AUTOMAKERS PUSH ALTERNATE FUEL VEHICLE R&D
Automakers' efforts to further research and develop alternate fueled vehicles continue to gain momentum.
The big three U.S. automakers, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler Corp., have marked progress on development programs for flexible fueled, compressed natural gas, and electric automobiles.
In Japan, Mazda Motor Corp. plans to step up research and development on hydrogen fueled automobiles, and Osaka Gas Co. is buying a fleet of CNG powered cars built by Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
GENERAL MOTORS
GM has agreed to build 2,000 flexible fuel Chevrolet Luminas for a demonstration program sponsored by the California Energy Commission.
The agreement brings to 4,000 the total number of cars fueled by a mixture of methanol and gasoline that GM will build for use in California.
Most of the cars are spoken for by fleet owners in California, but the remaining cars will be sold for about $12,000 plus $2,000 for the optional fuel equipment.
The adapted Lumina will run on M85, a mixture of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline. It also can run on 100% unleaded gasoline or any mix of methanol and gasoline. Computer sensors in the fuel tank read the mixture and relay the information to the engine management system.
GM shipped 20 flexible fuel vehicles to California in 1990 and 200 in 1991. Production of 1992 models will begin next March.
Meantime, GM is developing the Impact, an electric vehicle to be built in Lansing, Mich., and introduced by the mid-1990s.
FORD, CHRYSLER
Ford and Chrysler are developing programs for alternate motor fuel use in addition to CNG initiatives with Gas Research Institute (OGJ, Oct. 28, p. 35).
Ford plans to begin a pilot production program in late 1992 of 2,500 Taurus vehicles capable of using flexible fuel.
The cars will operate with a computer that adjusts the amount of oxygen and fuel whether gasoline, ethanol, or methanol is used.
And the company plans to build a demonstration fleet of 70-100 electric vehicles based on the European Escort van for markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Chrysler will introduce an electric minivan in the mid-1990s.
In support of electric auto development, the big three U.S. automakers and the Department of Energy plan to spend $260 million the next 4 years for battery development.
JAPANESE AUTOMAKERS
Mazda plans to boost its work on hydrogen fueled automobiles in an effort to put the cars into commercial use by 2000.
The company has overcome several technological hurdles.
Mazda has developed a metallic alloy for making hydrogen storage containers that are safe against explosion even in an accident.
The alloy absorbs hydrogen at temperatures below 80 C. but repels the gas at higher temperatures.
A Mazda spokesman said one major issue yet to be overcome is the cost of hydrogen fueled engines, currently about 10 times that of a gasoline engine.
Meantime, Osaka Gas Co. bought 13 CNG cars from Mitsubishi and began using them in its fleet this month.
The company plans to buy 17 more next year and hopes within a few years to have 100 of the cars in service.
A CNG refueling station has been completed at its Osaka office, and more are planned at outlets in Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures.
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