Filed under: Hybrid, MPG, Ford

In the wake of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s announcement that all taxis in the city would be hybrids by 2012, Ford is doing their part to make sure they keep a significant market share after the Crown Vics are phased out. The Escape Hybrid first entered service as a cab in San Francisco in 2005 and there are now 40 there and another 288 in New York City. Cabbies in Escapes can save over $6,000 a year in fuel costs or $30 per shift.

The Crown Victoria has been a staple of big city taxi fleets since the old Checker cabs were retired twenty years ago, and Dearborn obviously wants to keep that revenue stream going. So far the Escape has proved reliable in taxi service with the first batch of eighteen all accumulating over 175,000 miles in the first year and a half of service. The only problem with the Escape is the limited rear seat room. Ford has a hybrid Fusion coming later this year and if they create a hybrid version of the Taurus it could be the ideal replacement for the Crown Vic.

[Source: Ford]
FORD ESCAPE HYBRID TAXIS

• Ford Escape Hybrid was the first hybrid taxi to be put into service in the country. It was introduced in San Francisco in early 2005.
• New York City and Chicago followed and formally approved vehicles like the Escape Hybrid for taxi use; New York City has 288 Escape Hybrids in its fleet, San Francisco has more than 40.
• Over the course of 100,000 miles, an Escape Hybrid taxi will save approximately 1,666 gallons of gas or 32,000 lbs. of carbon emissions compared with a conventional cab.
• Cabs in New York City have accumulated more than 175,000 miles with no major mechanical problems, attesting to the durability and reliability of the Escape Hybrid.
• Escape Hybrid taxi drivers report they may save more than $6,000 on gas per year.

DEARBORN, Mich., May 22 – Today’s announcement by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to change taxi policy toward increasing fuel economy standards, highlights Ford’s leadership in hybrid taxis. The Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid meet the existing New York City taxi requirements and the proposed new fuel economy policy.

In early 2005, San Francisco was the first city to feature gas-electric hybrid-powered taxi cabs. The city chose Ford Escape Hybrid. Later that year, New York City added a small fleet of Escape Hybrid taxis based on the New York City Council decision to pass the Clean Air Taxis Act. In June 2006, Ford embarked on a nationwide tour promoting the advantages of the use of Escape Hybrids for taxi service, and since, Chicago and Austin have also introduced Escape Hybrids into their taxi fleets.

With hundreds of thousands of miles accumulated over the past two years in New York City, there has been an estimated fuel savings of $250,000 for the initial fleet of 18 Escape Hybrid taxis. Now there are 288 Escape Hybrids in taxi service throughout the city, and drivers are reporting that the hybrids are delivering on the durability requirements and fuel-saving advantages that make them a great choice for taxi use.

Ford Escape Hybrid Taxi Facts

• Most fuel-Efficient SUV on Earth: EPA rated at 34 miles per gallon in city driving, the front-wheel drive Escape Hybrid is the most fuel-efficient SUV on earth, and can provide drivers 500 miles to a tank.
• Taxi Drivers Save $30 Per Shift: According to San Francisco cab driver Paul Gillespie, driving an Escape Hybrid saves him up to $30 per shift. Working four shifts a week for a year could equal more than $6,000.
• Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (PZEV) Certified: The Escape Hybrid dramatically reduces smog-forming emissions, as it meets the cleanest emissions standard available for a vehicle that uses fossil fuels – California’s AT-PZEV standard. Over 100,000 miles the Escape Hybrid will conserve approximately 1,666 gallons of gas over a traditional cab, effectively preventing 32,000 pounds of carbon emissions.
• Reliability and Durability is Key for Taxi Use: The Escape Hybrid is proving to be remarkably durable, capable of surviving around-the-clock use in one of the most severe driving conditions any vehicle will face. This durability is backed by a standard 8-year / 100,000-mile limited warranty for unique hybrid components, including the battery pack.
• Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner Hybrid Have Highest Tax Credits: Because the real world fuel economy of the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner Hybrids increased for the 2008 model year, the Federal income tax credits available now are $3,000 for FWD models (up $400) and $2,200 on 4WD models (up $250). The Ford and Mercury Hybrids now have the highest tax credit of any hybrid – up to $900 more than the closest competitor. For both vehicles, the new EPA-certified fuel economy for FWD models is 34 mpg city and 30 mpg highway, and 29 mpg city and 27 mpg highway for AWD models.
• Insurance Discounts for Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner Hybrids: Travelers, one of the largest providers of personal insurance products in the United States, offers hybrid drivers in the states of California, New Jersey, Texas, New York, Maryland, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia and Washington discounts of up to 10 percent on certain coverages. The company estimates their hybrid policy business grew by 200 percent in 2006.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors

