Future Is Now for Green Cars

You say you’d drive a fuel-efficient, low-emission car that doesn’t trade style and power for the privilege of serving the environment — if only one existed. Not only do such vehicles exist, but thanks to new innovations, you may already be driving one.

By David Snow wired.com

The mandate in California for partial zero-emission vehicles, or PZEVs, has prompted automakers to ship a range of models that are up to 90 percent cleaner than non-PZEV models. The cars, powered by internal-combustion engines, emit so little waste that more-sensitive tools had to be developed to test them.

Currently, 27 car models from 10 companies share the PZEV rating with the more fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrids, such as Toyota’s second-generation Prius, shipped to dealers this month. All the PZEV models are available in California; several are sold in other states as well.

Most industry watchers agree that PZEVs will help pave the way to the eagerly awaited "hydrogen economy," featuring highways filled with fuel-cell-powered vehicles that emit nothing but water and steam.

"Fuel cells are not a solution to our air problem today," said Adam Gromis, a program specialist for the California Fuel Cell Partnership, a group of automakers, government agencies, manufacturers and energy companies that tests fuel-cell-powered vehicles. "It’s important that the public get excited about PZEVs."

Some of today’s PZEV technology will find its way into fuel-cell vehicles, analysts say.

"The motors that are driving PZEVs are the motors that will drive fuel-cell vehicles," said Mark Bünger, senior automotive analyst for Forrester Research. "Five to 10 years from now, when the hydrogen (infrastructure) part of the equation is being solved, we’ll already have the motors ready."

Bünger uses the phrase "recursive decontenting" to describe what he called a virtuous cycle in automobile manufacturing: cutting mass, retaining power and increasing efficiency.

Those types of improvements are evident in many of the new PZEVs. Ford’s PZEV Focus, for example, pumps out about 10 percent more horsepower and torque than previous Focus models, according to Jim Cain, a spokesman for the company.

"It has this real nice performance feel," he said. "People like it better without even giving credit to the emission improvement. We’re trying to reflect a little of that in our advertising by calling it meaner and greener."

Bünger said he expects today’s innovations to play into a new generation of fuel-cell cars. "As engineers figure these things out, they’ll inadvertently solve other problems, like the huge fuel stacks in hydrogen motors," he said.

His statement coincided with Honda’s announcement last week that its newly developed fuel-cell stack is lighter, smaller and 10 percent more fuel-efficient than its predecessor. The new cell also operates in below-freezing conditions, a significant improvement over the old version.

To achieve a PZEV rating, a car must meet the California Air Resources Board’s cleanest tailpipe emission standard, Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle, and it must have nearly zero evaporative emissions, such as the gas vapor that escapes even when the car is parked. Finally, the car’s warranty for emission-control equipment must be good for 15 years or 150,000 miles.

"That’s the one (the warranty) that automakers are most leery of," said Richard Varenchik, deputy communication director for the California Air Resources Board. "The equipment degrades with time. We want to make sure these cars were not extraordinarily clean just when they left the showroom floor."

To meet the PZEV standard, automakers have added no more than a few hundred dollars’ worth of equipment to each vehicle. Cost estimates vary. So far, automakers have pledged to absorb those costs for fear that consumers won’t pay extra for a green car.

"We only charge $115 for several hundred dollars’ worth of improvements," said Ford’s Cain. "The Focus competes in a very price-sensitive segment of the market. If we charge too much money, we might not achieve our volume objective."

The improvements that make a PZEV typically include increased computing power in emission-control systems and additional metals in the catalytic converter to scrub out air pollutants. To cut off evaporative emissions, the cars have steel gas tanks (instead of plastic), extra carbon-filled engine filters and unusually robust fuel lines and connections.

While PZEVs generally are seen as progress down the road toward zero-emission vehicles, there is still room for concern.

"The area we’re not making progress in is global warming," said Jason Mark, director of alternative fuels for the Union of Concerned Scientists. Mark said some emissions thought to contribute to global warming, such as carbon dioxide, methane and coolant leaks, aren’t curbed in nonelectric PZEV cars. "We’re missing half the equation. Regulations written over the next year will address global-warming emissions from cars for the first time."

Another gray area in the future of environment-friendly cars is consumers’ acceptance of them. Many industry watchers agree that automakers’ marketing must equal their technology before car buyers show any enthusiasm for green cars.

"It’s too complicated right now for (consumers) to understand," said Forrester’s Bünger. "I hope we’ll get a better branding of the vehicles, à la Energy Star or Intel Inside — some real simple stamp that will tell people they’re getting a good thing."

http://www.wired.com/news/autotech/0,2554,60819,00.html