Driving on a cloud

"like driving on a cloud"--that's what one relative told me about the test drive I gave him over the holidays. "I feel like I've been to the future," said another.

As I've stated throughout this blog, the main reason I think we need to convert to electric vehicles is to stop CO2/global warming.  The second most important reason for me is to stop wars for oil.  Third is all the devastation caused by oil spills, pipelines, trailing ponds, air and water pollution, and all environmental impacts.

But most people don't buy cars based on these factors.  That's why it has been such a pleasant surprise to find out how smooth and comfortable the Volt is to drive.  And it accelerates like no car I've ever driven (including my dad's old Cadillac and my mother-in-law's Mercedes).  Of course, I expected the Volt to be quiet, but it is still a great feeling to take off with no sound from the engine.

Like most people I also feel that price is a key factor in buying a car.  I never bought a new car before the Volt, simply because used cars are so much cheaper.  But lots of people do buy new cars, and, as I've tried to argue, the Volt can actually save money if you can finance it over 15 years at today's low interest rates.  See FAQs below.

As you can see, I think the Volt is a great car!  As we Volt owners know--once you go electric, there's no going back.

How much does it cost to run? The car goes about 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour (kwh). PG&E has a special nighttime rate for charging electric cars overnight--about 6 cents per kwh (including minimum monthly fees). Dividing 6 cents per kwh by 3.5 miles per kwh means that the Volt costs less than 2 cents per mile! After running on batteries for the first 35 miles, the gas generator/engine takes over and the car then gets about 37 miles per gallon. It takes about 10 hours for a full charge using standard 110 volt house current.

How does that cost compare to most cars?
Average mileage in the U.S. is about 20 miles per gallon. At $4.00 per gallon, that comes to 20 cents per mile. So, the Volt saves about 18 cents per mile. If you drive 1,000 miles per month on the electric motor, that is a savings of $2,160 per year.

What about the cost of the car? The retail price of the Volt is $41,000. There is a $7,500 tax credit so the net price is $33,500. Assuming that a comparable gasoline engine car would cost about $15,000 less than that, the annual savings of $2,160 is like investing $15,000 and getting paid back with 12% interest over 15 years, not even counting resale value—not bad! And the price of gas keeps going up, so the rate of return will keep getting better.

The African Bull Dog ( KENYA )

Sustainable by all means.

Mombasa (Kenya) is the location where this unique prototype was conceived. Details are outlined from their Facebook page.

Completed

30th January 2011

The vehicle

The african bull dog is a Kenyan Built Off Road 4X4 Vehicle and MPV; This car is built for every day use, it can be used in farms as a produce cart, or even as an ambulance at Marsabit desert to provide emergency care to the forgotten communities and as a truck to ferry drugs to those remote places that you have never heard of!; With ample backing, the African Bulldog can do for Kenya what the Citroen 2CV did for France and the V.W Beetle for Germany!

Company Overview

Heino Autoworx is a Leading 4x4 vehicle workshop based in Mombasa at the Mtwapa Creek, Kenya. We have been involved in the maintenance of 4x4 vehicles and S.U.Vs for years and we decided to push the boundaries.

Description


The African Bull Dog is the brain child of Engineer Heino, he has a vast experience in the automotive and boat industry. The crew has been working tirelessly to ensure that we meet our target and we build a vehicle that meets the standards of the 4X4s we work on on a daily basis.

Mission


4X4 Extreme Efficient Performance!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/African-Bull-Dog/160682840649799?sk=wall

BAILEY LMP2 ( SOUTH AFRICA )

This is an African Phenomenon for 2011. Below are the stats straight from the makers mouth describing this awesome beast.

"Bailey Cars took the Bold and Brave step of building a current day Prototype car in 2009. Its taken 2 years of intense design and manufacture to produce this master piece of south African engineering.

The car has had many firsts for South Africa such as full carbon Tub, full CFD body design and building a car to the A.C.O Le Mans 24 hours regulations

The car is available to customers who would like to compete in sports car racing throughout the world in events such as ALMS, Le Mans series, Asian Le Mans Series and even the South African Le Mans Series and RSA GT challenge.

Chassis

· Carbon composite monocoque chassis

· Monocoque certified to all ACO and FIA structural and crash standards

· Adjustable pedal box and steering column

· Safety equipment includes 6-point lightweight seat belt harness

· Plumbed in fire extinguisher system

Engine

· 460hp maximum as regulated by ACO
· The engine must be made in a minimum of 1000 units in 12 consecutive months and must come, either from a grand touring car, Or from a large production car.
· Choice of homologated BMW, Lexus, Toyota or Nissan 5000 cm3 8 cylinders maximum. maximum
· Or 3200 cm3 forced induction engine with max 6 cylinders
· Diesel not allowed in LMP


Suspension

· Double wishbone layout all round

· Pushrod rocker type with damper and coil over spring all round

· Third-spring option for front and rear suspension

· Frictionless bearing seals all round

· Same upright all round

· Angular-contact wheel bearings all round

· Chromoly steel-fabricated TIG-welded wishbones

· Quick adjustable ride height, camber, and toe

· electrically power assisted rack-and-pinion



Fuel System



· 90-litre bladder type fuel cell

· Dual Low-pressure fuel lifts pump plus dual high-pressure pumps




Transmission


· Ricardo sequential-shift gearbox

· Six forward speeds plus reverse with torque input capacity in excess of 500 Nm

· Adjustable gear ratios

· Paddle shift as standard

· Gear oil cooling system



Bodywork


· All body panels of lightweight infused epoxy glass composite construction

Brake System

· AP Racing six-piston aluminum calipers all round

· 380 mm diameter ventilated discs front and rear

· Full carbon brake set up as option



Wheels and Tyres


· Wheel dimensions 11”wide x 18” diameter front

· 13” wide x 18” diameter rear

· 3 piece wheels

· Centre lock and anti loosen to FIA standards


Cooling System


· 1 water radiators

· 8-litre dry sump oil tank

· Twin engine all cooler

· Twin Electric oil scavenge pump

· 1 intercooler

· Driver air-conditioning system



Electrical System



· Military-spec chassis wiring loom

· FIA-regulation emergency power cut-off switch

· External start jump plug

· Digital dash display and with full data logging

· Xenon headlamps



WEIGHT

· Minimum weight as specified by ACO 900kg excluding driver and fuel


Bailey - Beautifully Engineered Cars

http://www.baileyedwardscars.co.za

We Don't Want to Set the World on Fire

Please check out my new parody song about global warming"We Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" to the tune of "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire".  Come on people, we can do this!

