New hybrid technology puts Toyota in fast lane

By Dan Gillmor

Mercury News Technology Columnist

Early last week, Toyota Motor showed off a nifty piece of technology: a car, equipped with sensors and automated steering, that pretty much parks itself. Imagine a nervous new driver taking that to the driver's license road test.

But the self-parking feature, available only in Japan for the moment, was a parlor trick, relatively speaking. What made the car truly special was its overall design, a demonstration of technological and manufacturing prowess that once again seems to leave American and European carmakers behind.

The model Toyota launched in Tokyo last week was the new Prius, a hybrid gas- and electric-powered car that's scheduled to go on sale in the United States next month. Amazingly, the mid-size car is bigger, more powerful, more fuel-efficient and less polluting than the current Prius, a compact that was already quite environmentally friendly.

That may be ideal for Californians who don't feel obliged to hog the highways with barge-like SUVs. Prediction: It will be the runaway hit in the new model year.

Now, I'm not a car guy. I'd rather not even own one. But living where I do, that's not a serious option.

I buy cars for one purpose: trustworthy transportation at an affordable cost. I buy them about once every 10 years; since 1984, I've owned two vehicles, both Toyotas that have been the epitome of reliability.

Because information technology has become a serious part of automaking in recent times, my once-a-decade approach leaves me dazzled every time I get ready to change vehicles. The accelerating pace of technological innovation is plainly part of the car business, too, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the new Prius.

Toyota reminds me in some ways of Intel, notably the fact that they may be the two most brilliant manufacturers in the world, albeit with different approaches. The automaker uses technology, among other things, to add value to its unbeaten manufacturing prowess, while Intel supports its technological talents with top-of-the-line manufacturing.

For the car companies that increasingly add intelligence to what they sell, the upshot is smarter cars and smarter ways of making them. We all benefit.

More intelligent manufacturing procedures mean lower costs for the automaker on such things as energy and other raw materials, and higher quality for the eventual owner. More intelligent operations in the car itself have obvious implications. Even some SUVs get halfway decent mileage because of technology improvements, a far cry from what big cars and trucks offered a generation ago.

The most impressive technological feat in the new Prius is making a hybrid that's big enough, finally, to be a genuine family car -- all the while improving on the performance and, amazingly enough, the efficiency (roughly 55 miles per gallon, up from about 48). All that, without raising the $20,000 price.

Where are the U.S. car-makers? As usual, they're talking a pro game but performing like amateurs. Ford will soon offer a hybrid SUV, but by the time American manufacturers really catch up to Toyota and Honda, the other Japanese car company that has taken a serious interest in hybrids, the game will have moved on.

That seems to be Detroit's best shot in any event. Hybrids are way stations on the way to the cleanest cars of all: hydrogen-powered vehicles that someday will replace the gas and diesel models that had such a revolutionary impact on life in the 20th century. Even the environmentally laid-back Bush administration has seen the value in hydrogen-fueled cars.

Yet even though the environmental, economic and political reasons for the coming shift are inexorable, too many policies seem aimed more at delaying the transition than accelerating it.

Today's gasoline prices won't stay this high. Volatility, thanks to the oil companies' daredevil inventory practices and the general instability in the oil-producing regions of the world, is going to be with us for a long time to come.

Will the hybrids, and all the other applications of intelligence to manufacturing and operating processes, solve the problem? No. They could be a big part of the solution, however.

I can see only one downside in the new Prius. It will be hard to find. But unless something arrives suddenly to change my mind, I'll be driving one within the next year. Just seems like the smart move.

Dan Gillmor's column appears each Sunday and Wednesday. Visit Dan's online column, eJournal ( www.dangillmor.com ). E-mail dgillmor@mercurynews.com ; phone (408) 920-5016; fax (408) 920-5917.
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BAE Systems Completes Hybrid-diesel Truck Test

Testing was performed on an Army Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) truck converted to a hybrid by BAE Systems.

Source: Business Wire

[Sep 05, 2003]

JOHNSON CITY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2003--A hybrid diesel-electric tactical truck has completed an unprecedented 5,000 miles of performance tests at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. The vehicle's propulsion system was evaluated in a 4,000-mile reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) test on Aberdeen's challenging Churchville courses after characterization testing of more than 1,000 miles on the facility's fuel economy course. The testing was performed on an Army Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) truck converted to a hybrid by BAE SYSTEMS.

The hybrid technology, developed by BAE SYSTEMS, is available commercially as the Hybri-Drive(TM) propulsion system.

