MellowGuy

Carmakers Continue to Consolidate

TM and HMC seem to be the only automakers safe to invest in with US listings.

Toyota Offloads Financial Arm

It's a good idea to free up some cash to speed the improvement in models to use less energy through direct fuel injection, hybrid, and plug-hybrid technologies while reducing the weight of the vehicles by the use of aluminum, titanium(?), and composites.

The USA needs to change its tax structure to have a value added tax (smart sales tax) instead of putting the tax burden on working people.

Is Toyota Losing Ground in the Electric Vehicles Race?

The race is for a plug hybrid vehicle. Most people average less than 40 miles a day on their vehicle, but may need to make trips of up to 400 miles on occasion. The long trips necessitate having liquid fueled engine, but the short trips can be handled with an affordable battery (if it can handle a large number of charge/discharge cycles). The hybrid feature is needed to increase the milage of city with its frequent stops by using regenerative braking.

A neighbor has converted his Prius to a plug-in Hybrid and uses a solar array in his back yard to charge it.

Latest on Hybrids: Toyota Yaris for U.S.

A hybrid minivan would be a market leader.

Why the Electric Car Mileage Debate Is Meaningless

Nuclear power plants don't take up any more space than coal plants.

Mini nuclear power plants are being designed that can be placed in remote areas such as Alaska to give economical & reliable power.


On Aug 13 09:38 AM huangjin wrote:

> The question is: where are they going to put all the nuclear power
> plants?

Why the Electric Car Mileage Debate Is Meaningless

That ~48% efficiency is a peak fuel efficiency which in a vehicle operating at different speeds and acceleration can be appreciably lowered. I think that plug hybrids should be based on diesel engines but the first one is always a challenge.

Coal, nuclear fuel, and natural gas are priced much lower than diesel fuel which makes a plug hybrid more economical for that first 40 miles or so.

On Aug 13 12:46 PM Gandalph wrote:

> Do the efficiency numbers! The efficiency of a power plant - coal,
> oil, or nuclear is about 40%; the efficiency of the grid is estimated
> at 92%; the efficiency of charging a Li-Ion battery is no more than
> 85% (They get hot!); the efficiency of an electric motor is about
> 85%(They also get hot); call the AC to DC converters 85% (?). Overall:
> 22.5%. Compare with modern clean diesel: ~48%. The electric car
> is a hoax !

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

I bought a vehicle this year before the trade in program was instituted. So, I missed out on the deal.
The program will take the old clunkers off the road which should be a good thing because the clunkers aren't as safe and use more gas.
Deals like the trade in program are just going to give the dealers more profit.
The deal applies to imports as well as domestic makes. It would be better to have the deal only apply to domestic makes.

Toyota Reviews U.S. Ops; Not Profitable Here

With one fourth of Toyota's sales being in the US, Toyota can't afford to shut down many plants in the US.

Why the Government Is Keeping GM Alive

I owned GM stock until I found out that they hadn't fully funded their pension plan. In the mean time they were paying dividends although they didn't have enough equity to cover their debts.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler weren't on an equal tax basis with foreign manufacturers which could have been partially alleviated by a value added tax.

GM shouldn't have been pushing blue sky hydrogen technology when hybrid technology was shown to work in a cost effective manner.

New North American Rare Earth Production Could Help Toyota Save GM

COBASYS has many of the NiMH battery patents.

Cobalt is used in NiMH and Li batteries.

Toyota is using Neodynium in their PM electric motors. Cobalt-Samarium is another possibility but it is more expensive.

Six Cars That Represent the Future of Driving

Regenerative braking is what makes the current hybrids attractive. Any future vehicle will have to have regenerative braking with a battery pack and electric drive motors.
Hydrogen is expensive to produce, dangerous, and has a short driving range. Fuel cells(expensive!) are are a better way to convert hydrogen to power than an IC engine.
Plug in power add on to a hybrid vehicle would work for me, but for vehicles that need to travel hundreds of miles per day, that might not be suitable add-on.
Compressed methane would work for large trucks, but passenger vehicles need something more like propane which is much cheaper than gasoline.
Ethanol has delivery problems that could be improved by converting it to ETBE.
Reducing vehicle size can reduce energy consumption, but that might require a second vehicle that can haul more people, cargo, and trailer.

Toyota Comes Clean on Solar Panels, Lithium-Ion Batteries

I see GM is getting its lithium batteries from LG Chemical. I am not sure if I want to get a new lithium plug hybrid until the technology is proven. In the mean time, I will get a conventional hybrid.

Half of U.S. Consumers Delaying New Car Purchases

I am delaying partly because a hybrid model I want isn't available locally that isn't overloaded with expensive options.

Better to Let Automakers Go Bankrupt

Bailouts primarily help bond holders. Without a bailout bond holders have to assume ownership of a company and will only get a small portion of their investment back.

How To Save the Big 3 Automakers

There are many factors that have and are destroying manufacturing in North America. A value-added tax to replace part of the current corporate taxes would reduce the subsidy to foreign manufacturers. A reasonable health care system would reduce health care costs for current and retired employees. If the value-added tax were to be extended to oil, manufacturers would have a more predictable market for vehicles with lower fuel consumption.

The switch to defined contribution pensions, such as 401ks will help since the companies won't be gambling away all of their obligations to employees.

Companies that are in financial trouble shouldn't be paying dividends.