As an invited media representative, I went, for the first time, to last month’s Silicon Valley International Auto Show at the San Jose Convention Center. My conclusion: This typically regional show’s main aim is to help those in a market for a new car by comparing multiple cars’ fit and feel without the dealership salesmen’s pressure.
But many manufactures were missing: Nissan, Mini, Audi, Kia, Smart Car, Mitsubishi, Chrysler/Fiat, Land Rover, Suzuki, Tesla. The sign out front stated, “We invited these manufacturers, but they chose not to attend.”
Unfortunately, there was not much cutting-edge stuff either, except maybe the new Hyundai Sonata hybrid model. The Volt and prototype Prius (for fleet use only) were the only plug-in hybrids at the show.
Personally most interesting to me — as I drive a Prius now — was its plug-in conversion shown by AAA. For $10,000, an extra battery, adjusted electronics and a charging plug are installed, giving it about 80 miles per gallon over a 40-mile driving range before the next plug-in recharge. The downside, besides the price, is that although the conversion doesn’t automatically void the factory warranty, Toyota will consider warranty issues case-by-case.
Let’s jump to the Detroit Auto Show with a bunch of diversified Priuses (including the PHV — the plug-in hybrid version of the current one), the Nissan Leaf and Ford’s Focus Electric and C-Max (both Hybrid and plug-in Energi).
The gull-winged Mercedes’ all-electric 526-horsepower, 629 foot-pound SLS AMG E-Cell had its first official auto show appearance, and Mercedes announced that the car will go into production in 2013. Volkswagen had its TDI line of clean diesel cars and its hybrid version of the Touareg SUV on display.
Alternative fuel news
Now, let’s switch gears.
Imagine a meeting somewhere in a secret villa in the Alps: The ghost of King Faisal, the Bushes, several Kuwaiti sheiks, Vladimir Putin, Hugo Chavez and some Nigerian junta headman are meeting to decide the industrial world’s destiny. They can create another recession — or prosperity — in an instant. And nobody knows who they really are, what their motives are and their responsibilities. It’s like old conspiracy rumors about secret Freemasons ruling the world.
We need alternative fuels.
There are new developments in the world of alternative fuels. Cellulosic ethanol (which can be made from wood chips, garbage, old tires and almost anything else) just took a major hit. Despite getting close to half a billion dollars in secured loans during Bush administration, it never managed to supply a significant amount of fuel. A major player in the field, Range Fuels, just closed its Georgia plant while trying to raise more money and address technical issues.
Corn ethanol is plentiful, though, and easily supplies the EPA-mandated 10 percent of fuel at the pump. Using less than 30 percent of total cropland, pasture and range corn, the U.S. could produce 100 billion gallons of ethanol per year. That total is about half of the country’s transportation fuel needs. Our country could do so without reducing domestic supplies of food, animal feed and fiber or decreasing agricultural exports. This approach would also reduce total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by about 10 percent each year.
That and the wider use of compressed natural gas — on top of whatever domestic oil supplies the U.S. has — would make us independent from the gray eminence of shadowy figures that set oil prices and production quotas.
Taxis are changing
As the Ford Crown Victoria, a taxi industry staple, is out of production as of this year, there’s a void in the taxi world. The City of New York Taxi and Limousine Commission put out a call for bid for next dedicated “Taxi of Tomorrow.” The process is narrowed down to three choices, with my — and most people’s — favorite choice being the Turkish-designed-and-made Karsan USA. It would be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the first since the Checker Taxi to be a specific for-taxi-only design.
Lucjan Szewczyk, the Press-Banner’s photographer, is a part-time cab driver who commutes to Scotts Valley from San Jose. To comment, call 439-2500 or visit www.pressbanner.com.