Yesterday we told you that Tesla Motors was establishing a group within the company to share their proprietary battery technology with other manufacturers. Tesla uses off-the-shelf lithium ion cells in their battery packs but everything else is unique including the packaging, thermal management and control software.

Tesla’s first customer is Norwegian electric car maker TH!NK and their second generation City car. The initial deal is worth $43 million with $3 million of that this year and the rest in 2008. The new TH!NK was originally planned to have a Zebra molten salt battery. TH!NK will instead use a custom-designed lithium ion battery pack from Tesla.

[Source: Tesla]

Tesla Energy Group, a New Division of Tesla Motors, Signs Development and Supply Agreement Worth $43 Million with Think of Norway

New Division of Tesla Motors to Develop and Market Battery Packs for Clients in Automotive and Other Industries

SAN CARLOS, California — (May 22, 2007) — Tesla Energy Group, a newly formed division of Tesla Motors, recently signed an agreement to supply Think Global with lithium-ion battery packs for their line of “TH!NK city” electric cars. The supply agreement covers the development and delivery of battery packs starting in December 2007 and continuing through 2008. The supply agreement represents up to $43 million in revenues, of which approximately $3 million is expected to be realized in 2007 with the remainder in 2008.

Tesla Energy Group was formed in December of 2006 to develop and market custom designed battery packs for customers in a wide range of industries, utilizing Tesla’s patent pending technology for the development of high-power, high-capacity battery packs with superior performance and safety characteristics. Tesla Motors created Tesla Energy Group in response to demand from outside companies for advanced lithium-ion battery pack technology for automotive and other industrial use.

“The establishment of the Tesla Energy Group adds a significant new dimension to the business of Tesla Motors,” said Martin Eberhard, CEO of Tesla Motors. “Tesla Energy Group will provide additional sources of operating income for Tesla Motors while accelerating our competitive advantage in battery pack design and manufacturing. Both of these support our core business of developing and marketing extraordinary electric cars such as the Tesla Roadster.”

“Tesla Energy Group provides Think with an advanced battery pack design with impressive performance said Jan-Olaf Willums, CEO of Think.

About Think

Thinks mission is to create the most environmentally friendly vehicles in the world in a commercially successful way. The second generation TH!NK city vehicle combines award-winning design with comfort and convenience features that make it a pleasure to drive. The new vehicle is expected to be launched in Norway in 2007, and selected international markets in 2008. More information about Think can be found on http://www.think.no/.

About Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors develops and manufactures vehicles that exemplify “Design, Performance, and Efficiency” while conforming to all U.S. safety, environmental and durability standards. The company has taken over 400 reservations for its first car, the Tesla Roadster, a stylish, high performance sports car that accelerates to 60 mph in about 4 seconds with extreme energy efficiency. Tesla expects to start shipping Tesla Roadsters to customers in the fall. Tesla Motors was founded in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning to create efficient electric cars for people who love to drive. Tesla Motors currently employs more than 200 people, including teams in California, Michigan, the U.K. and Taiwan. For more information, visit www.teslamotors.com.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Organic Gardening With a ToddlerIt is a busy time of year in the garden, and young children (and puppies) can make growing food a challenge. Overcoming this challenge is well worth the effort, as the benefits of growing your own organic food are numerous for your family. For example, organic gardening with children helps establish healthy eating habits, as children are more prone to taste and enjoy foods they have grown themselves. In fact, in my opinion, the best natural toy for children is a garden. Luther Burbank wrote,

Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water-bugs, tadpoles, frogs, and mud-turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb, brooks to wade in, water-lillies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries, and hornets; and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of his education.