The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and Science Applications International Corporation, selected to be the Lead System Integrator team for the Army's Future Combat System program, contracted with BAE SYSTEMS to test the hybrid FMTV under the FCS Manned Platform Attributes Demonstration program. The six-wheel-drive truck, ballasted up to 16 tons, was tested on Aberdeen's hilly Churchville course and performed extremely well throughout the three-month evaluation. The Churchville course consists of grades up to 29 percent, stops, tight turns, all conducted on a rough cross-country section.

The first hybrid electric vehicle more than 12,000 pounds ever to complete 4,000 miles of RAM testing, the truck also broke the Churchville course mileage record for any FMTV, hybrid or conventional, covering 179 miles in a single day.

"The truck's performance was excellent," said Karl Eisinger of Boeing, who oversaw the FMTV demonstration. "Acceleration and fuel economy were both better than conventional diesel FMTVs, and it did not incur a single component failure during a highly demanding series of tests."

The hybrid FMTV is based on a series hybrid configuration that uses two electric motors, a traction generator, a propulsion control system, and an energy storage unit. Buses using similar technology, developed by BAE SYSTEMS, have logged almost a million miles in revenue service in cities across the United States, and New York City's transit authority has committed to buying a production fleet of 325 buses equipped with the BAE SYSTEMS HybriDrive(TM) propulsion system.

Hybrid technology offers the Army these benefits:

On-board power generation: The hybrid FMTV can be used as a self-contained mobile power plant producing up to 200 kilowatts of continuous exportable power. Generating electricity for weapon systems, communications equipment, field hospitals, and other uses otherwise requires towing an auxiliary generator.

Improved fuel economy: Fuel consumption is of particular concern to the military because of the high cost of delivering fuel to battlefields and other remote locations.

Improved performance: The FMTV tests at Aberdeen demonstrated superior performance that can be customized, through system software, to maximize acceleration, fuel economy, or power generation, according to the situation.

About BAE SYSTEMS:

BAE SYSTEMS is an international company engaged in the development, delivery, and support of advanced defense and aerospace systems in the air, on land, at sea, and in space. The company designs, manufactures, and supports military aircraft, surface ships, submarines, radar, avionics, communications, electronics, and guided weapon systems. It is a pioneer in technology with a heritage stretching back hundreds of years and is at the forefront of innovation, working to develop the next generation of intelligent defense systems.

BAE SYSTEMS has major operations across five continents and customers in some 130 countries. The company has 100,000 people and generates annual sales of approximately $18 billion through its wholly owned and joint-venture operations.

BAE SYSTEMS North America is a high-technology U.S. company employing more than 25,000 people who live and work in some 30 states, the District of Columbia, and the United Kingdom. The company is dedicated to solving its customers' needs with highly innovative and leading-edge solutions across the defense electronics, systems, information technology, and services arenas.

The HybriDrive(TM) propulsion system is produced by BAE SYSTEM Power Systems, part of the North America-based Platform Solutions Sector. The sector is a leading global supplier of integrated electronic control products, subsystems, and man-machine interface systems for air, space, sea, and ground vehicles. The business develops and produces electronic vehicle management systems, electronic engine controls, cockpit and helmet displays, and inertial systems for a variety of platforms including fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, missiles, ground vehicles, ships, and space launch vehicles. It also produces HybriDrive(TM) propulsion systems for intra-city transit buses and other medium and large vehicles. Headquartered in Johnson City, New York, it employs approximately 6,400 people at 12 facilities in the United States and the United Kingdom.

BAE SYSTEMS, innovating for a safer world.

--30--RM/ph*

CONTACT: BAE SYSTEMS Platform Solutions

Larry Stone, 607-770-3944

Cell: 607-759-2545

lawrence.w.stone@baesystems.com

www.na.baesystems.com
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UQM Showcases Two Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Hybrid-electric shuttle bus and tractor are centerpiece of annual shareholder meeting

Source: PR Newswire

[Sep 05, 2003]

GOLDEN, Colo., Aug. 19 -- UQM TECHNOLOGIES, INC. UQM Chief Executive Officer, William G. Rankin, told shareholders today at the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders that UQM(r) propulsion systems are slated for use in land, sea and air applications. The Company showcased at the meeting two such land applications; a concept hybrid electric 7000 series agricultural tractor developed for Deere and Company and a hybrid electric shuttle bus being retrofitted for the U.S. Air Force, both powered by UQM(r) propulsion motors, generators and power electronic controllers.

