Ford looks to the future – http://tinyurl.com/y9xt2y2
November 13, 2009
October 27, 2009
June 12, 2009
HS 250h Information and Test Drive!
Since I now work for the Detroit Examiner as their Alternative Transportation Examiner, please read my content there:
Enjoy!
July 29, 2008
Hybridfest Day 2 – The Show!
So, here it was, the big day! The main show, the big to do. Another night without the best nights sleep, I got up even earlier to make it down to the fairs staging grounds, as all the Hybrids in the car show would be entering the Dane County Fair together, to be on display on the fairgrounds that day.
I met up again with my good friend and “hybrid wife” Debbie, who has always been a good friend and fellow FEH enthusiast, as well as a new FEH owner on the staging ground. Sadly, we three FEH’s were the only Ford Escape Hybrids as part of the car show.
The Ford Escape Hybrids Prepare to enter the show area
After convoying out with the Civic Hybrids and others onto the closed fairgrounds that morning, we all got our positions, the Escape and Civic Hybrids got a great place almost dead center of the show, alongside the food “aisle” for the outdoor show. We had some time to set up our displays. This year, I went with a much better showcase then the simple provided sign, with a dry erase board and other display pieces to create something to look at on every side. Using the magnets that came with the Dry Erase board, I stuck last years MPG placard of 46.8 MPG! on one side, and this years MPG Challenge Division 5 ribbon on the other side. I then filled out the board, then had someone whose penmanship didn’t look like a 5 year old monkeys rewrite it in nice handwriting: “Liberator The worlds most fuel efficient 4 Wheel Drive SUV. 34 MPG Lifetime, 125% of EPA. Best tank 43.3 MPG over 675 Miles. 1st Place 2008 MPG Challenge.”
Liberator on Display
Next to the dry erase boards was the notice that I’d be owner of the hour from 11 AM to 12 PM, then from 12 PM – 1 PM. (I was sharing the honor with Debbie, who would also be owner of the hour for the same period of time. On the drivers door was my MPG Challenge Participant door sticker, in the front windows was “Rich Krueger AKA Pravus Prime”, and on the back windshield was the placard with my lifetime and best MPGs on it, along with my name and location. With my display set up, I was quickly called by Bradlee, who had Eric on the Radio, I had agreed the night before to help get test drive vehicles to Hybridfest, and now that I was set up, I was to assemble my team and go out to get them. Fortunately, this turned out far easier then I had anticipated, as Debbie and two others quickly volunteered, and Erics wife Becky drove us out to the Smart Toyota Dealership to pick up the vehicles. I called the TCH, or Toyota Camry Hybrid, Debbie called the HiHy, or Highlander Hybrid, and Crystal got stuck with the Prius. We followed Becky back to the Hybridfest/fair grounds, and parked the vehicles in the test drive area.
I quickly walked the grounds, then went out to be owner of the hour. Despite the rain earlier that morning, it was now very sunny out. I set up my mini water cooler, Opened the liftgate up, and set up my chair, and Debbie and I got ready to be owners of the hour. We had good assistants, who got us our lunches and water for us, and out in the sun we baked. As what seems to always happen, especially last year, I took a bite of my sandwich, and suddenly people wanted to talk about my hybrid. However, this year was quite different, in years past, it’s always been about the warranty, how much work I’ve had done, etc. Questions about the reliability or “real MPG”. This year? Everyone wanted price. “How much did you pay?” was the question all of them asked. My mom, who was also there for Hybridfest, showing off her Prius, came by sometime that afternoon with sunscreen for Debbie and me. Sometime around 1 PM, the sun, the lack of sleep, everything just came tumbling together, and I had a hard time staying awake. I kind of dozed off for about half an hour or so, and woke up before time had run out for owner of the hour. I closed up the FEH, my Ford Escape Hybrid, changed from my “Ask me about my Ford Escape Hybrid” shirt Debbie made for me, into another tec polo, and went inside. I found Linda, and asked about my presentation, which would be at 2 PM. I had brought my laptop, but also a USB Flash memory stick with my presentation on it, so I needed to know if I had to setup my laptop or if the memory stick would be sufficient. Turned out to be the latter, so no problems there, except the speaker before me ran long. (No big deal)
I set up and gave my presentation, “5 Easy and Safe Ways to Improve Fuel Economy”.