The garden provides a unique environment for children to explore the natural world and combat nature deficit disorder. There are many tiny creatures to explore and the wonders of plant life never cease to amaze a child. Children also love to explore the garden with their friends. Here are ten tips for organic gardening with small children I have collected from experience and gardening friends:

1. Wear Your Baby: All over the world women can be seen working in the fields while wearing their babies. In The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, a Chinese peasant delivers her baby in the field and goes back to work! Backpacks and other baby-wearing devices aren't just for hiking, as they can provide a secure place for your baby to rest while you pull weeds, hoe, water, etc.

2. Provide Child Size Garden Tools and Gloves: Children love to imitate their adult models, and imitation is an important part of their play development. By providing children with appropriately-sized tools, not only can they help in the garden, but also they work in their own garden beds.

3. Establish a Garden Bed Just For Your Child: One of the hardest parts about gardening with children is letting go of your perfect rows or plant spacing. By establishing a garden bed just for your child, you allow them their own space to experiment in, while you work on more delicate garden tasks. In addition, your child's garden bed will provide them with a sense of autonomy in the garden.

4. Plant a Strawberry Patch: This is my lifesaver in the garden! Not only does our organic strawberry patch provide us with delicious fruit, but also it entertains my children for countless hours as they hunt for strawberries. Children as young as two are quite capable of picking and eating their own strawberries in the garden. Plant everbearing varieties to have strawberries all summer long.

5. Read Children's Literature About Gardening: There are countless children's books about gardening. Connecting literacy to the garden will not only teach your children about growing food, but it will make them excited to work in the garden. My favorites are A Handful of Sunshine by Melanie Eclare, How Groundhog's Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry, and Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens.

6. Place Outdoor Toys in the Garden: Strategically placing outdoor toys in the garden allows parents to supervise their children while working with plants. A sand box is ideal for garden entertainment. Z Recommends suggests a plastic playhouse from Freecycle in their garden; however, aesthetics and ecofriendliness are to be considered before making this choice. A hanging art easel can be clipped to the garden fence to allow your budding artist another activity while you garden.

7. Get Dirty: One of the best organic gardeners and cooks I know provided this tip. Turn on a hose or sprinkler in a unplanted portion of the garden and let your children frolic in the mud. This is a great option when you already have a bath planned for your children.

A Seedling For Your Child8. Make Gardening Part of Your Daily Routine: Young children thrive on routines. By making gardening part of your daily routine, not only will your garden be beautiful and bountiful, but your children will look forward to this time of day. Soon your children will start to select their own tasks in the garden from their familiarity with this daily chore.

9. Wear Sunscreen, Hats, and Sunglasses: Protect your children from the elements. Your child will not want to return to the garden, if they associate it with getting sun burnt.

10. Involve Children From the Start!: If you start your plants in a greenhouse, be sure to include your child in this process. Young children love to fill up pots with planting soil and are quite capable of handling large seeds, such as squashes and melons. If you purchase plants and seeds, take your child with you to the plant nursery and let them select some of the seedlings and seed packets (including plants for their own garden bed). By being involved from planting to harvesting, young children will fully reap the benefits of organic gardening!

By Dr. Lisa Moore, Environmental Defense scientist. (Cross posted from Climate411.org.)

Photo: Green OptionsLast week, Yahoo! launched a new site that can calculate how much your carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions go down when you try their energy saving tips. It's fun to use, and I especially appreciate the snazzy interactive features because I know how hard people worked to build it. My colleagues and I provided the Yahoo! design team with the data they use in their calculations.

I hope you'll visit the site to see how simple changes in your house and car can save energy and lower emissions. But first, let me take you behind the scenes to the complicated world of carbon calculation.

