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Source: PR Newswire [Oct 09, 2002]

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT) of Vancouver announced today that it is participating in the launch of a California-based natural gas vehicle alliance comprised of 34 government agencies, vehicle and engine manufacturers, natural gas suppliers, fleet operators and environmental groups.

At a Washington D.C. news conference, the new alliance, known as the California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership, disclosed its goal of dramatically increasing the use of natural gas vehicles in California over the next ten years.

"If we meet these targets about three per cent of the total number of vehicles on the road in California in 2012 will be powered by natural gas. That's an aggressive but attainable goal," Ms. Glover said.

"With anticipated increases in population and vehicles on the road, not to mention energy security issues, California must deploy more low-emissions vehicles powered by natural gas. Natural gas vehicles are clean and available today. That's what these goals are about - taking practical steps now to assure clean air and a high quality of life for Californians," she said.

Dennis Smith, alternative fuels technology manager with the U.S. Department of Energy, said California's plan would likely be used as a model by other states and regional jurisdictions.

Speaking at the news conference, Westport President and Chief Executive Officer David Demers said that the technology and infrastructure needed to meet California's new deployment goals exist now.

"Attractive vehicles that are reasonably priced and easily serviceable, combined with readily available fuel, are on the market today. As demand rises, and new commercial technology is quickly brought to market, options for consumers and other users will only increase," said Mr. Demers.

Government agencies in the partnership include the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission, the city of Los Angeles and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Environmental groups include the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Coalition for Clean Air and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Westport Innovations is the leading developer of gaseous fuel system technologies for diesel engines. Westport's strategy is to cooperate with engine manufacturers on market and product development. Westport has a joint venture with Cummins Inc. of Columbus, Indiana and cooperative agreements with Ford Motor Company of Dearborn, Michigan; Isuzu Motors Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan; and BMW AG and MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG, both of Munich, Germany.

More information about the California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership is available at its Web site www.cngvp.org

Source: PR Newswire [Oct 09, 2002]

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayor Jim Hahn announced today an agreement between the City of Los Angeles and American Honda Motor Co., Inc., to make Los Angeles the first U.S. retail customer for a fuel cell car.

Under the agreement, City of Los Angeles employees will immediately begin a familiarization program with prototype versions of the Honda FCX. The City will take delivery of the first of five production vehicles before the end of 2002.

"Air quality in the Los Angeles basin has steadily improved in recent years, thanks in part to the deployment of new environmental technologies," said Mayor Hahn. "Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles hold great promise for future clean air vehicles and it's important that Los Angeles play a leading role in development and early use of this technology."

The Honda FCX recently was the world's first fuel cell vehicle certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the U.S. EPA, with both government agencies certifying it as a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV).

The Honda FCX uses hydrogen supplied to a fuel cell "stack" to generate electricity and power it's electric motor. With a maximum output of 80 horsepower and 201 foot-pounds of torque, acceleration is similar to a Honda Civic. The FCX has a range of up to 220 miles and seating for four people, making it practical for a wide range of real-world applications. Los Angeles City employees will use the vehicles on the job as regular pool cars and for commuting. The City and Honda are finalizing plans on refueling support systems to supply hydrogen fuel for the vehicles.

"This vehicle is now ready for practical use," said Tom Elliott, American Honda executive vice president. "Using a fleet of advanced fuel cell vehicles in a real world environment will help us evaluate these vehicles with our customers. It also will help in the development of a refueling infrastructure needed to support customers of hydrogen-powered vehicles."

Honda plans to lease about 30 fuel cell cars in California and Japan during the next two-to-three years. The company currently has no plans, however, for mass-market sales of fuel cell vehicles or sales to individuals.

Honda undertook fuel cell research in 1989 and has been road testing vehicles in the United States and Japan since 1999. Honda has been a member of the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) based in Sacramento, Calif., since 1999.

Honda has a long history of automotive environmental leadership, dating back to 1975 when the Honda Civic CVCC was the first vehicle to meet the amended Clean Air Act standard. Since then, Honda was the first company to market a gasoline vehicle (Civic) meeting the low emission vehicle (LEV) standard in all 50 states and the first to sell a gasoline car meeting California's Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) standard and subsequently the "Super" ULEV standard (Accord).

Honda was the first to sell gasoline-electric "hybrid" cars in the U.S. -- the Insight -- and earlier this year added the Civic Hybrid, the first mass market car with hybrid technology. The Civic GX, a natural gas powered vehicle, is the first and only car certified to the cleanest EPA engine standard (SULEV, Tier 2 Bin 2).

Source: BBC News Online [Oct 08, 2002]

The future has always been about electric cars. So why do the multi-million-dollar plans now lie in the wastepaper basket?

The car, which could be charged using a standard three-point plug, had been aggressively marketed, at least compared to other vehicles of its ilk. Companies such as the Body Shop, BT and the BBC leased models and even the Metropolitan Police have a Think panda car.

Not so, say the car makers. And in the UK, at least, they have the backing of Roger Higman, Friends of the Earth's transport expert.

