Andrew English's column

This week Andrew is losing patience with GM's latest eco-friendly plans.

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19th April 2008

General Motors is always coming up with new ways to save the planet, and the Chevrolet Volt is just the latest of a long line of solutions the firm has suggested recently. Apparently. Bosses say the extended-range electric vehicle will do 40 miles powered only by its hi-tech lithium-ion battery, which you can recharge with mains electricity. After that, a small petrol engine will provide current for the electric motor and to recharge the battery. It’s a plug-in hybrid. GM hates this description, but the technology has just received an endorsement from the guardians of the world’s biggest car market.

So, get out your extension leads, the future’s gone plug-in. Arnie Schwarzenegger’s California has put massive support behind plug-in hybrids, with the state’s influential air resources board (Carb) relaxing its strict mandate for pure battery or fuel-cell zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) in favour of plug-in petrol (PIPs) and diesel-electric hybrids (DEHs). Californians buy two million new vehicles a year, and the state’s influence goes far beyond its borders. Carb’s pollution rules are also mandated by 13 other US states and are influential across the globe. It was California’s adoption of exhaust catalysts for instance, that ushered them into Europe at the expense of lean-burn technology.

For 18 years Carb has required the state’s seven largest manufacturers (General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Nissan and Volkswagen) to produce and sell an increasing amount of ZEVs. In the three years from the start of 2012 they were told to produce and sell 25,000, but now car makers have been offered an optional 70 per cent cut in that requirement to build only 7,500 ZEV vehicles, provided they also produce 58,000 plug-in hybrids in the same period.

Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen are already working on plug-in hybrids, with GM planning a launch of the Volt, which uses the chassis frames from the forthcoming replacement Vauxhall Astra, in 2010. European sales will start soon after that. Under the skin, the Volt is a very sophisticated vehicle, but on the surface it is a conventional (if very aerodynamic) five-door hatchback, capable of a 100mph top speed and 0-60mph in 8.5 seconds.

Carb’s decision is highly controversial, and it has been petitioned by eco heads like former president Bill Clinton and Al Gore. But preparations for a plug-in future are well underway, and GM is already talking to rival car makers, power utilities and governments about standardising plug-in arrangements and safety requirements. The idea is that wherever you park (at least in urban areas), you’ll be able to plug in: Supermarkets, car parks, perhaps even parking meters, will have a main-grid hook-up.

Off-peak charging can also improve the efficiency of the grid by making the power stations work harder, and there are even ideas that the utilities could use the vast battery power store in cars to eliminate surges and troughs in power delivery. But wait a moment... Electricity is not carbon-free. US power generation is nearly 50 per cent coal (the UK is more than 70 per cent dependent on fossil fuel), and while centralised power generation can be cleaner than individual cars, it’s no free lunch for the environment.

Nor is there an endless supply of off-peak electricity; Europe and America have an off-peak capacity of a million cars each charging 8kWhrs per night. After that, high-carbon dioxide generation sources come on stream. At that point we’ve just swapped one form of pollution for another down the road at the power station.

So where’s the point? Don’t worry too much, though. Wait a few months and GM will come up with all-new way to save the world.

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Andrew English's column

This week Andrew is losing patience with GM's latest eco-friendly plans.

19th April 2008

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Andrew English's column

This week Andrew is losing patience with GM's latest eco-friendly plans.

19th April 2008

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