The RTC Fuel Depot is located at 4001 El Cajon Blvd. in City Heights

Funding for the $15 million, 92,000-square-foot project came from a variety of sources. The Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F -news ) provided $1.4 million; private sources put up $10.5 million; the California Air Resources Board gave $260,000; U.S. Department of Energy ( news -web sites ) allocated $1.5 million; and the county's Air Pollution Control District contributed $300,000.

"I think the feeling is that this is an important educational tool for the school age kids of San Diego," said Chuck Spagnola, air quality specialist for the Air Pollution Control District. "It will show that mobile vehicles are the primary source of air pollution in San Diego and how these emissions can be reduced."

The station offers nine different kinds of fuels accommodating standard and ATVs. Six alternative fuels including compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied propane gas (LPG), ultra-low sulfur diesel, biodeisel, ethanol (E-85) and electricity. The remaining will offer conventional fuels offered at standard stations.

CNGs can be used for new Ford F-150 trucks, passenger and cargo fans, Crown Victorias and some older Ford models, Honda Civics and Chevrolet Cavaliers. Lewis said more than 2,250 vehicles in the county can run on this kind of fuel. To run the natural gas into the facility, the RTC connected the system to the natural gas pipeline in the street.

Liquefied propane gas will be provided. The RTC built a concrete unit on the back of the building to store the large propane tanks holding the fuel out of public view.

Some believe liquefied propane gas will not be popular as the other ATVs but offer advantages because it is stored in canisters and can be transported to areas away from natural gas lines, said Dan Perkins, energy chair for the San Diego chapter of the Sierra Club ( news -web sites ).

The RTC will be the first station west of Salt Lake City to offer ethanol. It is the largest source of clean energy available right now as more than 20,000 vehicles in the county can run on ethanol. These are "flex vehicles" that are currently running on gasoline.

"Most people that own cars that can run on ethanol don't know it," Lewis said. "It's never been a selling point in California."

The gas is currently selling at $1.38 per gallon and the mileage per gallon is typically a little less than a car powered by the more conventional fuel.

The facility is a special research development site because none of the equipment for ethanol is certified in California. Every six months a report must be submitted to the California Air Resources Board.

Ultra-low sulfur diesel is specially refined to lower sulfur content to approximately 20 parts per million compared to the 500 parts per million of standard diesel and maintains the same performance levels. Every diesel engine can be operated using ultra low sulfur diesel. According to new federal regulations, all on-highway diesel vehicles will be required to use ultra-low sulfur fuel by 2006.

The RTC also offers biodiesel fuel, which every diesel vehicle made after 1988 can run on.

Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources such as soybeans and spent oil from things like french fries. At the pump, it costs approximately 10 cents more than conventional diesel.

These fuels are lauded by environmentalists and conservationists for holding potential to reduce our dependence on conventional fossil fuels -- which some are predicting will be harder to come by in the near future, said Perkins.

"We're certainly in factor of anything that will help clean up diesel and low sulfur is the new way to go," Perkins said. "That's the direction that we are going to have to go with a potential shortage of natural gas."

The station features six electric car-fueling sites that are free for users. The catch -- the vehicle can take between four and eight hours to completely charge.

The RTC features a showroom for Ford ATVs.

Also included at the center is an educational center that will be used to teach approximately 20,000 San Diego middle and high school students the benefits environmental friendly vehicle each year, Lewis said. The San Diego Environmental Foundation will operate the center.

The RTC was designed by Cross Architects , and built by Lusardi Construction . In addition, Exponents Inc. will design and build the kiosks as well as handle the buildout of the education center. Cynosure New Media Inc. will provide all video feeds to the kiosks as well as scripting, casting and production of all video elements for the education center.

GM pulls plug on electric car; local celebs speak out at mock funeral

By Ryan O'Quinn/Special to The Malibu Times

Local Celebs Speak Out at Mock EV1 Funeral

Last week, people gathered at a cemetery in Hollywood to say goodbye to a friend who was taken before her time. The mourners turned out in numbers and read eulogies and recalled fond memories of a companion that they say was killed by the state of California. They honored the General Motors EV1, the first modern electric car, in the wake of California's decision to revise its Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate.

Source: PR Newswire

[Aug 07, 2003]

GM introduced the EV1 in 1996 in California and Arizona, and produced 700 automobiles through 1999. Because the car was deemed experimental, the cars were not for sale. GM leased the vehicles for about $300 a month and the majority of those were leased to Southern California residents, including local celebrities, many of whom turned out for the "funeral."

Citing the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) decision to drop the ZEV Mandate and costly marketing failures, GM began recalling the vehicles last fall and is refusing to extend the leases.

On April 24, CARB dropped the directive that had been in effect since 1990. The mandate required a certain percentage of all cars offered for sale in the state to be powered by electricity or alternative fuels and to be rolled out in phases. By 2003 10 percent of vehicles offered were to fall into that category.