Mr. Rankin told shareholders that in addition to the on-road and off-road hybrid electric land vehicles on display, the Company had recently began work on a U.S. Navy sponsored program to evaluate the application of hybrid electric propulsion to small military boats and that the Company was gearing up to begin deliveries of a 1.1 HP UQM(r) motor, developed for Keith Products, Inc., that will power the condenser blower in the air conditioning system for a military aircraft currently in production. Mr. Rankin noted that work on hybrid electric propulsion systems for the military was becoming a larger part of the Company's business, citing contract awards received by the Company including:

Propulsion system supplier for the Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle being developed for DARPA by Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Consortium, Boeing and PEI Electronics, a unit of Integrated Defense Technologies.

Propulsion system lead for the Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle being developed for the Office of Naval Research by Carnegie Mellon.

Vehicle developer and integrator of an optimized configuration of currently available advanced technologies into an all electric one-half ton pick-up truck for the U.S. Air Force.

Mr. Rankin also noted that the Company has supplied UQM(r) propulsion systems and generators for six hybrid electric HMMWVs, three of which have completed field testing, and Mr. Rankin stated he was optimistic that UQM(r) propulsion systems would be selected to power the hybrid electric HMMWVs expected to be delivered under an anticipated production program.

At the meeting, shareholders elected the nominated slate of Directors and ratified the continued appointment of KPMG LLP as the Company's independent auditors.

UQM Technologies, Inc. is a developer and manufacturer of power dense, high efficiency electric motors, generators and power electronic controllers for the automotive, aerospace, medical, military and industrial markets. A major emphasis of the Company is developing products for the alternative energy technologies sector including power systems for battery hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles, 42 volt under-the-hood power accessories and other vehicle auxiliaries and distributed power generation applications. The Company's headquarters, engineering and product development center and motor manufacturing operation are located in Frederick, Colorado. Its electronic products manufacturing facility is located in St. Charles, Missouri. For more information on the Company, please visit its worldwide website at www.uqm.com .

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. These statements appear in a number of places in this press release and include statements regarding our plans, beliefs or current expectations, including those plans, beliefs and expectations of our officers and directors with respect to, among other things, the development of markets for our products. Important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward- looking statements include our ability to be profitable, our ability to obtain additional financing, our reliance on major customers and suppliers, our ability to commercialize our products and the possibility that product liability insurance may become available to us.

Posted on Tue, Sep. 02, 2003

GARY GENTILE

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -Toyota hopes to boost annual sales of its hybrid gas and electric Prius in the United States by 75 percent, Yukitoshi Funo, the new president and chief executive officer of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. said Tuesday.

Toyota hopes to sell 35,000 of its next-generation hybrid car in the United States per year, up from the 20,000 Prius passenger cars Toyota now sells annually, Funo said.

The 2004 Prius hits showrooms next month featuring more power, better performance and higher gas mileage than the current model.

A hybrid car switches between a gasoline engine and electric motor to deliver the best mileage. The car recharges itself during the drive.

"I think the market is going to be very big in a very short period of time for hybrids," Funo said at Toyota's U.S. headquarters in Torrance.

Funo said Toyota will introduce a Lexus hybrid next year, followed by other hybrid models over the next decade, when the hybrid market is expected to grow tenfold.

"Toyota is determined to bring in as many hybrid variants as possible and as quickly as possible," Funo said.

Funo said Toyota does not plan to increase sales incentives as it anticipates a robust American car market for the rest of this year and beyond.

If current sales trends continue, Toyota is set to sell more of its cars in the United States this year than Chevrolet or Ford.

Toyota's overall U.S. market share has risen steadily, from 10.1 percent at the end of 2001 to 10.4 percent in 2002 to its current 11 percent.

Funo downplayed the possibility during his remarks.

"We don't really benchmark relative to other competitors," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-09-03-energies-usat_x.htm

Former adversaries combine forces in energy crisis

By Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Last month's blackout in the Northeast and upper Midwest is putting pressure on Congress to pass the nation's first major energy bill in more than a decade. But an unusual coalition of energy experts and environmentalists thinks it should produce much more.

Companies have had to invest in backup power systems because of problems with the U.S. electricity-transmission network.

By Al Goldis, AP

Members of the coalition fear that the conflicting demands of powerful interest groups — energy companies, automakers and environmentalists — will prevent Congress from taking bold steps needed to protect an energy-intensive society from blackouts and rising prices. By presenting a united, bipartisan front, they're hoping to embolden the lawmakers to consider more far-reaching proposals:

•Hybrid cars that would plug into the house each night and feed power back into a digital electricity grid.