Thanks to Fred Ewing for playing the piano and coaching the singing, and to Brooks Larsen for compiling the photos!

80% less gas!

Chevy Volts traveled 15 million miles in their first year on the road, and 10 million of those miles used no gas.  (According to Jeff U'ren on the Chevy Volt Owners facebook page)  Assuming 37 miles per gallon for the 5 million miles on gas, that means the Volts got 111 miles per gallon over the 15 million miles (3 x 37).  Compared to the average U.S. car's 22.4 mpg, that means the Volt uses 80% less gas.  Given all the oil spills, air pollution, wars for oil, global warming, and the high cost of gas, it is time to make the switch to electricity for all transportation.

On The Job Roundup

Turns out Gwen Stefani is a hollaback girl after all. I’m all like “heeeeey” and then she’s all like “Holla!”.  And I’m all like...that solves that god damned issue right there! I don’t know what all the fuss was about. Anyway, welcome to the round up for the challenge we like to call On The Job...all about the vehicles we sometimes use while doing our jobs. Taxis, fire trucks, and zambonis are all the rage, so lets see what the hard working people all over the world are driving, shall we?

No, its not a fire truck/ tour bus. Its a Fiat 682/RN2 Bartoletti Ferrari Race Transporter as built by Apefight and it comes complete with fully working Power Functions remote control, opening doors, dropping tailgate, lowering top deck, detailed interior...but, as it turns out, nothing to haul.



One builder who didn’t forget the payload is TechnicFenix13 with his I-ran-out-of-black-so-also-went-with-four-other-colors low loader tow truck. Its just the perfect thing when you leave your yellow Ferrari abandoned at the scene of your LEGO worktable and need to tow it away pronto.



Back before most of us were born the hard working 1964 Ford Thames Trader brought goods to and fro in eye catching Jonathan Derksen color blocking style. That’s just chock full of classic Ford goodness right there!



Let’s face it, whether we work as a pizza delivery guy or a bikini waxer, none of us would get to our jobs if it wasn’t for fuel to take us there. This is why christophbrill built us a 30’s era old timey Octan Fuel Truck. The little minifig there...helping others get to their jobs by doing his. Do you think they had bikini waxers in the ‘30s?



While we all ponder that question we can marvel at this tan and blue Milk Float as built by Legogil. Back in the milk delivery days, we had the Divco in America, but most of Europe had the Milk Float, a quiet battery operated vehicle suited to silently deliver milk in the wee morning hours. Good stuff, Gil!



L@go built what looks like a 70’s era winnebago flattened by a truck trailer. That’s because its a Steinwinter and its a real thing! It was designed to maximize payload while giving the rest of the truck an extremely low profile.



We go from the bizarre Steinwinter to...the humble stroller as built by NK DeSign-er. Sure we’re all about big, rugged automotive vehicles here, but the stroller has an important job to to...to keep little tykes safe and happy while moms and dads go about their business. As usual for NK, this is an alternate model to the official 5867 Creator set.



When you think of the Ford Focus you think of a small fuel efficient hatchback. But Sangi13 takes it a step further and converts the little Focus into...of all things...a tow truck. I’m not quite sure how much tow capacity a Focus has but it sure does haul a big...um...double crucifix...thingy.



Here’s the scene: You’re racing across state lines in a candy apple red convertible with Johnny Law in hot pursuit. You’ve keestered a balloon full of high quality bon bons, you have a blow up sex doll in the passenger seat, a trunk load of illegally smuggled Venezuelan fruit bats and no one can explain why you’ve let a chimpanzee take the wheel. I know, we’ve all been there, right? But if you were in Australia you’d be chased by Bruce the Highway Patrolman in his ’86 Holden VL Commodore as built by Lego911



Next on the Lego911 slab is busty Sharon and her 2013 Ford Flex. You see, Sharon has the hardest job in the world...being a soccer mom. Between all the schlepping the kids to school, the puking, head lice, spilled juice, hair pulling, kid farts, and crying its a wonder she still looks as good as any of the gals from Desperate Housewives.



See, now here is a law enforcement scenario I’m much more familiar with. Take the same scene from before, only set it in the forested and rain soaked Pacific Northwest and you have yourself Sheriff Johnson and his 2009 Crown Vic Washington State Patrol Car. You also have my preferred ride home after a big night out. What with me being car-less its always nice when Seattle’s finest offers up their services for a safe ride home and the right to remain silent.



I had the right to remain silent but didn’t have the ability. That’s because I was so excited about Peter’s fourth entry, this Aston Martin V8 Vantage N24 Racer driven by Oliver Mathai. His job is being a 24 hour race car driver. Seems exciting but what if ya gotta drop the kids off at the pool? Or...yanno...take the browns to the superbowl? Are any of you getting these analogies?



I was talking about pooping, in case you didn’t know. Anyway, in case you got a hankering for pepperoni and cheese delivered straight to your door, we have Peter and his Ford 2011 Focus Trend Hatchback. Ahhh yes, that familiar red, white and blue color scheme can only mean one thing...maximum taste at minimum wage!