• Which emissions do you count? For the Yahoo! calculator, we focused on emissions from home energy use, personal driving, and commercial aviation. We could make solid estimates of average emissions from these activities, and there are easy steps individuals can take to reduce those emissions. These three activities account for 9.4 tons of CO₂ per person per year, which is about half of the total CO₂ emissions per person in the U.S. Some people also refer to the emissions attributable to a person as his/her carbon footprint.
• How do you count those emissions? Greenhouse gas emissions are often higher when you consider gases other than CO₂, but non-CO₂ emissions can be difficult to calculate. Many carbon calculators ignore all non-CO₂ emissions. The Yahoo! calculator includes non-CO₂ gases for flying and dietary choices.
• How much information from the user? The more information I have, the better job I can do calculating your baseline emissions and your savings. What's your current average annual electricity consumption? What state do you live in? How long do you keep each of your light bulbs on every day? What make and model are your appliances? Obviously that approach can get ridiculously cumbersome to users. So instead we often use national averages.
• Do you include regional differences? Some factors, such as the amount of CO₂ emitted per kilowatt-hour of electricity, vary enormously from state to state. The national average emissions rate is 1.34 pounds of CO₂ per kWh. But in North Dakota it's 2.24, and in Vermont it's a clean 0.03! We accounted for these differences in our calculators on www.fightglobalwarming.com; Yahoo! uses the national average.

Designing a tool like this involves a lot of interesting discussions and decisions (and headaches from boring federal reports like the EPA's emissions inventory [PDF]), but the end result is very useful. Americans have a huge impact on global warming, there are many things we can do to make a difference.

So click around the site, get a sense of which changes will have the biggest impact, and pledge to do something. Did an item on the list surprise you? What have you already done? What do you plan to do next?

The oil giant ExxonMobil has acknowledged that funding organizations that deny the existence of climate change has made it harder for the public to accept their attempt at a “greener” image. Now, a report by the environmental group Greenpeace charges that we have every right to be skeptical: the company is continuing to pump millions of dollars into these same organizations that attempt to throw doubt on climate science.

When I and other bloggers interviewed Exxon’s Vice President of External Affairs, Ken Cohen, in January, the question of funding these sorts of groups naturally came up. Cohen explained that Exxon does not fund specific programs within these organizations, but rather gives money for their general operations. Therefore, there is no particular issue on which Exxon’s money must be used and the company has no control over it. “We had no knowledge that this was going on,” he insisted.

Exxon has stopped funding the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which was a particularly vocal denier of global warming science. However, Cohen confirmed that they do continue to fund the American Enterprise Institute. The Greenpeace report says that, along with AEI, Exxon also funds the Heartland Institute, Heritage Foundation, and others attempting to discredit climate science.

In January, Cohen made it explicit that Exxon believes global warming is real, is caused by humans, and that something needs to be done. Greenpeace believes that Exxon’s funding of these skeptic groups is an attempt to control the debate on any emerging federal legislation on the issue. Actually, I would expect most companies would try to do that, and many of them aren’t hiding the fact. Utilities like PG&E believe that carbon dioxide regulation is coming down the pipeline and that they need to get involved in the early stages of discussion, ensuring that future policies benefit any steps their company has already taken.

In any case, Exxon must be part of the solution. We need every company, every community, and every government tackling climate change. Greenpeace’s Davies agrees, “…unless they start pulling with the rest of the world, we're going to have a hard time solving global warming."

ABC News
Greenpeace

Karli, our oceans campaigner just back from leading our Southern Ocean Whale Expedition, writes:

Two years ago, the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior visited Henoko in Okinawa, Japan. The purpose of our visit was to support a local protest against the construction of a new airbase for the US military. The proposed airbase was to be constructed over a coral reef, the home of the last remaining dugong population in Japan.

This is the 21st century. It is mind-boggling that anyone still considers that it is OK to destroy a coral reef with the construction of anything, and to add insult, the proposed construction is an airbase for the military – in a community that is deeply concerned with peace. The habitat of Japan’s dugongs, as well as abundant reef and seagrass species, should be the site of a marine reserve – not a reserve for marines.