"It seems that battery-only vehicles just don't give the range the people are used to," says Mr Higman, who believes the failure of the Think signals the end for battery cars.

Although a couple of the big players still make battery-only cars for the US market - Toyota's Rav4, Nissan's Altra - the emphasis is very much on other technologies. Yet David Friedman, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, refuses to write them off.

"In the future I think we will see a range of fuel technologies, and battery cars will have a place - maybe in our denser urban areas. Battery technology will develop off the back of fuel cells so we might see the range double in the future."
Ford Back in Red; Pension Liability Soars

Wed Oct 16, 9:05 AM ET

DEARBORN, Mich. (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - news), slipped back into the red in the third quarter, amid mounting concerns about the pace of its restructuring efforts, after snapping a year-long losing streak when it returned to profitability in the second quarter.

On Wednesday, the world's No. 2 automaker reported a third-quarter net loss of $326 million compared with a loss of $692 million in the same quarter last year.

Before special items, including a writedown of about $500 million for its loss-making sale of Kwik-Fit, a Britain-based vehicle repair chain, Ford said it posted a profit of $220 million or 12 cents per share.

While that was about four times better than Wall Street estimates, some analysts said the numbers were overshadowed by much larger concerns about a company that lost $5.45 billion last year.

"Third quarter I think is really a non-issue at this stage," said Bear Stearns & Co. auto analyst Domenic Martilotti.

Among those concerns, Ford said the return on its U.S. pension fund assets was down 15 percent year-to-date, pushing the fund's underfunding status to $6.5 billion in the third quarter from $3.2 billion at the close of the second quarter.

About 70 percent of Ford's pension fund assets are invested in stocks. In slides accompanying its earnings statement, Ford said its strong cash position, with a horde of about $25.7 billion as of Sept. 30, would facilitate the management of its pension obligations.

Tax rebates accounted for more than twice the increase in Ford's gross cash position over the second quarter, however, and cash flow may not be sustainable going forward.

Ford Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford Jr. has insisted that the company's nine-month-old turnaround plan, focused largely on cost cuts aimed at generating $7 billion in pre-tax annual profits by mid-decade, is gaining traction after a slow start earlier in the year.

But skeptical investors have hammered shares of the corporate giant to 10-year lows in recent weeks, as it was buffeted by analyst reports about cash and market share erosion, Ford's enormous debt and pension liabilities and the capital injections needed to support consumer incentives such as interest-free financing.

Chief Financial Officer Allan Gilmour said in a statement accompanying Ford's financial results that the company sees a slight profit for the fourth quarter and a full-year profit of about 40 cents per share, within the range of analysts' forecasts.

NARROW MARGINS

But Ford's results showed that it lost about $53 for every vehicle built in North America in the third quarter. That compares to a profit of $351 for every vehicle built by General Motor's Corp. (NYSE:GM - news), Ford's leading rival.

There are signs of improvement, however. Ford lost $1,044 for every vehicle it built in North America in the third quarter last year.

Ford's U.S. marketing costs, including incentives such as cash rebates, represented 15.9 percent of its revenue in the third quarter, up from 15.6 percent in the second quarter but down slightly from the third quarter last year.

Shares of Ford have fallen about 44 percent and underperformed those of GM by around 25 percent since the start of the year.

In preopen trading, Ford shares were down about 4 percent to $8.50 from Tuesday's close of $8.87.

In an interview late on Tuesday, David Cole, veteran head of the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research, said no one should underestimate the issues confronting Ford and what he described as its worst crisis in 30 or 40 years.

"It's absolutely necessary for them to shrink, rationalize their business, restructure what they're doing and with that then create the platform going forward for success and profitability," said Cole.

"They have to do what they're doing and they have to do it as quickly as possible and the alternative to not doing it is pretty abysmal," he said.
July 2002 Lucerne… almost 600 participants from 35 countries… "FUEL CELL 2002"

http://www.greenwave.com/i/hydrogen_economy.pdf

The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak? by Baldur Eliasson and Ulf Bossel

One of the highlights of the technology conference "THE FUEL CELL WORLD" was the lecture "The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: bright or bleak?" by Baldur Eliasson und Ulf Bossel. The authors presented an analysis of the energetic aspects of the hydrogen economy and concluded that only a small portion of the high grade energy needed to generate hydrogen would actually arrive at the consumer. About 30% is lost by electrolysis; the compression of hydrogen gas to 200 atmospheres takes another 15%; between 30 and 50% are needed for liquefaction of hydrogen. A 40-ton truck can carry 26 tons of gasoline, but only 360 kg of hydrogen. For road delivery of hydrogen, 21 hydrogen tankers must replace every gasoline truck. At relatively short distances more energy is consumed to move the trucks than is delivered to the customer. About 50% of the electrical energy is wasted when hydrogen is generated at gas stations by electrolysis. For the same energy delivery through pipelines, four times more energy is needed to pump hydrogen compared to natural gas. Most likely, for energetic reasons a pure-hydrogen infrastructure will never be established, because there are better alternatives.

