoline prices and support for higher standards is driven by the huge and rising bite gas expenditures are taking from household budgets—from less than $2000 in 2009 to more than $3000 this year,” said Mark Cooper, CFA’s research director and energy expert in a press release. “Pain at the pump, along with the country’s oil import dependence, has produced a growing consensus that the federal government should substantially increase fuel economy standards.”

CFA received the data from a poll by Opinion Research Corp, which shows that “62 percent of Americans support a federal mandate requiring automakers to meet a 60 mpg standard by 2025, a proposal the Obama administration is considering,” reports the Detroit News. “The fuel efficiency mandate already is scheduled to rise to 35 mpg by 2016 from 27.5 mpg for cars today.”

Government mandates will push automakers towards greener more fuel efficient vehicles like hybrids and fully electric cars. All the major automakers are already launching hybrid vehicles and fully electric cars are sure to follow. According to the CFA study, the general public appears to welcome the move. "We're talking about changing the trajectory of consumption," Cooper said. "The consumer is ready."

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Assessing the Environmental Impact of Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Production

Although electric and hybrid cars create more carbon emissions during their production than standard vehicles, they are still greener overall. This is one of the findings in a report prepared by Ricardo1for, in collaboration with the membership of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership that includes major vehicle manufacturers and oil companies.

The increased emissions created during the production of electric and hybrid vehicles is further compounded by disposal issues. However, overall electric and hybrid vehicles still have lower carbon footprints than fossil fuel powered vehicles.


“This work dispels the myth that low carbon vehicles simply displace emissions from the exhaust to other sources. However, it does highlight the need to look at reducing carbon emissions from vehicles throughout their lifecycle,” said Greg Archer, LowCVP Managing Director.

A 2008 study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, which include emissions from both manufacturing and operating a vehicle, are 32 percent less from plug-in hybrids than from gasoline-powered cars.

Approximately three quarters of the carbon created in production is attributable to the steel used in vehicles. In an electric vehicle almost half (43%) of the carbon created in production arises from the battery. To reduce carbon in vehicle production we need low weight, low carbon alternatives for steel and batteries.

Andy Carroll, Managing director for Eurotax Glass’s, said that the industry will see an evolution towards learning how to estimate the residual value impact of improved technologies and batteries as well as end of life disposal.

Although calculating whole life carbon emissions is complex, it is essential for comprehensive vehicle comparisons.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Assessing the Environmental Impact of Operating Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

The dramatically smaller footprint of electric cars varies depending on the source of electricity used to power them. "The types of power plants installed in the next two decades will not only affect how much we can reduce emissions from electricity, but also from vehicles," said Carnegie Mellon engineer Kyle Meisterling.

Newer fossil fuel powered vehicles are much more efficient than previous generations of automobiles, but they are not as efficient as hybrids or fully electric vehicles.

In places like California where tailpipe standards are some of the toughest in the nation, a 2010 gas powered car puts out only 2 percent of the emissions of a 1980s model. However, electric vehicles have a much smaller carbon footprint than even the most efficient fossil fuel powered vehicles.

We should not underestimate the contributions of electric vehicles to our environment. According to Tom Cahill, a professor emeritus of physics at UC Davis, EVs offer "a whole lot of gain in climate change."

All-electric vehicles burn no fossil fuels, and hybrids burn relatively small amounts of gas. The tailpipe emissions from electric cars are zero and hybrids have a significantly reduced emissions profile compared to conventional vehicles. In places like Los Angeles, on some days, the tailpipe emissions of hybrids contain less pollution than the air.

A 2008 study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that America's electricity mix derives 45 percent of electricity from coal, 23 percent from natural gas, 20 percent from nuclear, and 12 percent from dams, solar, wind and other sources. The emissions associated with electric and hybrid vehicles will improve significantly once we reduce the use of fossil fuel powered energy, particularly coal.

One of the most interesting findings of the Carnegie research finds that even when electricity derived from coal is used to power hybrids they emit fewer greenhouse gases than gasoline-powered cars.

In states with cleaner power mixes, plug-in hybrids have less than half the greenhouse gas footprint of conventional gasoline vehicles.