What travels on a track but isn’t a train? Turns out its this Western Star Brandt Power Unit built by Ricecracker. This is powerful enough to pull up to 10 loaded train cars and would make those awkward father-son road trip talks a whole lot better. You know the one...your mom used to have a hot ass but now has an ass like a bag of wet clothes.



Ok, that made no sense at all, but I wanted to slip in a father-son awkward road trip joke and none of these hard working vehicles are really suited for father-son car rides. Lets just admire DeTomaso77’s Mercedes-Benz O 317 Renntransporter "Porsche". I have no idea what its supposed to transport, but its still cool as hell.



We all know what this next build by Aaron F1 transports. I have fond memories of riding these school busses as a kid. Their bright yellow color, their green vinyl seats, their flashing lights...the stop sign that flips out to alert passers by that pint sized tikes are exiting. reminds me of that one time this kid brian threw up on the bus and no one ever saw him again.



Thats because Brian probably grew up to be a British Police Officer somehow. Its an unlikely story but how else was I going to segue from the school bus to this UK Police Ford Focus built by Ralph Savelsberg. Writing is all about smoothly segueing one idea to another. And awkward father-son car trip jokes. And dropping off the kids at the pool.



Someone else with police cars on the brain is DoktorZapp with his Jensen Interceptor Police Car. Its seen here negotiating the punishing terrain of a berber carpet. That stuff right there...the number one cause of rug burns on my knees and elbows. Don’t ask how I know this.



Peteris Sprogis delivers some fine Octan fuel to a busy minifig intersection with his Octan Delivery Truck. Cuz that’s what they do...deliver Octan to...places in need of Octan delivery. Love that brick built Octan logo. Octan. Delivery. Yep. Ok, I used up my three to five lines. Lets move on, shall we?



Felipe Descomplicado also has Octan colors on the brain and a Heavy-Duty Wrecker - Sliding Rotator Boom Truck with motion effects that I can only describe as witchcraft or sorcery. Surely there can’t be some sort of magical photo shop program to make neat effects like this!



And Raphy submits what can only be described as...a hefty bag full of a broken red LEGO mess. Travel is a harsh mistress and so is the LUGNuts round up as this is the result of a 5,500 mile journey and nearly three weeks past the deadline we have no idea what the vehicle was intended to be. Sorry dude, we’ve just gotta publish as is.



And the sole reason this round up is three weeks late is to showcase this Australian 2010 Holden Ute Camera Car built by Lino Martins. I guess you can do things like this when you’re in charge. Iron Builder, crazy hours at work and other obligations made this entry late but I asked for a random assignment and didn’t want to let Marioman3138 down. So, better late than never, I suppose.



So...what did you all think of the round up? It was alright, I guess. But stay tuned for our next very special 50th build challenge where we do something crazy. Its called The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of and the best interpretation of the weird dreamy sequence gets cool LEGO prizes! Second and third place also stands to win prizes. This is an unprecedented challenge and so far...very few entries. This could still be anyone’s game and we’re all waiting on pins and needles here. And let me tell ya, pins and needles are mighty pointy and uncomfortable! So stay tuned to see how it all turns out.

Finally, Free Time is Coming

I've been extremely busy with school and work that I haven't done a whole lot on my EV. I've been doing a few miles here and there to keep my pack charged and cycled through, and I've been slowly prepping the new Civic for conversion next year.

However, while playing with my stinky battery I decided to check up on the warranty and contact my dealer. To my surprise they agreed to replace it! I got the new one this morning and this weekend I will be cleaning up my batter pack, checking the water levels and voltages, then installing this new one once I get its voltage to the same as the others. The I can slowly start driving the EV again and get some miles under it, and possibly get it commuting once again. I have 7K miles on the pack and if all the other batteries are still fine ( they seem all fine, just that one dropped out after 10 to 11 miles) I should get another 3K out of them.

I'll post some pictures of the new Civic donor and what I've done to it when I get some time. I am also going to try an experiment this winter, I got a heated seat cover. I've done some research and other EV'ers said that a seat warmer worked much better to keep the driver/passengers warm than a heating system. We'll I guess I'll find out in a few weeks.

How much safer is a Volt than other cars?

Short answer:  "A lot safer."

Longer answer:  There were 184,500 car fires last year according to the  National Fire Protection Association.  That's one fire for every 1,380 cars on the road ( assuming 254 million cars per various sources including Wikipedia and Hedges Company).  Given about 8,000 Volts on the road today, we would expect 5.8 fires so far based on typical internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.  So if there were even one actual fire in a real collision, the Volt would still be 5.8 times safer than average ICE cars.  But since there have been NO reported fires, the Volt is actually infinitely safer!  5.8 ICE fires divided by zero Volt fires = infinity!

Response to hysteria about Volt safety

A friend told me, "I hear your Volt is being recalled."  That confirmed my feeling that the headlines about a "probe" of the Volt's safety were sure to create a firestorm (pardon the pun) of nonsense.  As one friendly blogger put it "Let the hysteria begin."  My favorite summation of the issue was the statement:  "If your Volt is completely destroyed in a collision, for safety reasons you should exit the vehicle within three days."  The point is that the fire that broke out in a Volt happened three weeks after a demolition crash test. 

Here is a letter on the issue from a Volt owners facebook page that I signed on to:

OPEN LETTER FROM CHEVY VOLT OWNERS
Why are Chevy Volt Owners Keeping Their Keys?"
Date: December 2, 2011

To the Media and Drivers Across America:

In light of the recent news stories regarding the Chevy Volt, we, as
Volt owners, would like to set the record straight.

We are keeping the keys to our Volt. We love our Volt and we feel
safe driving our Volt.

Volt owners are glad that the NHTSA, GM, and other manufacturers have
now implemented protocols for electric cars in a variety of
circumstances. Just as it is necessary to empty a gas tank after a
major impact, it is necessary to discharge a battery pack after a
major impact. This is a simple and straightforward process. Volt
owners feel assured knowing that government and industry are working
together to define and communicate this process for electric
vehicles, just as they have done for gasoline-powered cars in years past.

