House of Representatives passed two bills.

Today, the House of Representatives passed two bills that would provide a considerable amount of money to both wind power and hybrid heavy-duty trucks. H.R. 3165, Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2009 passed by a voice vote and was authored by Paul Tonko, a Democrat from New York.

H.R. 3165 directs the DOE to create a program of research and development that would improve the energy efficiency, reliability, and capability of wind turbines. Furthermore, this R&D would reduce the cost of building and maintaining the wind turbines and finally, it would optimize the design of them thus making them more efficient.

According to Tonko, “The United States has enough wind energy resources to meet all of our electricity needs several times over…”

H.R. 3165 authorizes that $200 million be sent each fiscal year from 2010-2014 on wind power. If this bill is enacted, it would be the first time that a set amount of money was authorized to be spent on R&D for wind power.

On top of passing the Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2009, the House of Representatives also voted on H.R. 445, Heavy Duty Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 2009. The bill provides for the Secretary of Energy to grant between 3-7 grants of up to $3 million on research and development for technology, such as a plug-in hybrid, for heavy duty trucks.

Because one fourth of the nation’s fuel is used by heavy-duty trucks, any sort of technology on making them more cost effective would have a great impact on the amounts of gasoline used on a daily basis. If the bill is enacted, manufacturers of heavy-duty trucks will be able to research, develop, and build hybrid heavy-duty trucks.

Concept of Lexus LF-Ch.

The downfall comes into play when choosing the market for the vehicle. Unlike the HS 250h which was marketed in both Europe and the United States, the LF-Ch is aimed primarily at Europeans because Americans typically don’t like hatchbacks which the LF-Ch is. Then adding the fact that hybrid vehicles are typically more expensive and it is obvious that Lexus is hitting an uphill battle in regards to their American market.

Europeans are used to the higher priced vehicles, so there is more room for a luxury vehicle’s cost. Because Lexus is competing with a lot of the favorite diesel cars in Europe, they understood that they needed a unique approach to guarantee that their vehicles would sell. The answer came with the compact hybrid.

The fundamental issue for Lexus is finding a way to get into America. Because Lexus is typically more expensive to start with, then the hybrid component makes it more, and then Americans dislike hatchbacks.

Lexus is hoping that because the driving comfort of the hatchback appeals to city people, they might be able to sell the cars in an American market. In the end, though, it will require fine tuning of the price to ensure that it is set at the right amount. If Lexus charges too much, no amount of driving comfort will make it appealing to Americans.

The hybrid aspect is appealing to Americans and that may be the selling point. As much as the cost is higher than what people like, Americans are afraid of the constant fluctuating of oil prices and therefore are looking to buy hybrids in larger amounts because they want safety. So, Lexus may have a chance to sell a typically undesirable vehicle in a constantly changing environment.

Sen. Hatch showing off the candy apple red H3 to the media.

Given Barack Obama’s recent fuel efficiency standards, vehicle manufacturing companies are putting forth more of an outspoken effort to develop technologies that are cleaner, more efficient, but more importantly, affordable to the common consumer.  Alongside the car companies themselves are a multitude of different, more independent groups finding ways to turn current market vehicles into some of the most fuel efficient machines on the road.

Normally when you think of fuel efficient vehicles, GM’s Hummer doesn’t exactly come to mind.  But yesterday, Raser Technologies showcased its 100 mile per gallon Hummer with the help of Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. Capitol Hill was filled with cameras and journalists as Sen. Hatch test drove the candy apple red H3 plug-in hybrid; the vehicle boasted a little over a 400 mile range without either a charge or a fill-up.  Hatch invited his fellow politicians to try out the technology for themselves; he noted how indispensable the development of plug-in hybrids are to weaning the Unites States off of oil while keeping the development of such important technology at home.

Hatch’s personal plea amongst his fellow politicians culminated into a direct appeal to Barack Obama that such technology needs to be fostered, both in the context of short and long term goals in our energy policy.  Hatch, who’s been an outspoken advocate of hybrid technology, has high hopes that it’ll become more affordable so that the average hybrid vehicle sold won’t cost much more than its non-hybrid counterpart.

Currently, the GM restructuring plan involves seeing the Hummer brand sold off in China. Hatch urged Obama to prevent the selling of the well known gas-guzzling behemoths, especially since he believes “the US is on the cusp of integrating environmentally friendly and affordable hybrid technologies” into these normally environmentally disastrous vehicles.

Kraig Higginson, chairman of Raser, said that although the current trend is to turn smaller, more compact vehicles into hybrids, there is still little done to address the fact that it’s the utility of SUVs and trucks that some citizens could never live without.  Offering a cleaner, more fuel efficient hybrid alternative to the vehicles some Americans need the most may be a key turnaround point within the whole scheme of the plug-in hybrid revolution.

People such as farmers, parents, and business owners aren’t driving gas guzzlers just cause, they’re holding onto them because hybrid technology has yet to make its debut in an affordable manner on the vehicles they need.  Hopefully, companies like Raser and politicians like Sen. Hatch can open up some eyes in Washington, D.C. and make vehicles like this a market reality.

The chief executive of production at General Motors recently stated that GM will indeed have a plug-in SUV hybrid that will be fleet test ready by early 2011.

Originally planned to be a Saturn Vue Green Line, GM will most likely produce the SUV hybrid through another name, but will essentially be the same vehicle as planned; GM has since intended to either sell or phase out its Saturn branch.

Vice Chairman Tom Stephens emphasized that there are four brands that could potentially give a home to their new vehicle; Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick or GMC could very well be seeing the new plug-in hybrid SUV arriving in their showrooms.  This specific vehicle planned is supposed to get somewhere around double the city mileage of similar gas-powered SUVs.

It seems that consumers have done enough clamoring for a plug-in SUV hybrid, and they’re indeed getting their wish; but, electricity being used to charge the vehicles sophisticated battery systems still has yet to see the same scale of environmentally friendliness.

Conceptually, hybrid plug-in vehicles are ideal.  But, in an age where the average household’s electricity isn’t exactly clean, this concept does little to address the real problem and serves to only address a small symptom. Ultimately it’s up to the energy producers to make a change, provide better and cleaner energy generation and pass the clean buck to the consumer.

I had just about decided on a Toyota Prius – because it gives me the best possible compromise between something I can haul the family in, and something that gets great gas mileage (EPA-estimated 46 mpg). I really couldn’t find anything else that came close. (Suggestions are welcome, though).

But the Prius will soon have a worthy challenger. Volkswagen has announced that they are building a diesel hybrid Golf that gets 70 mpg. Wired reports:

According to a Google translation of Germany’s Auto Bild, the potential Prius killer sports a 74-horsepower three-cylinder TDI engine — Autoblog speculates it’s the 1.4-liter used in the Polo BlueMotion — mated to a 27-horsepower electric motor and a seven-speed double-clutch DSG transmission. There’s a nickel-metal hydride battery in the trunk; a regenerative braking system helps keep it charged. The car has stop/start capability and a full-electric mode at low speed. An “energy monitor” display on the dashboard keeps tabs on what the powertrain is doing.

According to Auto Bild, the hybrid Golf will get 69.9 mpg and emit 90 g/km of carbon dioxide. An earlier report by Britain’s Auto Express said 89 g/km, but either way that’s less than the 104 g/km emitted by the Prius and 116 emitted by the Honda Civic Hybrid.

When can I buy one? Well, there’s the rub. Reports are that they are expected to be on sale in Europe at the end of 2009, but no details of when it might be released in the U.S. (Although that link does say that it will meet California’s stringent air emissions standards).

Looks like I will just have to get that Prius, unless someone can suggest something better.