With the Rainbow Warrior, we helped to raise the issue to a new level with international media attention helping the cause of local protesters, who had occupied the drilling platforms day in, day out for over a year already. Shortly after, the original proposal was scrapped. But a new proposal, still impacting the marine area that the dugongs depend on, replaced it.

Now, the protest against the airbase construction has reached a crucial point. The Naha Defense Facilities Administration Agency is about to begin an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed airbase. We are demanding that this EIA is a sound and transparent assessment, and involves the local community.

The local protest groups are taking this opportunity to gather international support to stop the airbase and save the dugong. They have set up an
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/511549172″>online petition, giving you a chance to have your say on this issue.

© Roberto Sozzani

Please read and
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/511549172″>sign the petition, and help spread the word.

Thanks in advance!

Solar / Wind Powered Aquarius Tower
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(Posted by David Zaks in News and Views at 9:09 PM)

Superuse – Constructing new architecture by shortcutting material flows, by Ed van Hinte, Jan Jongert and Césare Peeren. Editors say: You could recycle, discard or even burn them of course: cable reels, window frames, washing machines, diapers, crates, carpet tiles, double glazing panels or old buses. The other option is to put them to good use: Superuse. It happens everywhere, albeit on a modest scale. Architects apply these materials in their designs. It requires special attention and new skills, but the resulting images can have quite unexpected qualities. Superuse is a practical and inspiring book about the construction of new buildings with surplus materials. It was initiated by the Rotterdam Recyclicity foundation, which specifically addresses this theme. We all know that green issues, sustainability, reuse are often associated with dull, unstylish and ugly objects and buildings no one would really lust for, but the authors of Superuse demonstrate that in many places, “dull” is on its way to the dump as a descriptive for reuse projects. The examples in their book make reuse look original and fun. But I appreciated that they are also clearly aware of several drawbacks that hamper the best intentions in this medium, even including in… (more)

(Posted by Regine Debatty in Sustainable Design at 3:48 PM)

Urban density is major element in the picture of a bright green future. Compact homes, closely situated, make a drastic difference in the all-around efficiency of a city, from energy to transportation to shopping for basic necessities. They also make it easy to skip driving and take transit or walk, which decreases pollution and improves physical health. Finally, they foster the creation of supportive community networks in which resources can be better shared and everyone feels safer. Knowing, however, that populations in general are on the rise, and urban populations in particular, it’s important to look ahead towards growth that can accommodate greater numbers without degrading the surrounding natural environment and encouraging sprawl. Smart growth strategies look at ways to make living closer to the city more appealing than a life out in the suburbs, encouraging more dense development on the edge of cities and less sprawl out into the open space outside the metropolitan area. Smart Growth, Smart Places and Bright Green Cities Why Density is Green, Closed-Loop Cities Walksheds, Cabspotting and Smart Places Linking Social Equality and Smart Growth The Post-Oil Megacity Smart Sprawl TravelSmart and a Philosophical Formula for the Urge to Drive Alternative Urban Futures Neighbornode… (more)

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Urban Design and Planning at 10:12 AM)

[Editor’s note for full disclosure: TED has granted Worldchanging significant funding and acted as a primary sponsor for the site. In addition, they have granted free admittance to several Worldchanging team members for their annual conference, and Worldchanging founders Alex Steffen and Jamais Cascio have both been speakers there.] I recently had the good fortune to screen an advance copy of The Future We Will Create, an interesting documentary that is worth catching. Filmed by actress and activist Daphne Zuniga, its notable because the 74-minute film records the 2006 TED Conference, an extraordinary four-day phenomenon. The long-standing conference maintained mainstream anonymity for almost two decades before the likes of Richard Branson and Bill Clinton illuminated the conference with their celebrity aura. I found it interesting because, while TED is among the most elite conferences, it has evolved in a manner unlike most of its peers. While some have encouraged bloggers to bang out real-time coverage of their proceedings, TED deserves praise for doing far more, actually opening its vault of intellectual property through various measures. Its TED Talks program provides access to some of its most provocative content to anyone with a mouse and networked computer. It recently launched a… (more)

(Posted by Jonathan Greenblatt in Communications and Networking at 10:05 AM)