We have done our homework and we know that there is no other car that
offers all the advantages of a Volt. We take pleasure in the smooth
driving experience. We get a thrill from the performance and
acceleration. We feel at ease in its comfortable elegance. Perhaps
most of all, we love the convenience and affordability of driving on
electricity everyday, while also having the option of a back-up gas
generator for long distances. This is the beauty of extended range
electric drive. It's fun, it's practical, and it's the future that's
available today.

Lastly, we encourage every driver in this country to test drive a
plug-in electric car. The best way to truly know the electric car
experience is to drive one.

Sincerely,
Chevy Volt Owners (A Facebook Group of 224 Members, signers as of
Friday afternoon include:
Jeff U'Ren, Volt 349
Barry Larkin, Volt 63
Kevin Mark Rooker, Volt 2386
Craig Fisher, Volt 2473
Scott Fauque, Volt 01234
Jack Lucero Fleck, Volt 575
Kelly Hendricks, Volt 1450
Chris Blake, Volt 989
Michael DiPisa, Volt 218
Brent Waldrep, Volt 3945
Shannon Arvizu, Volt 1631
Lyle Dennis, Volt 8
Felix Kramer, Volt 9
Craig Hydrick, Volt 2077
Billy Bell, Volt 1928
Former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer M. Granholm, Volt 3748
Brad J. Horton, Volt 736
Alexandra Paul, Volt 5
Nathan Pinsley, Volt 784
Eric Rotbard, Volt 688
Ken Nelson and Mike Judd, Volt 1712
Yumiko Kato, Volt 2278
Matt Stehouwer, Volt 974
Brett Circe, Volt 169

The KIIRA EV Unveiliing (UGANDA)

The official unveiling of Uganda's first electric car was marked by the President of Uganda, HE Yoweri K Museveni taking a drive in the lime green, 2 seat ,right hand drive vehicle. The Kiira EV as is its name is a proof of concept that showcases the brave new direction the development team wants to explore in the further. The team is to develop a production concept 30 seat commuter bus by 2013.


More information about the development in detail on the following link


http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/30288-makerere-launches-electric-car-set-to-embark-on-minibus-kiira-ev-launch-supplement.html

Chevy Volt a fire hazard?

Jeff U'ren writes on the Chevy Volt owners facebook page:

The oil companies and their lobbyists have a lot of money. A whole lot of your money. They buy Congress with it. That's why we don't have any good energy legislation. But the good news is that nothing will stop electric cars from saving the day. And you keep your money and not give it to the oil companies. Then YOU buy Congress! Unless someone makes up a story about electric cars being more dangerous than gasoline cars and we believe that.

Right on cue I read in todays San Francisco Chronicle website an AP article titled
Battery fires prompt govt probe of Chevy Volt.  It turns out that there have been no fires in electric vehicles except as a result of severe crash tests, and those generally didn't happen until some time after the crash--i.e. plenty of time to get out of the vehicle and even have it towed to a repair shop where the ruptured batteries can be removed.  This compares to 266,000 actual fires and 520 deaths annually in internal combustion engine (ICE) cars (per Consumer Affairs).  That's one fire for every 1000 ICE cars on the road compared to none for the 4000 Volts, 8500 Leafs, plus several thousand Teslas and conversions.  The real story is how much safer electric cars are than ICE cars.  But most people only read the headline, so the disinformation works. 

More good news for solar power and electric cars

It's been about a year since we installed our 3.24 kilowatt solar system on our roof, so I thought I'd check in with our installers (Supersolar in Oakland) to see if prices have dropped.  Our system cost $5.25 per kilowatt.  Szilard Szabo from Supersolar told me that today they would charge $4.90 - $5.00 per watt due to the drop in solar panel prices. 

It also looks like we are right on target with our estimates of 4,200 kwh from the solar panels, and about 6,600 kwh total used for the house and the car.  I'll give a report with those exact numbers in January when we have a full year of PG&E bills.

So the good news is that our system today would cost, say $4.95 x 3,240 = $16,038.  With a $948 PG&E rebate and a 30% tax break that would come to $10,563.  Financed for 30 years at the current rate of 4% gives an annual cost of $611.  For 4,200 kwh that comes to 14.5 cents per kwh--very close to PG&E's cheapest rate (Tier 1) for most homes of 12 cents per kwh.  And, as discussed in previous posts, the actual cost of electricity is well below 14.5 cents per kwh since PG&E pays 28 cents per kwh in the peak summer hours and only charges 6 cents per kwh in the off-peak when the car is charging.  That makes solar power and electric cars the cheapest way to buy electricity, and the most environmentally friendly.

Now PG&E wants to raise the rates for electric vehicles, and I'm trying to convince them to leave the rates low at least until there are a lot more EVs on the grid, so stay tuned to see how that plays out.

More good news:  Szilard told me he has installed solar systems for 2-3 leafs and another Volt since mine went in.  That's five EV/PV systems for just one small solar installation company.  Wonder how many of us are out there!  Solar power and electric cars are definitely the way to go, and they keep getting better!

Szilard Szabo installing solar panels on our roof Dec, 2010

How Dirty are the Tar Sands?

View of Tar Sands mining (from Pembina Institute)

Note: Some of the numbers from this post have been updated as of 3/5/2012. Please see: "How Clean Are Electric Cars--Revised"  However, the discussion below is still valid.

My previous post argued that electric cars (EVs) are a cleaner than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, even if gasoline is refined from light crude oil.  EVs are still a little bit cleaner even when the electricity is generated by coal, but coal is still something we should move away from asap.