In a recent study, Mark Jacobsen, a professor of civil and environmental engineering found that electric vehicles powered by wind energy were best, with a 99 percent reduction in carbon and air pollution emissions from the current vehicle fleet. Not suprisingly, ethanol ranked last in his study, with the largest carbon footprint.

"There's no technical reason we can't ramp up to a lot more electric vehicles," Jacobsen said. "It's a question of whether society as a whole is motivated to do it."

Andy Carroll, Managing director for Eurotax Glass’s, said the key to making electric vehicles more popular will be for manufacturers to completely remove the risk of residual value in batteries from falling into the hands of the customer.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video: Solar Roadways

This video contains an update on the Solar Roadways project which is working to pave roads with solar panels that you can drive on. The company won the GE Ecomagination Challenge, a prestigious award that comes with a $50,000 prize. In December, The Green Market named Solar Roadways as the top automotive eco-innovation of 2010. In this video, the company's co-founder Scott Brusaw walks us through some major advances. The video also contains an exclusive first ever video of the Solar Roadway prototype For more information visit Solar Roadways.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The US Government is Investing in Greener Vehicles

The federal government is greening its automotive fleet. Under the Obama administration the US government plans to purchase 116 plug-in electric vehicles including more than one hundred Chevrolet Volts. The federal government also plans to buy the Nissan Leaf and Think Cities. In accordance with an Obama administration memo other federal agencies are sure to follow.

In March 2011, President Obama said that the government should be buying only alternative fuel vehicles within four years. As explained by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, "Diversifying our transportation fleet" is a "critical element in President Obama's long-term plan to break our dependence on foreign oil and invest in America's growing clean energy economy."

The Obama administration released a memo to government agencies on May 24th saying that all new cars in the federal government fleet must be alternative-fuel vehicles, (hybrid, electric, or natural gas). According to the General Services Administration (GSA), all new government vehicles must be able to use alternative fuels by 2015. Given the fact that the federal fleet is composed of more than half a million cars and trucks, the government can single handedly provide a boost to manufacturers of greener cars.

The US government began buying hybrid cars in 2009, this includes the 3,100 that the GSA purchased with $300 million in federal economic stimulus money. President Obama has indicated that he would like to see 1 million low or no emissions cars and trucks on US roads by 2015.

The GSA manages vehicle purchases for about two thirds of non-military federal vehicles, it has bought about 35,000 vehicles so far this year, with 22,000 of them being alternative-fuel capable.

Martha Johnson, administrator of the General Services Administration said in the LA Times: "It furthers the administration's goal of putting 1 million advanced vehicles on the road by 2015, and it represents a significant targeted investment in the next generation of automotive technology."

However, government cars and trucks that run on fuels like E85 (a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) have had difficulty sourcing fuel supply. To help address this problem, the memo released by the administration also encourages the development of a fueling infrastructure for such vehicles.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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ISO Standards and Greener Vehicles

ISO is working to support cleaner cars because they understand that the future is about fuel-efficient, low or no emission vehicles. ISO standards for the automotive industry cover environmental considerations but they also cover things like safety, ergonomics, performance, test methods, and the roll-out of innovative technologies. These standards help to make new automotive technologies ecological, efficient, safe and effective.

Standards are being adapted to the new challenges of battery electric vehicles (BEV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). These new standards cover issues like safety from electric hazards, on-board rechargeable energy store systems and protection against failures.

The ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have reached an updated agreement concerning the standardization of road vehicles. The Agreement Concerning the Standardization of Road Vehicles improves cooperation on standards for electric vehicles and automotive electronics. As revealed in the agreement, ISO is helping to plug these technologies into the electricity supply infrastructure, also known as the grid.

ISO 15118 deals with the interface between electric vehicles and the grid, including communication links and protocols.

ISO committes are currently working on standards for electric vehicles and extensions of existing standards. A committe known as ISO/TC 22 is developing standards for electric vehicles and the extension of ISO 6469 seeks to ensure the safe handling of electric vehicles.

Also under development is ISO 12405, which provides test specifications for lithium-Ion traction battery systems.

ISO is providing an internationally recognized approach that will help to further the growth of greener vehicles.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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