The new revision allows automakers to sell fuel cell vehicles and gasoline-electric hybrids, rather than battery-electric vehicles, to fulfill part of the requirements that were originally set forth in the ZEV Mandate.

The City of Malibu installed two charging stations on Civic Center Way in 2001 to accommodate electric vehicles, but usage was minimal, and now, perhaps, will be nonexistent. Charging stations cost approximately $11,000.

"Electricity could have had a very important niche in our energy mix as far as automobiles are concerned," Malibu resident and actor Dennis Weaver said. "If you're driving around the city it's a very good automobile, particularly if it runs on solar electricity."

Weaver has been campaigning for hydrogen to replace gasoline for 10 years, and is founder of the Institute of Ecolonomics that brings together various interests to promote the relationship between the environment and business.

"California is looked to as a leader and always has been very progressive in moving toward more beneficial programs and technologies," Weaver said. "I can imagine [the EV1 owners] were very disappointed."

Weaver currently drives a Toyota Prius, a gasoline-electric hybrid. In May he led "Drive to Survive 2003," a caravan of non-polluting and low-polluting automobiles from Santa Monica to Washington, D.C. where he met with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham.

"I'm from Missouri, and if you're from Missouri you've got to be shown," Weaver said, referring to President Bush's pledge of $1.2 billion to hydrogen fuel cell development. "We'll see where that money goes. Is it going to help create the infrastructure or are our tax dollars going to go to the major automobile makers to finance their research and development?"

In 2001, GM, Daimler-Chrysler and the Justice Department filed an injunction against CARB arguing the ZEV Mandate violated the federal government's right to control fuel economy. A district court in San Francisco agreed and GM cancelled the EV1 program.

To express their frustration and raise public awareness, EV1 owners organized the funeral at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on July 24. Twenty-four EV1s with funeral placards followed a hearse, a battery-powered Segway scooter and a bagpipe player through the gates of the cemetery where various speakers and guest celebrities addressed the crowd.

Participants included local resident Ed Begley Jr. ("Six Feet Under"), Peter Horton ("thirtysomething"), Hart Bochner ("Die Hard"), Alexandra Paul (Baywatch) and representatives from other organizations including the Earth Communications Office, Coalition for Clean Air, Sierra Club and some designers of the original EV1 car.

"California politicians and automakers get the credit for creating these magnificent cars," filmmaker Chris Paine said. "But they also get the blame for killing them when they are needed most."

Others in attendance were more positive in their speech to the mourners. "It's a time for rejoicing," inventor Paul MacCready said. "There will be more electric vehicles in the future, and it's all because of the EV1."
http://www.evworld.com/databases/shownews.cfm?pageid=news060803-01

Carmakers Wary About New Fuel Technology

Executives uncertain about where to invest.

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

[Aug 06, 2003]

By THOMAS CONTENT

tcontent@journalsentinel.com

Traverse City, Mich. - There's fog on the road toward what many in the auto industry believe will be a transformation of the car and its gasoline-powered internal combustion engine to the hydrogen fuel cell.

The federal government is investing heavily in research of hydrogen technology and a transition toward a hydrogen economy. At the same time, auto industry executives gathering here for their annual summer conference say they are uncertain about what technologies to adopt in the coming decades - before the hydrogen future truly dawns.

Some companies, led by Toyota, are investing heavily in hybrid-electric cars. Toyota claims to have sold three-fourths of all the hybrid cars sold worldwide, and it hopes to double its yearly hybrid sales with the 55 miles-per-gallon Prius that goes on sale this fall, said David Hermance, executive engineer at Toyota Technical Center USA.

Other companies, such as Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler, are investing heavily in technologies that make diesel fuel less harmful to the environment.

Auto industry executives are hesitant to make large-scale investments because no single technology has emerged, said Jerry Mader, advanced energy technology consultant with the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The industry has "an investment dilemma," Mader said. "Should you put your bet on advanced gasoline, clean diesel or hybrids? The bottom line is there's just not enough knowledge now to pick winners and losers."

What emerged Tuesday at the Management Briefing Seminars, an annual industry gathering sponsored by the center and another industry think-tank, was the increasing attention being paid to clean-diesel technology.

Chrysler plans to introduce a diesel-powered contractor's special Dodge Ram next year. The hybrid-electric truck will give contractors the ability to generate electricity from their truck "on the fly," said Bernard Robertson, senior vice president at DaimlerChrysler. The company will also offer new-diesel versions of its Jeep Liberty and one of its Mercedes models, he said.

The reasons for a long-term transformation away from gasoline as a primary fuel source are growing. They include environmental concerns such as smog, global warming, and health problems such as asthma, as well as awareness that oil is a finite resource, with peak production of oil considered by international experts to be just decades away.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, energy security has also emerged as a reason to promote reduced dependence - and even freedom from - imported oil, Mader and other speakers said.