But what if the oil is mined from tar sands?  Extraction of light crude oil produces about 1.5 pounds of CO2 per gallon  (.18 kg/liter).  Estimates vary for the extra energy required to extract tar sands oil.  The Pembina Institute estimates 4.5 pounds of CO2 per gallon and the National Energy Board estimates 6.5 pounds per gallon.

Note one source of confusion about the tar sands.  I read in the Washington Post coverage of the Keystone XL pipeline issue that the tar sands only increase CO2 by “5 – 15%” compared to extraction of light crude oil.  This seemed wildly different than the 3 – 5 times more energy that I had read about the tar sands requiring.

It turns out that both numbers are correct.  For the whole life cycle of extraction, refining, and burning, the tar sands oil adds 3 – 5 pound per gallon, which is an increase of 11% - 19% on top of the 27.5 pounds per gallon that the whole process currently creates.  However, the extraction energy is 3 – 5 times the amount of energy required to extract light crude oil.

The real problem with the tar sands is what will happen to the planet if they are all burned.  Canada has about 300 billion barrels ready to mine, and Venezuela has another 200 billion barrels of what they call extra heavy crude oil.  If all 500 billion of these barrels are burned, using 31.5 pounds of CO2 created per gallon, that would add 500 x 42 x 31.5/2200 lbs/tonne  = 300 billion tonnes of CO2. 

Since it takes 7.8 billion tonnes of CO2 to increase the atmospheric concentration of CO2 by 1 part per million (ppm) (see James Hansen, Storms of our Grandchildren, page 117),  300 billion tonnes would add 39 ppm of CO2 to the atmosphere.  We are already adding more than two ppm every year by burning coal, light crude oil, and natural gas.  And at 390 ppm and counting, we are already well beyond the safe level of 350 ppm.  Adding another 39 ppm to the already overheated earth, is a disaster in the making.

To answer the question of how much this changes the CO2 reduction between electric and ICE vehicles, we take 31.5 pounds of CO2 per gallon for an ICE vehicle,  a car that gets 40 mpg, and an average utility that produces 587 g of CO2 per kwh:

ICE car:  31.5 pounds of CO2 ÷ 40 miles/gallon = .79 pounds of CO2 per mile

Electric car:  0.4 pounds per mile

Reduction:  (.79 – 0.40) ÷ 0.79 = 49% reduction

(see previous post for more details on these calculations)

Visit www.tarsandsaction.org to learn more and get involved in the movement to stop mining the tar sands.

How Clean are Electric Cars?

Note:  this post has been updated as of 3/5/2012.  Please see: "How Clean Are Electric Cars--Revised"

One criticism of electric cars that I often hear is that they still require fossil fuels to generate the electricity.  Of course that is true, and that is why I support solar panels and renewable energy as a way to zero out the carbon footprint of our cars.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on this point, so I'd like to clear things up.

My contention here is that we don’t have to wait for our electric grid to be completely renewable, or for our homes all to have solar panels, for electric cars to be far superior to internal combustion engine (ICE) cars with respect to greenhouse gases (and in other ways as well).

For an average utility with a mix of coal, natural gas, nuclear power, hydroelectric, and some renewables, switching to an electric car would reduce CO2 emissions by 69% for an average car.  Here in Oakland, where we use almost no coal to generate electricity, the savings would be 85%.  Even if your utility burns only coal to generate electricity, the reduction would be 52%.  (Stay tuned for further discussion on this about dirty oil--tar sands.)

Even compared to a car that gets 40 mpg, electric vehicles reduce CO2, and even if the electricity is generated by coal—although we should be working to stop using coal as much as possible.  The numbers here are:

Average power plant—electric car reduces CO2 by 42%

PG&E, non coal utility—electric car reduces CO2 by 73%

Utility using only coal—electric car reduces CO2 by  11%

Here are the calculations I am using (please correct me if I’m wrong!):

Carbon dioxide emissions from burning a gallon of gas include:

Extraction—1.5 pounds of CO2  (from Oil Sands Watch Pembina Institute)

Refining--      6     “  (see discussion below)

Burning--    19.4     “  (see for example:   http://www.ehow.com/facts_7311765_much-dioxide-per-gallon-gas_.html)

Total--         27  pounds of CO2 per gallon.

This doesn’t include deforestation, oil spills, or other sources of CO2, but I don’t know how to quantify those in terms of CO2. 

Refining a gallon of oil requires about 4 – 7 kilowatt hours (kwh).  See for example, http://gatewayev.org/how-much-electricity-is-used-refine-a-gallon-of-gasoline.  I used a low estimate of 4.5 kwh per gallon in the numbers above.  Given a mix of coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydroelectric, and renewables, the International Energy Agency (page 109) estimates 508 grams of CO2 is produced per kilowatt hour of electricity in the U.S.  I believe this does not include some additional CO2 produced in mining and shipping fuels.  I will check into this, but for now, will use 1.3 pounds CO2 per kwh.     4.5 kwh/gallon x 1.3 lbs CO2/kwh = 5.95 pounds of CO2 per gallon.

What’s interesting here is that electric cars can drive just about as far on the energy it takes to extract and refine a gallon of gas, as an ICE car can drive on that gallon.  I've heard this referred to as Big Oil's Dirty Little Secret.  Our Chevy Volt and other electric cars go about 3.3 miles or more per kwh.  Divide that by the national average of 1.3 lbs CO2/kwh and you get 2.5 miles per pound of CO2, or 0.4 pounds per mile.  So an electric car will go 2.5 miles per pound of CO2 x 6 pounds CO2 to refine 1 gallon of gas = 15 miles on the energy required just to refine one gallon of oil.  If you add the extraction, an electric car will go 7.5 x 2.5 = 18.8 miles on the energy to produce one gallon.  But the average U.S. car only gets 21.4 miles per gallon.  See:  http://www.project.org/info.php?recordID=384  --  article published January 27th, 2009 by Lacy Loftin; see graph below:
                                

In other words, an electric car creates only as much CO2 as an ICE car does just on the energy to produce gasoline, not even counting burning the gasoline. 