Presentation Title:
When Eric and I talked about the presentation, I was reminded of a few things, there would be a lot of people who aren’t in the “hybrid know” in attendence at Hybridfest, so the more generic, the better, and not to run over the dreaded 45 minute mark. I was also encouraged to have a number in the title, as it’s said to draw people. So, my presentation was a nice low ball entry into the world of better fuel economy for any driver, designed to be short and to the point, and easy for someone who was at the fair not for hybridfest to walk in, sit down, and learn something valuable. I was surprised when I saw so many familiar faces, as most of my audience was actual Hybridfest members! It went well, I thought, though there were a few bits that I felt were rough or slightly awkward, just due to it being my first time really fully giving the presentation.
After my presentation, question and answer time, and all that, I went down and out to my FEH (Ford Escape Hybrid), where I finished my lunch rather quickly. As I said, it never fails, I took a bite, and someone came up and asked me about my FEH. There I was sitting in the trunk, across from the owner of the hour at that point, and they ask me! Anyway, I had four people come up and talk to me while I finished my lunch.
I walked the show briefly, including a trip through the Toyota Highway to the Future Exhibit to get another shake flashlight. (No batteries in the standard sense, you shake it and that provides the power to light up.) I also met fellow anti HR 5734 enthusiast Bob Wilson, who was there with his petition against that stupid bill. I attended the “Best of Presentation”, where the best car display, floor display, etc. got an award, then moved my FEH (Ford Escape Hybrid) off the fairgrounds. Then all the members came back for the Members dinner. I ended up sitting with my parents, Debbie, a former Michigander, and Paul from www.juicedhybrid.com .
Dinner
I was shocked to see the piano player was none other then Seattle Superhypermiler and friend, Bill Kinney, and had a good dinner and good conversations.
That night, I made a quick stop at Speedway, buying some water for that night and the next day. I went home and showered. I was fortunate, though I was quite tanned, I seemed to only be a tiny bit sunburned on my left arm. That ends day 2. Tomorrow, the members only day, and team dinner!
Hybridfest Member Roll call, featuring Debbie and myself!
July 24, 2008
Hybridfest Day 1 – MPG Challenge!
After an adequate nights rest (Not the fault of anyone but myself really; just couldn’t get to sleep), I got up at 9:30 AM, even though Hybridfest events don’t start at noon, had a quick breakfast, then was off to Olin Park, to meet up with Paul of Juiced Hybrids ( www.juicedhybrid.com) to see his newest product, the Kiwi, and to meet up with the GM people. I spent about 2 hours with the GM Medialink crew, doing an interview, a drive along, then driving with the crew in a chase car. I got a bit of a test of the Kiwi in during that time, and picked up my swag bag, or members stuff with my lanyard, tickets for meals, T-shirt, etc.) At noon, we had the drivers briefing, got the maps and the rules. In years past, it’s almost been a slow race, nearly 90 minutes to go ~27 miles. This year, it wasn’t the case. With a far more aggressive and challenging route, with rolling and steep hills, 50 MPH roads, and a tight time limit. This year, they timed it out so that if you obeyed all the speed limits, it would take the average driver 46 minutes. They gave us 51 minutes, and included a 2% MPG Penalty for each minute late until the 10 minute mark, which resulted in disqualification. Drivers would have to average 31 MPH to make their time, which is actually quite speedy. On my daily commutes, my average speed is only 24-27 MPH, even though it’s speed limit 50 MPH, stops really do a number on your average speed. This course included several stop signs and several traffic lights.
It was great seeing my many friends, like Debbie, Jarad, and many others, but I was first up in my FEH, and away I went! Last year, I had taken a wrong turn, and got caught by a train. This year, the turns were very clearly labeled, and the tracks were clear. It was a good run, and for quite a while I was between 50-60 MPG. However, I wasn’t watching my speed close enough, and realized 3/4 of the way through, I was going to be late, so I sped up, even exceeding the speed limit at times to make my target time. It was coming down to the wire, but it was looking good. Then… I had a police cruiser behind me. I stopped for a light that I could’ve gone through “Amber”, but didn’t want the cop to get me (A ticket is DQ!), and as I entered a park, a thankfully aware Prius got out of my way as I sped up that steep hill at the end. This year, I also planned it out to make sure I had enough SOC (State of Charge – Juice in the High Voltage Battery), to make through the park and up the hill! My MPG was 47.3 MPG, (EPA for the vehicle is 28 all city MPG) however, time penalties resulted in a final score of 44 MPG.