By far the leader in hybrid technology is Toyota, which has sold 150,000 hybrids worldwide, many of them in California to meet stringent environmental mandates there.

The Prius accounts for very few cars on the road today, Mader said, noting that the range of fuel economy is great between the 55-mpg Prius and the General Motors Hummer H2, which gets 11 miles per gallon. As a result, smog will remain severe in southern California and even rural parts of the state 15 years from now unless far more cars meet the low-emissions standard set by the Prius.

The Prius will have some competitors in the next few years, including a Ford Escape sport utility vehicle on sale this fall and other hybrid SUVs planned for introduction in the next year or so by Toyota and its sister company, Lexus, as well as Saturn, a General Motors brand.

Critics have complained that the Bush administration is making investments in technology that is decades away while not focusing enough resources on short-term environmental improvements.

Among those critics on Tuesday was Helmut List, chairman and chief executive officer of AVL List, an Austrian automotive research firm.

In Germany, where use of new-diesel technology is much more widely accepted, the average fuel economy of a typical car is 35 miles per gallon, about 10 gallons better than the United States average, List said.

The death of the internal combustion engine may be premature, said List, who advocates extensive research into making internal combustion engines more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

"Let me be clear; I believe the research of hydrogen fuel cells is the right thing to do," he said. "But, not the only thing."

Ed Wall, acting manager of the Freedom Car Partnership at the U.S. Department of Energy, defended the administration's hydrogen initiative, saying it gives the industry a clear direction of where it needs to go, while at the same time supporting interim steps such as hybrid-electric cars.

In addition, he said, "the potential benefits of hydrogen are so great that it's well worth an extra effort."
http://www.forbes.com/2003/08/05/cx_mf_0805vow.html

Vehicle of the Week

Toyota's Next Green Car

Michael Frank

Although many automakers are talking a great deal about hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles these days, to date only two actually have any experience selling them.

Honda (nyse: HMC -news -people ) and Toyota (nyse: TM -news -people ) combined have sold tens of thousands of hybrid cars over the past few years. (An important aside--you don't need to plug in a hybrid car. The increased fuel economy and lower emissions are created by combining a small gasoline engine with a small electric motor. The power to charge the onboard batteries--which run the electric motor--is generated when coasting and decelerating.)

It's true that hybrids are not as emissions-free as fuel-cell cars (the latter, if they are ever commercially viable, will get their power by converting hydrogen into water; put very simply, that chemical reaction creates energy in the fuel cell and the only byproduct is water vapor).

However, Toyota and Honda have invested heavily in hybrids because, both Japanese carmakers say, they are committed to the environment. Right, that may be true, but another motive is to gain more acceptance for alterative-power vehicles and to push the market toward demanding such cars since, at this point, it's fairly clear that both Toyota and Honda have a big leg up on the likes of General Motors (nyse: GM -news -people ), Ford (nyse: F-news -people ) and DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX -news -people ).

Which is why Toyota is trying harder than ever to make its hybrid Prius--totally redesigned for 2004 and due out in October--indistinguishable from ordinary, internal-combustion-engine cars and, therefore, to remove the sense in buyers' minds that they'll have to make compromises to own a hybrid.

To that end the new Prius has interior dimensions just shy of those of the Camry, Toyota's best-selling sedan, making it quite large inside indeed, with comparable space to that of nearly any sedan on the market--think Honda Accord or Ford Taurus. Further, it gets even better mileage than the cramped first-generation Prius, a combined 55 mpg (city/highway) versus the 48 mpg of the generation-one model. The 2004 car will also feel fast.

Yes, fast . With 295 foot-pounds of torque from its 50%-more powerful, 50-kilowatt electric motor, it actually has more torque from takeoff than a Nissan (nasdaq: NSANY -news -people ) 350Z sports car. True, that power fades at only 1,200 rpm--but combine another 85 foot-pounds of torque from the gasoline motor that kicks in higher up in the rev curve, and you're still talking about very reasonable acceleration for passing and merging.

For greenies the key won't be about burning rubber, of course. Rather, they'll be happy that the new powertrain is actually cleaner than that of the current Prius, emitting 30% fewer pollutants (and nearly 90% fewer pollutants than a typical internal-combustion-engine car). Oh, and the price? Same as that of the current Prius, $19,995--barely more than a $19,045 Camry costs. Throw in the one-time federal tax deduction of $2,000, not to mention the money you'll save at the pump, and the Prius should make even committed fossil-fuel burners green--with envy.

Next year Toyota's Lexus division will get its first hybrid, the RX400H, a version of the RX330 crossover. And it seems likely that as early as this coming winter Toyota will also create hybrid versions of the Sienna minivan and Highlander crossover (which is a twin to the RX).