The exact comparison between ICEs and EVs is:

ICE car:  27 pounds of CO2/÷ 21.4 miles/gallon = 1.26 pounds of CO2 per mile

Electric car:  0.4 pounds per mile

Reduction:  (1.26 – 0.4) ÷ 1.26 = 68%

If CO2 generation by the utility company is lower than the average 1.3 pounds (587 g) per kwh, the reduction is even better.  For example, our utility company here in Northern California, PG&E, estimates 0.524 pounds per kwh (238 g/kwh) (http://www.pge.com/about/environment/calculator/assumptions.shtml).  This means the total CO2 per gallon for an ICE drops to about 24 pounds.  At 21.4 mpg, an ICE car produces 24 pounds CO2/gallon÷21.4 miles/gallon = 1.1 pounds of CO2 per mile.   Now an electric car uses:  0.524 pounds of CO2/kwh÷3.3 miles/kwh = 0.16  pound of CO2 per mile.  This is only 15% (.16/1.1) of what an ICE car produces for a reduction of 85%. 

If the CO2 is all based on coal, electric cars are still cleaner than ICE cars.  Coal may generate as much as 2.3 pounds of CO2 per kwh.  See:   http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/faq.html

In that case the total CO2 generated by one gallon of gas goes up to 31.5 pounds.  At 21.4 miles per gallon that is 1.47 pounds per mile (31.5/21.4).  To drive an electric car takes 2.3 pounds of CO2/kwh÷3.3 miles/kwh = .70 pounds of CO2/mile.  So an electric car still reduces CO2 by 52%.

But what if you drive a car that gets 40 mpg?  Is an electric car still cleaner? Here are the numbers:

Average utility (587 g/kwh)

ICE car:  27.5 pounds of CO2/÷ 40 miles/gallon = .69 pounds of CO2 per mile

Electric car:  0.4 pounds per mile

Reduction:  (.69 – 0.4) ÷ 0.69 = 42% reduction

The reduction would be greater for PG&E (238 g/kwh):

ICE car:  24 pounds of CO2/÷ 40 miles/gallon = .60 pounds of CO2 per mile

Electric car:  0.16 pounds per mile

Reduction:  (.60 – 0.16) ÷ 0.60 = 73% reduction

And there would still be a benefit, albeit smaller, for an all coal utility:

ICE car:  31.5 pounds of CO2/÷ 40 miles/gallon = .79 pounds of CO2 per mile

Electric car:  0.70 pounds per mile

Reduction:  (.79 - .70) ÷ 0.79 = 11% reduction

Of course, the greatest reduction is for having solar panels on your roof.  In our case we generate about 64% of our electricity with solar, which produces no CO2.   So that leaves 36% x PG&E’s 0.524 pounds/kwh = .19 pounds CO2 per kwh.  At 3.3 miles per kwh that gives  0.06 pounds of CO2 per mile.  Compared to a car that gets 40 mpg or 0.69 pounds of CO2 per mile, that is a 91% reduction. 

But it’s too soon to celebrate.  At 10,000 miles per year, we still produce 600 pounds of CO2, out of a goal of 2200 pounds (one tonne per person per year—see:  http://www.westernite.org/annualmeetings/sanfran10/Papers/Session%206_Papers/ITE%20Paper_6B-Fleck.pdf  page 2)  And we still drive another 2,000 miles a year on vacations at 37 mpg with the Volt, so that adds another 1300 pounds of CO2.  One possible solution for that is that I understand that the new Tesla sedan is designed to go 300 miles on the batteries.  If that is true, most of those road miles could be on electricity, not gas.

GM is not a person

We love our Volt--Viola.  She is dependable, fun to be with, and gives us everything she can.  We would miss her terribly if anything happened to her.  But, truth be told, she is not a real person.

Likewise we appreciate GM for building the Volt.  It's a great car and everyone at GM deserves credit.
But let's be clear--GM built the Volt for one reason--to make profit.  Any other reason would violate their very reason for being.

People who built the Volt no doubt feel pride in their work.  I would feel great about making a cool car that can reduce pollution, stop oil imports, and help prevent climate chaos.  But GM has no such feelings.  Like any corporation, GM is a profit making machine without any human motivation--love and caring for people and other living things, pride in accomplishment, spirit of teamwork, desire to please and to lead people, etc. etc.  Of course people do desire money, and some are downright greedy (e.g. the 1%), but striving for more money is only one of many human motivations as any good manager can attest.

Corporations are not people, and we need to repeal the inhuman supreme court ruling that says they are, including amending the U.S. constitution if necessary.

LUGNuts Is Four years Old Roundup

Everyone shut your goddamned puke holes for a minute! Not that any of you were talking. Or puking. I just always wanted to start a roundup like that. Now that I have, welcome to our four year birthday roundup. As always we could pick from any challenge throughout the year and even way back in LUGNuts history and build accordingly. The birthday challenges are always a crowd favorite but this one was unique in the sense that there are more entries submitted after the deadline than before it. I guess everyone was on rock and roll time...which could explain all the aforementioned vomiting...yanno, being rock stars and all. Anyway, lets get ready to rock!

 Rolic was our opener with this stunning pair of first and fourth generation Pontiacs for the "Two Of A Kind Challenge". Actually they were originally posted at the tail end of the last challenge but as Rolic was on rock and roll time, he missed out on getting a clever write up. Makes since considering he actually is a musician...but he sings in a nice choir for his church so I don't think they trash hotel rooms and set their guitars on fire.



 Rolic comes back later with an encore performance but this time in a form of a lovely blue BMW Hydrogen 7 thereby honoring three challenges at once..."Autos Aus Deutschland", "Millennium Marvels" and "Alternate Fuels". It would be totally punk rock if his choir trashed hotel rooms occasionally and maybe propositioned prostitutes from time to time. Just sayin'.