The authors show that chemically bound hydrogen can be packaged, transported, stored or transferred at much lower energy consumption. One of a number of choices would be methanol. One cubic meter of that liquid fuel contains 100 kg of hydrogen, while only 70 kg of liquid hydrogen gas are contained at – 253 degrees centigrade in the same volume. A thorough study of the energy consumed to operate a hydrogen economy is suggested. Hydrogen, packaged as methanol, would certainly be a better energy carrier than pressurized gaseous hydrogen. Hydrogen from renewable source could be combined to methanol with carbon from biomass, organic waste and captured CO₂. After the use of energy, water and CO₂ would be returned to the atmosphere and recycled by nature to plants and electrolysis stations. A methanol economy would be based on the two natural cycles of hydrogen and carbon and thus be environmentally benign. The authors believe that this option should be explored in detail before decisions are made in favor of a hydrogen-only energy future.
http://www.eaaev.org/eaalinks.html

has links to many of the owner group discussions of different ev cars

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/weather/environment/4367002.htm

Posted on Fri, Oct. 25, 2002


Program keeps tabs on greenhouse emissions
Businesses, institutions and city officials are now tracking pollution hoping to reduce it in California
By Edie Lau

SACRAMENTO - A new form of accounting debuted in California on Thursday, a system in which the currency is not dollars but pounds of carbon dioxide.

Twenty-three businesses, utilities, cities and organizations are the first members of the California Climate Action Registry, a voluntary program under which members calculate their output of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases with an eye toward reducing those emissions.

Carbon dioxide, methane and other gases are called greenhouse gases because they trap heat in the atmosphere.

Many scientists think humankind can alter the world's climate -- and may already have begun doing so -- by emitting greenhouse gases, primarily by burning petroleum as fuel.

The climate registry, created by state law in 2000, is a rare example of businesses, institutions and local governments joining together to make voluntary cutbacks ahead of federal mandates.

"The normal thing is not to do anything until regulation comes so as not to be harmed," said Diane Wittenberg, president of the California Climate Action Registry. "(The goal) is to protect and encourage early action."

Registry members follow a standard protocol for calculating their emissions, data that must be checked by an independent third party. The state, in turn, will back the numbers if and when the federal government requires carbon dioxide cuts.

The idea is that registry members may get credit for reductions they can document, dating back to 1990, toward any nationally mandated goal.

Charter members of the registry include BP America Inc., the energy company; Qualcomm, maker of cellular telephone technology; New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., an automobile-manufacturing joint venture of General Motors and Toyota in Fremont; Pacific Gas and Electric and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District; and the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica and Sacramento.

The Bee's Edie Lau can be reached at (916) 321-1098 or elau@sacbee.com.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/features/feature_template.cfm?ID=851

Think Again about Th!nk Mobility:

Questions for the Long Haul

by Jacquelyn A. Ottman and Dan Sturges

Ford’s recent announcement to end production of its Th!nk Mobility line of electric powered Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) has caused quite a stir in the green business community. Emotions range from slashed hopes and frustration to outright cynicism. Questions abound.

Do electric vehicles, as the company maintains, really represent too small a niche for a company the size of Ford? Despite what appears to be a strong personal commitment to sustainability by Bill Ford Jr. and no doubt many others at Ford, are the company’s precious resources in these tough times better spent figuring out how to power conventional vehicles with fuel cells and hybrids? Regardless of what Ford did right or wrong, was Th!nk from the start destined for the Green Graveyard, buried alongside the likes of Mobil’s Hefty trashbags, GE’s Energy Choice light bulbs and Deja Recycled Shoes, due to consumer reluctance to pay a premium for green?

Lest the reader think the demise of Th!nk represents another instance of consumers’ failing to vote green with their pocketbooks, think again. The market for small, fuel efficient, and electric cars within that, seems to be alive and well. We suspect the demise of Th!nk may say more about Ford’s current financial position and what can go wrong when behemoths attempt to radically innovate, than reluctance on consumers’ parts.

Much more is on the line than one company’s lost eco-innovation and reputation. Th!nk’s demise represents a timely opportunity to take a step back, to analyze what it takes to market fuel efficient cars—and more importantly, what we all need to keep in mind if we are serious about supporting sustainable innovation as a nation and a society.

Meet Real Needs

The “bubble” look, and price of Think’s City Car, with a 50 mile per charge driving range, just may not have hit the mark to entice leasees. For example, its lease price of $200 a month in its NY Metro area test market may have been too high a price to pay considering one can lease a Honda Civic—with extended driving range for about the same price.

By combining electric with combustion engine technology under one roof (hybrid electric), Toyota and Honda have figured out how to address consumer needs for conventional styling, fuel-efficiency, low emissions, and extended driving range. What’s more, Toyota, who brags they are turning a profit on the 300,000 Prius’s sold to date around the world, claims it also delivers a superior quiet ride. Honda recently added a hybrid version to its popular Civic line.

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