Picking Up Steam : Alternative-Fuel Cars Are Closer to Reality if Auto Show Is Right
Alternative-fuel vehicles are edging closer to practical use, if half a dozen cars on exhibit at the 1993 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show are any measure.
At the annual event--which runs today through Jan. 10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center--Volvo, Mazda and a few other auto makers are showing off prototypes of non-gasoline cars that probably won’t be seen in dealer showrooms for a decade or more.
But other cars on display are already so user-friendly that they could be driven out of the showroom and put into daily use. And several will be.
Despite progress, car makers still struggle with difficult technical issues and the search for ways to make these environmentally preferable vehicles competitive in the marketplace.
One of the main hurdles to electric vehicles has been their batteries. With current battery technology, the best of the electric cars claim to get no more than 150 miles per charge. And in many cases, the recharging takes an entire night.
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Chrysler Corp., which will build 50 electric minivans in 1993, will display one near-term solution: a system that charges electric vehicles in just 10 minutes. The system was developed by Chrysler and a Canadian company, Norvik Technologies Inc.
“Fast charging permits you to make an electric vehicle more attractive,” says Francois J. Castaing, a Chrysler vice president. “The range issue then is not so much an issue, and you don’t have to wait for a new generation of batteries.” Chrysler hopes to make its charging system the industry standard, either licensing the technology or selling the systems directly to other manufacturers.
Calstart, a public-private consortium attempting to build an advanced transportation industry in California, is displaying its Showcase Electric Vehicle, built from components developed by more than 20 California aerospace and engineering companies. After its public debut at the L.A. auto show, Calstart plans to display the car at auto shows around the world, hoping to drum up business for the state.
Two other car makers are showing prototype cars that won’t hit the market anytime soon. Mazda’s HR-X, which resembles a small, blue bug, has a rotary-powered engine fueled by clean-burning hydrogen, an abundant energy source favored by many environmentalists and transportation engineers. But even proponents concede that a practical hydrogen car and the infrastructure to support it is in the distant future.
Volvo is showing off its Environmental Concept Car, which is powered either by stored electricity or diesel fuel. The car, known as a hybrid because of its dual fuel-system design, is the result of more than two years of research and design at Volvo’s Monitoring and Concept Center in Camarillo, Calif., and in Sweden. The concept car, bearing no resemblance to the familiar box-shaped Volvos, would be non-polluting when operating on electricity. And it would have the driving range of a gasoline auto when powered by its diesel-fueled turbine engine. Two California companies that are already selling electric cars will be displaying their vehicles in less-plush corners at the auto show.
Solar Electric Engineering, a Santa Rosa company that refits gasoline cars with electric motors, is working with a Florida firm, Consulier Automotive, to build a convertible-top electric sports car said to have a top speed of 100 m.p.h. The cars cost about $75,000, depending on options.
A more advanced electric car design, from AC Propulsion Inc. in San Dimas, uses the frame of a Honda CRX converted to electric power. The car has a charging system that can be plugged into a standard wall socket to recharge up to 90% of a battery’s capacity in about an hour. The car is peppier than most existing electric cars, sprinting from zero to 60 m.p.h. in 7.8 seconds. Its cost: $70,000.
Company President Alan Cocconi says he plans to drive the electric car to the offices of the Southern California Air Quality Management District, which has ordered one for road tests, after the exhibition closes.