 No stranger to trashing hotel rooms (probably) is jmaokoen with his little Lotus 49B for the challenge called "Everything Under The Sun". At first I thought he was showing some versatility as its long body and huge spoiler makes it appear to be an oldschool drag racer but upon further review he has built yet again a Formula One racer. What can ya say, the kid is a one trick pony!



 Much later in the challenge, jmaokoen returns with some slight variation to his one trick with the Lotus 49B, 56B, 63, and 72 in Gold Leaf livery for "Two of A Kind" times two. That's four of a kind...or two squared. Right? I don't know, math was never my strong suit. Neat looking slot race track, though.



Oldeconoline has at least a couple tricks up his sleeve, this time in the form of an English twin motorbike with sidecar. He was trying to replicate Hagrid's bike from the Harry Potter series and a quick Google search proves he has done alright with it.

 

Ace chimes in with a surprisingly well detailed little Sipil TT two-seater in white, orange and black. I like the fenders and the spoiler. You want another spoiler? It turns out Bruce Willis was dead the whole time in The Sixth Sense. Did I spoil that for you already in another roundup? There's only so many big movie surprises I know.



 One of the most iconic vehicles in the history of the world ever is the old Volkswagen T1 microbus. Jason Son shows us what happens when you take that beloved icon and give it a classic hot rod look. Chopped and lowered and painted in rat rod matte black and grey with a thin pinstripe, this van sports oldschool hot rod red rims undoubtedly from the new Cars Francesco set. Red rims...the best thing LEGO has done for hot rod builders in a long time.



 You know that book "A Tale of Two Cities"? Well this is a tale of Two Builders. Ralph Savelsberg also had the iconic T1 on the brain but typical to what Ralph does, he goes classically bog standard on this one. This is an updated remake of a model he built six years ago that predates LUGNuts. See, this just shows we were all Lugnuts before we were ever LUGNuts. Makes sense?



Legogil takes an adventure and goes way back in time...back to '09 with an entry for "Zombie Killfest '09". It was a more innocent time back then...back when zombies didn't have their own series on AMC and you could kill them with spike-laiden, flame throwing supercars from Mad Max. Ahhh, good times, indeed!




 Bad Furday is forever and always having...a bad fur day. But he has taken time out to build this neat little 1991 Footwork Porsche F1 racer for the "Autos Aus Deutschland" challenge. Nice presentation on that slick red reflective surface...although I suppose nowadays it could have been just a slick photoshop trick. Either way...pretty cool.



 Bad Furday chimes in again with one of my personal favorite entries...this electric bumper car for the "Alternate Fuels" challenge. I hold a special place in my heart for a vehicle that bends the rules intelligently and this one fits that bill nicely. If only automobile accidents were always this much fun.



 Then Furday comes back later for an encore performance with this 2011 Morgan 3-Wheeler for the "Everything Under The Sun" Challenge. This car would have made those long, awkward father-son road trip talks a lot more fun. You know the ones...if you had learned to wipe like a real man instead of like your mother you'd opt to be an engineer instead of going to art school. Anyway...



Some of us can surf, some can play guitar...NK DeSign-er builds really cool alternate models for official LEGO sets. Its just what he does. In this case he builds us a tow truck for the really ancient challenge #9 called "Haulin' Ass". He tells us its nice to be able to build once a year for challenges that dates before he has even heard of this place. I agree.



 He weighs in later with an alternate model once again for set #5867 Super Speedster...this one a Motorbike/ chopper. He says to be gentle on him as it was his first moto but I see no problem with his work. he also says to tell him when we get tired of his alternate models of official sets but I think we never will tire of this.



 Lego Junkie also has zombies on his brrraaaaaains with this apocalyptic rig for "Zombie Killfest '09" There is just something fun about zombie killin'. They're already dead so blasting their heads off with a shotgun seems OK somehow. Funny thing...as I type, I am wearing a shirt that has a skull on it and says "I club zombies" except the club is that club symbol from the deck of cards. Actually I've never clubbed a zombie in real life but I have shot my brother in the face with a rubber band. Does that count?



 Dohoon Kim has the "Millennium Marvels" challenge on his delicious gooey brrrrraaaaains with this rugged little Land Rover Bowler Wildcat in yellow. Oh that reminds me, when playing Left 4 Dead 2 Boomers are best killed from a distance, not up close. One time, I was mowing down this horde of zombies with a chainsaw then blindly plowed through his fat belly with it. He exploded puke and bile and I was runnin' blind for like a minute, chasing my own teammates with the chainsaw. Hilarity ensued!



 Felipe Descomplicado goes all "Autos Aus Deutschland" on our asses with not one, but two four axle German trucks. One is a Mercedes, the other a Man and together they are working to lug a huge industrial generator to...uh...wherever huge industrial generators are needed. Like a 5 year old's birthday party or a library. Probably.



Jonathan Derksen makes ugly look so good. Nothing good has ever come out of the 80's, and let's admit the 1980 VW T3 has all the lukewarm design aspects and conservative styling indicative of that decade. But Jonathan painstakingly captures the vehicle so well and even accurately captures a feel for a decade he has never been a part of. The Huxtables would have been thrilled to lug all the kids around in this.



 Tim Inman takes a break from building Chevys to show some love for the BMW Z3 M Coupe. He tells us that the rather feminine roadster is testosterone injected with flared fenders and quad exhaust tips. Yeah, I know when I want to get all macho I show off my flared fenders and quad exhaust tips.



 It was only a matter of time before the most badass truck builder on the planet builds the most badass truck ever. Bricksonwheels takes on Optimus prime in all its stunning blue and red flaming glory. As it runs on Energon, this Autobot joins the ranks of the "Alternate Fuels" challenge. it doesn't transform but we can forgive that because it runs on power functions and just look at all that dazzling chrome!