But the biggest news may be that Toyota wants to take its least fuel-efficient vehicles, its V-8-powered SUVs, and give them hybrid options as well. If these trucks were given small hybrid power boosts that would allow idling on electric juice only, their mpg would increase at least 10% to 15%, especially in city traffic. Also, they would emit fewer greenhouse gases. Furthermore, the V-8 LS430 could even get hybrid power, which might give it the performance of a BMW or Mercedes V-12 engine, but not the consequent decrease in fuel efficiency (one key here is that electric engines used in hybrids deliver loads of low-end torque for very quick acceleration).
http://www.evworld.com/databases/shownews.cfm?pageid=news140803-01

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030811/lam030_1.html

Monday August 11, 1:00 pm ET

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Imagine a vehicle that can give you sports car performance, better fuel economy, unrivaled ride and handling, and enhanced vehicle safety simultaneously.

Engineers at General Motors Corp. have developed a potential breakthrough technology, called wheel hub motors, that could dramatically increase consumer acceptance of advanced technology vehicles.

"We believe this technology will lead to the industry's first practical application of wheel hub motors for consumers," said Larry Burns, vice president of research and development and planning of General Motors Corporation. "The electric wheel hub motor is a critical element in making affordable and fuel-efficient all-wheel drive and advanced technology vehicles in the future."

"To illustrate the promise of this technology, by placing two wheel hub motors, in the rear of a front-wheel drive four-cylinder vehicle, there will be a 60 percent increase in torque at the launch. All of that torque is available instantly. This enables a four-cylinder engine to perform like a six-cylinder engine, " Burns said.

The two-wheel hub motors generate about 25 kilowatts each and only add about 15 kilograms to each of the rear wheels.

With today's vehicles, engines create rotating power, or torque. That energy is transferred to a set of gears, or a transmission. The gears turn a drive shaft and ultimately spin the wheels. More than 10 percent of the power created by the engine is lost transferring energy to the wheels.

GM's system is different. A hybrid electric vehicle generates electric power, which is sent directly to the motor at the wheel, minimizing the energy lost. Conventional engines take time to get up to speed. With wheel hub motors, all the torque is available immediately.

"Picture a world-class sprinter that comes out of the starting block in less than half the time, using less energy. That's what 60 percent more torque, created by wheel motors, can do for a vehicle," said Burns. "This breakthrough technology may enable us to build some pretty exciting future vehicles that have the potential to be as quick as a sports car, while providing significant fuel economy improvements."

Wheel motors are a natural tie-in to all-wheel drive, and they enable a higher level of traction and anti-skid control, improved steering and enhanced vehicle performance. Towing might even be easier with wheel hub motors.

When packaged in a truck, wheel hub motors improve the truck's performance off-road and enhance the all-wheel-drive capability, added Bill Slomski, managing director of GM's Advanced Technology Center in Torrance, which developed the technology.

"The wheels don't slip," Slomski said. "We have the ability to control each individual wheel with better response than today's high-end traction control systems. That could be a real plus when your vehicle is stuck in deep snow or the pavement is real slick. We can apply the traction to the tire that has grip."

Slomski can imagine a day when a truck would have the maneuverability of Michael Jordan doing a 360-degree dunk. Tires could turn at 90-degree angles in a parking lot, making it simple to park. To demonstrate the wheel motors, GM engineers integrated the wheel hub motors into a S-10 electric pickup. The first public demonstration was at Irwindale Speedway today in Irwindale, Calif.

The wheel hub motors were made by Lucchi R. Elettromeccanica Srl, in Rimini, Italy, and developed by GM's Advanced Technology Center based in Torrance, Calif. Quantum Technologies (Nasdaq: QTWW -News ), of Irvine, Calif., built the concept truck, modified the vehicle's coolant, power and electrical systems and developed the special electronic controller and related software. Quantum is best known for its work in compressed storage tanks for natural gas and hydrogen as well as developing technologies for a variety of alternative fuel vehicles. GM owns 20 percent of Quantum.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM -News ), the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, employs 341,000 people globally in its core automotive business and subsidiaries. Founded in 1908, GM has been the global automotive sales leader since 1931. GM today has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in more than 190 countries. In 2002, GM sold more than 8.6 million cars and trucks, nearly 15 percent of the global vehicle market. GM's global headquarters is at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. More information on GM and its products can be found on the company's consumer website at www.gm.com .

For further information, please contact: Andy Abele, Director of Business Development, +1-949-399-4527, aabele@qtww.com , or Cathy Johnston, Director of Communications and Corporate Support, +1-949-399-4548, cjohnston@qtww.com , or Dale Rasmussen, Investor Relations, +1-206-315-8242, drasmussen@qtww.com , all of Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc
http://www.naplesnews.com/03/08/business/d955346a.htm