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TODAY Monday 15 December 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site.

 

TODAY IN THE WORLD: The Hybrid As Savior

"The whole thing is very schizophrenic, to have all the auto companies there showing their new designs, while at the same time fighting any regulations."

The speaker is Sheila Lynch, director of the Northeast Alternative Vehicle Consortium, and the occasion of her comment was an international conference on electric vehicles last week in Orlando. She is referring, on the one hand, to the muscular hostility of car manufacturers to the Kyoto text on climate change and to proposals for covering pickups and SUVs with the same fuel-efficiency standards as those that apply to regular automobiles. And she is also referring to the headturning parade of new energy-thrifty prototypes that the big companies are rolling out these days.

According to a report by David Chandler in the Boston Sunday Globe, the big stars of the Orlando gathering were the new hybrid cars, vehicles which combine electric and gasoline engines. In most of the new configurations, the relatively small gas engine operates at a steady (and therefore more efficient) rate to charge the electric motor which turns the wheels. The greatest drawback to all-electric cars -- limited range before time-consuming recharging -- is bypassed altogether, and yet fuel consumption for the hybrids is usually half that of comparable all-gasoline models. Toyota is already marketing the Camray-like Prius in Japan, and Chrysler, Ford, and Honda have models in various stages of production.

Seven years ago this advent of the hybrids was predicted by someone outside of automotive circles -- Amory Lovins. The same prophet of efficiency who saw and described "soft energy paths" in the mid 1970s turned his powers of analysis to transportation at the beginning of this decade. In the process, he discovered that the automotive giants were too huge and sprawling to be summed up in dismissive stereotypes. In each of the Big Three he found fascinating subcultures of break-the-mold engineers interested in designing a new generation of non-polluting automobiles: guys who talked about molded plastic bodies, aerodynamic "slipperiness," and new types of propulsion systems. Cars that could easily reach speeds of 100 miles per hour and travel 100 miles on a gallon were considered no-brainers. Amory encountered early the schizophrenia noted by Sheila Lynch: auto companies run by anti-green tough guys but laced through with some of the most crucial people on the planet in meeting the challenge of climate change.

The Toyota Prius and the other prototypes rolled out at Orlando are somewhat disappointing to Amory and his engineering friends: insufficiently daring in materials, no attempts to recapture energy usually dissipated through braking. Still and all, these early models look pretty sweet, go fast, and emit half the carbon dioxide of today's models. They also allow us to hang tough on the goals enunciated in Kyoto.

 

TODAY ON THE SITE

For the best Websites on the key topic of fuel efficiency, look into our High Fives section. There Dan Becker and Steve Pedery of the Sierra Club tell where to go to learn more.

 

Recent "Today" columns:

12/12: Good Week for the Dragon
12/11: Help Wanted: Unreasonable Extremists
12/10: Oh Boy! A Fight!
12/9: Running Away From It All
12/8: "What I Wouldn't Give for This War to End."
12/5: Feisty Euros at Kyoto
12/4: Beauty in the Bronx
12/3: God from Machine
12/2: Gentlemen's Bet
12/1: Public Opinion
11/26: Sperm
11/25: Sound Sound-Bite Science
11/24: Home Sweet Storage Locker
11/21: Tim Wirth's Inscrutable Adventure
11/20: Better to Receive than to Give
11/19: Wes Jackson's Problem with Agriculture
11/18: "Stay Home and Be Decent"

To access more "Today" columns, click "Archives" below.