 According to Christophbrill and his son Hans, nothing says "Two Of A Kind" and "Everything Under The Sun" like an Outrunner from the game Borderlands and a 1908 Renault AX. Yeah. Normally they would go together like fried chicken and jumping jacks but the dynamic duo seems to make a pretty good pair out of such dissimilar vehicles.



 What happens when you pit Lino Martins in a blood thirsty Iron Builder battle arena against some Scottsman with a caffeine addiction? You get a pretty little custom '55 Ford F-100 called Amazon Jade. Duh, that outcome should have been obvious! But what was a little freaky-deaky about that is I built it for a challenge called "The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of". Not on the list. A future challenge maybe? Is this some sort of weird time travel thing? How can this happen? For the love of God, can someone please explain what is going on here? Stay tuned to find out. ;)



 Oh boy! Everyone kick back. Grab a hot cup of coffee. Maybe spike it with a little Baileys. Maybe make yourself a nice plate of cheese and crackers with some pepperoni slices...and apples with some honey and yogurt. Maybe throw some granola in there for texture and flavor. I don't know, cripes, what do I got to make all your decisions for you?! My point is, this Chevrolet Corvette C6 Convertible is the start of a loooong string of late entries by the ever prolific Lego911. So make yourself comfortable.



Are you comfortable yet? The Mercedes-Benz W136 170 V Limousine burns wood and gas so it fits right in the "Alternate Fuels" challenge and "Autos Aus Deutschland". When I was a kid I thought my head would fit neatly between two iron bars in a fence. As all the EMT guys can attest, it turns out it did.



 Next on the 911 slab is this 2011 Ford FG II Falcon XR6 ECOLPi Sedan built for the "Alternate Fuels" challenge at it runs on Liquid Phase Injection LPG. I have no idea what any of that means but thank God for copy/paste! Its a lot of technical writing I don't have to do thanks to 911 doing it for me.



Its no surprise that the real life engineer for Ford would go way back in Ford history with this 1911 Ford Model-T two door...as built "For The Ladies" and for "Alternate Fuels" as this "Tin Lizzie" can run on ethyl alcohol and kerosene, to suit the fuel availability in rural American communities, and to be run from farm produced biofuels. Neat!



So next, this maestro of the Ford automobile constructs this...1955 Buick and a decidedly cool one at that. The matching surf board denotes "Two of a Kind" and the Barbie looking figure is "For The Ladies" and, as it turns out, really is Barbie from the movie "Barbie A Mermaid Tale". I don't know how that movie never made my Netflix list.



 Next 911 kills three birds with one stone (gross!) with this Octan Racing Team MAN tractor and trailer...the three birds being "Octan Racing", "Autos Aus Deutschland" and "Two of a Kind". I wonder how that old expression came about.



 Speaking of old expressions of dubious and possibly sinister meaning, Peter shows that there is more than one way to skin a cat with this cool custom Fast Gassin' rig from the 2009 Hot Wheels line. You see, Peter wanted to build "By Random Appointment" and I demanded something well outside his already formidable comfort zones. I'd say he pulled it off nicely.



 Another thing he pulled off nicely is this Remote controlled Octan Racing Ultimate RC Drift Volkswagen Microbus Kombi. Holy crap, I wish I can take the controls of this thing just to see what it'll do! I just want to hug it and squeeze it and call it George! Then drive it down a flight of stairs. Can I pleaze? I can haz Kombi?



 Dark red Ramone isn't without his charms either. It was built for the "Cars, Too" challenge as it looks like it came from Cars Two. Yeah I know you foreign born English as a second language LUGNutters out there just have a field day trying to understand those homonyms. "Their", "they're" and "there" are a real hoot.



 Is that it for Peter? That wasn't so bad after all. LegoExotics conjures up a neat duo of exotic racers that fit in a myriad of challenges including: "Night and Day", "Two of a Kind","Color Me Strange","Millenium Marvels","Lemons or Le Mans","Autos aus Deutschland", "Everything under the Sun" and "Alternative Fuels". That's like a bird slaughterhouse! They're both beautiful cars though.



 Raphy is a man of few words these days. What's with that, kiddo?! He gets all silent and Clint Eastwood-y on us and quietly posts this little yellow racer as if to say...I know what you're thinking. Did I fire six shots or only five? In all of this excitement I seemed to have forgotten myself. So, do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya? Do ya!?



 TechnicFenix13 must have been feeling pretty lucky. First he pulls through with a Randon Appointment request. I demanded the Apollo 13 Lunar Rover and he pulled through with flying colors...or should I say muted colors in gray and black? But still very nice. Houston, we have a rover!



 Then later he gets a little more colorful and springs for a duo of dynamic hard working trucks for "Two of a Kind" and the current challenge "On the Job". Both are working flatbeds and I suspect one is a slightly modified set. Still pretty cool idea though.





If you're like me you've probably spent many a night crying yourself to sleep pleading for the love of God, can someone please build a working RC from the movie Cars 2?! I mean, cripes his name is RC so he should be remote controlled and made of lime green and blue technic parts for lightweight maneuverability and high speed handling! Well, it seems Nathan Proudlove has answered our cries in the night and puts us all to bed, warm and comfy as a fitting end to this special birthday challenge.



 What a great round up! Thanks for making LUGNuts THE cornerstone for LEGO automotive building and the standard of success for other groups to follow. I mean, go ahead...have a look around. You'll find nary a group who has done as many challenges with such consistent success as we have. Kinda makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it? Well stick around for this month's challenge called "On The Job"...all about hard working commercial vehicles like mail delivery trucks, taxicabs, cement mixers, snowplows...and when your neighbors become particularly unruly, you've got your SWAT Assault Mobile Command Vehicles to take them down with. Its all in a day's work when you're On The Job. The SWAT team is closing in now but they'll never catch me. You punks feeling lucky? Well, are ya?!