•Robotized dishwashers, washers and dryers that would switch on automatically when power use is lowest, or log on to the Internet to bid for the cheapest electricity available.

•Subsidies for farmers around the world to grow grain — not for food, but for fuel. That would encourage production of ethanol and other "clean" fuels and reduce U.S. oil imports.

These ideas go well beyond what Congress is considering. Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate have been trying for three years to pass an energy bill. The aim is to reduce the nation's dependence on oil imports, stabilize prices for gasoline and electric power, and make the nation's electricity-transmission system more reliable. There's bipartisan agreement about the need for new policies to address the growing gap between the nation's demand for energy and the available supply. But, says Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, "Consensus is hard to achieve."

Enter the strange-bedfellows caucus: Over the past two years, groups of longtime adversaries have begun meeting to brainstorm about the nation's energy future — people such as John Podesta, the White House chief of staff for President Clinton, and Boyden Gray, the chief White House counsel for the first President Bush.

"Generally, when Boyden and I are invited to the same place, they seat us where we can't throw spoons at each other," Podesta joked recently when the two helped announced recommendations of the Energy Future Coalition.

The tree-huggers are environmentalists concerned about emissions from the burning of hydrocarbon fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — suspected of causing global warming and potentially catastrophic climate changes. The sod-busters are farmers who hope to supplant oil imports with ethanol, a fuel produced from grain. The cheap hawks would like the United States to reduce its dependence on oil from the Middle East, which some experts see as helping to finance the kind of terror attacks that occurred on Sept. 11. "This is all about 9/11," says Tim Wirth, a former Democratic senator from Colorado and a co-founder of the Energy Futures Coalition.

Ask why they're working together, and participants give similar answers: "A common frustration with the inability of the political process to make progress on the energy issue," says Linda Stuntz, a top energy official in the first Bush administration.

Ever since President Carter made energy a national priority in the 1970s, policymakers have tried to tackle the issue. Each time they do, the debate gets harder. Says American Petroleum Institute President Red Cavaney, "All the easy choices on energy already have been made."

Now Congress faces politically difficult choices: Should the government open up more federal lands and coastal areas to drilling and mining, even if it means derricks off the beaches of Florida and California or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Force electric utilities to produce a fixed percentage of power from alternative sources, even if those are more expensive than oil and coal? Resume building nuclear power plants? Impose tougher fuel-efficiency standards or higher gas taxes on a nation in love with big cars?

Participants in the Energy Future Coalition and the National Commission on Energy Policy say the time is right for a national debate on energy and the environment:

•Even before last month's blackout, problems with the nation's 50-year-old electrical grid contributed to a series of devastating blackouts in California, the world's fifth-largest economy. The same electric hiccups that set alarm clocks and VCRs blinking can be devastating for companies in manufacturing or financial services. More and more are buying backup generation capacity. "It's like a tax we all pay because it's a hidden cost on goods and services," says Bob Gee of the Electric Innovation Institute.

•Oil imports continue to rise, reaching a record-breaking 65% of consumption in May. Gray is convinced that the U.S. oil consumption is "directly supporting" Middle East terrorists. Worldwide consumption of oil is expected to reach 119 million barrels a day in 2025, up from 78 million barrels a day now. To keep prices from soaring, "we have to add a tremendous amount of capacity in 25 years," says Ed Porter, an economist with the American Petroleum Institute.

•In the 1990s, natural gas was hailed as a miracle fuel that would keep the country running while reducing the greenhouse gases that many experts believe could be leading to catastrophic global warming. "When I was in office, we looked forward to a natural gas economy and thought it was going to solve a whole range of problems," says Reilly, the former EPA chief. "Now it's not so clear." A run on natural gas has caused prices to skyrocket since the 1980s. That means higher home heating and air conditioning bills, and worse: Some chemical manufacturers are moving overseas, taking thousands of high-paying jobs with them.

Those kinds of unintended consequences have convinced the former adversaries that they must plan the nation's energy and environmental policies together. Emblematic of the emerging consensus are David Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Dick Lawson, ex-president of the National Coal Association. They spent the 1980s fighting over acid rain; now they're cooperating to rehabilitate coal, the fuel that natural gas was meant to supplant.

"I've been in Washington for 33 years, and this discussion we've had is really different," Hawkins says. "We wanted to create an atmosphere where people could continue to talk."
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