Eco-car the new buzzword

There is a new buzzword among Japanese carmakers. The term is yet to take off in Australia but it translates as "eco-car", a vehicle that is greenhouse gas neutral and ecologically friendly.
Japanese manufacturers have long been investing heavily to make the buzzword a practical and popular reality. The stakes are higher than ever - no less than the prospect of easing the global warming now threatening our planet. Research and development is starting to pay off with many high-performing, low-emission vehicles poised for release around the world. jstyle looks at the cars, the competing technologies and the challenges facing the Japanese motor industry in its quest to market a true eco-car.

The electric motor of the newer models of Prius can be charged using a household power point without running the engine

Under a new agreement, Toyota will license its new generation petrol-electric innovative Hybrid Synergy Drive system to Ford Motor Company

Hybrid cars
Badged the Prius in Australia, Toyota's hybrid car was purpose-built to reduce CO2 emissions. The Toyota Hybrid System (THS) revealed a decade ago is a combined internal combustion engine and electric motor. Cars installed with the THS produce far less CO2 emissions over the same distances when compared to conventional fuel-combustion engine cars. The electric motor supplements the acceleration, start-up and cruising of the vehicle by directly powering the wheels along with the engine. This reduces the amount of fuel combustion (and CO2 gas) while achieving the same performance of a conventional car.

The THS is so innovative that it also recovers energy, normally lost as heat during deceleration and braking, by converting it into electrical power. The system can also switch between the electric motor and combustion engine depending on driving circumstances. For example, if the car is travelling at a consistent speed, say along a freeway, the engine is running efficiently so extra output is stored in the battery. When the car is accelerating, then the engine is running inefficiently, so the electric motor will be used.

Toyota says that cars running on the THS - otherwise known as the Hybrid Synergy Drive - can travel nearly twice the distance of a conventional fuel-run vehicle under similar conditions. The THS-equipped Prius only uses 4.4 litres of petrol per 100km.
In Japan, Toyotas installed with the THS include many models not sold in Australia. These include the Estima, Alphard and Harrier Hybrids, the Lexus GS450h, the LS600h/LS600hl and others. Prices range from around ￥2.5 million (A$24,000) for a Prius, ￥4 million (A$38,000) for a Harrier Hybrid and above ￥10 million (A$94,000) for a Lexus LS600h.
In Australia, the Toyota Prius is priced at A$37,400 excluding dealer delivery, statutory charges and optional extras while the Lexus GS450h sells at just over A$120,000.
Another hybrid car sold in Japan is the Honda Civic Hybrid, able to travel about 31km per litre of petrol.

Electric vehicles
The Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle, called i MiEV, has superior performance compared to conventional electric cars.
Since the 1970s, Mitsubishi researchers have worked to improve on the short lifespan and small storage capacity of conventional lead batteries. The i MiEV uses lithium battery technology that allows the car to travel up to 160km on a single full charge. The vehicle can be recharged from a home power point or at special rapid-recharge service stations now in the planning stages.

The environmental benefit of an electric vehicle is that it produces no gas emissions during driving. Although recharging i MiEVs indirectly produce CO2 emissions from power plants, Mitsubishi says fully charging an i MiEV creates just 30 per cent of the emissions of a conventional car run over the same distance.
Given that most drivers on most days travel less than 160km, Mitsubishi hopes to begin selling i MiEVs by 2009. The attraction of these vehicles, other than being eco-cars, is the lower operating cost from money saved on petrol.
Electric vehicles that have been released in the past but are no longer in production include the Toyota RAV4EV, the Nissan Hyper Mini and the Honda EV Plus, to name a few.

Global warming and cars

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association reported in 2005 that there were about 900 million cars on the road worldwide. The US alone accounted for some 240 million passenger and commercial cars, while Japan had just under 76 million cars and Australia about 13.5 million.
Figures produced by the International Energy Agency indicate that when all CO2 emissions are broken down, about 18 per cent can be attributed to vehicles.
Given these figures, there is little question that cars are a direct and significant contributor to global warming.

Nissan PIVO
PIVO is Nissan's next generation concept electric
vehicle

The diesel option
In September, Nagoya City hosted the Exhibition of Environmentally Friendly Automotive Industry Technologies. More than 70 Japanese and non-Japanese organisations exhibited technologies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Many overseas car manufacturers, namely European companies, showcased their own eco-car technologies. This includes the European trend of manufacturers reconfiguring existing models to run on diesel fuel rather than gasoline.
Diesel has higher combustion efficiency and therefore lower CO2 emission rates compared to gasoline over the same distance of travel. In addition, diesel fuel is widely available at most existing service stations. These reasons make diesel a realistic and attractive option in the eyes of consumers compared to expensive hybrid cars.