I literally just had enough time to park, open a new bottle of water, and get the Tahoe Hybrid ready before my second run was up. I had the advantage of having made the run once before, and I knew one of the keys was to keep my speed up to make that target time. Away I went. EVing down and out the park, then onto the roads. I barely used the map, except as a time reference and to double check a turn or two, and instead concentrated on driving and keeping that instant MPG gauge at 99 MPG whenever possible. Unfortunately, even with the driving that morning, and the night before, I was at mile 16 when I discovered the best technique to use on the course; a high speed pulse and glide. In essence, getting my speed above the posted limit, then coasting back down to speed, then rinse and repeat. I ended up at 29 MPG, though it seems I was again tardy. (I argued that the time was erroneously recorded as there was a challenger right in front of me when I finished, and it took several minutes before they recorded my numbers, to no avail). However, the penalty was slight this time, 28 MPG was my final score. Not that it really mattered, as I was the only competitor in the division!
That evening was mostly spent hanging out with friends, tactfully avoiding a face that I didn’t want to see, and trying to stay hydrated. I had changed my shirt to a Tec polo shirt (Sweat absorbing and dissipating material) before the challenge, and I’m sure I would’ve been drenched had I not done so, a tip I learned from last year. Several other challengers came back quite drenched, some looking like they had gone swimming instead of driving!
Dinner was good, and I’d love to say that the GM Presentation that night was Awesome, but the truth is I was so drained by that point, I barely paid attention to the presentation. After that came the awards ceremony, I won Division 6! Bill Robbins told me not to go far, and awarded me the Division 5 award! Whoo!!!! I hadn’t been able to see my competitors scores, so I had no idea if I had won or not! It really felt great to win. In 2006 I didn’t compete due to a misunderstanding of the rules (I thought I’d compete against Insights and Prii), and I came in second in 2007, how much due to the train and the wrong turn, I don’t know, but finally! I’d won, and twice too!
Accepting both Awards:
Video from that day:
July 14, 2008
Preparing for Hybridfest
Spent a good chunk of today getting ready for this weekends Hybridfest. I’ve put the finishing touches on my presentation, “5 Easy and Safe Ways to Improve Fuel Economy”, had a conference call with GM and media people about the Tahoe MPG Challenge, and got my paperwork in the mail with my name ID and whatnot.
As an interesting touch, the mailing included the brochure for the Dane County Fair which Hybridfest is part of, and I’m listed as a speaker! Pretty cool.
Hopefully all this will help GM and myself forge a beneficial working relationship that will include Great Race later this year and next year…
July 1, 2008
Stop the Myths Please
Consider this an open letter to the media.
Please stop using silly and outright falsehoods when criticizing hybrid vehicles. It’s one thing to point out a legitimate complaint, but let’s stop with propagating the lies, shall we?
1. Hybrid Batteries are Toxic. No, they’re not. They’re Nickel Metal Hydride, and they’re recyclable. JCI is even working on taking “used up” batteries and converting them into portable home power generators. They aren’t toxic, (well, I suppose they are if you take a pick-axe to them and drank their contents) but they are in fact not harmful to the environment. Now, that 12 volt battery you’ve got under the hood? That’s another story!
2. Hybrids do More Harm then a Large SUV with their Additional Creation and Recycling Costs. Sigh. This is mostly in response to a bad bad “article” which compared a Prius to a Hummer, and determined that the Hummer does less environmental damage in their findings. They do not. The report is based on the idea that a Prius battery isn’t recycled and the Prius only has an operational lifetime of 50 thousand miles. Whereas the Hummer is completely recycled and lasts 250 thousand miles in an average lifetime. The numbers, when the article was caught under scrutiny, were in fact, completely made up by the marketing research firm. While nearly every major publication caught note of the “report” when it came out, every independent researcher has found the “report” to be chock full of bad science, made up numbers, and no research at all. It has since been decried by every scientific agency.