Hydrogen vehicles
Mazda's hydrogen rotary engine was developed on the scenario that one day, crude oil supplies might be exhausted.
Other car manufactures gave up on the rotary engine when the initial oil-shock hit Japan in 1973, as the engines had poor fuel efficiency. However, Mazda continued to develop rotary engines and today, they have proven more adaptable to using hydrogen fuel compared to internal combustion engines.
When hydrogen is used as fuel, an internal combustion engine experiences intake backfiring in its pistons, making energy conversion and consistency difficult to achieve. Since rotary engines burn hydrogen in a different part of the engine from the intake, they allow correct levels of combustion to take place.
In terms of ecological friendliness, Mazda's RX-8 Hydrogen RE vehicles emit zero CO2 and minimum amounts of nitrous oxides. The problem, however, is that the production of hydrogen fuel requires the burning of fossil fuels - producing CO2. It is the same indirect production of greenhouse gases that affects the charging of electric vehicles.
The Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen REs are leased to Japanese drivers for around ￥420,000 (A$4000) a month.


Honda FCX Honda's fuel cell concept car has great future potential	Honda FC Engine The Fuel Cell Engine developed by Honda Motor Co.	Mazda's original rotary engine

		The truck of the future: Hino Hybrid Passenger cars aren't the only vehicles looking into ecologically friendly technology. If we are to take the global warming threat seriously, we cannot afford to ignore the amount of CO2 emitted by trucks and other commercial vehicles. The Hino Hybrid was launched to cater for businesses seeking better fuel efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The incorporation of the electric motor with the 4L diesel engine under the hybrid technology results in an improvement of fuel economy up to 20 per cent better than a conventional truck over the same distance of travel. Given the distance many commercial vehicles drive each year, the instalment of eco-car technology will be vital in tackling global warming.
Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE Torque, acceleration and exhaust noise - all the fun you can get from an internal combustion engine, without any CO2 emissions!

Fuel cell vehicles
Like the Mazda RX-8, another cutting-edge vehicle also relies on hydrogen as its source of power. However, the fuel cell vehicle uses electricity generated by the chemical reaction of oxygen and hydrogen during the process of catalysis.
The efficiency at which a fuel cell operates is extremely high because it is able to draw electric power from hydrogen without combusting the gas. Theoretically, up to 83 per cent of hydrogen's energy can be converted into electrical energy through this process. This is high compared to conventional fuel combustion, which achieves only 30-40 per cent efficiency.
Like electric vehicles and hydrogen rotary engine cars, emission of CO2 by fuel cell vehicles is zero. But again, there are CO2 emissions involved in the production of hydrogen fuel.

As such, car manufacturers throughout the world now calculate what is termed the "well-to-wheel" emission of CO2 as well as the conventional "tank-to-wheel" levels of emission.
Tank-to-wheel measures CO2 emission levels when the car is driving while well-to- wheel measures CO2 emission levels produced before the car is able to run. That is, well-to-wheel calculations include the CO2 emitted in producing both the vehicle and its operating fuel (hydrogen). The well-to- wheel emissions for hydrogen-fuelled vehicles are relatively high compared to petrol-run cars.
A number of Japanese companies are currently working to make more efficient, mass production of fuel cell vehicles a reality. The Toyota FCHV, Nissan X-Trail FCV and the Honda FCX are models that have either been out in limited release or are in development stages.

	i MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) This slick little electric car can travel up to 130km/h continuously for up to 160km	The oil-shocks While the environmental benefit of eco-cars and their reduced greenhouse gas emissions is clear, some say this was not the prime motivation for Japanese car manufacturers to begin developing them. Rather, it was to prepare for dwindling supplies of crude oil. Japan experienced two incidents of a dramatic increase in oil prices during the 1970s - commonly known as the "oil-shocks". With crude oil selling at twice the price in 1974 compared to the previous year, Japan began reassessing its national energy policies. So began massive investments in the development of renewable energy sources and high-efficiency products - including next-generation vehicles.

	Computer generated graphic of the i MiEV model

Working in solidarity
To make fuel cell vehicles an environmentally attractive option, the CO2 emissions involved in hydrogen production need to be reduced. As a result, many car manufacturers understand the importance of building a hydrogen economy in solidarity with the greater society.
This solidarity would include new government legislation, joint research and development with energy companies, investment in infrastructure, specialist education and the co-operation of the general public.

That last hurdle may be among the easiest, particularly if fossil fuel prices continue to rise. In the first six months of 2007, and for the first time in 76 years, Toyota passed General Motors in outright car sales. This indicates steady growth in sales of fuel-efficient vehicles.
Whether rising fuel prices or global warming concerns help push demand for fuel efficiency, there is no question of the public benefit. A new era for ecologically friendly vehicles has only just dawned and it will be the world's consumers who decide where and how far these eco-cars take us.