3. Hybrids Don’t Get the MPGs Advertised. Well, you got me there. It does seem to be possible not to get the fuel economy “advertised”, but it’s also possible to greatly exceed it. My lifetime average is 125% of the EPA numbers, and my last 3 tanks were 140+% of the EPA Numbers. This doesn’t require anything unsafe or drastic, just not dropping the hammer and slamming on the brakes. Places like Green Hybrid are chock full of hybrid owners who meet or exceed the EPA numbers on a daily basis.
4. Hybrid Batteries Will Fail on the Consumer and Be Costly to Replace. Just stop it. Hybrids have been around for 10 years, people have put more then 400 thousand miles on their hybrids, hybrid taxi fleets of several makes have 200+ thousand miles on them, and several original adopters are nearing the triple digit odometer readings. And none of them (And I say that because I’m absolutely certain that if they did have to replace them, the hybrid forums and the media would be latching onto that like a hungry dog seeing a T-bone steak) have reported any need to replace the battery*. The batteries are, in the words of the engineers who designed them, “Designed to outlive the useful frame of the vehicle.”
* = I’m clearly not including people who have been in terrible accidents and had the battery replaced as part of repairing the vehicle.
5. Hybrids Can’t Save the Consumer the Extra Expense of the Technology Via Fuel Savings. http://www.richrambles.com/?p=4 Seriously, just stop it. Besides, when was the last time a Stereo upgrade or a DVD player “paid for itself”?
6. All Hybrids Work the Same Way. No. Wrong. Some are great for city driving, some are fantastic for Highway driving, and some are great if you’re on a tight budget. There are many different hybrid drivetrains out there today, and there will be even more in the next few years, and they all don’t work the same, use the same philosophy, or work on the same operational ideology.
7. Hybrids are a Threat To the Blind. Come on, now you’re doing it to annoy me. In 10 years, Hybrid, electric, hydrogen, and other alternative “quiet” cars have killed zippo blind people. Noise making cars, on the other hand, killed 4,784 blind people in the last year alone. You’d think the blind associations would fear the one that mows them down at a rate of nearly 13 a day rather then the one that has yet to do any harm to them!
8. Hybrids Are Not a Solution to The World Fuel Crisis. Well, you got me there. However, I’ve been minimizing my fuel costs of the last three years; my fuel consumption dropped by 70%. If everyone in America reduced the amount of fuel they consumed by that much, well, we wouldn’t need any foreign oil, now would we? Electric Vehicles and other options may be a fuel of tomorrow, even if the technology is here today, but I’ve been saving since well before yesterday.
If you want to criticize Hybrid Vehicles, be my guest, but at least do so for valid reasons, not made up myths that get perpetually recycled as part of a fear mongering crusade, unless the rest of your aticle is about how the moon is made of cheese and Earth is the center of the Universe.
June 25, 2008
USA Today; Indirect Mention
Click Here for the Complete USA Today Article
“The entry classes cover a wide range of hybrids, from tiny Insights to one for the guy bringing a new Chevy Tahoe full-size SUV hybrid that is government rated at 21 mpg. “He’s pretty sure he can get 35,” says Eric Powers, who is organizing the event as part of the Dane County Fair.”
That crazy guy is me. I’m actually aiming for 40 MPG with the MPG Course. I’ll also be running it in my Ford Escape Hybrid. Last year, I was delayed by a train (It turns out I could’ve rerun the course just for that), took a wrong turn, and then got worried about making it back in time and scored 46.7 MPG on the course. My Vehicle is rated 27 MPG, so a mere 173% of EPA. This year, I intend not to have those problems, have a Scanguage II to help me out, and since my vehicle is another year older, it’s another year better. (No joke, this year has seen my best tanks so far as a year as a whole.)
Additionally, when I test drove a Yukon Hybrid, I did so in February in the rain, in 4WD mode, on a far more aggressive course, got over 30 MPG. So, my faith isn’t misplaced really. However, we’ll see what happens in July, won’t we?
Where’s the Insight?
One thing that amuses me is how people (myself included) feel a kind of rage at GM after they see the documentry, “Who Killed The Electric Car”. It’s a beautiful documentry about an automotive travesty, that we had a viable electric car for the 21st Century, and a decade later, we don’t, as gas prices quadruple and show little signs of slowing down.
However, years later, the Honda Insight, the most fuel efficient car on the road vanished from the showrooms, replaced by nothing, and there’s not even a whimper. The Honda Insight, EPA MPG rated 48/58 manual or 45/49 Automatic stopped production due to low sales. Now, those numbers may not seem so extreme, except for the fact that with an Insight, many drivers had lifetime averages above that. How far? Try lifetime averages in high 70’s. That’s right, there were a number of drivers who could get 100 MPG with it. At Hybridfest, the biggest Hybrid Car gathering in North America, MPG Challengers in Insights saw well over 112 MPG. However, much like the EV1, it vanished from production, to be replaced with nothing.
Now don’t get me wrong, the Insight was a fine vehicle in terms of the pure MPGs, but it wasn’t without it’s shortcomings either, which undoubtedly helped with it’s demise. For one thing, it was tiny. In the era of the SUV, a car that can’t seat 4 wasn’t on many buyers lists. Additionally, hybrid fanatics were quick to bring up the IMA’s shortcomings. IMA, or Integrated Motor Assist, is Honda’s Hybrid Platform. Essentially it works as a gasoline engine that has an electric assist. Against Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, BMW, and GM’s HSD/Dualmode system, which worked on the reverse notion, that it should be an electric vehicle with a gasoline engine assist, IMA couldn’t offer the electric drive at low speeds and powerless coasting that it’s rival hybrid technology could. Additionally, whereas HSD/Dualmode worked just fine if not better in larger vehicles like the Tahoe as it did in a Prius, IMA didn’t offer palpable benefits in larger vehicles, prompting Honda to decide to redesign their hybrid offerings in the future.
None of that changes the fact that gas is expensive, and fuel efficient hybrid cars seem to be in short supply. Honda could be making a killing with the Insight today. If only they had the Insight to produce it.
HR 5734 – A Bad Idea
So, it seems that after three years, there is some actual traction to “Bell the Hybrid”. For those unaware, the idea is that hybrid, full electric, Hydrogen, and any other sufficiently quiet automobile is a threat to the blind, and legislation is in the works to force all these quiet vehicles to emit the same noise as “noisey” automobiles. This is, as every one of you should realize, a terrible idea. This isn’t just a bad idea for a handful of hybrid owners who like to sneak up on unsuspecting pedestrians, but for every single taxpayer in America.
Let’s start with the pertinant fact: 5000 Blind people were killed in the last year by said “noisey” vehicles, making the same noise levels or more then congress wants all quiet vehicles to make, so how does this actually fix the “problem”? The answer is, it doesn’t, it’s the legislative equivalent of painting a wall with a shotgun.
Then let’s move on to the fact that this isn’t an issue, or at least it isn’t as of this writing. This isn’t in reaction to a problem, this is in fervered anticipation of a problem. That’s correct, no blind person has been injured by a quiet car!
Now, let’s move on to this messey legislation, and how it effects the taxpayer, hybrid owning or not. First of all, who’s going to pay to bell the quiet car with noisemakers? There are more then a million “quiet” cars on the road. If the government is paying for it, even at five dollars a unit, that’s more then five million dollars to ”solve” a problem that hasn’t happened yet! If it’s the owners costs, then there will undoubtedly be outcry from said owners (myself) included, a sudden increase in violations of the law, and additional court and legal fights. But the legal fun isn’t over yet! So, after having paid millions of dollars to noisey up Americas quiet cars, what happens when, just like the 5000 who were killed by a noisey car, a noise making quiet car hits or kills a blind person? Now it’s a federal law suit, since the government failed to make it noisey enough! Millions more down the drain! And where does that money come from? You, the tax payer! So, you pay twice for this act of legislation, once to “bell the hybrids”, and then again when their solution doesn’t solve anything. Plus, heaven help you if the legislation isn’t sound, and you’re kept up by noise making quiet cars who are now making a terrible racket instead of near silence!
Now, I’m not unsympathetic to the blind, but there are a lot of alternative solutions, including ways to protect the blind against all motor vehicles, not just “quiet” ones. Additionally, safe driving is the responsibility of the driver, at all times. So be careful out there people!
HR 5734 – Bad for you, bad for America, Bad for the blind.